Art!

I swear, coming up with a title is the worst part of putting up a new post. The sheer volume (”volume” being an entirely relative concept) of work I’ve produced since the beginning of the year is, for me, like an entire lifetime of work. I’m typically slow, given to large, involved and deeply detailed pieces that are researched like a dissertation and end up either never getting finished or somehow missing the mark in their over-complexity. Making myself work more quickly and instinctively, with very little poring over my dictionary of reverse symbolism (yes, there is such a thing, and I have two copies because it’s probably my most utilized book). This process forces me to be less literal, which I think is causing my work to be far more effective in terms of what a viewer gets from the experience.

This much work has also justified a purchase—this (I can’t find a great link, but I got the Premiere 156 Set from dick blick–yeah, 156 markers–Heaven!). I got a great deal, and at this point I feel it’s okay to buy the set. Nearly 16 years ago, as a single-welfare-mother attending school full-time and raising two small children, I took what seemed like a huge risk and spent a portion of my student loan disbursement on the 120 set of Prismacolor Colored Pencils. I still have them, plus some that belonged to my grandfather (we disregard the taint of who he was and simply marvel at their age and longevity, thank you).

I’m not one to decide that I might like a new hobby and then rush out and spend a jillion dollars on equipment/accessories before I’ve even really tried it. I sewed with a cheap Brother sewing machine (the $89 one from Walmart) for nearly seven years, replacing it only when I finally managed to actually burn out the plastic gears. I replaced it with a used White, which weighed about 7,000 lbs but had metal gears that couldn’t be ruined. I sewed with it for another five years before my mother bought me a really, really great and (to me) very expensive Husqvarna Viking, which at the time was still the second cheapest model they had. I’ve had it for nearly six years now, and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I tend to hold a healthy disdain for people who get up one day and announce that they are going to start bicycling and then go blow $6000 at the bike shop on a bike and silly shorts that they use a few times and then hide in the shed when they realize that this isn’t really for them. Entire industries are based on that idea that in order to even begin to do something, you  have to have the top-of-the-line everything. I strive to teach my students that sewing needn’t be a tremendously expensive undertaking–particularly not at first. That’s why we make duct-tape dress forms and watch sales and re-use elements of old clothes. I think they’re freer to learn and experiment when they don’t feel they’ve just spent a heap of money (theirs or their parents) on something. That’s too much pressure—who can create and learn to make mistakes without fear if they’re sweating the cost of everything?

This is a long way of saying that I have wanted that set of markers for YEARS, and I’m glad that I waited until now to get them. Because I know I’ll use them just about every single day, I know I can sell my work, and so it seems to be the right time to invest. Because it’s something that exists, not something I’m imagining that I think will be just great to do.

Without further rambling, here’s the latest from my nightly endeavors:

I got a bit more detailed than I’ve been in previous pieces, utilizing a device from earlier works (many unfinished) in adding the tangled roots. As always, I’m absolutely nuts about this one, love it more than anything else (except the one of -Ray) and can’t wait to see what I’ll do next. Finishing things is so new to me that I spend part of each evening thumbing through my manila folder full of art. Who knew that would feel so much better than a zillion half-completed and then abandoned works? Or the one or two that have been signed like this: “Guenevere 1996-1999.”

Just for grins, here’s how well this one goes with the other most recent works:

       

Holy crap, Batman, I’ve got a series going. This was the best New Year’s resolution I’ve ever made.