Posts Tagged ‘Art’
February 21, 2012
The Wind Horse, shown on the the imprint of a prayer flag is a luck-bringing symbol. This horse can bring good luck, life force, health, influence and merit. On his back is the Flaming Jewel, a spiritual warrior, capable of fulfilling all wishes. The spiritual warrior is carried past the many obstacles leading into the sacred world. The word for Wind Horse (Lungta) has come to mean luck.
I found the wood block in Thimpu, when I was snooping around the shops near the contemporary art school. Using printers ink, and stamps on mulberry paper I made up some small pieces. I started to make an limited edition of five Artist’s Books on mulberry paper. They are scrolls about 62″ high. Now there are only four. I tore up one last week while working on an idea. The torn pieces may be incorporated in the finished product. This print shown above may be added to one of the scrolls. It’s a work in progress. (As usual click on the image to see it bigger)
Tags:abstract painting, animals, Art, Artist Book, Bhutan, poem, Prayer flag, Shopping, Thimphu, Travel, Wind Horse, woodblock print
Posted in Abstract Painting, Artists' books, Bhutan, Paintings, Poems, Travel Drawings | Leave a Comment »
February 17, 2012
I made the little box thinking it could be a container to hold stamps I picked up in Bhutan. The images remind me of Bhutanese folk tales. (click on the image to make it bigger)
The Bhutanese folktale called Four Friends is about an elephant, a monkey, a rabbit and a bird. They all learn to help each other by living together harmoniously. I should paint my impression of this folktale and send the finished product to Congress; a gift from an American. President Obama, The House of Representatives, the Senate, the Ameican people; It’s you I’m writing about.
Tags:american president, animals, Art, Artists' Book, Bhutan, Congress, elephant, Folktales, House of Representatives, Obama, Painting, the American people
Posted in Abstract Painting, Animals, Artists' books, Bhutan, California, Nevada, New York, Seattle | Leave a Comment »
February 15, 2012
I bought pint cans of oil based paint from City Paints. I made my stretcher bars, stretched my own raw canvas, even used rabbit skin glue. My brushes or hands were loaded with oil paint. The five or six foot canvas would be on the floor. I’d tear into it putting down how I felt. Phillip Guston was my hero. Elizabeth Murray and Jennifer Bartlett were my classmates. We painted and talked about Mark Rothko and Roy Lichtenstein while we listened to classical music and jazz. And then, we painted and we talked some more. When I was up in front of the graduate review board they asked me to talk about Andy Warhol and his Brillo soap pads. I think I was into Matisse and Joan Mitchell at the time,
That’s what I wanted to do today. I wanted that big canvas on the floor. I wanted to let it all out. Instead, I looked around, found some old scrolls I was working on about Bhutan. They weren’t precious anymore. I took them apart, reassembled them, tore them, just played around with them for awhile. What am I going to do? Just show up. Just go to the studio.
I don’t know where anything is in my studio. I got sick, the ceiling needed to be restored big time. Friends moved everything out of the way. The ceiling got done. I had the old broken linoleum floor tiles taken up while we were at it. During radiation I kept drawing, then transformed my studio into a gallery where I exhibited my 80 Drawings in 80 Days. Now that’s over. Still, I haven’t put everything back. I can’t find anything.
Something is brewing. I don’t know what. I think painting is trying to come back. The Yuban coffee can held my brushes in college. It still holds some of my brushes. The other day my daughter said, “In your will I want you to leave the Yuban coffee can to me. When I was a little girl I thought the picture on the can was you, mom.”
Tags:abstract artists, abstract expressionism, Art, Bhutan, California, Painting, pop art
Posted in Abstract Painting, Art and healing, Artists' books, Bhutan, California, drawings, jazz, Paintings | 10 Comments »
February 12, 2012
Devotion
Temple dancers shadow smoke,
pierce woven sunlight.
Blessings balance fierce tongues:
worship spills saffron song.
Priests prepare flowers and cloth.
Fresh flowers and food are brought.
Clanging, shouting, dark and light,
sweet sandalwood, incense burnt.
Tradition wrapped crowds chase
autumn silver throne.
Lord Shiva and Parvati are put to bed.
Tags:poem, drawing, Art, Artists' Book, Shopping, India, Parvati, Shiva, Lord Shiva, Hindu, Krishna, Rama
Posted in Artists' books, Paintings, Poems, drawings, India | 5 Comments »
February 10, 2012
Mitered bamboo picks
stitch leaf plate.
The cow is served dinner.
(click on the image to make it bigger)
Tags:animals, Art, Artist's Books, Business, Cows, Hindu religion, Home, India, Jaipur, poem, Shopping
Posted in Animals, Artists' books, drawings, India, Paintings, Poems | 1 Comment »
February 9, 2012
Brass
nose rings
neck rings
earrings
fingers and toes
silver pins in her hair
market day
(click on image to make it bigger)
Tags:Art, Artists' Book, drawing, Indian purse, Painting, poem, Southern India, watercolor
Posted in Artists' books, drawings, India, Paintings, Poems | 4 Comments »
February 8, 2012
An “artist’s book” is a work of art, not just a vehicle to contain a story and communicate non-visual ideas. Different media are used in a unique way to create a book-like object. These books are puzzles. They are undefined. The viewer and the artist make up their own story using clues from the book-like structure. Image, text and structure are equally important. It’s a book!
This book is titled ‘Library Selection’
I took apart a case of wine and assembled the pieces in a new way. The wood dividers became the pages holding words pertaining to wine, A to Z. The definitions of the words are on the back each page. By reassembling the original cutout wood that cradled the bottle, I created a round hole for the bottle of wine.
Library Selection 1998
Stamped wood wine shipping container
1987 Trefethen Chardonnay
12 x 13 x 12 inches size
Tags:Art, Artists' Book, California, wine
Posted in Artists' books, California | Leave a Comment »
February 7, 2012
(click on the image to make it bigger)
Behind the Veteran’s Building 2001
Handmade paper using plant life from Napa, CA. pen and ink, watercolor,
Parchment paper, ink jet print, stamps, raffia, plastic
7 x 5 inches
It’s really easy to make your own paper. All you need is some scraps of paper, a blender from the kitchen and a framed screen. You’ll need some felt to sop up the excess water. After collecting leaves and tiny flowers I made the pulp. Before the new piece of paper was dry I inserted straw for a tie. One day when my husband and I went on a hike, I jotted down some notes along the way. When I made this book I just just left the notes the way they were, made the font really tiny and printed it. The grasses and tiny flowers were collected during the hike. This kind of handmade book is called a single signature book, an Artist’s book.
Tags:Art, Artist Book, California, Flowers, Napa Valley, Papermaking
Posted in Artists' books, California, drawings, Paintings, Poems, Travel Drawings | 4 Comments »
February 6, 2012
Portrait
Looking at the names of sketching strokes
in Chinese art, I see the country:
Ancient wavy silk thread
String
Iron wire
Moving cloud and flowing water
Leech
Nail-head, rat-tail
Wedge
Broken reed
Olive
Date pit
Willow leaf
Bamboo leaf
Shaking ripple
Earthworm
(click on images to see them bigger)
Tags:Art, Artists' Book, China, Chinese brush strokes, drawing, Painting, scroll, sumi ink
Posted in Artists' books, China, drawings, Paintings | Leave a Comment »
