It’s New Year’s Eve. Nathan and I are at home, childless for the evening. We’ve been working on a project I highlighted in a post on our Combinatory Art in Motion Blog. I hope you’ll check it out. I’ve included a few of the photos from the warm up of our photo shoot just for fun. Dancing isn’t easy for me physically, but small moves go a long way in liberating my spirit. So, Happy New Year and I wish you all time to dance in your own way:)!!!!
Meditating Possibilities # 2
Graphite on Paper
9″ x 12″
Holly Suzanne , December 2012
Meditating Realities # 1
Graphite on Paper
9″ x 12″
Holly Suzanne, December 2012
Meditating Possibilities # 3
Holly Suzanne, 2012
As some of my readers have noted, I’ve been waiting for some kind of inspiration as of late, feeling bogged down and bound up with a long Christmas list of to-do”s. Typically, when this happens I find myself day dreaming, gazing, reading, or honestly DOING anything that isn’t directly creative in a zombie like procrastinating state, but thankfully, this is lifting, thanks in part to my husband who just happened to place one of my hats atop a Buddha statue that sits atop our built in buffet in the dining room. Often over the past few days, I’ve found myself gazing at it, captivated by the transformative reality the small hat claims, and so it was that yesterday I decided to play dress up so to speak with various hats from our wardrobe. In my dress series, I engaged the idea of identity via style and fashion particularly related to gender, but this dressing strikes me in another way. The Buddha statue adorned with various hats is an odd juxtaposition of physical and spiritual dimensions. It reminds me so of a phrase I read long ago as part of an essay on Liberation Theology that encouraged a spirituality where one’s “feet are planted in mid-air” (author unknown). In an odd way these works remind me of that. We are living after all, bound to our bodies, our vulnerabilities, our lives, and yet to transcend these things, to meditate and find peace requires a meditative other wordly stance often referred to as meditation. This is something I think of often, seeking to find balance in my life. In this case it appears, at least for the time being in this new series.
To see a book of the dress series with paintings by me and poetry by Nathan Filbert please visit: Paper Dolls: A Dress Series in Paint and Poetry
I’m home and slowing moving back into a routine here in Wichita. As I prepare tomorrow for my first day back in the studio since my trip, I thought I’d share a few artifacts of my time in Mexico. These simple paintings of water and sky were created by combining water from the Sea of Cortez and gouache paint from home. It created a really interesting effect that still surprises me as I look at them more closely at home.
This morning Nathan and I are sitting at Mead’s Corner having coffee (this is where my work is up this month). We happen to be positioned in a sunny room right in front of this piece, “Watercolor Rain”, which is a mixed media collage on board. It suites my mood this morning, so I share it here. There’s something about the way she stands, turned away, head down. I experience the piece as a melancholy calm, with hints of passion and memory, nostalgia and wistful remembering, Some of my pieces hit me this way. So much of my experience and way of experiencing are worked out in the making, each artifact a part of an intricate tapestry of being. So I let it ruminate, and allow myself to feel.
Yesterday I posted a process work after cleaning my studio. Today I’m posting one small area of my studio and a close up of one sculptural piece I completed about a year ago. Sometimes it’s just nice to sit back and look, to see things with fresh eyes. It’s gorgeous outside today, clear and about 70 degrees. The sun is shining, I’m home between clients at my office. A breather. We all need it.
IN my own life in relation to art certain things catch my eye. If I’m lucky enough to have a camera handy I can capture that image. The image above, is of my step daughter. It’s an image I return to repeatedly, each time I scroll through my photos, and each time I stop to ponder what it is that she’s thinking. Such a beauty she is. So complex. I’m not sure I’ll ever know what she was thinking, and it’s in this that I relish. To be an observer is a gift. Such is the way of art.
Costume designer Alex Gilbert created this tutu out of treated paper bags, in the mode of The Paper Bag Princess, the beloved children's tale by Canadian storyteller Robert Munsch. It's one of 60 made by artists, designers and the community for The Tutu Project, a celebration of the National Ballet of Canada's 60th anniversary.
Lululemon lead designer Antonia Iamartino accentuates the classical aesthetic with the use of Lululemon stretch fabric and technical construction for a high performance garment.
This is a work in progress. I’ve mixed two types of clay in the process of making this sculptural pieces and decided to take some photos at this phase. What I found was a wonderful surprise. The images reminded me of soft watercolor washes- a happy little treat at this stage!
There’s just something about wet clay that is satisfying in a way that cannot compare. I love working with it and watching things emerge from it’s initially unformed mass.
