Fed Ex Freight came today: Framing again!

The collar drawing from the Reinvented Past series are finally getting their frames.  I ordered the frames and matts assembled, making it much easier to deal with.  But they were so big, they had to come via Fed Ex Freight.  They will show later this year and next at the Hopkins Art Center and at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts.  Here are the ones I finished today:

A Reinvented Past 6, 38" x 40"

A Reinvented Past 3, 23" x 44.5"

Ash Wednesday, and the art will be hung

Good Friday: Descent from the cross

The Lenten series of mixed media pastels is finished. It has expanded and contracted: been drymounted, framed, cut and reassembled, turned into more pieces.  I will hang it in the sanctuary of Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church for  the duration of Lent, which begins this week with Ash Wednesday.

Holy Saturday: In the Tomb

The Empty Tomb

I don't actually know if I will hang all of them.  Rumors of the Messiah and The Betrayal are new today.  So new, that I do not know if they will fit visually in the space.  I will take them over Tuesday and see.

Rumors of the Messiah

 The Ash Wednesday service is Wednesday night, 7pm, at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church, 1620 East 46th St, Minneapolis.  This marks the beginning of Lent.

The Betrayal

Easter: He is Risen

Lent approaches

The large Lenten pieces went off to the framer this week to be dry mounted along with other pastels and rolls of unruly paper.  I am anxious to see what they really look like when they are trimmed, squared and mounted flat.

I've had "help" in the studio

I've had "help" in the studio the last couple of weeks: Gideon! He came to live with me just before Christmas.As usual, I need to draw as I work on sculpture.s. The drawing s are huge( 7 feet?) and lively. They have a bit of unbleached muslin cheesecloth completing them. They may have yarn in the end as well. We shall see.

Hands grasping and supplicating

The foamcore and framing material arrived today so I could officially finish this piece. The extended arm is velcro-ed on the surface so It can be removed for safer shipping and storage.

Someone pointed out to me that it looks like a cross. Perhaps it is one.

What I thought I would do and what I did

I was gone overnight on a creative brainstorming retreat with my beloved church ladies. My favorite volunteer gig at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church is the worship planning team. We plan immersive, interactive experiences for our congregation and others, to tell the stories of our people in new ways. It's installation art in service of story. Too cool for school, don't ya' know!

I got home early and thought, Yipee! I have time to work in the studio. So I promptly wasted all sorts of time, but finally got to work shortly before dinner. I thought I would be working on the blue dresses, doing and re-doing them.I'd blown the bodice on this one, you know.

But, NO! I had to work on the masked ladies in all their naked glory! There are 3 larger valises to fill. These 3 images are nearly done.

Masked Ladies and more

A productive week. I will need to pack up the working studio soon to make room for the new windows being delivered in a couple of days. Sigh...

With gesso and colored water soluble pencils on handmade paper from cotton rag, abaca, and raw flax. They will be trimmed to fit in their boxes.

Grasping hands were reaching toward..what?

Perhaps the hands are reaching for this red mystery.

Tramping on Moonlight 2 nearly finished. A bit of red, I think.

Tramping on Moonlight 1 completed.

Masked Ladies continue to appear

While on vacation, the masked ladies continued to develop. My vacations are actually periods of personal retreat, set aside from everyday responsibilities and distractions.

My retreats are time to read, write and draw to understand a developing sculpture, or draw for the sheer joy of it. Sometimes I paint. I take a drop cloth, gesso, filthy compressed charcoal, cool papers and an openness to surprising developments that can only occur in times of great peace.