I am delighted to have been invited to participate in Heavy Bubble's Snowflake Bienniale. Thank you Marjorie Grigonis for inviting me! The opening reception is January 14, 2017, 6:30-9:30 pm. The closing tea party is February 25th, 4-6pm. Heavy Bubble HQ, 1241 Carpenter St, Third Floor, Philadelphia, 19147.
My piece is called Shamans Rise Up. Done towards the end of 2016, it points to a new direction for 2017: integration of paper clay with
found object assemblage. I love the flexibility and versatility of
paper clay. It's all I use now.
I love Heavy Bubble's motto: "Heavy Bubble makes me happy." It's true! Check it out: http://www.heavybubble.com /.
Today the electors are annointing Donald Trump as our next president, despite the overwhelming popular vote for Hillary Clinton. The efforts at recount and the small groups of demonstrators at state houses where the electors are voting, don't make any difference. I just finished this piece, "SOLD", as a small act of protest and resistance.
The gold in the background is genuine gold leaf. Only the best for the international oligarchs. Much could be said. I will let SOLD speak for itself.
+++++++++++++
Addendum on December 20th: I should have said I was playing around with the idea, and this is what I had so far on the day the electors met. It continues to evolve. It isn't finished at all. I'll post pictures of it when it finally is done!
This was the first of five paintings I did today in a workshop at Pendle Hill: Intuitive Painting as a Spiritual Practice. My feelings while doing it were of our post-election confusion and the foreboding sense of darkness covering everything. It wasn't until I got home that I appreciated the vividness of the light shining through the cracks.
The art studio building at Pendle Hill shares its overall environment of contemplative simplicity and serenity. There was enough time over the lunch break to walk a trail, see a pond, and find the bamboo grove.
My journey over the day's trajectory can be seen in painting number five, Opening Heart:
We were a small group of seven, lucky to work with Damini as our guide.
"Damini Celebre is a visionary artist, healer, writer, a
lover of the natural worlds, magical worlds, and the inner realms."
Wow! How did she create an experience of spontaneous painting without thinking? I have greater appreciation than ever for the Dada and Surrealist folks and their "automatic painting"!
It was a wonderful day. I even took my first selfie on my new phone.