-Enjoy the day
Holly Suzanne
Be sure to check out our work at Combinatory Art in Motion and Man of the Word
Image from Kansas
I didn’t grow up in Kansas. As some of you may have discerned, I am a transplant from the Pacific Northwest, but I have roots in Kansas dating back to my great great grandparents, and now I am married into a family from Kansas calling it my home. That being said, I am often torn between these worlds as loved ones reside in both places, and I also yearn for the green, luscious and wet beauty of Portland. But, I’ve learned something interesting here. Something unexpected. I’ve discovered a different kind of beauty all together and something else that I’m still trying to grasp.
When I walked around these structures I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of connection with all the history of human being- I found myself captivated by the graceful yet dilapidated boards and the way they have come to rest by leaning on one another- the angles and seams, shadows and light…simply mesmerizing. There is something for me in these places- a part of me buried under boards and years of struggle. My heritage. Found in the middle of the continental United States. In Kansas. Sweet and unexpected treasures I’ve happened upon in my wandering. Needless to say, I’m glad I’m here:)
Enjoy-Holly Suzanne
These are photographs which I took while on a day excursion with the family to see ghost towns in Kansas.
Sometimes in the artistic process I find that what I’m going for gets away from me. I set out with something in mind, and I may even like several steps along the way, and then before I can stop the momentum, I’ve lost it altogether. I’m in the practice of photographing some of my work as it’s in progress, and sometimes when I revisit it I find something that moves me. These are moments of simple satisfaction.
“All pleasures are born out of some sort of communion…
it is always what bounds or limits a thing that gives it its character,
precision, distinctness, perfection.
It is what isolates it, encompasses it, separates it from the rest,
encloses it within itself and leads it back to itself.
Thereby it subsists, is distinct, is known…”
Dear Readers,
I have been nominated by a very talented artist/blogger , Ute, at http://atelierscheune2012.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/werksplitter-ein-paar-neuigkeiten-kurz-berichtet/, for the Sunshine Award. Her work is really amazing and I hope you check it out. She posted four sketches as answers to seven questions about herself that are very thought provoking and cause one to pause awhile longer over them. Her site is in German so turn on the translator!
Many of you know with these awards that it is a way to get to know one another and to get to know one another’s sites and work, as well as noting exceptional work and blogs that stand out to us personally, which is in itself another way to get to know each other and increase community. The rules are to nominate 7-10 blogs and to share 7 things that others won’t know about you. If you would like you can follow Ute’s lead and share works/images/etc. that you’ve not shown before, or works in progress, or something of the sort.
Here are three self portraits completed awhile back in answer to the seven things you don’t know about me…..
Here are the wonderful blogs I’d like to acknowledge and appreciate with the Sunshine Award….
http://ediliociclostile.wordpress.com/
There are so many of you that deserve this. Thank you and pass it on as you see fit. Here are three self portraits in lieu of the questions.
-Holly Suzanne
Sometimes in my studio I force myself to work with the materials I have at hand. Usually the end of the month brings me naturally to this place as the budget for supplies often dries up mid-way through:) So…these paintings were done using what I could find, which included the last few feet of a roll of Waterford #140 lb cold press watercolor paper available through Jerry‘s Artarama online. It comes in a roll 5′wide and 10′ long, and handles almost anything you can throw on it. I’ve used it for mulit-media pieces that have included layer after layer of latex paint. Trust me…it’s good stuff! Anyway, I was thankful I remembered to check the roll. I also scraped the bottom of my artist inks and acrylic paints, which I water down and use kind of like watercolor. Now that it’s the beginning of the month I’ve a few more materials to work with, but I have to admit there is something to using what you have and creating from that instead of adding to it. I really do like simplicity. It’s like a breath of fresh air.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Holly
From my vantage point I see two images, taken by me of a sculptural piece completed awhile back, sitting on the top of a built in buffet in our dining room. My camera angled up to capture the curve and angle of this piece leaning as if in limbo. My eyes held for an instant and demanded to be stilled a moment longer. I don’t often stage photos., and I don’t pretend to be a photographer, but I wish I was. Photos’ like these tend to emerge from a glance that holds my eye. That’s how these were taken. Once downloaded onto my computer I played around with them digitally-a little exposure here, a little less color there…and so forth.
-just thought I’d share what caught my eye today…
I would like to thank my man at http://www.manoftheword.com for nominating me for the “One Lovely Blog Award.” He is a constant encouragement to me and inspiration! Thank you, Nathan.
As part of the rules I am to share 7 things about myself you may not know.
Here are 7 things you wouldn’t already know about me?
1. I have an identical twin sister who is 2 minutes older and won’t let me forget it!
2. My mother’s nickname for me is Holly Dolly.
3. I once filled a waffle cone with whipping cream as I prefer it to ice cream.
4. I used to play the clarinet.
5. I am a sucker for really good red wine.
6. I like to dig in the dirt.
7. I want to travel to Europe.
As another “rule” for this award, I am to pass on the love, so to speak, by nominating 10 or so other lovely blogs for your reading pleasure:)
Here are 10 I am happy to nominate:
thanks all!
