SUMMER IS EASY AND THE FISH ARE JUMPING

ASHEVILLE IN THE BLUE RIDGE AND SMOKEY MOUNTAINS

A BLUE MIST HANGS AND THE CLOUDS DRIFT LOW

Family Farms Leicester, North Carolina 

SUMMER FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING, THE CAROLINA LILIES, THE 

RHODODENDRON IS FLOWERING IN WHITE CLUMPS ALONG THE STEEP 

MOUNTAINSIDE, COWS ARE LAZILY EATING ABUNDANT GRASSES, CROWS SIT 

AMONG THE CORN STALKS THAT WILL LATER BE FEED FOR ANIMALS FOR THE

WINTER, TRACTORS ARE PLOWING, ROWS ARE MOUNDING, SEEDS PLANTED 

AND THE SUMMER CROPS ARE FLOURISHING

Carolina Lilly as I call it  

 

It is easy to be lazy in the summer as the line from "Porgy and Bess" says.  Summertime, when the living is easy.  I have posted less because I have been under time constraint to finish a major piece for an art show.  It is now done and shipped.  It is in my mind to expand the theme I started working with in this last piece.  I have been working with assemblage and high relief collage in themes that revolve around immigration, difference in cultures and cultural blending of people and nations.  Another area of interest is communication.  My Mother for the past 11 years has lived with the effects of a stroke that left her with sever communication problems and aphasia.  I have learned so much from my Mother's condition these past 11 years while I have been intensely involved in her care and her adjustment to her situation.  Also having worked in special education half my career as an art teacher has given me experience with severe handicaps of all kinds that effected their ability to communicate.  These themes are fascinating to me..how we communicate, how we perceive communication, how we use parts of our brains and not others, and what happens if part of your brain is damaged, but you can communicate with what is working?  We also communicate differently depending on our up bringing, experiences and our culture.  When I taught overseas in the Philippines I had to take a course in culture communication and how to understand cultural sensitivity.  So this is the areas I am going to explore in my art this summer and fall while at the mountain studio.  That is if I don't get to lazy while the fish are jumping!

A DAY IN RABBIT'S MOON STUDIO

ARTIST LOVE NATURE

IN MY ASHEVILLE STUDIO I AM SURROUNDED BY ALL 

THINGS NATURAL

THE LIGHTS AT NIGHT ATTRACT MOTHS AND JUNE BUGS

SPIDERS ARE CONSTANTLY WEAVING WEBS EVERY 

NIGHT SPUN BY THE MOONLIGHT, TREES HOUSE HUGE HORNETS NETS,

AND LICHEN GROW ON BARK AND LIMB.  

 THE STUDIO DOORS OPEN

AND I CAN SEE LEAVES DANCE IN THE WIND, BIRDS LOOKING TO SEE IF I FILLED 

THE FEEDERS AND HOP ABOUT

I START MY DANCE OF ART AND COLLAGE 

LIKE A PUZZLE THAT NEEDS TO BE PONDERED AND SOLVED.

 I ARRANGE AND ORGANIZE, THEN 

MEAURE AND THNK AND ARANGE 

AGAIN, CUT, SAW, AND GLUE.    VINCI, THE STUDIO DOG, KEEPS 

ME CONSTANT COMPANY.

Studio Shop

view outside…the red Japanese maple is growing

 RAVENS AND CROWS ARE THE SMARTEST SPECIES NEXT TO MAN ACCORDING TO 

THE LATEST STUDIES.  THEY FASCINATE ME EVEN IN THE 


EARLY VIKING FOLKLORE RAVENS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE

FUNGI, RUSTED METAL, SPIDERS, JUNE BUGS AND








MOTHS ALL LAY ON THE STUDIO TABLE TO FIND 








THEIR WAY INTO THE NEXT PIECE OF JUST TO ADD











 TO THE BEAUTY OF THE ROOM

TRANSFER IMAGE

transfer didn't work on some material, so I drew it myself

DOING AN ASSEMBLAGE OR COLAGE IS LIKE A PUZZLE WHERE THOUSANDS OF 

POSSIBLE ARRANGEMENTS OPEN TO YOUR TOUCH, MOVE HERE, ADD THIS, TURN 

THAT, AND SO IT GOES UNTIL THERE IS CLICK IN MY MIND THAT SAYS DONE.

COLLAGE IN MOTION!

The Incredible Moving Collages of Hilary Faye(click)

All of Hilary's Art is shown with her permission.

