following your nose -kes

the evolution of an artistic work has probably as many possibilities as there are human personalities in the world creating. its been a little over a year since this blog emerged. the first real activity i described was to celebrate the year of the wood horse. you can find that posting here.

http://theflawedmystic.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html

its amusing that almost to the day, a year later, there is a need to tell how and where the origins of that piece came from. here's the back story:

intention-make a large silk painting, spending time remembering the equine friend no longer part of my life (no crying allowed, he's not dead...but the piece is more significant than doodling).

step 1->prepare the silk by washing to remove the fabric sizing

step 2->iron dry

step 3->draw horse imagery on paper to work from. the head says its going to be a Baroque steed in all its power, fire, and glory. he has spanish bloodlines in him.

step 4->the images [from Jan 2014 archive post] are what comes out and well, they suck. 

[s]he takes a step back and slowly realizes that the whole thing is wrong: "It's not what I meant...not the vision I had"....just like Gulley Jimson in the movie 'The Horse's Mouth'.

step 5->how to fix the creative dilemma was to give up. not the typical modus operandi from one who enjoys the fight. midlife crisis is about learning how to go about the day differently. the art was by no means the crisis, the horse was. if i can let a horse go, i figured why not let go of my right handed drawing controls too. let the left hand drive. years ago swapping hands started as relief for a very tired limb. interesting metaphor as the metaphysical rationale was more than apropos.

step 6->sit on the floor with a sharpie in hand and many nice big white sheets of paper. waste it even.

the drawings came out in the order presented left to right and going down, as shown below:

  

 

on these last two above, the buck's angular marks and the doe's soft curvy lines peaked my interest. something to follow. below is what happened next. two more deer images appeared, each on their own pages, like the individual ones above.

using a separate, big piece of nice printmaking paper, a tree scene came out next. i remember i was thinking about birch trees. i like them very much. there is a special piece of private land in VT that i rode the horse through. its high up on a hill, the field is full of birth tree clusters that are like sentry between the living and dead. i liked the deer so much i just cut them out and glued them on top of the tree imagery. then i drew a moon...a year later i still have no idea what the funky shapes are for. but i really like them.

so in the end i was remembering the horse after all...with me, in the birch trees. 

i just realized this now. thanks Gail, for asking about it. 

the finished piece is called ' patronus '.  it is sewn onto sumac branches-they look like fuzzy deer antlers. fabric elements are couch stitched on the front painting layer. there is a second painting sewn underneath. embroidered on the bottom left corner are the word's 'lift me'. the thread has a tail, for the viewer to lift and reveal the under layer. JK Rowling fans know the meaning of the word 'patronus'. it is a charm/spell that is able to conjure an incarnation of the caster's innermost positive feelings, such as joy or hope. enjoy.