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...

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Not lounging...

yet.

However...

I did have a quick picnic at a local waterfall.

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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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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...

Croppings of Eleven Things

I have created a body of work

containing eleven individual pieces of art.

A home brew of 

encaustic wax medium 

(beeswax and damar crystals) 

is the main material.

Some contain hand-spread plaster

mixed in an old cereal bowl...

some have metallic leaf

pressed into their surface...

a few embody photo copies of

trees and crows in the Columbia Gorge...

glassine was used with three

pieces to achieve a different

textural quality...

most have home-rusted

tie wire...

oil paint and pigments...

some are on wooden substrates

I already possessed and the large-scale

pieces I build the panels from scratch...

each one is different from the other,

yet some have similar components,

indicating they could be diptychs and triptychs...

the story of my imagery

spans from hanging out my bedroom window 

attempting to capture crows in deciduous winter walnut trees

to

pulling off on the side of many roads along the Columbia River

trying to catch that moment where the dense fog lurks around the trees.

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Artist selfie

layered with

two images

from above

plus a lil sumpin-sumpin.

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and this...

Wrinkle Free & A Crocus Invasion

I blew out all wrinkles

and added a few layers

of my recent art...

therefore I have no nose.

The Axon of Repose installation 

near the side creek 

is deteriorating nicely.

A crocus invasion of space.

A Fibonacci wonder.

[excellent with hummus]

Clever signage...

for a waxing house.

One of several new

encaustic pieces

produced this weekend

while on an art making binge.

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My long studio weekend go to...