Hilary Faye is an artist from Melbourne, Australia.  I first saw her collages on Hyperallergenic.  I was immediately mesmerized by her work in collage, especially, the moving collages made with bits of film complied in pieces and bits the same way a regular collage would be except in film.  I took experimental film as an addition to my masters and for continuing education points toward my teaching license in the 90's.  I was fascinated with the creativity one could achieve in film.  Dali's surrealistic clip( un chien andelou) that begins with the cutting of an eye and continues is Dali's style with ants crawling out of a persons mouth and nose was just captivating with what one could create using film as an art  form.

But Hilary's work was even more interesting in that it was like a paper collage, but it moved.  It is only done in short clips of time and that even makes it more effective as a piece you are viewing like a wall collage.  I think you will find them as amazing as I do.

Hilary's background is in design and photography. This however, is a very nice direction she has taken and new to the world of collage and art.  
I wanted to use her images, but as I do most always I wrote and ask her permission which she gave very generously so I could share them with you.  One of the real perks in writing this on line art advocacy magazine for you is that I am getting to meet more and more artists through the process of researching the articles. I hope you find Hilary's work as fascinating as I did and the art magazine Hyperallergenic did also.  Treat yourself and check out the work of Hilary Faye!

RABBIT'S MOON NEW ARTIST SERIES YOU WILL LOVE THIS NEW ARTIST!

RABBITS MOON STUDIO IS PLEASE TO INTRODUCE


                                                NJIDEKA AKUNYILI 
                                                an exciting new artist we would like you to discover also

"(CNN) -- Njideka Akunyili started college planning to be a doctor, but left as an artist and is now billed as one of New York's most promising new talents.

The 29-year-old Nigerian-born artist has just completed a year-long residence with the prestigious Studio Harlem in New York.

All five of her works sold in the first half hour of this year's Art Basel, the world's top fair for modern and contemporary art and African style magazine Arise described her as "fast becoming the art world's newest star." See more......

THE THING AROUND HIS NECK   BY NJIDEKA AKUNYILI                    from google image for educational purposes only

Njideka is an interesting artist for many reasons.  She is Nigerian born, sought to be a doctor, but chose to be an artist instead, and studied at the Harlem School of Art in a rich tradition of artists who came before her. Her work is an interesting mixture of transfers, charcoal, paper and painting.  
One cannot help but think of Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden when looking at her work and......She handles collage in a much similar fashion in her use of large dominate shapes, rich texturing of image, and handling of complex social issues in a bold, yet simple, presentation.  
Lets look at Lawrence and Bearden's work and see if you can see the similarities and influence.

Romare Bearden Collage                    google image for educational uses

Jacob Lawrence Painting and Collage
google image educational use 

 NEW ORLEANS ON SITE RABBIT'S MOON     STUDIO JOURNAL

During our stay here in the Big Easy we are trying to chronicle as much about the area as we can for you.  They one thing about a new environment for artist is that you have new eyes, nothing is common place.  In your own world one becomes used to seeing things and forgets to look closely at times.  When ever an artist is in a new environment, it is like you have fresh eyes, you see every thing anew.  It is a like a shot of adrenaline, hundreds of new images coming at you and every thing seems new..because it is to you.  We were coming out of Drago's Restaurant (a wonderful seafood restaurant) and across the parking lot these electric lines outside a building.  The white on white, the shapes forming an abstract composition of alien tentacle like soldiers, and the lines almost in motion..like wind blown...still frozen in motion from Katrina and the wake of destruction it left. The straight lined contrast of the bricks against the curved caps of current connectors makes for an interesting juxtaposition.
These make me think of Louise Nevelson and her mono toned collages in New York.  See what you think.  I will include some of Nevelson's work for you to compare.
I am not sure yet how I will use these photo's in my work, or just let the work be the photo...but I seem to want to do more, so we shall see where it leads. The more i look at them, the more they speak to me and seem to want to say more!  

STUDIES IN LINE, SHAPE AND TEXTURE 

Metairie Electric Lines         photo by elizabeth gordon  

Metarie  Electric Lines          photo by elizabeth gordon

Louise Nevelson                            from google image

from google image

GIVE YOURSELF A TREAT, GO TO A NEW AREA, A NEW ENVIRONMENT, TAKE A CAMERA OR SKETCH BOOK...AND THEN SIT BACK AND WAIT..IT WILL BE IMAGE ON IMAGE, NEW SMELLS, NEW SOUNDS, AND NEW IMAGES.  I PROMISE YOU IT IS A TREAT FOR THE ARTISTS'  SOUL.

