Starts next week … February 1 through March 3, 2012.

The very cool thing about all the 100 Artist Shows is that you can bid on any of the artworks …opening bid $50. … and the proceeds go to a non-profit of Mary Lou’s choosing.

Based on correspondence between artists … my penpal being Katherine Mead … we were to riff off the letter we received. I’ve had a hard time articulating my reaction to Katherine’s letter. Not because it was difficult to read or that her intent was tough to swallow. Au contraire. She was very eloquent. It was a rather nostalgic reflection on the lack of time, the quickness, the terseness of today’s communications. And perhaps we’ve lost something in the translation.

I get that.

I do.

But for me, the internet …and by association that quick, shortened form of communicating…  has been a lifeline. Living in the middle of nowhere it has allowed me to connect with like-minded artists …people… whom I otherwise could never have had access to. It has opened up my mind and my world and I will take that relationship in whatever form it presents itself. Through those 144 character phrases, I have learned  much from my online cohorts. Yes, the sentences are short. But many.  And perhaps it is just that …the “over time” part … that will be our saviour!.

Katherine wrote:

When artist, Jen Worden, sent me her letter I was struck by its cadence. The lovely

rhythm of her words mirrored the rhythm of her daily walk. The active way in which she uses communing with nature and the movement of her steps to calm and clear her mind —left, right, left, right, one, two, one two……clarity. The soothing effect of nature and the dichotomy that activity can lead to serenity.

My first finished work of 2012.
My first full “wax” piece since …uhm… a loooong time.
I actually made my own medium for this too.
Fun!

It’s for the final 100 Artists Show at Mary Lou Zeek’s Gallery.
This year’s theme is The Art of Communication.
We were given stationary and were linked to another artist to exchange letters.
Then we were to riff off that communication.

I have a feeling my letter was less than clear as I was in quite a confused mental state when I wrote it. Sorry about that Katherine (Mead).

Katherine’s letter was about the lost art of communication. Loss of time. Quickened pace etc. Her feeling that perhaps electronic communication is not as well thought out as a hand-written treatise. Certainly it can be. But it doesn’t have to be. For me, the act of typing has become as much an extension as my pen to paper used to be. I think no less about what I’m writing … here… than I would if I needed a stamp to send it.

And so… my title, “The Art of Communication is NOT Lost”.

My synapse are doing fine.
The lines are long and lean. And strong.
Carry on. Carry on.

The first “scenic” in many a moon. A Christmas present for my son. A funny story because he sent me the same photo done by a screen-printing outfit. I hope he appreciates the ‘one-of-ness’ of mine to him.

The process was interesting. Did you know they’ve stopped making paper-backed photo paper? At the very least, I couldn’t find any. All plastic-backed. And maybe the reverse transfer process …placing inkside down on gel medium… still works but my own process of peeling off the paper backing, placing inkside down and then after drying time removing the top gel medium is no longer an option. Alas.

So. I came up with a different process. Repositionable spray adhesive and tissue paper. Totally different final application. But I think I can work with it. Good thing. Because I have my 100 Artists piece to finish over the next week or two. Process update to come.

In the meantime … I hope you all had a lovely Christmas/Yule/Whatever celebration!
Tomorrow marks my 52nd birthday.
And the start of 52 in 52.
I have my work cut out for me!

I’ve been thinking of doing a 52 in 52 challenge … project. I turn 52 this year. There are 52 weeks in a year. Prophetic. One piece of art each week for a year. Sounds like a plan Stan!

I want to take a photo representational …or not!… for the week and incorporate it into some mixed media work. I’m thinking 6×6″ will be a perfect size. Small enough to be able to finish without too much difficulty but large enough to have space to do something. I envision all 52 hung together representing a year in the life.

And so. I continue to experiment with my camera. And photoshop.

stop.

start.

stop.

start.

stop.

… where I am.

This …

… reminds me of this …

Maybe because I’ve been contemplating style.

Maybe because I’ve overloaded my visual senses with so much eye candy.

Maybe with the turn of season I’ve become nostalgic.

Whatever the reason. However the brain works. As I was sitting this morning, coffee in hand, waiting for my email to load, a name flashed across my brain, “Carl Beam”. WTF? I haven’t thought about that name in years. In fact, I had to wait once it had registered in my consciousness to contemplate exactly where I’d heard the name before.

As any good citizen of the 21st century, and because I was already connected anyway, I simply plugged the name into Google. Ah. Yes. Mixed media artist. First Nations artist. Ponder. Ponder. Brain bumble. Brain fart. Ah! YES! as I looked at the images that started to pop up from my search. And it was as if I literally turned back time. My arm hairs rose. My brain jumped on the HighTrain.

 Oh Artists! YOU know what I’m talking about don’t you? You see something that hits a nerve. Maybe musicians hear things? It sends giant wafts of pure inspirational adrenaline coursing into your artistic nerve center. Snippets of colour cross your vision path. Fingers twitch with the sensory textural overload. You envision your creation. The process. The concentration. The satisfaction of creating. The. High. Train!

