Draw a Bird Day 2011

April 8 is Draw a Bird Day! This time last year a dear friend of mine was fighting for her life. She won. Last year's entry was dedicated to her. This year's entry, another swallow, is a reminder to me of every step we take on our journey and to practice gratitude every day.

Coyote TOD: A Book About Death - Redux

As one of the original artists from the first A Book About Death exhibit in NYC, I recently received an invitation to create a piece for the new Ray Johnson and A Book About Death exhibit. This piece is based partly on a long-standing argument between two aunts as I was growing up, partly on what death looks like to me over two years after losing a loved one, and partly on what Coyote continues to teach me.

Coyote TOD

Lizard Humor

Folks who know me well know I've been talking a lot about Coyote lately. So much so that he really rates his own post - but that will come later. (Yes, yes, let's keep Coyote waiting and see what happens... wanna play with fire anyone?) We think of Coyote as the trickster and the funny guy - but my personal experiences have shown me many animal teachers have a sense of humor. I know a few ravens and magpies who've enjoyed endless amusement at my expense. I laugh and like to think I'm in on the joke which, no doubt, makes them laugh harder.

I was a little surprised, however, to discover Lizard's sense of humor. I had always thought of the dreamtime as a sort of serious sacred place you shouldn't poke fun at. While working on this piece in my studio, Lizard begged to differ. And I love him for it!

Come see the Art!

In a flurry of creative activity I managed to wade through the dust and chaos of my studio (currently a construction zone) and produce some new pieces. I now have four new pieces -- just in time for the Coastside Mixed Media Artists Show and Sale going on the month of June. Here's a sampler. You can go to my Flickr page to see them closer - or, hey, come to the show!

The What I Love Series #4: Birds

OK - everyone knows I love birds. But this post is a bit more specific. I'm not an extraordinary photographer. I hold my own -- barely. And I'm not sporting lots of fancy equipment. (I use a Canon S5IS - it's a hybrid SLR with a fixed lens.) Invariably, when I'm trying to photograph a bird there will come that moment when the bird looks straight at me and straight into the camera lens. And it cracks me up every time. I love when that happens.

Draw a Bird Day 2010

April 8 is Draw a Bird Day - or rather - a special day just for me! I'm dedicating this post to my dear friend Meredith who was in a serious car accident yesterday. Early sailors would have swallows tattooed on each side of their chest to show they had travelled five thousand miles. Swallows can also represent good luck, the coming of spring, and rebirth. Here's to Meredith and her healing journey.

It's All About the Love: The What I Love Series #1

Yeowzas - it's been a while since I posted. Winter was tough - but Spring is here and I'm starting a new series of posts about Love. Specifically, what I love. And for the first post of this series I'm featuring a piece I did last summer, in tribute to the passing of my cat, Rocky, entitled, It's All About the Love. Nuff said.

This is a small piece, approximately 4" across and hangs from a black cord. Here's a close up.

Coyote Road - the video!

The video is here! Check out the transformation process of the hubcap for the Landfillart project. Click below to watch or you can go directly to YouTube.

Coyote Road

The hubcap is done! Click on the image below to see a larger version.

As a mixed-media artist, I found the Landfillart program exciting on many levels. I spend a great deal of my time—in both my art and my life in general—exploring how to use or reuse “everyday” objects in ways different than they were originally intended. I am fascinated with the idea of changing our perspective about “trash”. In addition, my art is all about the exploration of our internal, personal worlds and their connection to our physical surroundings. My art is often deeply personal, working a great deal with animal teachers and the natural landscape. I love the idea of using an item like a hubcap to take these concepts to another level. I wanted to explore our relationship with our cars and, as with so many other material items in our lives, how we use them to insulate ourselves from the mess, chaos, and unpredictability of life. We have turned our cars into rolling illusions of control and safety. Coyote is the teacher in this piece—pointing out that there really is no control or safety. Life is messy. The road is messy.

This is a mixed media piece, with a rusty, “gritty” finish, using original artwork and digital images, acrylic skins, and pieces of a broken vintage mirror. The hubcap is turned around with the inside acting as a frame or nicho for the elements. The photo of the empty road in the middle of the Arizona desert is actually from a snapshot I took while on a road trip in 1982. The original drawing of Coyote was scanned and then printed onto watercolor paper using digital grounds. The title: Coyote Road.

Draw a Bird Day!

It's like they created a day just for me! That's right, April 8 is Draw a Bird Day. Otherwise known as, A Good Reason for Lisa to Share her Pen and Inks with the World Day - you decide.

What's a day without crows anyway?

Healing

I am currently healing from a neck and arm condition that's not only impairing my computer time, but also my art time in general. I dug into my archives to share this photo.

Last fall, while raptor watching on Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands, I looked down and saw this guy. Butterfly is all about metamorphosis and change... after all, everything is always changing.

Yeeeeeowch! Coyote and the blank canvas.

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

When applying for the Landfill Art project, I had to come up with a basic idea of what I wanted do with an old hubcap. No problem, I thought. After some reflective thinking and meditation I knew what I wanted to do, and that Coyote is the animal teacher for this project (such a hog for the spotlight...). So it should come as no surprise that Coyote's energy is all over the place lately.

Here's something to think about. Overall, there were an estimated 250,851,833 registered passenger vehicles in the United States according to a 2006 study. OK - now think about how many different models and makes that must encompass, how hubcap designs differ, and how many more vehicles--and hubcaps--are in landfills throughout the U.S. from older models. You get some sort of idea of the variety of hubcaps that must be out there.

So. My hubcap was a surprise. And not really what I had in mind.

