Since we still have a week of Mercury Retrograde, and have just emerged from a rough eclipse season, I thought I would back-up a bit and provide updates on past blog projects.
The scrap quilt I mentioned in Full Throttle Inertia is finished. I had no presumptions about what it should be, and enjoyed watching it become what it is. I especially enjoyed the quilting pattern I designed for the white space, based on a beaded curtain. I also drew bird silhouettes and the middle section has quilted birds flying around it. For the scrap squares I just stitched in the ditch around each square and color strip.
The clear plastic orbs I created in Interlude – The Traveling Eye, part 1 have been surprising. They keep exploding! I have them strung and hanging where an air vent blows on them, and one night I heard a funny sound (I was asleep.) In the light of morning I discovered the one that had moss in the middle had popped open, and peppered everything below it with moss bits. The empty orb blew out a week later, also in the middle of the night. I repaired both with clear packaging tape, hoping the added width and strength would be the solution. But no. Weeks later, POP POP, and there they went again. I repaired them again, and now they sit a far distance from the vents, and are holding their own.
Early on, in Making Use of the Negative Space, part 2 I decided to try creating a living painting, and so I got a canvas and each day for a month I painted for 10-20 minutes, on that canvas, creating ever evolving scenes. It had been awhile since I had painted in that way so I set a few parameters. Using acrylic paints, I started with an ocean and sky motif, mostly allowing for making an emotional representation. A slight story started to emerge, about a being in a boat. So my painting of scenes over time and on the same space of the canvas took on an animation aspect, of progressive images building a story. Each painting session I would take 4 or 5 photos as I painted and then I made a slideshow of it. The slideshow flowed poorly; I’m sure our library has design software I can use to create smoother transitions. When I get that figured out, I will post the video.
Some unexpected fun from this project is that I often held the canvas in my left hand as I painted (I don’t have an easel.) During the turbulent ocean scenes I tended to use stabbing, rough brush movements, and it was a hard bristled brush. My canvas became a drum! My act of painting created its own soundtrack, and the sounds I could make began to guide what ad how I painted. It was exciting! Below are a few of the stages the painting has gone through.
My external life has made demands on me this summer, so my inner life has been nesting and resting. I hope to return to some productive creativity and thoughtful commentary soon.
thedawnofcreation 