I'll Be Your Mirror

"I'll Be Your Mirror"
I finished this memory mirror a couple of months ago, but I was having a bit of a problem coming up with a title for it.
I don't know about you, but my feeling is that a piece is not 'finished' until it is titled and signed.

A few days ago,  I settled on the title "I'll Be Your Mirror" because It reminded me of a a 60's song by the same name written by American rock musician songwriter Lou Reed.  Before going out on his own solo career, which spanned several decades, Reed was a guitarist, vocalist and principle songwriter of the Velvet Underground for whom this song was written.

Below are the opening lyrics of the song:

     I'll be your mirror
     Reflect what you are, in case you don't know
     I'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset
    The light on your door to show that you're home 

 

 Coincidentally Lou Reed passed away this week, he was 71.  

 

Things Remembered . . .

 "Things Remembered . . . "
Why do we remember some things and forget others?  Why do some moments in our life come rushing forward, without notice and in a flash with the simplest of prompts? 

Sometimes, when walking past the neighbor's flower garden, the fragrance of marigolds immediately transport me back to me to my first job in a nursery at age 14.

The minute I see or hear the sound of a vintage Volkswagon Beetle, I feel myself driving my very first car, a 1973 VW Bug.

Smells, sounds, and things all have the ability to flood our memory with moments in time, long ago forgotten.

This piece reminds me of the amazing ability our minds have to bring back those memories. The moments are ours, we possess them, but many of them have become faded.

Wooden box lid, collaged with hand made papers, and overlaid with sewing pattern tissue.  2x2-half inch wooden blocks covered in magazine images, maps, vintage sheet music and dictionary text, are embellished with bits and bling.  Each block creates a tiny vignette, a treasured memory of things remembered.

Long Ago, and Far Away . . .

 

 "Long Ago and Far Away" "●
   This is a sweet little assemblage I made just for me.
   The first few years of my life were spent on a farm in south Texas, I was the youngest of 7 children, and although the memories have become faded, I do have a few mental pictures that are clear and crisp of my days on the farm.
   People often ask me "how long have you been making this kind of art?" in response, I like to reference my earliest memories from my days on this farm.
   I remember that at age of 5 or 6, I would often crawl under the farm house, (1) to get out of the hot Texas sun, and (2) to play quiet solitary games, creating imaginary kingdoms in a silent, secret place.
   (3) Additionally, under the house, I would often find many important treasures, to include bits of pottery, marbles, keys, coins and other forgotten bits, left behind, I'm sure, by previous residents of the old farm house. I loved collecting these treasures and keeping them in glass jars. I loved looking at them, and I loved playing with them.
   In another memory, I remember, making 'mud bricks" (like mud pies only square). I remember, too, that I would sometimes 'embed' my treasures into the mud bricks and set them out in the sun to dry. And as I recall, they were BEAUTIFUL!

Early assemblages?  I think so. . . so when someone asks me, "How long have you been doing this kind of art" . .  . I always say, "I've been making assemblages all of my life . . ."

PS: Yes, that is me, the short girl in the middle . . .

Girl With A Pearl

"Girl With a Pearl" ●

An exhibit of Dutch painters was recently at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.  Included in the exhibit was the painting by Johannes Vermeer, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and, as the name implies, the artist uses a pearl earring as a focal point.

This is one of the best-loved paintings in the world . . . and it is a mystery. Who is the model and why has she been painted? What is she thinking as she stares out at the viewer? Are her wide eyes and enigmatic half-smile innocent or seductive? And why is she wearing a pearl earring?

The book in this piece is a contemporary novel by Tracy Chevalier by the same name

Besides the book, this piece also includes a mannequin head, clock gears and a mainspring, gold acrylic paint atop vintage book text, vintage sewing patterns, and of course a pearl earring.

Living In Awe

 

 

 

 "Living in Awe"  •
A year ago or so, I worked on this piece, and when it was finished, I loved it. It was bolder than anything I had done before. The elements that came together in this piece seemed a bit more audacious than the 'bits and bling' I normally incorporate in my work.

