Keepers of the Flame

Oh yeah, you have to remember to push the publish button when you've finished the post!  These older brains are something else - one would think I had never blogged before.  Apparently, the procedure was in the short term memory and we can see how good that is...

This image, "Keepers of the Flame" is part of the mythology series from Ancient Celtic Mythology.  In doing my research I found many references to the Pashcal Candle of Christianity, and how the symbol was carried on from pagan religions. In the time of the Druids and before, when religions were matriarchal, the interpretation of the candle's light was an honored symbol of Juno, or the local goddess of the moon, stars and sun.  It was believed that she gave newborns their gift of sight.  Personally, I think the candles were all scented and, hygiene being what it was back then, the more candles you could keep burning the better the smell.  My "Keepers of the Flame" represent all those feminine mystics from long ago who, like Motel 6, kept the candle in the window burning.

Keepers of the Flame

7.5 x 8.5

Solarplate™ intaglio

Akua intaglio ink, a la poupeé

chine collé

The long burning candle was also from ceremonial rekindling and encouraging of the new sun at the Winter Solstice.  If the candle extinguished before the specified time it was a sign of bad luck for the coming year.  Roman, Greek and Christians did away with any possibility of that happening by inducting the custom into organized religion and putting someone in charge of keeping that thing burning. The Romans left it up to the temple of Juno and the Christians to the church. Many of the old pagan festivals involving bonfires, torches, candles and other lights were originally dedicated to the Goddess-as-sun, or to the Goddess as controller of the sun and its cycles.  Well, thank goodness we got over that - I would hate to think women were saddled forever with the responsibility of the sun coming up every day.

Procession of the Birds

My artist statement says that I am trying to reach back and get in touch with my Celtic roots and that has involved some reading about early European mythology.  Some of the myths I have, more or less, tried to illustrate - not by any forethought of mine, I don't consider myself an illustrator, but it seems to have happened none the less.
Birds play a very important part in these mythologies - everything from being "familiars" (helpers to witches), to being the souls of the dear departed, to being just messengers from a parallel universe.  Feathers were symbols in many ancient beliefs: the early Egyptians believed that every seventh incarnation was a bird, Manx sailors never left on voyage without a feather from the sacred wren. It was traditional to slay wrens on New Years Day on the Isle of Man.  Birds and feathers often symbolized air as one of earth's basic elements. So - birds were important.  The image of a group of women traipsing through the woods  to release the birds came from nowhere in particular, maybe I wanted to free those wrens on the Isle of Man.  Since that particular period in our mythology evolution was one of matriarchal religions  women are everywhere, in all different ages, shapes and sizes and they all dance and sing with reckless abandon.

Solarplate™ intaglio inked a la poupeé

Akua intaglio inks, Somerset Satin paper

7.5" x 8.5"

I've become rather attached to these folks and think they will probably surface in a woodcut now that I have no particular deadline and can take my time!

Which Witch?

It is time to get around to posting again - it seems like years since I've entered anything.  Come to think of it, I was always like that with diaries, too.  Xmas would come and I would always get at least one and in the end I have a library of diaries with entries through the first two weeks of January and blank from then on.  That was mostly because I felt that my life was so mundane and uneventful that there was nothing interesting to write.  Little did I know that those would be among the most interesting days of my life!

But, just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean nothing has been happening around here.  Which Witch? was a fairly easy print to compose, but getting that black, black, blue black background was a bit tricky.  And finding the right chine collé paper was a task with pitfalls, too.  Paper too thin, too thick, not the right color - eek.  Finally, I went with what I had in the drawers and was pleased with the way the green grapes and the table cloth compliment.  At the opening of the exhibition Friday night I was amazed at the number of people who couldn't find the witches even when they were pointed out!

