Steampunk

This Steampunk woman grew out of my paper treatment. Just as a sculpture begs to be carved from a block of marble, she just started to appear. I treated my paper with black ink washes, drops, and sea salt. While looking at the finished prepared background I saw a long dress and a bouquet of flowers. I used what I saw and just went with it.

A Recipe for Goth Art

This assignment was one of my favorites. After a lecture on goth art each student was given a a small package wrapped in black tissue paper. Inside each package was a black cup filled with little objects, all of which had to be incorporated into our got drawing assignment. The incorporation could be very subtle, for example, a marble could be drawn into the piece or simply rolled in ink across the paper. A bone could be used as a stamp or a scratching device. So the challenge was there, but it was manageable. My cup contained a black candle, a marble, a piece of patterned velvet, a vertebrae, a fortune card with the word "Malice" on the back with an image of a creepy little guy and a snake, and a thumbtack. I decided to go with the word "malice" to create this piece. I was inspired by this drawing by Aubrey Beardsley. The woman looks so evil to me.

I borrowed her look of indifference and replaced her cello with a pair of scissors, poised to cut a snake. I patterned the snake with the pattern on the velvet. I used the bone as a stamp around the border and dripped black wax around the border as well. The black string was used as a cattail stem. The thumbtack poked a hole in her hair where I stuck a black feather to add an element of kitsch, another subculture we were learning about at the time.

Sub Genre of Choice

After almost an entire semester of assigned subculture genres we were given the task of finding our own subculture aesthetic to explore. The last 5 years of my life have been very focused on pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and everything else that comes with mothering. It is to be expected that somewhere along the way I discovered Lactivism . This sub genre felt like a good fit for this assignment. Most self-proclaimed lactivists wish to promote acceptance of public breastfeeding and ensure legal protection for breastfeeding mothers. So who are they being protected from? Anyone who is offended by a woman feeding her child. When we think of the sexualized images of women in our society it is ironic that breastfeeding can be considered offensive while skimpy swimsuits, lingerie ads and mudflap girls are so mainstream. I intended this piece to subtly challenge that irony. I created this image using color pastels. No black, white, brown or gray were used--only the full spectrum of colors.

The idea of a breastfeeding mudflap girl is not mine alone. As Paul Gauguin once said, "Art is either plagiarism or revolution". I saw a similar image on a shirt once and it really made an impression. Putting it on a mudflap on the back of a truck was my way of making it my own.

Queen of the Laundry

I gave myself a face. That was my initial intention, I really did not want to portray myself as being choked or suffocated by the endless loads of wash, I wanted to represent a more beautiful side to a sometimes overwhelming mundane task. I was inspired by the works of Julie Heffernan, particularly her self portraits wearing dresses composed of tails, dead animals, flowers, etc. Many artisits have painted or drawn portraits of "washer women" and they always look burdened or tired, never glamorous. I wanted to give a new look to an old theme. The lighting in the new photograph is more true to life. It still has some proportion issues, but I am glad I took the time to put the face in. I feel like this is a concept I want to continue with. Let me know what you think of the addition of the face.

I spent a good part of last week working on this life-sized self portrait.

 I do realize that if I stop drawing the laundry I will have more time to wash, dry and put away. But that simply does not excite me:)

Sequential Art--My First Attempt

I love the idea of telling stories using only images, or very few words. I was recently given the challenge of doing just that for my drawing class. Not only did I discover some really cool comic art out in the world, I had fun coming up with my own little story to tell. I am debating whether or not to cut this up and turn it into a book or keep it in one piece. It is 18" by 24", so it is pretty big as is. Hollin really likes it, and I am glad I was "forced" into creating something that will hopefully be of sentimental value to her in the future.

So why the birds and bubbles? It was a very unseasonably warm February day so I was sketching on the deck while the kids played. Hollin was blowing bubbles. Her expressions were so joyful, it was as if she was seeing bubbles for the first time or seeing something truly magical. While all this was taking place we were being visited by quite a few chickadees. They were hopping around on the rails and feeders. I think they were interested in the bubbles, they just seemed so curious. All those birds and bubbles just got me thinking...

So cut it up and make a book or keep it as is? Decision making is not my strong point:)

Tribal

I am taking a graduate level drawing class at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) this semester. So far, the class is amazing. Not only do I get to go out and draw two nights a week, but I have been completely inspired and exposed to new subcultures and genres. I am not going to go into too much detail here, but I wanted to share a few images. This is the first time in quite some time that I have been able to focus on my own art. Even in grad school I was more focused on teaching art. When I was teaching full-time I had little time for my own art...throw a kid or two into the mix...need I say more?

OK, here is the quickie explanation. For this assignment we were to research tribal art and then create an image with some elements of tribal art. I found an African sculpture here of a mother and child. I was also influenced by western images of the same subject matter then created my own interpretation using ink and charcoal and bubbles....yes, I said bubbles. I treated the paper with black ink bubble prints before getting started. If you look closely at the whitest parts you can see some faint bubble prints.

I like the idea of adding a twist to an age old theme. Images of a mother and child have been created by artists from many cultures throughout history. I wanted to blend cultures under a universal theme. I always visualize a very European Mother and Child portrait when I think of this theme so I started with that and added patterns for a more tribal feel. I made the mother and baby a mixed race pair to strenthen the concept that motherhood exists everywhere.

My house is covered in charcoal dust, but it has been worth it.