To name just a few of the elements, this piece contains parts of license plates, a bullet belt, guitar tuning keys that are strung with green fishing line, car emblems, a coat check from Madrid's Del Prado Museum, a hologram, and bicycle chain . . . . all set on a black background.

As  I said earlier, I loved the piece when it was finished, because it was so different from any of my other work, but I was a bit cautious about bringing out in public.
As is typical for me, I was under deadline, and in a few days, a new show needed to be hung in the gallery, so after snapping a few quick photographs, I took the piece to the gallery and hung it thinking I would come back and take more photos at a later date if needed.

The very next day, the piece sold! It was gone. That's the good news.

However, to my chagrin, when I looked at the images I'd taken of the piece I was disappointed, feeling they were mediocre, and didn't really show the finished piece well. Time passed and I forgot to post about it on this blog.

One of main the reasons I decided to maintain a blog was to be able to keep track of the work I produce. So here I am, a year later, posting this piece titled "Living In Awe". . . because most of the time I AM . . . .


have a great weekend!

Alligators Always Dress for Dinner . . .

 

"Alligators Always Dress for Dinner" ●

This is a commissioned piece for a customer who fell in love with a previous "Alligators" piece, that had already sold.  I worked on this piece over the last couple of weeks, knowing exactly where I was going with it . . .  until I got to the alligator . . . the one I had was the wrong color . .  so I opted for this little guy . . .  he is more of a gecko . . . a distant cousin of the alligator, but he works!  

Especially in his colorful garb, and with his articulated tail!

For this piece, I used a cabinet door from Habitat for Humanity, and covered it in tissue papers, and bits of other papers and ribbons, then over-laid with sewing pattern tissues.

The title is borrowed from a children's alphabet book, by the same name, of vintage photographs by Linda J Donigan, Michael Horwitz.

Kisses and Wine . . .

"Kisses and Wine" ●
Living in 'wine country', I love all things 'wine'.  
A couple of years ago, we were wine tasting at Smith-Madrone Winery, located on the border between Sonoma and Napa counties. 

In their cellar, this quote written on a chalk board that the owner told us came from a bar somewhere in the mid west, caught my eye, and I knew it had to be captured in an assemblage piece.

"We are all mortal, until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.

 ~ Eduardo Galeano

Burgandy Scrabble tiles with gold letters, a bamboo frame and bits of broken tempered glass create this piece of Sonoma County 'wine art'. A side wood panel from a wine crate, is covered in hand made papers and overlaid with sewing pattern tissue. An articulated wine bottle brooch, with a tiny corkscrew, wine glass and grapes, accent, while a beautiful green 'feather' butterfly, finish the piece.

Behind The 8 Ball

"Behind the 8 Ball"
When someone is in a bad situation, or in a losing position, this is the phrase that comes to mind.  The phrase comes from pool (or billiards). When the cue (white) ball is behind the eight (black) ball, a player usually has no shot.
That's all.  I thought this would make a good art piece.

Vintage Japanese porcelain jewelry display hand found at the flea market and a well used eight ball are the focus. A pair of black dice and 2 crystal stars finish the piece.
The box is a mid century gentleman's valet case with the original velvet lining intact.
The back is collaged in a poster found in Pt. Reyes Station CA, that reads: "Face to Face Laugh Now Laugh Later". The poster was over-covered in gold acrylic paint and sealed with a varnish finish.
I think it turned out very cool.

What do you think?

First Kiss

"First Kiss" ●

"We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine." - Eduardo Galeano 

Living in Wine Country, this has become a favorite quote.  

A nicely beveled piece of wood found at the flea market was used as the substrate for this piece. To snugly hold the scrabble tiles, I created a frame using wooden chop sticks. The entire frame is covered, front and back, in vintage text with a tissue overlay. A copper butterfly finishes the piece.

