Archives for the month of: March, 2012

energyI just realised, I am now blogging for one month. One can tell that I am still a newbie, as I am posting every day. I guess, when you are doing it for a while you will slow down. I have learned a thing or two in this first month, but I know I am still at the beginning of my learning curve.

Though, I am surprised how much I am enjoying this process. So far, I have never had the urge to show what I am producing to the world. There are gazillions of really good and gifted people out there… (A fact you become even more aware of, when you engage in the blogging community). The reason why I am really enjoying it, is that I am now sort of cataloguing my own work in my head. It is a retrospective of a non-exhibiting artist. What always seemed to me like a mixed bag, does actually have a common thread.

The puppets for whom I have set up the blog, appear to be the odd ones out. But only visually, only superficially.

The launch of my book is still three weeks away and I am going through all the expected emotions every day. I have finished the Devil’s Advocate puppet. The Procrastinator is still nowhere to be seen. But I have the feeling I moved forward tremendously.

One sentence I have read recently in the paper has lodged itself into my memory: “there is no art without an art market.” I stumbled when I read it, but continued on. Unfortunately I have forgotten the rest of the article and where and when I read it, so I can’t reference it. But this one sentence stuck. I disagree.

World on edge

Often, I take random pics while I am a passenger in a car, bus or train. I call this type photography  “drive by shooting.”

From those random pics, I started to create a series called  “World on edge“. But this project has slowed down as well since the puppets took over. Normally the first image in a series is totally random. But once I have created one I am happy with, I go out to take images to match the first one.

Life

My allegory for relationships

Between 2008 and 2009 I’ve  had a project going, where I’ve sent my sister a postcard once a week for a year. She lives on the other side of the world.  This postcard shown here was No 12.

For me railway tracks are a wonderful allegory for relationships: path crossing, joining, breaking off, running parallel or veering off.

deutsch frauleinI mentioned this morning that I believe Deutsch Fraulein would like L’artiste. Deutsch Fraulein started out as princess, therefore her pink dress and the funny little pink pill box on her head. When she was nearly finished, I discovered the German flag on her forehead and I decided to turn her into German girl.

Further to my pondering this morning… Of course only Deutsch Fraulein could mistake the slimy green Monster for a frog and throw him against the wall. After all she grew up with the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. So there were two mistaken identities here: She still thought she is the princess and then she mistook Monster for the frog prince. I don’t really want to explain the reasons for the story,  all I can say I am very fascinated by how much our childhood still affects us even when we are older. The whole writing process opened a big can of worms for me.

L'artiste

The finished french artist

Here he is: the finished L’artiste. The puppet I showed last week  in progress.

I am pretty sure Deutsch Fraulein will fall in love with him when she meets him. (I will have to say something about her, but this post is about L’artiste).

He doesn’t appear to be unhappy, but when one looks closely at his neck, there are little fish visible (you can’t really see it in this pic, it  is too small). In German we have the saying that “somebody is up to their neck in water” (“Das Wasser bis zum Hals stehen”) if somebody is in trouble. Having the fish around his neck says it all, but he seems to care little about it. This saying, I think, is pretty much the same as “being in deep water” in English. Sink or Swim!

But as a second language speaker, you have to think much more careful about proverbs.

I have written the book in English and wasn’t thinking about the German translation at all at the time. There are a lot of similar sayings in both languages. But one in particular will cause me a lot of trouble, should I translate the book. In English you have “skeletons in the cupboard”. (In the book I moved them to the wardrobe – as my cupboard is too small to accommodate my huge family of skeletons). The Germans have a “body in the cellar”. I had totally forgotten until my brother pointed it out.

Of course a skeleton looks different from a body. Maybe I could get away with it, by saying that my bodies have been in the cellar for a very, veeeery long time.

communication

Circles seem to feature strongly in my work. This one is called mis under standing. It is my interpretation of a communication model. No matter how clearly you think you’ve send the message, it never will be received in  exactly the same way as you intended to.

Launch invite front

Philosopher and Deutsch Fraulein are the poster couple for the launch invite

Now this went wrong. I accidentally posted it before I was finished.

I managed to finish the printed Launch Invites before the weekend and started to hand them out. They are little bookmark sized glossy cards. Two joined together an perforrated. The idea is to tear them off and give one to a friend. I hope that everybody brings a friend along, because that’s what the book is about.

Now that I am at this stage, I get a bit worried about the event, and whether I manage to get everything organised in time. Easter is in between as well….

mood4 mood3
mood2 mood 1

Now I have had the time to dig out my Mood images, I’ve created from the Deluge image I’ve posted this morning. Increasingly I am missing the haptic experience in digital and the multiplicity of the works irritates me as well. But sure enough, when I first dabbled in painting, I missed the undo button the most. How many times do I produce something, I am reasonably happy with, only to stuff it up – never to be retrieved again.

rainy day

Sitting in the car on the beach watching the sudden deluge through the window. This was Christmas 2011! It should have been a nice hot summer day – in our neck of the woods.

The new dede puppets are not finished yet. I will have to complete them during the day, as I don’t have a daylight lamp in my studio. It makes it very difficult to choose the colours at night. Unfortunately I won’t be able to continue on them over the weekend, as I am teaching a workshop on Saturday and Sunday. In the meantime I have put up an image that sums up this last summer for me (the reason why I started the puppets). I took this image, sitting at the beach in the car, looking at the grey yonder. I am driven by chance, but it doesn’t mean what I do is an accident.

Most of my work is digital and often consists of a series. The image shown here I turned later into a “Mood” Cycle, which I will post later today.

L'artiste

L'artiste

Here is a pic of one of the characters I am currently working on.

I shouldn’t say what characters I set out to do, as I start off with an idea, but by the time they are finished they might end up a totally different character. It’s amazing what kind of thoughts go through your head, when you are creating something.

Two days ago, I mentioned I am working on four characters. Only L’artiste will remain L’artiste. I can see him very clearly, even though I haven’t decided on the final skin and eyes. He has a sligtly crooked nose is wearing a french cap.