Posts

Learning by Heart

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"Learning by Heart" was made for the Heart of Resilience Show at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery this month.  It is an original digital print Ltd 1/12.  The show asks what are artists making in the time of COVID 19 and how do we stay creative in the face of the epidemic?   Much of how we survive is learning to endure.  How we endure is learned by heart.  Habits sustain us. Perhaps the best advice I received from my parents when facing uncertainty was about maintaining a schedule and establishing a routine.  Bathe, dress, what now, what next, get back into the saddle.  Ride this thing out. 

Covid-19, The Way It Is

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William Stafford wrote one of my favorite poems about guiding vision called The Way It Is- Theseus.  Because I am who I am and love what I love and who I love his words always speak to me. Particularly now.  The Way It Is- Theseus There’s a thread you follow. It goes among 
 things that change. But it doesn’t change. 
 People wonder about what you are pursuing.
 You have to explain about the thread.
 But it is hard for others to see.
 While you hold it you can’t get lost.
 Tragedies happen; people get hurt
 or die; and you suffer and get old.
 Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
 You don’t ever let go of the thread. In this time of Covid-19, we seem caught up in a confounding labyrinth.  As individuals, municipalities and states, as countries and continents, the world seems lost but science is the thread.  Hold on tight to the facts. The image above is from my Sacred Circles Series called Knossos.  1/12, an original digital print.

Bench Hook for Leo and Lang Linocuts

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Easter weekend I made these bench hooks for safely carving linoleum blocks like this one of "Leo and Lang", from my Love Puppet series.  the smaller bench hook is great for 4 x 6 in. blocks and with the larger one i can cut 8x10 in., 10x12 in. and in between!

Solo Show at Bellarmine Gathering Space Art Gallery

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Opening last night- my solo exhibit at Bellarmine's Gathering Space Art Gallery , Tacoma Wa, March 5-30, 2020.  
Thank you artist and teacher Ben Meeker for the opportunity to show and for the incredible Mediterranean spread! I wish I had a photo of that! The circle is a reoccurring element in much of my imagery and is representative of many things to me. These three Rust Monotypes reflect cyclic stages of the hero's quest for balance in his/her exploration of our creative, spiritual and cultural impulses. Each was made by using an open steel plate and acetate stencils; a variation on the water-jet cut steel plates I sometimes print from. Thanks to everyone who could come and all the wonderful conversation!

Aphrodite, She's beautiful but flighty...

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My cut steel sculpture "Aphrodite" exhibits Feb 7- March 1, 2020 at Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island in "A Trio of Print-makers".  Opening reception is Tonight, Feb. 7, 6-8 pm.  Aphrodite is the ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation.  
 I love the description of her in this version of “Give me that old time religion” made popular by folk musician Pete Seeger.
 Shall I worship Zarathustra 
just the way we use ta? 
 Be a Zarathustra Booster
 What a thing to be! Or maybe Aphrodite
 She’s beautiful but flighty
 and doesn’t wear a nighty, now there’s a sight to see. 
Or perhaps I’ll choose Apollo 
 a decent god to follow
 I’d grovel and I’d wallow
 Brought low on bended knee. 
Elohim or Yahweh?
 Allah or the highway? 
 I think I’ll just go my way.
 That’s good enough for me. 
Give me that old time religion 
Give me that old time religion
.... It's good enough for me!

Amphora Asterion, A Trio of Printmakers

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My monotype print “Amphora Asterion”, exhibits in "A Trio of Printmakers", ( Lynn Brofsky, Brian Fisher & Steve MacFarlane).  Feb 7- March 1, 2020 at Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island. The opening reception is  Feb. 7, 6-8 pm. Amphora Asterion is a   Monotype Print,  29 1/4 x 21 1/2  in. depicting Asterion, the Minotaur of Cretan Myth. And the Queen gave birth to a child who was called Asterion. —Apollodorus   A mingled form where two strange shapes combined, And different natures, bull and man, were joined. —Euripides  

Asterion, The Starry One

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My cut steel sculpture "Asterion, The Starry One" exhibits Feb 7- March 1, 2020 at Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island in "A Trio of Print-makers".  Opening reception is  Feb. 7 6-8 pm.   Crete’s mythic civilization began when Zeus (as bull) abducted Europa from a Phoenician beach and swam into the setting sun until arriving on the Aegean island of Crete.  To their union three children were born, Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon.  Europa became queen of Crete upon marrying Crete's reigning King Asterion and he stepfather to her children.  Upon his death the children warred as successors and when Minos defeated his brothers to become King he prayed that Poseidon, God of the Seas, send him a bull to sacrifice in recognition that his Kingship was divinely sanctioned.  Poseidon’s gift, a beautiful pure white bull, The Cretan Bull, The Bull From The Sea, appeared as petitioned but Minos instead elected to substitute another bull and kept the beautif