It's just a matter of time...

Before I get back to work on projects!

I have started a new job at the local regional care home and been working rather regularly (though I am casual). I am trying hard not to make too many mistakes-I feel sorry for the old people who have to put up with me learning. I do make pretty good money at it, plus I am in the health region now so maybe I will be able to get on at the hospital.

I FINALLY received my paintstiks (!!!!) which were ordered back in May and sent to me twice, and now I can start work on Athanasius. It has taken many more months than I expected to assemble the materials for that.

On the CIP front, I have had this one 90% finished for a few weeks (heh), finally got the central logo on there.



A Matter of Time, acrylic, ink and pen

This is one of the Mayan calendars, the Tzolkin (calendar round). I wanted a rounded mandala style for this piece and felt the Mayan would be suitable, as this was a highly advanced ritualistic society which mysteriously devolved and disappeared, almost lost forever in the process. It seemed fitting to use not only a system of measuring time, but the system of a society whose time ran out long before the auspicious 2012 forcasted date. One never does know when one's time is up.



Well, alright, and I think Mayan stuff looks cool. If anyone wants a stela style date, I have been known to make them...:)

A Quarter of the Way!!

Here are numbers 51-53 of the CIP-the solos, encompassing both those from CITAS and Farewell by way of depicting both of Bob's guitars (well guitar and controller) and two Keyboards for John's.



They are ambigrams or inversions. If you turn the sheet upside down they will read the same. This is why they look rather odd. Louie's solo (in the centre) was particularly difficult to invert, and I know it's practically impossible to read too. Ah well. I used pencil crayon for the backgrounds and inks for the lettering. They were designed to reside on a single sheet, the first of the smaller non-ATC pieces done.

I am finally getting to the pieces that are on hold because they need "sheetmates" for lack of a better word. I needed to have most of the pieces designed before they could be rendered so I could figure out how to put them together. I do have about 125 of them designed, and just over the number of the praise albums stumping me. I now officially have more than a quarter of the project finished-if I don't get a move on I won't be finished until 2009. Of course I don't plan on having the project sit at a complete standstill for six months again either.

Useless piece of information: while doing this I got acetone on the computer desk and now there is a lovely bubble in the finish. :-(

An Angora Goatlet

As you can see, I made something with the mohair-a little goat. :) He is needle felted, and I kept the locks to make him somewhat realistic. One of his eyes is bigger than the other but I think he is still pretty cute. This is the second piece I've needlefelted, and I managed to poke myself a number of times-good thing I got a tetanus shot last fall.

I am going to give him to the lady that gave me the mohair-I figure she must like goats since she has one...I also want to make a little bag or box for it, and am thinking I will wet felt that. I am going to dye the fibre for it-and I will probably comb the fibres to prepare them-OooO.

I got myself some mini combs and have been spinning up some of the mohair into a laceweight yarn. I have to admit that though the spinning is enjoyable, it is more a means to an end-I have to do something with all the fibre I am combing. I love combing! I can't explain it. Maybe it goes back to childhood and brushing doll hair, I don't know. It can become very rhythmic and therapeutic anyway. I didn't want to abandon the combing to eat and sleep for the first few days for heaven's sake. I never claimed to be a normal person.

No Doubt

Hey I'm on a roll with CIP-and I even managed to get the foot high grass cut in between. Here is the 49th:



No Doubt, pencil crayon

I have often said this is the most tear-jerky song Petra ever wrote. However the last line of the chorus is one I've often pondered and I think is quite profound in it's simplicity. This particular piece is a representation of that line. I wanted to severely crop the hand so it would look a bit odd and hopefully focus on that little seed.

Oh and the line is: "After all is done we find out all we really need to have is no doubt." I thought of holding on to faith (no doubt) through many years and to the detriment of everything else. At first I wanted to draw a scrap which could look worn and old like it had been held on to through hell, but then I thought I should go to more traditional symbolism of the seed. I still dunno if I should have done that though...well I'm good at second guessing.

