Edges
But how long is deep?
soon will always become when–
stone wind and rain light.
The earth follows, listening–
root and seed walking on air.
Suzanne at “On the Road” asked us to think about the concept of Wabi Sabi. She quotes Andrew Juniper: ” Wabi-sabi is an intuitive appreciation of a transient beauty in the physical world that reflects the irreversible flow of life in the spiritual world.”, noting how important this idea is to writing haiku.
The art came from some work I was doing on wet rice paper that bled through; I had put it on a piece of watercolor paper to keep it from tearing. After it dried and I lifted it off, I found that the impression underneath made an interesting shape, and I added a bit more paint on top to intensify the color.
And then I went to see what the Oracle had to say about it all.
Chai/Yom Kippur
Today is Erev Yom Kippur, the evening before the highest holy day of the Jewish year.
I wear my sister’s Chai necklace nearly every day but especially when I want to feel close to her. She died in 2013 and I miss her (and my parents) especially around the holidays.
My sister was a feisty woman. Back when planes were being hijacked they told people not to wear necklaces like these but she always wore it on airplanes. Funny because my family was more ethnically Jewish than religious. Yet I feel a shiver down my spine when I think that tomorrow I will be as an angel, not eating or drinking, just pondering the mysteries of life. Yom Kippur is an opportunity to change, to be better, to wipe the slate clean and be inscribed in the Book of Life.
I am a woman, a wife, a mother, an artist, a worker who tries to help people. And I am a proud Jew praying for peace and for all the people in misery all over the world. To my fellow members of the tribe I wish an easy fast.
Self Portrait #21 (after Klee)
Water, and fire above it
How I say to you the truth as I know it.
How I am lost in words.
Subtle gradations implications explanations.
Do they reveal tenderness or terror?
Do they echo feeling or imagine it?
How to adjust memory.
How to maintain and reflect.
Erasing magnifying refining touching failing.
Safety features are not built in.
Evidence is not self.
To delete is to open.
I wanted to do a final self-portrait inspired by Paul Klee. There are so many wonderful Klee works to choose from, but I chose this one because of its title: “Seventeen, Insane”. I didn’t put the geometrics in, instead choosing to try to replicate the feeling, with loose ink portraits of myself now and at 17. I think the feeling of being unable to understand what’s going on is an apt one, and Klee seems to me to be indicating that age doesn’t really clarify things at all. I agree.
For the poem, I took one from my early 20s and revised it, but only a bit. Mostly I redid the way I had the lines set up; rather than breaking up each thought into several lines, I made it into a single one. I eliminated two lines altogether and changed 3 or 4 words. And then I broke it up into stanzas. And yes, that’s my original title. And yes, also, I wrote that last line in the early 1970s, before “delete” and “open” had the meanings they hold in this digitized world. That’s pretty strange.
My notebooks from then contain notes from books I was reading (Otto Rank with this one–we were reading him in a class I was taking), and poems mixed together. From what I could tell, I started with a title, and had a complicated system of construction involving numbers, syllables, and first letters of each line. I have no idea how to replicate it, because I don’t remember where it came from, and it makes no sense to me now. “Insane” indeed. (but I still like to play with numbers of syllables and words, so…)
You can see the entire self-portrait series here. Above is the drawing I did before simplifying it for the painting. Somehow I managed to make the present “me” look much younger in the process as well…
Deep
The end appears, a double crossing tide
in empty light that does not shine but burn
as rain like needles pierces deep inside
Along the bleeding walls no place to hide
from chanted words the mind must now unlearn
the end appears, a double crossing tide
Eyes close and claim the tears that might have cried
all motion paralyzed against return
as rain like needles pierces deep inside
no voices call, no soul appears as guide
emotion gathers tight, afraid to yearn
the end appears, a double-crossing tide
a barren river, unrelenting, wide,
unnavigable, cursed through aft and stern
as rain like needles pierces deep inside
the past decays, erased, annulled, denied
impossible to conjure or discern
the end appears, a double crossing tide
as rain like needles pierces deep inside
I did this awhile ago (last spring) for Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above. I was reminded of it because I just entered the art in a competition. I’ve had nothing but rejections for quite awhile but hope springs eternal as they say. The first photo I did was on the window with light shining through. The other two were done on black and white grounds. Each has its own feeling.
I think Nina and I were on blog break at the time, and it also took me a really long time to do the embroidery. I also worried the poem, revising and re-revising. (It could use more work.)
The poem is obviously some kind of formal verse, but I didn’t write down what, and I don’t remember…perhaps someone recognizes it?
Mom: an old drawing
I was saying the other day that I wish I had some of my old drawings. Then I remembered this one of my Mom standing in her kitchen. It’s undated but I’d guess sometime in the 70’s; my mom had this on her fridge and I’ve had it ever since she died. That cutting board in the background is around my house somewhere. It’s such a characteristic view of my mom and I guess she liked it too. Where is all this family stuff coming from? I guess it’s the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement feelings coming out in me. Love you Mom.
Mom
Some more family paintings from photographs I’ve been going through lately. This was a great shot of my mom but I turned her inadvertently into an older lady.
This one was identified correctly by my husband. I’m not sure if it was because he saw the photos I was working from. Both of these have a resemblance of my mother but just a bit. It’s more a feeling.
Weekend fun
While cleaning up my painting area I found these artist trading cards (inspired, like so much, by Claudia McGill). Playing around with them was a lot of fun.
You can’t really take yourself too seriously when the surface you’re painting on is 2.5” x 3.5”. And I love working on black.
My old faithful landscape with blue sky and clouds.
All the cute little cards together:
I highly recommend these cards as a freeing way to paint. I plan to give them to random folks : ).
Stay Curious
Good news!
Our friend Sharon Mann is back!
Welcome to the first day of my new blog Make Art…Magic Happens. It’s been over a year since I left blogging under the name of Monday Tuesday Wednesday ( which no longer exists). The time is right to come back.
I’m interested in many different mediums which include watercolor, drawing, fiber art creation ( including crocheting and knitting), mixed media, art journals and found art. I’ll be including all of these techniques in my art as I post. I also want to include some how tos, so you can see my process.
Art is a magical journey. Most of the time when I start a project a surprise happens and like magic I’m creating something unexpected.
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with patterns. Below are two recent artworks.
18″ x 15″ Collage/watercolor
20″ x 16″ Watercolor
method two madness 
Recent Comments