Sometimes I wonder how art ever happens in my messy, jumble of a studio where no media has gone untried. A strategy is that if I plan ahead, I can be productive. One morning, the 5"x7" plate was my test space for color layering. Things were working! One print after another felt like good things were happening. I pulled out my large 16"x20" plate to try these same methods and nothing doing! The ink wouldn't roll - the colors wouldn't blend - each print felt like a hot mess mirroring my messy studio. I did what one is supposed to do under these circumstances: I stepped away and didn't go back for a few days. Sitting on top was this:
Heart of the Garden delighted me instantly with color and movement. How could I not see this at the time?
Another strategy is just to wing it. No ideas, no pre-planning - just start rolling ink and making marks and see what arrives. Images and ideas come quickly. A potential path opens and leaves lots of prints along the way.
This was my first attempt at this composition I call Corvus. The organic and geometric shapes are in dialogue but not much is getting said. How do I make these two talk?
Whoa! Different, but the two side appear to be talking better.
The composition gets tighter as does the dialogue. This was my final thought on this theme for now.
Elephant Mountain is in the ghats of southwest India. There is a chocolate farm surrounded by a wildlife preserve full of elephants and tigers. Sounds like a delightful vacation. Woven in with the chocolate wrappers is a Rupee.
The last few weeks I have been practicing a three-minute meditation right before bed. It helps me to sleep and stops my thoughts from churning. Since the Ukrainian invasion, I allow myself to think of the suffering and uncertainty that many Ukrainian's are experiencing. I allow myself to think of President Putin's threats of a nuclear attack. I then allow myself to think of a healing wish that travels over and blankets the world. Add your own healing wish and hope that it spreads. Donate here to help, it's the only other thing we can really do besides wish.
