Post Open Studio Tour Notes

Post OPEN STUDIO Notes

Thank you to all of you who had the opportunity to come by the Tannery for the Open Studio Tours. There was an abundant turnout through the first weekend of sunshine and the second one of rain. I had some fascinating conversations which strengthens my view that the arts like every other institution in our country and eventually the world are on the brink of some radical shifts. And as you know if our conversation drifted in that direction, I believe, people want the art process back in their personal lives. Those of you that read this newsletter or blog and/or came through on the studio tours are already in the choir.

Often, however, we do not realize the stimulus that is needed until after it happens, like the incredible creative growth that was stimulated by the Beatles' burst into the music scene. This time it may not be the content delivered by superstars, but a grassroots movement that is budding. We are going to experience some extraordinary changes in the art world in the next few years. They are already afoot so look at your own life and dreams to see how important the mythopoeia process is in relation to who you are becoming.

I want to thank all of you who made a point of responding to me personally about my painting images. It was hugely important to me, as I tend keep my work in my own little world. Thank you to those of you that bought sale paintings! With that specially earmarked money I have a good beginning to again explore the world of monoprinting and will keep you informed about that journey.

CULTIVATING AWARENESS of WHOLENESS through PAINTING New Mexico July 13-15 2010

The assumptions at the core of all mystical traditions, is that we are already whole and complete. We have all experienced the paradox of absolute wholeness in spite of fact that everything in our incarnation and culture reflects separation. This is the reason that those experiences of wholeness can slip by us or be forgotten so easily. Painting for me is an apt practice for re-membering wholeness. The essential key to this process is imagination. To cultivate imagination from a place of whole being, rather than mental faculties means letting go of mental chatter. As the imagination grows and ripens we are able to engage reality in a fuller context. I am not speaking of fantasy but consciously inviting the soul energies to be expressed through the personality by allowing imagination to transcend the polarities that are known.


The imagination is a means to tap into the not-yet-recognized dimensions of our being as we cultivate awareness of unity which includes diversity. It takes practice to bypass the rational mind, materialistic orientation and fear-based defenses. Imagination as a practice in Transformational Painting brings awareness to the blueprint of Oneness even as we experience the illusion of duality.

There are many ways to develop the imagination and tend to the deeper relationship of our wholeness: storytelling, dream work, soul-orientated poetry, shadow work, trance dancing, drumming, ritual, nature, active imagination, symbolic artwork and many others. In this workshop through TRANSFORMATIONAL PAINTING we focused on those below.

• Our dream life is one of the most intelligent dimensions of our lives. To become more conscious of our dreams is to integrate, heal and engage in a dialogue with the soul through metaphor. This kind of painting in its purity is ‘awake dreaming.’ We use dream techniques to go deeper into our imagery; not in an analytical way but to stimulate our process, making new connections and revelations.
• We cannot help but paint our personal mythology. Our journals with reflections and digital images of the paintings stages track the limiting story as well as the evolving story that wants to break through our illusions.
• The many voices within our selves seem real, as they sometimes take over our feelings, thinking and expression. It is important to establish a baseline. The practice of clearing and opening to the not-yet-known material through active imagination is a major component in this painting.

PLACE plays a powerful role in inner development, calling forth collective archetypal energies from the land to meet the individual with new perspectives and visions. In this New Mexico workshop, near Abiquiu on the Chama River we painted for three days in a private adobe studio where creative practice emerged with the mystery and enchantment of the Southwest. Many of the painters claimed breakthroughs and new insights in their works and personal life. In time the muscles of a soul-personality dialogue develop as we meet the tremendous challenge of discerning between personality and our greater self.

OPEN STUDIO TOURS October 2010

OPEN STUDIO TOURS 2010

October 9,10 & 16,17

HUGE SALE! 40 Large PAINTINGS ON PAPER must go to Finance the Dream of a large bed press (44" X 30") for Monoprinting, starting at $100. 

Meeting

Making a Red Ladder

Fairy Tales and myth are the language of the soul. Knowing the tales you are living shines the light of consciousness on the beliefs that sponsor our daily stories.  Sometimes sadly we are the last one to get the drama that is so obvious to others. Speaking of...........

I have a huge stack of large paintings on paper that need to be stored flat.  They take up a lot of room and have found there way under my bed which is now four feet high. I have a high ceiling,  but it is ludicrous to need a step ladder to get into bed. So this is how I found myself  in the tale of the Princess and the Pea wanting to change my bed of paintings  for a  press bed.

Princess Bed #1

Princess Bed #2

In the story, the Princess comes to the castle in a storm, wet and bedraggles. Her true value is not recognizable so she must be tested. She sleeps high  atop dozens of mattresses but notices that something is wrong, she is not comfortable.

I too have not been sleeping well, dreaming about making images in a new way, monorprints. Monoprints in them self is a  kind of Fairy Tale contradiction in that prints are usually multiples and mono is one of a kind.  I long for the immediacy that opens up space for spirit to intervene in the monoprint process which is so different from direct painting. The Universe as magical element is involved as I have  received a stack of large sheets of printing paper, perfect for this process.

The high bed in the Fairy Tale is connected to an impossible task, of sensing something out of order. For me the task is to convert the product of creativity to the means of creating something else.

Warrior

It is time to make room for new work. 

Different images emerge from different formats and materials. Painting is my passion and I will continue to paint even with the press. I am also still excited about the format of the tall two panel screens, which seem to be multiplying when I turn my back. I love the double sides and edges that invite embellishment of objects and silk ties. 

The paintings that I have been sleeping on are up for sale, very very reasonable, to facilitate the purchase of a press, inks, rollers, etc.

I will be moving my teaching studio from Live Oak to the West Side in November which is another reason to grant these images permission to find their new life. It does seem true that pieces of artwork have their own destiny like characters in a book that begin to dictate the plot. These paintings on paper have been murmuring to me at night like teenagers sneaking out the window at night. They want to go and are ready to set off in tothe world. So I must loosen my apron strings and see them off even if it means selling them for what you can pay. I need your help in this adventure otherwise I may turn to that Gorilla Artist tactic of leaving art around town as a random act of...

All these paintings  are on industrial or printing paper, mostly around 3' X 4'. Some are in an ingenious frame at the top and bottom for hanging without glass. The frame is extra. These are some of the images, make an offer and get this wild princess free from court life and back into printing.

Tryst

Raining Face

Bear

Hierophant Scale

Shadowing an Angel

Three Sale Paintings on Paper with Frames

Making Sacred

Hopscotch Deva