keep going...inspiration

Today is Pablo Picasso's birthday.  Born in 1881.  He said, "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." So wouldn't it be lovely if it was that easy, but maybe that's what, why, and how we have decided to do what we do. I wanted to take a shot of this old gnarly mulberry tree that I've been walking passed and today I finally remembered to slip my camera into my pocket just to discover that the tree was being sawed down...I was upset with myself but more with the man who was doing it.  Why not let nature and time progress as it should - to it's own beat.  But, I guess living in the city that isn't as possible for trees as for those that reside in forests, woods and far from man.  Still, I wish it had turned out differently for that old mulberry.  I once had to cut a tree down, a grand old pear tree.  It had become infested with carpenter ants and soon it would have toppled, but it probably wouldn't have fallen in the right direction but instead would have hit my house.  Funny thing was, that I actually decided to ask for it's forgiveness by giving it a hug.  I swear that I could feel the soul of that tree and that it had some understanding of what was going to happen.  Still, I don't really eat too many pears these days because I remember the sweetness of those pears and miss that tree.  


But back to stitching.  I have been following along with Jude Hill's work and blog, I hope you all go there for a visit. Some wonderful stuff to see and learn and people to get to know.  She's been a huge influence on things. 


I am currently working on a piece, the piece that is pictured on the top of this blog.  The short title is LEFT...the last line is ABSENCE.  I am trying to figure out the sequence of the wording and how/where to place it.  The color is influenced by the work of Anselm Kiefer What I like about his work is that it is very textural and the fact that is is mono-chromatic.  I have seen some of his work "live" and there is a real feel of encaustic layering.  I don't look at his work from a political point of view I just look at it as material for visual reference. In that sense this image (right) reminds me a little of that color, non-color:

This caught my attention the other day.  It is a photo of water standing atop of some asphalt not quite dry.  The oil has come out of the tar causing slicks to form.  A few leaves have been caught on the surface. (a sort of mini early evolutionary period - where life began!)  All of these things added fuel to my thinking about the cloth: LEFT.  


LEFT's narrative is dealing with the absence of the other.  Who is that other - it could be anyone really but we all do feel the absence of someone at one time or another.  In this case it is a child that has been left by someone - a parent, sibling, loved one...but as the other moves away from the child, the shadow grows in size.  I've also been dealing with shadows in my work so it will be as interesting to me to see how this develops.  I did take a philosophy class in school that dealt with the shadow - darn if I had taken better notes or had a better memory....

so this is where the piece is today.  I'm as interested in seeing how it progresses as I am in the evaporation of the water and the "oil" slick and how that hole is filled where that old gnarly mulberry stood.