With completion of this piece I can now delete the 25 pictures I took of my hand with the macro lens from my camera. That will leave only the piccies of the tiles for Magic Words; since I need spray laquer I can't get to that one yet.

Send Revival...

My dedication to CIP (and dressing and bathing and getting out of bed-you know life in general) is reviving. So I am trying hard right now to crack the 50 mark, and in the last couple of days I've completed four pieces, bringing me to a so-close 47. Yes I know then I'll only have 150 songs left...I seem to have miscounted as I keep turning up with 203-206 depending on which songs I include, rather than the former 211. I don't know if I pulled that number out of my rear end or what.

I am unhappy that I will have to move into abstract expressionist territory with most of the praise songs (that is like 30 songs) as they have no real concepts to work with. PPII in particular is giving me trouble; that I have not completed a single song from that album is pretty telling.
This is one of the ones I did indeed have a concept for, abstract yeah, but still somewhat figurative if you look closely enough. I do hope Bob is not an iconoclast...well I am going to stick with my theory that he is a Lutheran which will make it alright. This was originally a sketch in a journal about total depravity (yes I wrote an illustrated book about depravity-it doesn't look as bad as you might think) of Isaiah's vision, which was quoted in the song.


Send Revival Start With Me, watercolour.

Homeless Few

I used a few techniques on this one. Inks, paints and oils distressed the cardboard. The figure is drawn on bond paper which was then oiled and covered in sepia ink in the back (the back of the drawing is the front of the piece if that makes sense). I painted the colours in inks and chalks with acrylic for the white, and also painted the other side of the piece white to bring the figure to the fore. The piece is applied to the cardboard with matte gel medium.
Though it is predominantly brown, as one can see it does include blue and an orangy-red, as per my scheme. :)
While the line "under the red white and blue" is a specifically American reference, they certainly haven't cornered the market on callousness, so I created a ragged patchwork of various red white and blue flags trying to cover and obscure the problem of inconvenient persons. Of course the cardboard signifies the way we view so many people in our society as disposable.

Counsel of the Holy

Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;
At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings...

Counsel of the Holy, Chalk Pastel.

I was apprehensive about the pastel at first because of it's inherent messyness, but its weakness is also it's strength (blendability) so I went ahead, prepared for a few do-overs. Fortunately it worked out the first time. I didn't blend the outer edges of blue, hoping to suggest the rough texture of a stone wall as Wisdom is meant to be standing at a gate at the "head of the street". I still don't know how well that worked.

I of course also maintained the complementary scheme I have chosen for the album.

My first inclination was to make Wisdom as a nude, and in fact the original sketch she is wearing only the head covering which struck me as funny and therefore not what I wanted to do. I decided to add clothing but maintain the shape of the body, suggesting a sheerness of the dress. Seemed like a good compromise to me. She holds in her hand a lamp (yes that is what it is). It is based on a specific style I have used in the past as illustration for Old Testament concepts, to suggest that wisdom is a revelation of God-as the scripture indeed is.

I've had the hankering to work more lately, so perhaps I'll add to the project more frequently. I always work in fits and starts anyway...and I still don't have any good ideas for those stupid praise songs.

Mohair, Mothere

Upon arising this afternoon (hey I'm up all night when do you think I sleep?) I found a bag of mohair in my house. Just sitting there, waiting for me to see it.

It didn't just magically appear from the fibre fairies-and I find it is good to have alternative connections, as the fairies have proven themselves to be quite unreliable-apparently it does come from a real live local goat. Some people my mom knows were shearing their older angora goat; it's hair is too old to be used for garments, so they have given some of it to me (via mama). I have been given much odder presents than this in the past (i.e. porcupine) so I appreciate it very much.


