Abandoned

I have been fascinated with abandoned buildings since my childhood. I could never quite adequately describe why I have such a dark fascination or why I find it so inspiring in my work. Since I've joined Pinterest this year, I've become privy to many photographs of abandon places. It's awesome, but a bit puzzling as to why I'm so drawn to them.

To help me understand my slight obsession, I looked for a psychologist's point of view. I found this article and thought that I'd share:

http://io9.com/why-are-we-so-fascinated-by-photographs-of-decaying-bui-1473075079

Below are some photographs that I've taken of abandoned places...

Odes

The journey towards this series began accidentally and now is finally carrying on into production.

Last year our daughter was a bit obsessed with small tomatoes. When my husband encountered a rotting one, rather than putting it in the trash, he would often throw them into the large pricker bush in our small yard. 

Early in the summer my landlord decided to get rid of that large pricker bush. In its place grew several volunteer tomato plants, ill placed and falling off the precipice of our little yard. 

I recognized them and replanted them.  I doted over them as they initially seemed to weep and almost die from such a late transplant. I watered them several times a day. (With my schedule, this took up a larger part of my daily habits than I would have guessed.)

By late July they began to yield a little fruit. In August and September we were in tomato heaven, but urban wildlife would often eat the fruit that was just about ripe.

It became a daily activity of picking the fruit and tying the branches up higher on the posts I'd put in place and watering them.

Those knarly twisted branches began to inspire me. When the cold came I pulled the plants and dryed them flat.

Now finally "we're" all ready to begin...

The preparation to this point is beyond compare in my work. Now that we're here, it's just about getting lost in the process...

The full involvement of my heart in such a simple thing reminds me of how it felt to have my heart so fully involved in others things long ago.  So these have become in my mind the "Odes".

Tomato plant stalks embedded in wax.

(The beauty in the struggle)

A great counterpart to my ongoing Reliquary series...

Reliquaries and Odes
 

It's finally go time for the Odes...

Odd shadows

The new street lights are strangely dismantling the shadows that I have found inspiring outside of my studio for the past 7 years. They're still inspiring to me, but odd and new.

Reliquaries

"Reliquaries" are pieces of art that hold a sacred object. Often the Christian church , especially in the Middle Ages, created reliquaries. 

Most of what I have seen in person have been artwork depicting the life of a saint or their martyrdom and in some part of the piece, a window containing an actual piece of that saint's body. 

Since I first learned of reliquaries I was fascinated by them- odd, dark, potent, meaningful and to me strangely beautiful.

I am quite a sentimental person. Over the years I have collected many, often seemingly useless, objects because they represent something important to me. 

About a year and a half ago I was struck with the notion of creating my own personal reliquaries. I have finally completed the first 4, but have several more I'd like to do. While the objects contained within the paintings (some are simply embedded, others are inset and covered with glass) are not sacred in of themselves, they represent something very important and personal to me. 

All of the "objects" involved represent  a difficult time which God carried me through. These are real struggles that I faced with the goal of not only overcoming, but learning from them.  

Each piece contains a very personal story. These are literally parts of my life. Precious to me but I'm offering it all up to the viewer...

"Reliquary No.1"

36"x36"

Encaustic and natural materials on panel

Inset: vine, acrylic, encaustic and glass on panel

"Reliquary No.2"

24"x24"

Encaustic, acrylic and paper on charred wood panel

"Reliquary No. 3"

24"x24"

Encaustic, enamel, satin ribbon and ring on panel

"Reliquary No.4"

36"x36"

Encaustic and shellac on panel

Inset: feathers, encaustic, pins and glass 

Green paper leaf

About a year ago I attended a funeral for a good man who I cared very much for and had known for a long time. He went home after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer.

This green paper leaf was given out for another purpose, but I kept mine. (Was that wrong?)

I added it to the collection of sentimental and beloved objects on the mantle in my studio-that I might remember to thank God for him and pray for his family often. 

I grieve with these loved ones in my heart now, but I'm so thankful to have had my life intertwined with him and his wonderful family...

The shrine of my heart...

(There are more objects crammed into my studio than fit on the mantle.)

Self prescribed deadline

Life has been a bit a whirlwind for me recently. 

A painful episode with Lyme disease (which hopefully had a furious onslought and was nipped in the bud), wedding planning ( then thank you's and albums still not completed) and the daily life of to-do's: 

participating in exhibitions, being the main caretaker of my 3 year old, teaching art classes, working almost full time bartending and using whatever hours are left of the deep night to paint and to keep my career going...

I usually try to complete about 10 paintings every 3 months. I am painfully aware that I haven't put new work "out there" since may. But my rush to get new work out there and to keep the momentum of my career going doesn't always synch with my creativity or the unavoidable restrictions of my life. I aim to do my very best in all things. Sometimes there's just too many "things"... Including the need to rest. Arg.

Luckily sales have been stable despite all of the way lays. Amen.

With all this being said, there is a body of work that I've poured a great deal of my heart, soul, body and mind into. I aim to have my photographer out to take photos of these pieces by the first week of November. God willing, they will be strong, poignant and many.

Just keep going... 

"Getting it"

The other night, while bartending, i found myself in a great conversation with a regular who is a statistician. It was the  first time we had been allowed an extended time to talk. 

Somehow we got into the fact that I am an artist. From there some phrases were thrown into the conversation such as- "I am not artistic at all" and " I just took one art history class in college". 

When I hear such statements it is a trigger to reassure and break down barriers. In many ways I'd much rather talk to somebody who doesn't know all the fancy words and instead just speaks from their gut. With such disclaimers out of the way, they are usually more free to speak from their hearts without encumbrance. And I am eager to listen.

This man, unbeknownst to himself, knows a great deal about art and how to observe it. My medium , encaustic, elicited the most explanation- but he needed little assistence in internalizing and reflecting on specific pieces. Beautiful... 

This was in joyful contrast to recently observing another artist (who is of a more traditional bent) railing an installation art piece to a patron at an exhibit. The Patron might have been confused by the piece if they are not familiar with installation or concept art, but the guide made them dismiss it completely. I was greatly offended.

Artists who "take it out of the box" and shake things up a little are often a breath of fresh air.  Famous artists who once did that and were greatly ridiculed are now some the most praised  (Ex. Monnet, Sargent, Duchamp)

My guess is that if that patron was left alone and not told what to think, her reaction would have been at least a bit different. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the putting on of eirs in regards to art is often inhibiting.  Just because you know some fancy terms ( and yes, I know them too and will spend the next 10+ years gladly paying for it)  doesn't mean that you actually "get it".  

And whatever is to be "gotten" from my work and many others is in the unincumbered viewers gut response.   They observe without being told what to think and if it strikes them, it is in a meaningful and personal way. That is sacred in its own right.