I can:

1. Cram that square peg into the round hole and try and make my original idea work, godammit, no matter what


2. Complain bitterly and be a whiny diva-wanna-be and ask for another hubcap to fit my detailed specifications ("I just can't work in these conditions!")


3. Sit back, let Coyote take me where he wants me to go, and see what this particular "canvas", and the Universe, have in mind for me and this art piece

I'm voting for number 3. Good luck with that...

Currently speechless

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Crow Entendre

Here's the other piece that will be featured in the Coastside Mixed Media Artist's show in February. This piece is 9x12 and includes acrylic paint, original artwork and digital photography.

We have the technology...

At long last - here is Raven. This piece measures 24X30 and was completed in 2007. Finding a way to effectively show this piece online has been challenging so my thanks go out to Craig at Luna's Memories, and his awesome scanner. You can click on the image to see it larger, although it still lacks a little something compared to the real thing.

First, the technical stuff. This piece incorporates acrylic paints, tissue paper, digital photography, and old topographic maps. All the images (with the exception of the topo maps) are original.

This piece is highly personal to me and the process of creating it was quite a journey on technical, artistic, and emotional levels.

• Because I'm not into stealing other people's imagery and violating copyright laws, and I'm inherently cheap, I decided I needed to create the components of this piece myself. I discovered that maybe I really can paint.


• Although I had previously only worked on pieces no larger than 9X12 I was being called, loudly, to go bigger with this piece. Purchasing the canvas and taking it out to my car was a true act of faith.


• This is the piece where I first heard my own artistic voice and was able to stay true to it while serving the muse and the magic of Raven.

Oh, and another act of courage -- sharing this very personal piece with the world.

Snake and the Rule Book

Yes, it's a recurring theme in my life -- see Breaking the Rules if you need any kind of history here. Or, if you want more information you can read Truth about my struggles creating this piece. I worked on this piece for a long time. As I mentioned, there were both logistical/mechanical challenges as well as emotional ones.

Here's the other part.

On May 19, just as I was almost finished with this piece, my cousin was diagnosed with very advanced lung cancer. Somehow I managed to grab some time in my art studio between doctor's appointments, the emergency room, ICU, and vigilant advocacy at the hospital. I finished this piece shortly before she died on June 6.

We were very close, saying we were cousins and sisters (although I began to fear people would take us literally and really wonder about our family.) I was "her person" holding her hand throughout her illness. You can see her memorial video on YouTube.

Pain and grief are still very fresh right now so I can't completely articulate this, but I know her passing and this piece are connected. Snake teaches me to transmute, shed my skin, and embrace the power of fire. It's no mistake, ironic as it may seem right now, that the woman is smiling on the burnt pages of the rule book.

Hippo Birdies to Bro

The subtitle of my blog is Explorations in art, love, and speechlessness. This post is about all three.

You can't know me for long without hearing about my brother. We survived childhood together, and in our family that's no small feat. To say we're close is an understatement but I often find it difficult to tell the people most important to me how much I love them. He's a multi-talented carpenter, artist, river rafter, musician and he just turned 50. You can see his ceramics at www.sloanearts.com. Aint he something?

I made this piece for my brother, in celebration of his half-century mark this time around. This 11 X 14, mixed-media collage piece has a matte finish. The vintage photos of the mountains and digitally altered topographic map are the San Gabriel mountains, specifically Icehouse Canyon. We grew up at the root of these mountains and I think they are part of our cell structure. The photo of the two of us was taken on my 17th birthday. Hey, we all looked like that back then! Spider walked into this piece of her own accord.

Digital disclaimer: this is a scan of the unframed piece and not only is the resolution pretty poor, but it loses something without the frame. I gave it to him before I could get an image of the framed piece. If I do I'll replace this image, but use your imagination in the meantime.

Truth

It's time for real life. I've been sharing personal triumphs and artistic revelations in an "ain't I cool, tell me I'm cool" way. But I believe in nothing if not balance and the wholeness of the Universe and Yin and Yang. So here's what's happening.

I am blessed with ideas. I carry around a small notebook, and when I get a vision of a new art piece I write it down, complete with thumbnails, copious notes, and lots of options and ideas. This can be tricky sometimes since I'm usually driving. I'll be careful, I promise. My ideas usually start with a personal issue -- something I'm sorting out in my own life, etc. -- and then the visual concept starts to bubble to the top.

I have a day job. I have a family. I have several four-legged critters. In other words, my time is not always my own. I'm also an expert at finding reasons for not going out to the studio. It's butt-freezing cold and rainy. There is no electricity out there. It's dark.

Also. There are roadblocks. There are technical/mechanical issues with one piece. Things are not going as planned. (Note to self. It's time to mentally remap. If you don't know what that means, read Deep Survival. I'm half way through and starting to get it. The artistic process is not unlike wilderness survival. Perhaps that will be another entry.)

There's more. There's the fact that I am taking on an uncomfortable subject right now. It's a strong powerful vision and I'm excited. It also involves snakes - OK, just one snake - but that's enough. I am not snake-phobic, but I am afraid of venomous snakes. Rattlesnakes in particular. Really afraid. And I know how powerful snakes are. They show up in my dreams whenever I'm going through a particularly difficult transition in my life. So right now I am in the squirming stage of the artistic process. I think that comes somewhere after denial and bargaining, but definitely before acceptance.

Truth.

Animal Teachers

Here's another constant in my life -- a deep almost unspeakable (recurring theme!) passion for and connection to animals. Discovering the Medicine Cards many years ago was the gateway to a more conscious and aware journey. Most of the animal images in my art are inspired by the teachings of the Medicine Cards as well as my personal experiences. If any of these animals teaches you something different than it teaches me, that's fine. Actually, it's more than fine. Remember, there aren't enough words to describe our own internal landscapes. 200 words for snow.