I've never worked with mohair of any type before, so I have been doing a little internet research. I found that mohair takes dyes quite beautifully which is exciting, especially since it is about time to haul out the dye stuff.
I'm not entirely sure how I will use it, though I do know it needs to be combed or carded to get the plant materials out-it has been scoured apparently. Maybe I will felt it or spin it for non-garment use. It is rather itchy, but the inner crow notices it is also rather shiny and wants to touch it anyway-it has more sheen than I expected at least.


I was looking at pictures of the goats while I was searching and now I want one, they are adorable. I've also heard they can be aggressive; they might keep annoying people out of our yard, including the hellions.

Oh and the shoes I've been waiting for finally came, that is them in the corner of the first pic. Shoes + fibre=happiness.

Athanasius out of exile...for awhile

I haven't had so much to post (as usual) as I am spending too much time lurking at other people's blogs, and not doing anything constructive. I did make a dress last night, first thing I've actually done in a while.

Soon all of my supplies for Athanasius will be here, and I can get to work on that. I bought some lovely silk noil (raw silk) for him-It is nice and heavy, and not as slubby as is normal. I am hoping the paintstiks will work overtop of it.

As I have often said, all the deadliest poisons make the greatest art supplies. To that end, I must get out the evil poisonous chrome so I can mordant and dye the underpiece. Yes I am one of those pernicious miscreants who uses chrome! That level of depravity does indeed exist. A walking testimony against Pelagius, that's what dyers who use chrome are.

Anyway, I don't think I ever posted it, but this was the compromise I came to in the design:



The flow is a bit improved, which I needed to bring the eye back to the trefoil. Plus, I still will be able to have my crop (well after a fashion). The earth will likely not be that dark; photoshop rendered it darker than I liked as it recedes a little too much. The background should also be darker if all goes well and the chrome does not kill me-this time. I already know that is how I will die-it's just a question of when and whether I'll get the latest art project done before it happens.

I don't like the way his face turned out in this rendition and will try to go closer to the original rendering when I do it. I've never used paintstiks before, only unarchival oil paint-I do hope the application goes well on that slubby texture!

I fear I may have gotten a tad ambitious with the idea, so we'll have to see how it decides to turn out.

Augustine and other things

Of all the things that have been eating up my time for the last long while, I only have one left-my final practicum. I simply can't wait until I'm finished with it all, I'm going to take a vacation and do nothing but sleep. :)

I did start up with CIP again, finishing three songs from one of their lesser loved albums, God Fixation. Yes, I am indeed still determined to finish! I got going on the main work of the piece, St Augustine's Pears (and no his face isn't that much darker than his hands; the piece is a little warped):




I recently read the Confessions, (from which I used two quotations at my dad's funeral-mom would not allow me to use Athanasius' wonderfully powerful and polemic On the Incarnation-I told her if she's still around when I die, I TOTALLY want Athanasius read! I think I'll put that in my will, as I don't want anyone making the mistake of declaring death natural or good at mine, and I will haunt anyone who says I have gone home!) anyway, I noticed that many of Bob's songs have kind of an Augustinian bent, so I decided to make this a bit of a centrepiece in terms of time and work spent.

This is an egg tempera work, based on modern coptic iconography (not as creepy as normal iconography). I gessoed the panel, mixed the paint et al myself, so it was rather labour intesive compared to what I normally do. I made some intentional "mistakes" to maintain imperfection in the piece. I think it turned out reasonably, considering that it is the second tempera piece I have completed. Tempera is a crazy behaving medium, no wonder oil became so popular when it was introduced!
I may still fiddle a little bit...

Help Me Up

The last intelligible thing my dad ever said to us. Not a profound or deep soliloquy like in the movies, just simple "help me up." So we raised the head of his bed like he liked it.
He had already said all he needed to say.

Goodbye.

(unhappy face here)

Depression isn't all it's cracked up to be. You know with so many people being depressed and on zoloft these days, you'd think it must be so great. Or at least so cool. Here's a news flash: that's so not true.

Alright, I'm not posting anything because I'm not really doing anything. Personal care. Being driven crazy by well meaning people in denial and yelling at them. But not much else.

