Blog gone, but not forgotten.

So, as I find myself a complete failure/mishap on the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, I realize that I was, in all actuality expecting too much of myself.  That being said, that time was not wasted, and have had several experiences that  I think will influence my pieces in the near future.

1.  I’ve actually sold quite a few pieces  lately.  The positive feedback is motivating, and I hope that I’m sending out at least the tiniest bit of my thought process with these.
2. I posted a question on Facebook about what the phrase “like a girl” meant, and got a lot of feed back from my adult friends.  I also had the privilege of talking to a small group of 11-13 year old girls on this issue, and a recent female Olympian.  The general consensus… It’s not a positive phrase.  Which equals…we have a long way to go.  I don’t think this is a surprise.  Enough said.
3. I have been thinking a lot about the definition of success.  For someone my age, I’ve actually accomplished a hell of a lot, whether it’s “measurable” or not.  How do we measure the success of women who raise their children?  Are we being reasonable?  is it “fair”?
4. The concept of “hiding”, either literal or figurative has been at the foreground of my thoughts lately.   How do we as humans – and particularly as women hide?  How does it serve us? how is it negative?

 

More to come.

So how many woes can bad internet cause? and other thoughts.

So, I am clearly behind in my 30 paintings in 30 days thing, but as you see, image upload is a no-go.  My lovely rural town has over extended its internet service and getting any speed has become virtually impossible lately.  However, I have plans for a work-around, so please stay posted.

In the meantime, I have started a large painting, and have decided to focus on larger works for the remainder of the majority of the month.  Most of my posts will be progression instead of finished pieces.  I have been thinking a lot about the  concept of wasted time after a wonderful conversation with  a dear friend.  How much time do we, as women, spend second-guessing ourselves?  how much time do we spend worrying about our weight?  our wrinkles?  our clothes?  How much of our precious life  do we spend on “ideals”  because of our own anxieties created in our own heads?  10 hours a week?  20 hours a week?  12 hours a day?  When I  began to think about this, I found it staggering and profoundly sad.

Maybe a part of our journey as a woman is really saying “enough”.  Being able to disengage from the “trying to be” and just “being” may be the goal. Perhaps authenticity and honesty are the beginnings of our enlightenment as women, and as members of the human race. It’s likely we’ve been wasting our time.

From Below, 10″x20″, ink, acrylic, collage on canvas.

30 in 30-Day 4- House and Home

A bit of a continuation of the home them from yesterday, this piece House and Home is inspired by the role of caretaker of both the physical “house” and the familial “home”.

Thoughts of Home. 30 in 30- #3.

12″x12″.  Ink, acrylic, collage on canvas.

It’s funny no matter how we feel about our first homes, we all occasionally DO think about it.  How things there happened, how the effected us, and our associations with the space are usually not vague.  The smells and sights of our first dwellings linger perhaps the longest of our memories.  They are our first introductions to the world, and good or bad, have long lasting impressions.

 

 

30 in 30, Number 2. Needless Hunger.

This piece in acrylic and ink with collage entitled Needless Hunger, is one of many reflections on relationships with food, feeling comfortable with our own bodies, and the frequent struggles that women undergo with eating, despite the bounty of food that may surround them.

30 Painting in 30 Days, Number 1!

A Moment (Alone)

I’m so excited to be a part of this 30 Paintings in 30 days!  I’m fairly prolific anyway, but seeing others’ work is so inspiring and motivating.  As a rule, I work on two painting at once, one beginning and one finishing.  I start with a completely random background that need to dry before I pull images from it–so this process works for me.  Today I finished A Moment (Alone).  This is part of my Women’s Work series, which will be my focus for September.    The second image is the beginnings of a large painting, actually started yesterday, that I hope to work on tomorrow.  Cheers!  and thanks for having me!

Beginnings of a new pinging

Why Women’s “work”?

I suppose the name of this series can be misleading.  The basis of these pieces is not the day to day labor, or responsibilities of women (although it does involve that).  It’s more about the work of being a woman. It’s about the  building of character, holding of standards, questioning position, maintaining social rank–or NOT doing any of these things.  It’s about actively making choices about who we are, who we want to be, and what we are willing to do to get there.  Relationships are work.  All of the common and uncommon attachments involve negotiation, purpose, sacrifice, and selfishness.  Mother to child, woman to lover, boss to employee, colleague to colleague, are all examples of these inadvertent and intentional connections we make that require energy to maintain.  I am asserting that being alive, beyond basic primal existence requires effort and choices, and I believe that those of women are unique.  Thus, the work of being a woman.

Finding one another

My Women’s Work series attempts to highlight many of the commonalities  among women.  This is not to say that any of them are the same.  I am completely convinced that no one knows what it’s like to be someone else, or to truly understand how another person experiences the world.  All of our feelings are real, regardless of their rationality.  What is a bump in the road to one person, may be a crisis to another.  That doesn’t make the crisis any easier to bear, or reduce it’s impact on one’s life.  What is true, is that many of our lives evolve in similar ways.  Difficult relationships, challenging children, bad work situations-can happen  to all  women- but in different scenarios with a variety of reactions.  Finding one another along the path, empathizing with each other, or simply sharing a good giggle can bring women together in a special way, making the work of womanhood a little easier for us all.  

About Women’s Work

Initially, I was working on figurative paintings exploring the information that is conveyed by a small shift in posture, or angle of the head.  These pieces all featured faceless images, and gender was often implied only by size.  In working on these pieces I began to think about the experiences of women, and what their body language was saying about them.  It then occurred to me that there exists a commonality in the struggles and joys that all females have.  All cultures have expectations of the female gender, all cultures have aesthetic ideals, all cultures have a “pecking order” among women.  These can be expanded into almost endless subcategories.  My purpose in this painting journey is to contemplate these likenesses and illustrate them expressively. I am by no means an expert on these topics.  I am not a physician, an anthropologist, or any of the like.  I do however read extensively on the topics I want to explore.  Self worth, body image, balancing social demands, and expectations of mothering are just the beginning…stay tuned!

Summer Ends…and thus fall begins

The beginning of the academic year has somehow managed to become the beginning of fall and end of the joyful days of summer.  Mother earth no longer seems to have a say in the seasonal decisions we impose.  But as the shadows stretch and move from blue to purple, the urge to become productive becomes louder, lacking the impulsive shouts of summer.  For me, this means settling down to work, and continuing to produce pieces in my current series, Women’s Work.