"Loss" Drawing

This is a personal piece created September 2013 after the school year resumed.  It reflects my grief over the changes in the Special Education program where I teach, and the "emotional tone" of the building in general.

Wabi-Sabi Lotus Flower

My Wabi-Sabi Lotus tuber has arrived.  Probably weird that I'm so excited, but whatever, that's me.   I am in love with the lotus symbolism in Buddhism, twisting root rising up through the mud; beautiful flawless blossom atop delicate stem, hovers above the water surface, self cleaning leaves showing no trace of mud.

The best thing to do when you first get your tuber is to place it where you will allow it to grow, but I'm not sure where that's going to be.  One of the other ways to care for your new tuber is to allow it to float for a few days until it leave dormancy stage, plant within a couple weeks of breaking dormancy.  More detailed instructions here.  

breaking dormancy

The concept of wabi sabi, finding beauty in the imperfect, is an aesthetic which I embrace.

When I found a place called Texas Water Lilies had created a wabi sabi lotus plant, I had to order. 

Some of my personal Lotus imagery.

 

Mixed Media Photography

For this piece, I used Picasa editing to transform an image of my mother bike riding in Florida.  I wanted to create a narrative effect, with a peaceful, soft, ethereal theme that allowed the viewer to create their own story.  I used a commercial canvas printing service to print the piece, and was unhappy with the final product.  The softness and simplicity were there, but the image felt flat, too fuzzy, lacking in depth.  I decided to add subtle decorative elements to the large gray area that would not take the focus away from the figure but lend a magical or spiritual tone to the narrative.  I used watercolor paints and metallic permanent markers.

original canvas print

Coil Building: Lotus Aromatherapy Vessel

A coil building piece, this time "open coil" where you do not blend the coils together, using negative space as part of the finished piece.  Above is the leather hard phase.  This piece is a combination of form and function. It will be an aromatherapy vessel, using incense sticks,  scented candles and essential oils.    I continue to use the Lotus imagery.  In this piece, the seed pod will hold the incense sticks as shown.  The center of the piece will hold candles, with the negative space becoming activated when candle is illuminated.  The large circular "seed" forms will be fired but unglazed, allowing them to be used for essential oil diffusion.  The glazed portions of the piece are white, representing purity and the self cleaning mechanisms of the Lotus plant.

finished piece

Art Therapy Symposium Piece

I created this piece at the Art Therapy Symposium at Mt Mary College (to be University) in Milwaukee. 

It was part of a workshop that addressed recycling and rethinking old works of art we had created.  My original (old) piece was encaustic painting created about 10 years ago when thinking of moving back to Wisconsin from Tennessee.  The figure in the image is my "other" self, the one I'd left back in WI, contemplating a frozen Lake Michigan, looking across to the "me" in TN.  I think the underlying tone was a sense of loneliness or otherness in both places,and ultimately, inside of me, wherever I was.

For the new piece I used water soluble oil pastel on paper.  This was my first time using the pastels, and I really loved them.  Being a mommy and working full time makes it hard to carve out time for making art at all.  Finding media that "works" for me but is also easier to store, set-up, clean-up than oil paint is a goal for me right now.  I loved working with these pastels, but would want to use sturdier paper such as watercolor paper.

As I created the new piece, I wanted to include both "self"s and unite them with swirling lines which represented my spirit.  I also surrounded the lone figures with glowing auras representing spirit or passion.  As I worked, the focus of my current life, my spiritual seeking, began to take over the piece.  The flowing lines became the roots of the lotus plant, vital and powerful in the frozen lake, and blooming on the surface, the lotus blossom, or the reward for all of my searching.  I realized that I did not feel alone anymore, and surrounded the present self with numerous other selves.  The blossom became a symbol for my son, my ultimate reward, which in turn became a symbol for Motherhood.  The "self"s blended into the background, and the journey and the status of Mother, loving, nurturing, caring, became the focal point.  I think this piece represents above all, the treasure of my heart that is getting to be a mother to my son, the joy I experience in my current spiritual seeking, and the peace I am beginning to find within a service minded attitude.  

Ceramics Vessel 1st Attempt at Handbuilding

This is my first ceramics vessel.  I used the coil building technique~ roll out tubes of clay, layer them up in a coil, smooth the layers together.  Goal at this stage was to create a smooth vessel with consistent wall width.

leather hard stage, unfired, the snaky relief lines represent twisting lotus roots

 

This is the piece fired once then under glazed.  I actually prefer this color to the color of the final piece.  

the final piece with clear coat glaze

I am really enjoying working in ceramics, and brand new medium for me.  I am hopeful that someday soon the extra resources will appear and I will find an electric kiln on Craigslist.