I did get a nice surprise though, in the form of my self portrait quilt being published by Quilting Arts (in the spring issue). I'm less psyched about that than I was when I discovered my piece had been chosen to tour. Most of the people I know are more excited than I am about it.
So I thought maybe I'm a little out of sorts over everything that is happening, and that's been the state of my life for the last while. I don't really feel like doing much and I'll just have to wait until I feel better. I work too much on whims and fancies. Ah well, that's what being temperamental is all about.

I did some decos the other day and that improved my mood a little. So once the family is no longer taking over my house like a giant speading fungus of destruction, maybe I will get to work on Athanasius. I have decided how he will look and just need to get around to the actual work. I also am starting work on CIP again, after a fairly long hiatus in the project. I am working on Augustine now. It's slow going, but I still intend to finish.

Sometimes things just take a little longer.

Athanasius Contra Mundum

Anyone who knows me is aware that when the new heavens and earth have come, and I am in the City of God, I am going to make a journey to find two people. The first is Jeremiah; I feel so kindred with him. The second, Athanasius, is just one of my absolute heros.

I decided to make a piece of Athanasius on a bit of a whim, and I thought I might document a piece from the beginning to end here. So yeah I'm still in the sketch stage with this one, working out a conundrum already.
The original idea that came to me was of his face severely cropped in half, with three interlocked circles behind him. I know that is technically bad composition, so I drew the entire face. Everyone who has looked at it so far (that being mama and dad) has liked the full face version; I still want it cropped. Once I decide what I will do, then I can start working on the full version of it.
All two of you who may occasionally view the blog may weigh in if you like; which version is more pleasing to you?

Here is the full sketch (yes the left eye is wonky because I figured since it wasn't going to be in the finished piece, I could be lazy with it) :




This is how it would look cropped like I want (with some things moved to fit):



I *really* want to work a coptic style textile into the background. I am thinking I'll work a fair amount of metallics into it as well, and I just know I will swear alot at it for insisting it must have them.

Dawn of Kitsch

I love the internet! You can find some intriguing people and philosophies that you never would have guessed existed. Yeah there's a lot of junk, but there are some nuggets worthy of consideration there too.

On the creative front, I found the site of Odd Nerdrum to be a very interesting read. Not that I necesarily agree with them, but certainly an unusual theory on 'art'. I'm going to guess they aren't big fans of Kant...

The basic line of thought on what the "kitschpainters" call art is proving to be more prominent than I would have expected as I dig around. I've said it for years, and obviously so have many others; the modern and postmodern eras are pretty much over, and being assailed ever more. I suppose once the modern became the very establishment it meant to topple, doom was assured. We are in a transition period these days, and an uncertain future awaits. I don't think we can predict what changes will come yet, though it is apparent some return to skill will be part of it. Perhaps the 21st century will indeed be the dawn of Kitsch.

Quotable:
Do not allow Art to retain its moral authority over ability.

No more pictures for awhile...

I am cursed when it comes to digital cameras. Mom lost one and I just totalled the second one...in less than six months! They need to start making technology Moore-proof.

Last post of the PeTrA year

Petra's last show (as far as we know) is tonight. Aww I'm so sad-I wish I were independantly wealthy so I could've went.
Well next best thing I suppose-Listen to the best band evah one last time here.

Never Say Die, NO!

Year of the Veteran

I got the idea to do this piece for the year of the veteran as a greyscale quilt with deep red accent back in June. It took so long to get around to it because I wanted the portrait my grandma has in her front room-and I can NEVER get anywhere because of the stupid dog. I finally had to get mama to take this pic of it:



This is a large portrait of my Great Grandfather from WWI. He would have been around 25 at the time. I love this picture, I believe that is partly because he looks so much like my brother. This is the main focus of the piece. I played around with different gradations of grey and red, and then added a second photo, taken from WWII period.

