What use is art?

Oh my goodness, I have so much I want to share with you and so little time to write! Here are just three of them:

1. I started the Moneyflow with Mark Silver. One of the first lessons is on the Who, Who What; that is, who your business is serving (this question has ALWAYS thrown me)  and what is the problem you are solving for them.  I confided to Mark that although I KNOW art is important, the why and how of it's importance eludes me. He sent me this link for Sarah Marie Lacey. I love her answers!

One of the things Sarah has done with her art is to help someone else to achieve her dream. Through sales of her art, she raised tuition for her friend Hanna to dance again!

wiping the plate in preparation for printing

2.I'm working on the intaglio tutorial. Here is a photo I plan to include:

3.And I'm exploring using natural dyes with silk.

Girl Genius and the Steam Punk Asthetic

Steam Punk Guitar

 Kaja and Carol introduced me to Steampunk, an asthtetic inspired by the world of Jules Verne . He was the first science fiction writer, with  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth  written in the late 1800's.




As I listened to Kaja and Carol talk about this asthetic, I wondered what a Steampunk scarf would look like? What would the imagery be? What colors?

"Tilobites" said Carol, "and fossels. Ferns. They were interested in natural science" (in the Victorian age).

"Gears and machine parts decorated with delicate swirls" Kaja told me. "There was a fascination with machines, which were still handcrafted. Every part was a piece of art."

"Natural dyes"
"Browns, earth tones"

My first models for Steampunk art
--lego pieces!

Now I am challenging myself to design  scarves for Kaja Foglio and Carol Monahan that would express the asthetic of Genius Girl and the magical/scientific world of the Gaslight Fantasies. 

This is not it. These are the only gears I could find in the house--lego pieces! But I can use them. You will see.

I have not forgotten my promise to do a tutorial on intaglio printing. I'm working on it.

It's never too late for Christmas: River's Book

I had my doubts about taking a 2 1/2 year old to see the exhibit of Picasso's work at the Seattle Art Museum. My grand daughter can be such a squirrely girly, and what could such a young child get from it?

River came anyway, with my son and I. Sure enough, she squirmed and fussed through most of the exhibit--and yet, it was the pieces that caught her attention and her reaction to those she liked that made the experience rich and meaningful for me.

The one painting of Picasso's that caught her attention, was La Celestine (the Woman with a Cateract). River was fascinated by it and kept asking to go back and see it again. The other piece she liked was the video of Picasso scultping a duck from clay.

I think the disjointed figures and dull colors of most of the paintings contributed to her fussiness. Once out of the Picasso area, when her attention was on other art, she calmed. She loved the African Exhibit, especially the slides of people's faces, mostly Children with rich brown skin.

Adventures like these inspired me to make book for River as a Christmas gift. In fact, I thought it would make a good gift for the rest of her grandmothers and grandfathers as well as for her uncles and aunt.

It didn't get done in time for Christmas. Here it is mid-January and I just finally got the paper to print it on yesterday. Well, it's never too late for Christmas.

Angel Print

 I sent this little water color angel to some folks I know who are having a really rough time right now.  The caption was, "May you be cared for as though held in the arms of an angel."

 I loved her so much, I made some mono-prints of her.




One of my favorite printing techniques uses watercolor paint and mylar. I use frosted mylar, and just paint the image in reverse. Most Windsor Newton watercolor paints work just fine, but a few colors are based on dyes rather than on pigment, and don't transfer to the paper well.




I will be teaching this technique in my print class, so I needed to try out all my colors.



They all worked!



Using my baby press, I printed the images on 90# watercolor paper that had been soaked in water for about 20 minutes.

The next step is to print the lines over the images with an intaglio plate made with a ball point pen on mat board.

. 

Goliath gives up; the little guys win!

Saturday night I went to an Island wide celebration. There were cookies and croissants, cakes and wine, all free. There was music and dancing with the local Portage Philharmonic. The huge auditorium was packed with people of all ages. I saw friends I hadn't seen in years. And of course there was lots of speechifying.

Point Robinson, just a few miles from the proposed mine

The occasion? The mega multinational mining company, Glacier, was finally defeated--by citizen activists. Real people. Here is the story.

In 1997, Glacier announced in a meeting that it would begin mining the sand and gravel of Maury Island in 90 days. This would involve taking a HUGE chunk out of tiny the tiny island,  stirring up soil saturated with toxic arsenic from previous copper refining, poisoning the drinking water for residents, and destroying salmon spawning and Orca whale feeding grounds.

Sharon Nelson, who lives on Maury Island, was at that meeting.  Preserve Our Island was born when her husband turned to her that night and said, "so...what are you going to do about this?"

During the 13 years it took to finally defeat Glacier (which changed it's name more than once to avoid responsibility for the damages it caused). Saving Maury island grew from the concern of neighbors of the proposed mine to the passionate concern of people all over Puget Sound, Washington State, and even the nation. It involved lawyers, real estate people, scientists, judges, congress people and senators both state wide and nation wide.

It involved both legal action and civil disobedience. When it looked as though Glacier had won, people chained themselves to the gates to prevent the equipment from going in and out. A impromptu "mosquito fleet" of small boats  (kayaks, sailboats, runabouts, rowboats, ski boats, motor boats) showed up to prevent water access to the mine.

When the glacier received permits, the people sued the agencies that granted the permits without demanding adequate environmental impact statements. Scientist for the people proved that, in spite of Glacier's statements to the contrary, the proposed mine would heavily impact both people and endangered species.

No matter what victories Glacier won, the people would not give up. Even when it looked like there was no hope, the people kept on working to stop Glacier from destroying the land and near shore environment.

At last, Glacier saw that the people would not give up, and agreed to sell the land to the county for a park...AND...the People raised the money to buy the land and shore, which will be a nature preserve for ever. A place for Salmon to breed and for Orca whales to feed.

Thank you to Preserve Our Islands! And to all the people involved in the battle.

Overwhelm

Alarm! Alarm! Alarm! Overwhelm! Overwhelm! 
This is not a Drill!
So many things are clamoring to get done, So many commitments! How will they get done?

Focus: what is most important?
*4-6 new paintings on silk to design and complete by Feb 1st
*Print class to plan for and to test materials by Jan 14th (8 sessions. I'm teaching)
*Small book to print and distribute (to family--late Christmas gift)
*The Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum--can't miss that!--before Jan 17th
*Postcard to design and order for my next show, by...yesterday?
*Starting a program on Business Think in two weeks, and another in three.
--and then I went and scheduled stuff during my studio hours! Important stuff, but...but...when do I get to actually work on the projects I've committed to?

Take a breath.

 Breathe.

Put my work in the hands of the Divine.

Connect with my mission, to experience the Joy more deeply and to share it through my art and teaching.

Trust. Trust that the important work will get done, and it may or may not be the work I think is important.

Give thanks. Thanks for my life. My family. My home. Thanks for that Joy and Compassion that finds expression through my work. Many, Many Thanks.

A Beginning to the New Year, 2011

The new year has begun and new visions are being born! New paths to follow, new adventures in the offing!

May this be  your most joyful year yet!