Which Witch? is a Solarplate™ print measuring approximately 14" x 16.5" and printed intaglio.  Incidentally, those witches are both very nice, gentle people, strictly vegetarian, maybe a glass of potion now and then, but basically of high moral character and pillars of their respective covens.  Nothing to fear from these two - they haven't cast a spell in so long that they have completely forgotten all incantations.  They were good studio mates and kept up an interesting banter throughout the process.  ;-)

Copper Complete

The Foredom has been grinding away, relentlessly, turning a lovely piece of copper into dust.  Yeah! we have an image - and one that I think conveys the tranquility of Tryon Creek State Park.  It is difficult to get a good photo of a metallic surface, but I hope you can tell a little of what is intended from this shot.

This piece is intended to exist as the copper plate mounted onto the exterior of a house.  But, there are some pretty interesting passages and I had to know how these marks might translate to paper.

detail from copper plate

So, I pulled a print using Akua Carbon Black -  the wonderful part of that is that after the print is pulled the plate cleans with soap and water and very little elbow grease (which is more than I can say for wiping the plate prior to printing!  I thought my arm was going to drop off.)

Obviously, this was not what I would like if this were intended as a print, but in this instance I think there is 

a lot to work with and as soon as the ink is dry I am ready to dive in and see what I can come up with.  Meanwhile, though, some of the marks translated quite differently than I would have thought.  Some are really dark, and some are quite transparent and almost fragile. 

detail from print

This little detail will give me something to muck about in and see what works and what doesn't.  Meanwhile, though, I think the copper will stand alone and that is what matters.  The Foredom will enjoy a nice rest.  

Copper Engraving

Good grief! It has been ages since I've written anything.  Between travel, Christmas, Colds, and general winter lethargy, not a whole lot has happened.  But, I couldn't put off getting this copper piece started any longer.  Hopefully, it will be the engraved plate which is its primary purpose, AND I will be able to get a print off of it for my show in June, which I am really supposed to be working on.  It is pretty slow going and I can only stand to work on it four to six hours a day - my back seems to feel it is obligated to set up a major screaming session if I try to push it any further.  So, here is as far as we have made it after about 4 days of work:

The section under the newsprint will be the next part and will be started this weekend.  Meanwhile, I am off to Ink and Drink at Atelier Meridian this evening.  My son and I are going to sneak off and "smash hearts" (make valentines for our respective spouses).  Should be great fun!

The Peril of Too Many Pelicans

Sometimes a block just cries to be printed in many different ways, and such is the case of my pelicans.  They have been on "fabric" and they have been made into a "dress", but they were not content.  There was a piece of marbled paper in my flat files and they screamed to be printed on it.  Between the Pelicans and the paper wailing "oil spill, oil spill" I had no choice.  This cacophony must be stilled.  The result:

 And, I was happy with this until..... one day as the print was lying on my framing table another print of the same image, but on the filmy Japanese paper that I used to make the dress, fell on top of this one.  Oh my!  This led an entirely new dimension.  So, I lined them up and then very carefully adhered  the two together.  There is no going back now.  Here is the final product:

This set my oil slick more in the background and gave the whole scene another dimension - almost making it look 3D without the glasses.  Whoa, Nellie!  I could be on to something!

The Black Swan

Finally - the much grumped about Black Swan print is done, done, done and I'm going to deliver them to Barbara this evening.  Getting a decent photo or scan has been a problem, however.  Metallic paint just doesn't put its best foot forward in situations like this.  You will just have to take my word for it that these look a whole lot better in person. ;-)

I think most everyone nowadays knows what a black swan is, and it is not a swan that comes in black.  It is an incident that, although you may have planned for it, it far exceeds the scope of your planning and is devastating. That is how it was described to me.  I think that pretty much covers the quake, tsunami, and subsequent problems at the nuclear plant.  Some of the flowers are the radioactivity icon, though that may not be apparent to anyone but me.

Two blocks were printed, the red and black.  A gold block was cut, but I could not find a gold pigment that would print as bright as I wanted, so the gold leaves and swans were painted.  A tiny lino was cut for the stamen and pistils and printed in black and gold.


                                              
 
                                                           Earth quakes.  Tsunami. 
                                                    Suddenly, black swan:  flowers
                                                                 radioactive. 


(My apologies to all you poets...)