The Rocks are Smiling

"he's shown me how to kneel at the beauty of a lichen-covered stone." Robert Genn

white thoughts

This day, then, 

belongs to the woods
That secret solace. 

Trees bending

in symphony, 
cool white thoughts.

Land

LAND
Wind on the lake, stirring
those island trees. 
Frustrated fruits, pine combs, 

with nowhere to land.

We are who we are

We are who we are at the moment. Change is, hopefully, is inevitable. Past mistakes can't be redone but the future is constantly made. Therein lies my hope.

“Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.” - Alan Cohen 

“Inner beauty, too, needs occasionally to be told it is beautiful.” - Robert Brault

Sometimes, You have to do the thing you shouldn't,

to allow the thing out that has to come out.

 To acknowledge something,

 to miss an event that is important,

 to let another, happen,

that needs to happen.

Stone's Breath

What comes to open space is as real as 

what leaves the open spirit.

No intention.

light, shadow, line, sound.

shared natures sensing boundless energy.

When the mind rests, 'work' begins. -- Nancy Neva Gagliano

silence before the dawn

“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully” - Norton Juster

I love to have those quiet times before everyone wakes up and the world starts to spin again. Those are the times I can dip into my soul and remember what is important.

Happy yet?

Stuff your eyes with wonder; live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream." (Ray Bradbury)

Digital Paint Brushes

Recently I visited a blog having a discussion about how printing on fabric is not creative. 

Yikes I thought!

  When things went digital, my work expanded ten-fold! I could do so many more things than I ever dreamed of. I married my interest in photography with my love of fiber.

      I think working digitally IS a creative tool. Not only must you have an eye and take intriguing photographs. You need to know how to interpret this into fiber, then your vision can show.

      You can then leave the photo as is, manipulate it in a variety of ways ( much like you could do in the darkroom), layer them, fuse them with other photos, tile them, collage photo's, draw into to them using a digital pencil. And more. It is a vast field.

plain rice paper

painted rice paper

Not to mention deciding how to print them. What cloth or paper to use. Add a digital underpainting, or not. Print on painted or plain substrate. Print on a collage made from cloth, paper, or tea bags. Endless!

THEN when they are printed, you can go forward with creation. Stitching, adding mediums. collageing, layering with transparent media. Cutting apart and re-sewing- any number of options.

Ink Jet Printed Fabric Collage
from my Dig it ALL,  Digging into Digital Printing Workshop
Photo Shop tools are digital paint brushes! It is a very creative technique- much as any surface design technique is! You can take it and run with it!

"It's how the artist uses the media to interpret the subject matter that makes it art - not the media used to get there."
Jayne Gaskins

Sense of Touch

     Ever notice how sometimes you just start to work and pieces fall together as if by magic. As if just showing up in the studio is somehow like catching an ocean wave and riding with it. And OH what a ride!

Sense of Touch completed

Yesterday I had just such a day. I put down a background and played with some collage materials leftover from another recent spurt. I ended up with 4 wonderful pieces. Sense of Touch is one. This will be an entry for an upcoming exhibit.

the starting point

detail

     I started with a manipulated and digital collage printed on a molding paste substrate. The surround is a combination of paper compositions created earlier and painted cloth. I overlaid parts with silk organza and stitched into the piece as a mark-making tool. 

      I feel I was definitely in touch with the energy of creation. A sense of touch.

Time

Time, we hold so precious that we try to squeeze too much in and make it go by that much faster. 

Relax, let it go. 

Just enjoy this moment, this moment, this moment.

wen

Reconnecting

Unburdened for a day

that stretches out before me,

like some red carpet gauntlet.

Choosing my desires carefully,

weighting pro’s and con’s.

Outside beckons,

I walk out the door

with just my coffee.

Beneath the Surface

I have been accepted to a juried invitational exhibit by the Dinner at Eight Artists. They will present Beneath the Surface, a special exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA - July 22-25th at the Long Beach Convention Center.

detail

Shaking the Tree of Imagination Statement

In the artistic process, I discover more techniques, and inspirations along the way. This leads to more discoveries, an evolution. I make the art and then the art makes me. Each work is individual and a communication between my inner imagination and later, the viewer. This communication is the dream, wish and hope for my artwork.

I am a process person. My process is fed by my love of being outdoors. I’m passionate about coming up with ideas and working out the kinks. It speaks to me. Part of that process is photography. I can see the most exquisite scenes or combinations of patterns and want to share that beauty. My art represents these moments. They are what lie beneath. I bring them back to share, to remember, to remind. These moments become my source, my well. This is when inspiration strikes, allowing thoughts percolate up from the unconscious and become my art, or poetry or prayers.

Layers peeled back reveal the source, the inspiration, and my mad desire to capture thoughts, dreams and the beauty of nature.

Process

I made Shaking the Tree of Imagination for the Beneath the Surface Invitational by the Dinner at Eight Artists. I decided I wanted to explore my current interest in Photographic manipulation. The layering techniques I use in this process seemed suited to the theme.

I layered 3 photographs together to merge as one. The photograph started out as image from a walk taken in my local area’s forest. This is often the first layer to my artwork. The idea becomes reality though the process of my art, the inspiration. That is how the title of the work came to be Shaking the Tree of Imagination.

The other two photographs in this layering process were images of my painted fabric. This provides a rich source of color that can influence and change the final result, the digital layer. The photographs were divided on the computer into sections and printed using an Epson 2400 onto pre-treated inkjet cotton broadcloth. They were assembled on batting, cut apart and physically collaged. This was another layer, the physical. I printed 3 more sections on silk organza and fused those to the piece. Each section was creatively stitched with a spontaneous design. I added metallic paint accents, drawn with a fine nozzle bottle. The final pieces were mounted on a hand painted backing of cotton duck.

The piece was drawn from the imagination, layered digitally, printed, layered physically and then collaged.

Art and Meaning

This dialogue has been around the block a few times, here and in the 'art' world. 

For me, I get excited by figuring out different ways to present my techniques and photographs. Often, without my deliberate attempts my meaning comes though. When I TRY to do this, I often fail. Creation is a dialogue between what I do when I'm art making and the response to that act. I call this being in the 'flow'. Part of my artist’s statement and my teaching is about just this thing- about letting go and dancing with the materials. When this happens the art becomes the

 meaning. The sum is more than the parts. 

Capturing Moments 2009

After that, the viewer will bring their dialogue into the 'picture'. Their interpretation becomes part

of the piece. Their meaning adds to the final result. 

Art has meaning in the act of creation and in the viewing of said art.

That said, The connection with Nature and the spiritual experiences therein are very special. The confirmation given though shared experiences always reaffirms that connection and makes one want more. So out for a walk I will go, to see the rocks smiling and to feel the trees embrace.