Bells--still home to me--and cheery (prickly pear, tornado, bells)

Here is a piece I finished not too long ago. Breaking the chains... FREEDOM! I wanted to post a picture I just finished but it's not letting me download it.. Maybe I can get it a little later... I have so many ideas for future pieces, finding the time to create it all is impossible, but they are written down and I WILL get to them all! 

 

Namonia's Vision 1996

Napachi Pootoogook (1938-2002)

Lithograph

 

 

If I could only take one piece home from the Inuit exhibit it would have been this one.

 

 

Door Number One, Side One:

Door Number One, Side One:

As I am preparing the door that I received from Habitat for Humanity, I have been reflecting on the door’s history. I have been wondering what type of room did the door provide an entrance and exit to. I also have been wondering who used it and if the door could speak what secretes does it keep. When I started to sand down the old varnish to bring new life to the old door, I slowly recognized my own path. I went through a variety of ideas of how I could possibly present the front of the door, which relates to not really belonging to any particular community. After sometime, I came to the conclusion after much brainstorming and discussion with my wife, that I would paint myself in a desert taking a journey in search of belonging, acceptance and love. My desert experience depicted in this painting was when I was twenty-one and depressed. I had just moved across Canada to a place called Medicine Hat, Alberta that was 3000 miles away from home in search of self.

October 12

Greetings from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I am here with MAE student Jayson Luce to present on the work we ( as in Visual Studies) is doing with the 25 million dollar Promise Neighborhood grant in Lubbock. Long way to talk about an after school project for under served kids in Middle school.  It is what each of us do every day. And in fact I end the presentation talking about our program and how our classes celebrate collaborative efforts (glass, clay ...loading a kiln), the fresco) and how you all go on to do wonderful things beyond what I could have ever dreamed...Liz and Ana at the 10K run silkscreen event. So in a way all of you will be a part of this conference.

This is part of my research, trying to find other like minded folks that understand what we do . Or find sort of like minded that might challenge me to re-think how I do what I do.  I did bring some sewing but have not begun yet. Still getting use to this conference of 500 where I know 3 people.

For next week, much like Martha's response to my question on her first clay doll, or Germaine's response from his Uncle...tell me more about how your research is influencing your art/ your writing. If you are like Lynn, a person of multi-layers that somehow operate all at once  still give me a reason why you are following one path. Here is an example: this conference has me asking why do we try so hard to understand cultures from around the world by no the culture in our back yard or our neighborhoods? Why is what we accept as home is often overlooked. What do we know about our communities?

Here is a picture of the jig I made to hold the signatures. The jig is used to compress the signatures (after gluing) and hammer them into a half round configuration before gluing them into the covers.

Three hand made books

My first three hand made books. The little red one I did on my own after the class.