Collage/Pieces of our Lives

Collage

Is oft thought of as a sub class to painting, drawing and sculpture. It is truly interesting that part of the art world has taken that position with its wonderful rich history. I have loved collage most of my life. I think it actually started with watching my Mother put together family photo's with clipping out bits of embroidery or lace to enhance the presentation. I can remember how carefully she would set aside pieces of her favorite bits of material and thoughtfully arrange each vignette. I watched with awe, and remember thinking I didn't know you were allowed to combine photographs with other things. I had not seen it done in anyone else's home or other place. It was unique to me and seemed to allow me to think differently.

Africa is not always given its due to the history of collage. Picasso is given credit and Braque, but it is not always mentioned that Picasso drew many of his influences came from African art. Rauschenberg, Johns, Cornell were artist who brought collage into the modern art world. Now it is a mainstay trending over to assemblage and all types of mixed media and found object collage. Curators and judges no longer cast an eye of disdain, as in the past, but have accept video artists, installations and other innovations.

The history of art is change, innovation, and exploration. Bright colors were thought to be a horror is certain periods of art, impressionism was thought unskilled art, and Van Gogh's work was not accepted in his life time. So art is meant to be in constant evolution and more that the realistic representation of a scene or object. Art is meant to challenge us, make us think, and to inspire discovery and exploration.

For me collage and assemblage are the archeology of the present and future. There will be a time when people study our objects for hints of how we lived as a civilization. I love old, worn, used, touched, lived with objects: they speak to be of times just past and times present that are moving into the past. It is the visual poetry of our lives, our beings journey in time. We leave a mark, we leave evidence we were here, we worked, we lived, and we existed on this earth at this time.

New Work/Raku

Raku Sculptured Pot

This is my newest Raku piece. Last Wednesday we fired up the raku kiln. It is much more pleasant now the weather is cooler. There is nothing much hotter than doing raku in Florida in the summer! If you think collage, a piece of clay here, a stamped section there, and then shaped as if a sculpture that is how I approach my pottery. The glazes used are a sagent green which bring out coppers and gold tones and a white crackle for contrast. The areas left unglazed turn black in the oxygen reduction process of the firing. This is not a huge piece as it may look in the photo, it is a small piece, but oh so sweet.

I love making areas that are like emblems or patches, then adding them on to the surface of the pot. I like texture working against texture, and marked contrast. I am not a potter as such, I am an mixed media artist learning about pottery and glass fusion. I am learning how to bring these experiences back to my mixed media world. I am also allowing myself to just relax and try something totally different...not worrying about anything, but enjoying the media and seeing what it will do if I approach it without rules or expectations. I just want to experiment and play and break the rules...fresh eyes, new approach, discoveries along the way.

I make my own stamps out of clay. I try to keep making them and have a number waiting for my use at any one time. There are many versions of stamps. The can be small single stamps, they can be cylinders that roll, or curved rectangles that rock back and forth. Texture mats are very helpful as well. The wave portion on the section above is done by a texture mat.

Joseph Cornell/The Artists Artsit

Joseph Cornell

I want you to get to know one of my favorite artist and influences in mixed media art. Cornell was one of the first artists to use the box as his canvas for art. He built miniature worlds inside old boxes with scrapes of paper and found objects. He rarely sold his work, but gave it to friends and family. His work is like visual poetry and also a bit like a dream world. His work was collected for years by other famous artists. After his death his work was salvaged by well known NYC artists and stored in a warehouse so that would not be lost. Now you find his work at MOMA and the Chicago Art Institute among other places. I will post more articles and images for you to enjoy and for us all to share. Cornell has influenced every artist, whether they know it or not, that has used boxes, collage, assemblage, or found objects in the making of art. He is not widely known, but his influence is considerable.

http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/poster/poster.html(clickable form in websites of interest column on right hand side of the blog.

Forever Collage

I am a collage, mix media art venturing in to clay and fused glass. I wanted to approach both clay and glass as if I just discovered them. I didn't want to know the rules and what was best. I wanted my mind clear to discover. There was a time when all media was discovered by someone and then explored. But what I find interesting within myself is no matter what I do I find a way to piece it together, patch and adhere-as if a collage. It just must be my way. Wonder what your way is?