My Great Grandfather served in both wars, was blown nearly to pieces in the first one and a veteran's guard in the second. We tried to look up his records once-the number of Joseph Smiths was astounding. He did not have a middle name. He truly was but one of many-so many names in a long list. In some ways I feel like this makes him all the more representative of those faceless names. Of the many, here is one. One who was real, who lived in more than a single line on the list of Joseph Smiths.

I never even came close to actually knowing him (he died relatively young-likely as a result of his war wounds) but there are long stories I could tell about him as my grandma and her sister have talked about him enough to nearly bring him back if only in one's mind.

It seems he was haunted by the inhumanity of a stupid war all his life. He was both physically and psychologically scared from his war experiences (being nearly buried alive would do that to a person) and for the most part would not speak about them. He was, as many others, shell-shocked. I added a piece of silver into the eye of the older version of the quilt, because he had a literal glint in the eye from shrapnel.

My dad remembers him as a 'dour little Scotsman' constantly giving him heck about something-but he was truly generous to a fault-would help anyone with anything. His house was marked by the hobos in the 30's as a friendly place, and my grandma remembers waking up some mornings to the floor littered with young men and boys who'd come in the night looking for a place to stay. That was how my grandparents met.
Some of us also inherited our somewhat *fiery* temperament from him... :)


Anyway, technical stuff; It ended up 17x21 in size, as I am of the school of letting the quilt decide what size it wants to be. :) the top went together quite easily. I dyed and painted the fabrics to get the right range and laid a piece of tulle over the whole thing to hold the smaller pieces in place, because fusible web is like socialism; a good idea in theory, but unless there happens to be a spare Tommy Douglas around it usually gets messed up in real life and falls apart. Anyway. If you know me (and my dear old bertha-yes I named my iron) you know what's coming. Why yes I did melt the tulle. Right on the elder face. At the binding stage. AND I was using a pressing sheet to protect it! Grrrr...

I tried to salvage it, and while I did manage to improve it, the quilt is now wonky and you can see where the new piece of tulle has been sewn in. Sigh. It looked gorgeous before that. But somehow it seems fitting that the quilt should be damaged, since it represents a man who did not leave this life anywhere near unscathed.

Indian Princess

I made this quilt about a month ago for a swap on the quiltart list. As it was annonymous, I didn't want to post until said swap was over (as you spammers might let the cat out of the bag-I know you are like giggling schoolgirls in the area of keeping secrets). Anyway, choices were revealed today, so here it is.

This was originally a design I did for a deco. It's original, but owes pretty much everything to Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh-as I've said before, I rip off the work of she and CRM a fair bit (I'm just "inspired" by them that's all).
The center is whole cloth, dry brushed with oils (the archival nuts would detest me, yes) in a palette based on the medicine wheel plus umber. It's quilted in a 35 weight brown thread, and beaded in a rather random manner. I was quite pleased with how it turned out-and also pleased that someone chose it in the swap!




Here is a detail of the girl's face, feathers and some of the beading:


She will be heading to a new home soon, and I will be receiving a cool beaded quilt in return!

I'm Famous!

Well okay, no I'm not. But I feel as if I am!

I just received an email from my favorite magazine, Quilting Arts. They are retaining my self portrait quilt to tour with them to shows along with 75 others throughout the coming year! This is the best news I've gotten in awhile.
From the wording of the email I got, my quilt wasn't one of the 50 chosen for publication, but that doesn't really bother me-I didn't expect anything but a quick return and a form letter!

EeeEEeeE*grinning like an idiot*eeEEEEeeeE!

All Over Me

Finally got to the city to get some gloss acrylic gel medium so I could finish this one! The song which inspired the last post, this is imputation. I wanted it to look like the blood was literally covering and 'clothing' an otherwise naked figure (which signifies sinfulness of course) . I think it is my favorite one so far-it was fun working with the "blood" (she says while cleaning red acrylic gel medium from every surface within five feet of the painting...).