Sunday, July 28, 2013

Blessings

"Flexibility"
There’s a rainbow of dragonflies here in Bali. There are red ones, black and magenta, sapphire blue, metallic gold, green, and even rare white ones. For decades they’ve been an important symbol to me in both my paintings and jewelry. I’ve designed carvings of frogs with dragonflies on their backs, leaves with dragonflies and just dragonflies for earrings and necklaces.  

In the spring of 1984 I’d rented a house on the remote island of Filicudi off the coast of Sicily. I was in the middle of a painting and sensed it needed a dragonfly. I didn’t have a picture to refer to and had only a vague recollection of how they looked. I’d never seen one on the island and my attempts to draw them from memory were miserable. 

One morning during breakfast on the veranda, I was still wishing for one of these clear winged beauties when a dragonfly suddenly appeared and landed on a tall weed a foot away from me. My heart raced. With no pencil at hand, I very slowly rose and made a dash for anything I could find to draw with.

The dragonfly was still there, perched on a gently swaying stalk, as though awaiting my return. I sketched. He turned giving me another angle. I sketched again. He turned again until I had all the angles I needed. Then off he flew. I didn’t see another one during my stay on Filicudi. 

A few years ago in my Ubud home, a black velvet dragonfly buzzed around the kitchen, banging into the windows, looking for the way out. I observed him for a while and then said out loud, “Come on! Let’s go outside.” He landed on my outstretched thumb and we walked together out into the garden. In the sun he transformed into a stained glass window. His black wings had transparent olive green at the top with tiny magenta windows inset into the black. His body had mosaic patches of robin’s egg blue and a red dot behind his head. He stayed for a while until we had our fill of each other and then we said, “Good-bye”. 

These meetings with dragonflies make me stand at attention. And when the rare white one skims the koi pond at twilight I feel blessed. Blessed to live in this thriving colorful and complicated culture. Blessed to have love in my life, and blessed to be creative. 


What makes you count your blessings?


Mammoth Tusk and Sterling Silver

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Lexigrams



It's Sunday - one of my favorite days of the week. Since I live in my office/studio it's the only day when there's no staff and the place is all mine.  I can stay in my night gown past 8:00 if I want - what a luxury!

I had a list of things to do but somehow it slipped through my fingers. I didn't come up with new designs, I didn't work on my bone coloring project, and I didn't do any of the many other things on the list.

Instead I got caught up in Lexigrams.  Andrea, the Peace Painter of the Andrea Smith Gallery in Sedona, Arizona (http://www.andreasmithgallery.com) recently wrote about Lexigrams. She took all the letters in her name and made phrases out of them. She didn't always use all the letters but she didn't double any letter unless there were two in her name.  She said she learned a lot about herself this way.

After cutting little squares to print each letter of my name on, I put them on the desk next to the computer. I thought I would play with them from time to time but in the end I lost an hour in the afternoon and then another. I just couldn't let this go. It had me.

As I reflect on the day, maybe I needed to give my regular creative channels a rest. Maybe this exercised my brain and opened up something new that I won't realize right away. Or maybe the creative spirit just wanted to play hooky.

Here are a few of the Lexigrams I came up with:

Art is Me

Create Human Bliss,
Sister Calm
In Heart Beams
Halt
Brush Lines,
Arise Blue Scars

Meet
Sister Luna -
Hearts Can Smile
Catch
Cherubs Steal....

In Came Art
It Amuses
Smiles
Heals

Atelier Ace!
Muses Can Be Art
Healers Can Be Mutes
Teasers Can Lie

Art is Me
``````````````
Now it's your turn.  What phrases can you make out of your name? What do these phrases say about you?








Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Back in the Saddle



I finally got to my painting studio for the first time since last year. I pay the rent, have it cleaned, but still I haven't opened the door to that magic room for oh so long!

Once I'm there with sketches and half finished works pinned to the wall, a rainbow of inks, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, and art book laden shelves, the creative spark ignites.  I feel almost possessed as the urgency intensifies and my fingers move through the materials putting color on what ever medium is in front of me. Color! I even thrill to test dabs on torn paper scraps - tests to see how the colors look together or overlaid. How I need color.

I love my work and the mammoth tusk carvings that I design and 'World on a String' produces. Semi precious stone beads embellish them and help me assuage that need for color. But slowly building over time, it's now not enough. I want the carvings to tell stories in hues that pull the viewer in as much as the detail and beauty of the carving.  

This idea has been brewing for over a year, perhaps two, but it's time had not come and past attempts to use color on carvings have not been successful. It's easy to make them look cheap or plastic like. I'm inspired by old inked Chinese ivory carvings and Eskimo scrimshaw but still I want something different.

I didn't know what that "different" was until this spring while in the States. One evening I passed a store window with hand-made hand-painted furniture on display. I said to my partner, "This is what I want my carvings to look like!"  Finally I had a solid idea of the look I was after.

A Start
I collect 'ideas and inspirations' like I collect beads and components for my jewelry. Some times they sit unnoticed for a very long time until suddenly they unveil themselves and I know just how to use them.

So this project in progress still has much work left to do. While I'm happy with the result so far, I feel I haven't yet found the right color medium. It's back to the art store to try some new bottles or tubes and continue the experiments. I'll keep you posted and if anyone out there has an idea for coloring bone please let me know.

Happy Creating!