Sunday, March 29, 2015

Whimsy at the End of March


Art school after hours.


Chinese Garden spying.


Hanging out.


Finger clouds.


Kickin.


Dam handstand.


Graffiti & oil.


Helpful tools.


Rusty things.


Glass window.


Sidewalk art...or not.


Sea lion near the dinghy.


Late for work...
or
Poser...
or
I wish for things.
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Sunday, March 22, 2015

My Rococo Day...sort of

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The 18th century artistic movement...
Rococo...
[originating in Paris intending to rebel against its 
proceeding dramatic and tension-packed movement,
of the Baroque style]
depicted the frolicking and whitty compositions of opulent lifestyles.


Such as this painting by Antoine Watteau c. 1718.
titled, Embarkation for Cythera (the Berlin version)
or...
The faces of jobless, wealthy youth,
basking in the sun,
no drama,
no tension,
just passing the time.


Frolicking in the present day...
Although gainfully employed
[and youthful is a subjective term]
and by far not in the highest tax category to date...

this is the face of me...

[at 0.0 miles and counting]


basking in the sun
no drama
no tension
passing the time
just like those 
swanky, frisky Rococos
engaged in passionate tryst...


except I'm riding a shiny new bike...
on the...




Not lounging...
yet.


However...
I did have a quick picnic at a local waterfall.


On my return route home...
after many steep, long, laborious hills
at about mile 19...


this is the face of me...

not so joyous...

not so frolic-like.


But...
I kept going...


and found some street art.
[in the mountains, on a river, far from urban life]


So I did a handstand...
because that's what I do.


J. H. Fragonard, in his painting, The Swing, c. 1767...
composed a classic Rococo painting
of people having fun...

[and flirting 
and painted 
through a male lens 
for 
the male gaze...
 but I won't get into that here...]


I seem to be doing something similar.
[and I'm wearing a skirt]
[sort of]


And once again...
I kept going...


Until I reach the car.

[25 miles]


At this point in my day...
all touchy-feely aside, as seen here in...
Fragonard's The Musical Contest c. 1754...


I felt sort of like these guys.


But even more so... 
I felt like this.


From my now lounging somewhat Rococo
perspective...
Sasquatch.
So not Rococo.


But of course...
he could be.
[Fragonard's The Progress of Love: The Pursuit 1771-1773]

And I'm pretty sure he's got that 
Rococo touchy-feely thing down.


Off to the hot spring I went.


Louis Jean François Lagrenée 1755
The Abduction of Deianira by the Centaur Nessus
and
Dawn Nielson 2015
The West Sky of the Columbia Gorge
;-)
[See...there's still a bit of drama in the Rococo
they aren't fooling anyone.]


Aparently Sasquatch meditates at the hot springs...


and I'm OK with that.
After a good, long soak...
I napped.

Aaaahhh...my frolicking, Rococo day.
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Monday, March 9, 2015

Vashon • Art • And Myself


Have you ever experienced somethings as one thing
and after time passes
you realized it wasn't what you though it was to begin with?
As if you had expectations 
(as simple and basic as they were)
that eventually just never measured up.

Judging it is one thing,
but that's not what you did.
In time it revealed what it truly was.
All on its own.
And it was nothing like you expected in the beginning
or even in the middle.
Nothing at all.

But in the end...



it was deeply and painfully disappointing,
but that feeling doesn't last for long...

After you move through that space
you realized you learned things about yourself...
valuable things...


the type of things that change 
the way you proceed with your life.


It's after that sad confusion
that you begin to see things more clearly.


I recently spent time on Vashon Island.


It was an important trip for many reasons.
Some reasons I didn't even expect.
They revealed themselves as 
my time there progressed.


I had a nurturing place to stay.


I even told a friend this place is my Walden.


My art was installed
after creating it specifically for this show.
It was an intimate three+ months of creating.
Then later that install evening...
I slept for eleven hours...
solid.


When I awoke
I went for a hike...


that lead to an estuary.


Pre-hike I purchased wearable art...


 by local artists.


Then I began my photo taking frenzy
of the lines and textures on the beach...


Until a new body of work 
began taking shape in my imagination.


I paused.
Then went on the hunt for more.


How to recreate some of these textures
with encaustic wax
is my next exploration.

I am finished with my current series of work
titled...
This is How I Feel You...


After experiencing somethings over the past year or so...
and learning more about myself...


I know I've completed that series
and have no further need to
spend time in that space.


However...
I will return to this place... 
in a few weeks.
I have new endeavors here.


I met amazing new people...
had equally amazing conversations...

It is an art community that 
embraced myself as an artist
as well as my work.

I consider the time and effort they shared to be
cherished.
It is those types of things
that makes life enjoyable.

And as far as those somethings that first appear as one thing
then end up being something completely different empty...

you need those moments to validate
all the those good things
that make you who you are.
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And this...played in my head...