It was the mid-80s … 1985 or 1986… I had secured a day to myself to drive to The McMichael Collection in Kleinburg, ON. An entire day for myself, to wander the gallery unencumbered by my littles. Unbeknownst to me, one of the exhibits was “Carl Beam: Altered Egos [Multimedia Works]“. And I remember how I felt when I first saw his works. I was stunned. It hit me on such a gut level. Here I was just starting out in the world of watercolours and what was this?!? Dripping paint. Stencils. Photographs. Pieces of paper and feathers and other…stuff! Graffiti-esque in some ways. They were SO personal. Handwritten portions. Charcoal/graphite sketches. And …angry. So very angry. The passion, the emotion was palpable. His work left me breathless. I had never seen anything like it. And I wanted to create like that!

Fast forward 25 years and I’d all but forgotten about that visit. But it makes me wonder whether deep down in my subconscious Carl Beam’s influence remained …embers burning… after all this time, guiding my hand toward the time when I was ready to create with that same passion, with that same emotion …and freedom… that affected me in such a visceral way oh! so long ago!

… heading to Seth. It is a miracle MeeMaMa!

“urg” because I really didn’t like what I did with this “page”. And it was SO long ago that I have no vested interest in it anymore. And it needed to LEAVE. I can always change it once it returns home for good.

I won’t post the page I did in Bri’s book Trees … can’t spoil the surprise. But I CAN post a sneak peek.

A long time in the doing but I really like how it turned out. I had some issues using Golden’s Clear Tar Gel. I applied it within a homemade stencil, left it too long and the stencil kinda stuck to the page. And it oozed underneath. Ah well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?!

The stencil shape is pretty innocuous. Which I like. A lot. If you catch it in the right light though? VERY obvious. Or if you’re like me and enjoy the tactile … running your fingers over the page you can feel where it is. Image braille!

I am now working …again… on Carla’s challenge piece (photo below to refresh our memory’s!) It’s coming along swimmingly and my plan is to send it (HER!) home by month’s end.

On a bit of a roll, I am.

… and at a sale price to boot. On etsy. Still free shipping in Canada & the US. $5 bucks flat fee elsewhere. I still have a few things to add … and I’m hoping that they will all go so I can get some breathing room. So stay tuned or visit my etsy site over the next week or so.

Here’s something I’m currently working on. I know. I’m as shocked as you!

Not a great photo but … this is 4-16×20 canvases bolted together, the largest piece I’ve ever worked on. What you see here is all underlay stuff. Cardboard and papers and fabric plastered down with molding paste and crackle paste, gesso and paint. My 3/4″ brushes just aren’t cutting it. And MAN! you go through a lot of paint. lol I had to crack some standard acrylic interior cans. Kinda therapeutic though.

Next up and currently on the “ponder table”, Carla’s stuff! Some very cool textiles including dyed cheesecloth, cowhide and lace edging. The glasses I might snarf for myself.

Only four more days of the Tour and then I’ll be back in the saddle again … the training saddle that is, as my knee feels ready to start tackling something other than walking. The last set of shots has taken longer to get over so I’m hoping those ligaments are finally tightened up for good.

Have a bunch of new projects to whet my appetite … an altered shoe show courtesy of Tricia’s Ten Women Gallery and my interest in canvas work has been peaked too. Took this photo of Granddog Figs & Stella hanging out watching the world go by and I can just see it as one of my scenics. Time to haul out the Epson to the studio!

From the fertile mind of Dneese of grrrl+dog, I’m going to host a deco swap. Crazy but in all the years of swapping, mailing, collaborating, I’ve never actually done a deco before so this should be fun. While I’d dearly like to think that we could have these home in time for Christmas, I’m not that idealistic. But hey! we could try. So! Here’s the skinny:

1. BOOK SIZE

Size is up to you but should fit inside a standard mailing envelope to keep costs down … we will be an international group so if that bothers you or you can’t swing the postage for the duration, please wait this one out.

2. THEME

Twisted Christmas … this can be subject to interpretation and knowing my readers it will be, so if scary or unusual or odd upset you, again, please sit this one out. Otherwise? Let yourself S-T-R-E-T-C-H. That will be half the fun.

3.  MAILING PROTOCOL

Decos (or so I read) are meant to be quick’n'dirty mailings, so the idea isn’t to hang onto it for weeks/months/years … get it, DECOrate it, send it back out! so we can have a chance of seeing these back home before Hell freezes over. If you can’t get to it right away, either send it along OR at the very least contact the owner to let them know of the delay. Again, I’d love for these to be sent out, around and home by Christmas but let’s face it? It ain’t gonna happen. So TWO WEEKS each as an absolute MAXIMUM. If you can’t handle that schedule? Well, you know the drill … pass on this round!

4. SIGN UP

To join in, send me an email to jen@jenworden.com with  Twisted Christmas in the subject line. Deadline for sign up is Monday night(9pm AST) … I know, I know, not much lead time but I’m heading out of town and I want to get this moving along … and I’ll have the mailing list for everyone by Tuesday, November 4.