Rex, the Wonder Horse

 

This is Rex, the Wonder Horse. 
Rex is a Moyle horse.

Moyle horses are both fascinating and strange. They are a very rare, very special breed. The exact origin of the breed is unknown, but is believed that in the mid-1950's a fellow named Rex Moyle from Idaho, bred horses with great endurance with wild Mustangs to create this amazing and unique breed.

The most notable, and fascinating aspect of this breed, besides having great endurance, is that the horses are marked with small horn-like knobs on their foreheads.
This is my version of this very special horse. However, instead of 'horn-like-knobs', my-Moyle has fully developed horns . . . just to make the point.  

I named him "Rex the Wonder Horse", after Rex Moyle, and Rex Allen who became known as the "Last of the Silver Screen Cowboys" and his "Wonder Horse, KoKo".
(I know, I know . . . it's complicated, but Rex seemed to fit)

A wooden horse covered in bits of wallpaper from the 1920's, and embellished with bits and bling, making him a beautiful carousel horse. The wooden dowel that suspends the horse is topped with a gold knob and is covered in colorful ribbons. The dowel is attached to a vintage cutting board that has been covered in tissue papers. A metal measuring tape with beautiful patina, outlines the board's outer edge. The board sits on 4 colorful wooden beads attached on its underside.

If you are interested in more info , here is a link to MoyleHorse 
And this is a link to a photo of a horse with 'nubs' for horns

"Pig"

"Pig" ●

Never try to teach a pig to sing

it wastes your time

and it annoys the pig 

I have heard this quote repeated many times in my life and it always makes me laugh.

In putting this piece together I wondered what the origin of the saying was. Many online sources say it was science fiction writer Robert Heinlein who coined the phrase.  Others, attribute it to, of all people, Mark Twain. Still a whole group of other sources insist it is urban folklore.

Although I am a strong believer that we can do most anything we set our minds to do, I also believe that there are some things one cannot change no matter how hard you try, and that continued efforts might cause the subject of your efforts to revolt. 

Teaching a pig to sing might be akin to trying to teach a cat to fetch. 

At some point we all need to know when to accept the nature of things, and understand that there are some outcomes we can influence and bring change to, and that there are other things that are not capable of being changed or altered.

With that said, I will add that all is not lost . . . my husband did teach our cat LUCI to fetch.
Well sort of . . . Luci fetches only when he is in the mood to fetch  . . . but that's a start.  

 That makes me laugh, too.

 ***

A wooden game board is covered front and back in bits of papers and tissues. Scrabble tiles spell out the quote, and a ceramic pig shows a little attitude.

Stars and Stripes

"Stars and Stripes"
I found this lovely, rustic wooden box with an oval opening at a barn sale last year.  It seemed perfect for an altar, or a day of the dead piece or one of my usual pieces using a porcelain doll's head.

After many months, none of those ideas came together at the studio. A week or so ago, I started working on a piece that involved this box and a wooden rabbit, who seemed to fit perfectly in the box.

 Last week, I got a chance to spend a few days in San Francisco visiting galleries and museums, looking for inspiration. At the Martin Lawrence Gallery on Fisherman's Wharf, I saw the work of artist Robert Deyber, whose paintings are humorous and delightful.  He is probably best known for his literal visual portrayals of cliches, euphemisms and idioms from the English language. I invite you to take a few minutes and check out his work, I think it will make you smile!

Although I absolutely enjoyed viewing his artwork, I was more inspired by the titles of his pieces, the "cliches", "euphemisms" and "idioms" he uses to inspire his own work.

All that to say, is that when I got back to the studio on Monday, this piece sort of made itself. The wooden zebra head fit perfectly (well sort of) inside the wooden box with the oval opening. The crystal stars, and background zebra paper finish the piece . . . it all came together without effort - and this is the result. . .  my own "Stars and Stripes", just in time for 4th of July!

What do you think?