Silenced

It may or may not be part of a series, but this mixed media pastel with hand stitching is the first, I think, of several that speak to  the systematic silencing of women over time.

The image arose in some doodles one night and scared the crap out of me.  It occurred again.  It was so authentic and so scary that I knew I had to pursue it.  The DIY cruciform stitching is intentionally crude.  As I was drawing this face, the symmetric cruciform of the body appeared.  I decided to emphasize it with the stitches done in waxed bookbinding linen thread.  The crudeness of the thread and the elongated limbs of the cross seemed to echo hundreds of years of silencing women of faith...seems to reflect the crude, hamfisted denial of the power and the wholeness of women.

And, I found the frame for $18 at an occasional sale today!

Ophelia backgrounds done!

Today, the final backgrounds came together. They will be burnished down soon. Small amounts of drawing remain... A leg here, a shadow there and the pesky problem of the faces. They need to remain black, but still recognizable as faces.

The frames are slightly back ordered.

Progress report on Ophelia

I found pinkish pillows at a moving sale today  that seemed to belong to Ophelia...once I dye them a bit.

Today I was extremely tired and achey, but went to the studio anyways.  I perked up there....especially since I was able to get the air conditioner reset to cool!  Had to take the ladder over to reach the unit.

I worked on the backgrounds of these three pieces, layering hair images under the flowers to mute the colors a bit.

The layers are not yet committed....I use PMA, positionable mounting adhesive, which really does remain largely repositionable until you burnish it down.  The surfaces are not yet burnished.



With a certain degree of terror, I ordered 10 frames for my ladies.

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.

More small works in process

Squeezed in this afternoon, before the party begins in the gallery.

Kim Madonna I think.

On the Kathleen Baroque piece I am still trying to figure out how much runching : just a piece or a whole frame?

Watercolor and MIxed Media

A new series seems to be beginning, just as the work load heats up for Reader's Art in the Susan Hensel Gallery. I must NOW put these assemblages away to make room for the food table for tomorrow's closing party of IN THE HOUSE OF THE MINERAL SPIRITS and for the installation of Reader's Art. I'll at least get them tacked together before the onslaught,

collar progress

The boomerang, a weapon for hunting, and the army guys joined and then got smudged with camo-green. hmmm.