Friday 27, 2011 Theme Thursday

Clouds over New Mexico

Theme Thursday prompt: Cloud

Clouds
Ordinary and extraordinary
The spring board
For the imagination
A hole to fall down
A place to "get lost"
A place of freedom
Lie on your back
In the grass
Breath in
The luscious air

The circus has come to town
Elephants parade
With tails in their trunks
Clowns tumble
The lady on horseback
A tight rope walker

A symphony
Plays just for you
Violins and horns
Strings and air
Bassoons or trumpets
The Maestro
With his stick

A fairyland
Of castles
Elves and
Magical creatures

Alice's Wonderland
The queen of hearts
The mad hatter
The rabbit
The Cheshire cat
Tea cups and such

Lands far away
And magical
You don't have to
Go anywhere
Wear special clothes
It doesn't cost
Anything

Right in your
Own back yard
A collection of
Funny actors
On stage
Clouds are
Nature's story teller
And all we have to do
Is look up and dream
Images emerge
The words of
The story follow

Tuesday August 3, 2010 Out of the Studio

Today I go to Santa Fe. Yesterday the clouds were magnificent! I worked on a series of encaustics. They are small 16" squares, and there will be ten in this little series, and they will be a part of the Desert Poems Series. The other works I have done have been with gouache, but I've had these panels for some time, and wondered what I might do with them? While the pieces done in gouache are broken into forms, these pieces are more minimal.



In the beginning, I applied texture, and used a tool, that is used in ceramics, drawing a line in the middle, vertical and horizontal , thus creating four squares. So each piece is made up of four squares, and is one color. There are many layers of paint mixed with wax, as many as 30 layers. And as I layer the paint is lighter, darker, or seasoned with other colors. Sometimes, I scrape, and then, I apply paint again. The series as a whole seems to be coming along. I started number nine yesterday. I paint, and then sometimes I return and paint again. What I find, is that when we are creating new work, we must create several paintings, so that we can see the work in context. Then we are better able to judge our work.



When the work is new to us. It takes time to really see it. I read once that it takes as much time to see it, as it takes to create it. So we must be patient, when we are looking at work for the first time, even our own. We must not make decisions about what we like too quickly. And I think this is especially true when we are looking at the work of others.