Curious evolution of a work on canvas

dissofmem2Where do art ideas come from? Darned if I know – Here’s a piece that invented itself from 12 clay face slabs I made last week just because I didn’t want to throw away too-dry clay. The piece is called “Dissolution of Remembrance” because forgetting the names of objects and misplacing small items worries me, and I know I’m not alone in that.

I used these unplanned clay pieces to address this worry through an art piece. I arranged the fired earthenware slabs in an almost irregular pattern on a 24×30″ canvas, then sewed and adhered them in place. First came a wash of walnut ink (of course). Then I added some red oxide acrylic paint – here’s what it looked like at that stage – kinda disjointed.

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I tried to make it more cohesive with various colors of paint, attempting to suggest a progression of memory loss, and finally got the idea of putting rusted wire inside each head – it didn’t really work. Suddenly, I remembered talking about cheesecloth in my last post, and added a layer of cheesecloth over the whole composition to unite the elements. That was a good decision.

After that, there was lots of action going on with matte medium and fabric stiffener. Next came a thin coat of encaustic wax. Finally I added branches to allude to the branching dendrites in the brain. Science occasionally comes in handy 🙂

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The last element, silk cocoons, was another accident – the plastic bag of cocoons was open on the table nearby and the silk kept catching on the branches – well, duh – how obvious was that? So, on they went. Symbols of hatching new thoughts?

I’m not sure “The Dissolution of Remembrance” is completely finished, but it’s been amazing to watch the process as both the maker and the observer. Now if I could just remember where I put it –  – – only kidding. I think.  dissofmem1

Personal adornment – shards and cocoons

How do I adorn me? Let me count the ways . . .well, the participants at Sunday’s workshop created some fabulous art-to-wear magnetic pins. Their challenge was to use small earthenware faces which they custom-finished and combined with papers and ephemera to create a mini-collage on a 2.5″ base that could be framed or worn. Each one was beautiful, each was different – take a look.

For myself, my new favorite adornment is this art-to-wear neck piece by Turkish artist Ugur Daskan. It came in yesterday’s mail – and I loved it the minute I unwrapped it. Light as a feather, it’s made from silkworm cocoons, paper ribbon, and woven cotton/silk. I photographed it against a lamp so you could see the translucency. You can see more of Ugur’s unique work which combines leather, knitted paper, crochet and fiber at her Etsy shop.

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I am so grateful for the many wonderful artists in this world . . . oh, and one of them is Carol Mylar, who won the Friday Freebie book, Warrior Goddess Training! It’s a little late for your birthday, Carol, but it’s on its way.