Artists' Materials Part 2

Expect The Unexpected

This is the second post about the work that is currently sitting on my easel, a work that is part of 'Hidden Identities', the series.

Truly, if you expect the unexpected, you are more able to embrace, enjoy and make use of that unexpected what ever. For instance, the other day I was walking along a seaside cliff and came upon a free form mosaic someone had taken the time and energy to create.  What a treat, an unexpected visual treasure.  Do you recall last post's reference to Shirley Moore and her book You Are So You? Shirley makes reference to being open to the unexpected, encouraging you to delight in the unexpected.  I was delighted!

Seaside Mosaic by anonymous artist

As I proceed through the process of creating my current art work I have come to expect the unexpected in the form of challenges, changes, inspiration.  Working with the horsehair became a challenge because the hair is wiry, with a mind of its own, and not exactly what I had envisioned. At the end of the last post you saw the under painted canvas, ready to start receiving the bundles of hair. I wasn't exactly sure how to apply the bundles to the canvas, another unexpected situation, so I taped them on and started to slather pigment over the tape and down the length of the bundles.  You recall, the inspiration for this work came from a photo of Himba women applying mud to their bodies and hair.

Himba women.  The inspirational photo.

The hair bundles are attached to the canvas with tape and paint.

As I worked a strange thing happened.  It was almost as if I was sitting along the river bank with these unknown women, collecting and working the mud.  I was transported to another time and place.  This was an unexpected situation, but one I embraced.  

The horse hair bundles applied to the canvas.

Part of an artist's work becomes intuitive and I realized this was not the end of this work.  What started as a simple, minimalistic work began to grow.  I wanted more, more hair, more texture, maybe more of the river bank experience. More unexpected delight.

Addition of another type of hair.

I had sleek, wavy hair in my studio so it was cut and glued to the canvas, then covered with ochre pigment. The photo below depicts the current state of this project.  This is unexpected, not how I originally thought this piece would proceed but it is moving forward.  I am completely embracing the idea that this piece is going to an unexpected place.

Work in progress.

To contact me click HERE

To visit my web site click HERE

To visit Shirley's Author page click HERE

To order Shirley's book click HERE

Hidden Identities.

The Third Painting in the Series is Complete.

Tools of the Trade

30 x 24

Mixed Media

1450.

This third painting in Hidden Identities was inspired by Aboriginal face and body painting, the use of circular shapes to tell a story and what might have been used as tools to apply pigments before we had brushes.

In my last blog post I told you how after a fairly intense wind, I collected sticks that had blown out of a local tree.  These were adhered to the canvas after applying several layers of pigment in a variety of hues, ending with an off white, and after scraping through the that top coat of paint to create areas of movement and depth.

Circular shapes were painted on and covered with washes to create an impression of antiquity.

Tools of the Trade

Glazes repeating the under colors were added as well as a bold black stripe behind the central area of the sticks. Third painting in the series, completed.  

To contact me click HERE

To visit my web site click HERE

Artistic Expression.

Story Telling With Art

Peace War-War Peace

40 x 40

Mixed Media

3200.

The art of transforming ourselves with make-up and masks, a universal art form that existed long before we applied pigments to cave walls or boards or canvases has inspired a new series of works titled Hidden Identities.  This is the second in the series, Peace War-War Peace.

Detail of Peace War-War Peace

Once again I approached the canvas with an idea, the idea of representing opposing themes of Peace and War.  You may ask why?  What inspired this theme?  

The day I completed the first canvas in this series, Yellowhammer Dreams, I stood at my kitchen sink cleaning brushes and saw out the window a scattering of feathers on the lawn.  Apparently a dove had given its life to a larger creature.  Because the previous work utilized feathers I was out the door to collect these distinctly marked beauties.

Detail of Peace War-War Peace with Dove Feather.

Immediate thoughts that the dove represents peace filled my mind, causing the opposing thought of war to surface. I recalled that within my recent research about tribal face and body painting I had read one theory that Plains Indian Warriors frequently used a hand print on their faces to symbolize success in hand to hand combat.  The artistic brain started to fire.

Detail of Peace War-War Peace

Back into the studio, blank canvas onto easel, layers of paint applied with drying time between, more layers of paint, allowing the pigment to become thick and cracked, a texture that is reminiscent of how these materials dry as a result of movement of the face and body.  I cut and scored through the layers to add texture and line, then painted my hands and pressed them onto the canvas,  added raffia and the dove feathers.  Over a period of several days this work came together in an intuitive way, inspired by historical face and body painting, telling the story of Peace and War.

Peace War-War Peace

40 x 40

Mixed Media

To contact me click HERE

To visit my web site click HERE