Here is something that looked at me from my washing, when I picked it from the line. It is the biggest insect we have in New Zealand, a Giant Weta. At the first glance, one couldn’t call it a pretty creature (needless to say, I dropped the towel, but the Weta held onto it). Looking at it in a photograph so close up, I find it absolutely amazing and it is totally harmless. It’s always worth having a second look.
With this post, my self-imposed seclusion is coming to an end. I am back to writing my blog as part of my daily routine. I had a very, very strong urge to remain silent for a while. I was surprised though, how much I missed writing, even though I am only doing it for a bit over two months. The artworks I have created last week are as private as my thoughts and won’t make it onto the blog.
Another one of my tree eye series. It is called “Tears from the depth of some divine despair”. Which in turn is the second line of a beautiful poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson called Tears, idle tears. My current tears are not idle: Good bye, mum.
I am wondering what went through the mind of this crab, when I took her picture. I only discovered when I looked at the image on the computer, that I was being watched.
Where I was brought up (and when I was brought up), an artist was considered somebody who was shy of work. “Artist” was more or less a cuss word. When somebody was refered to as being an artist, you knew, they didn’t amount to much – they just fluffed around. Of course there were also the big name artists who were revered. But there was no path between the two careers.
This painting is called “Who is scared of the bogeyman”.
I noticed I have a three tier approach to my artworks. I am hesitant to show my paintings publicly, as I use the painting process to solve problems. The act of painting decelerates my speed. The resulting images are often quite scary. I personally don’t mind their scariness, but each and every image reminds me of the issue I dealt with at the time.
My photography and composite imaging is different. I use it to explore moods as well as my surrounding and I don’t have a problem showing the pictures, as long as I am reasonably happy with the outcome.
My puppets on the other hand, have a life of their own and I can’t shut up about them (: Even though they are very much part of me, they also reveal the least about myself. Throughout history, puppets were allowed to say what they wanted. I like that! I can always blame the character. I love their fun and their cheekiness. My paintings are no fun.
Here is Minor, the sloppy teenage daughter of Detail. Okay, sloppy according to her mother Detail. I think Minor is fourteen or fifteen, going on sixty. Her mother can’t do anything right by her either. OMG, you should hear how these two talk to each other, or… better not…
If you bump into Minor on her own, she is a very introverted little thing, a bit rough and careless about her appearance maybe. I personally think she has a great future, forget the messy bedroom and all.
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The puppy is finally finished. It has been sitting in my studio from before the launch and I only needed to put the skin on. It was good that it took me a while, as in the meantime I came up with the story and chose the skin accordingly. Puppy is eternally in love with Skeleton Edeltraut. But the love is not returned. This will be a big part in the sequel to Hermit’s Web. Edeltraut is still going out with Monster and cute little Puppy turns into a stalker.
I told some people the story already and was surprised how few got it that Edeltraut is the logical choice for Puppy’s desire.
I am reluctant to put my paintings on this blog as they can be pretty scary. Painting is an amazing leveller of moods for me.
It’s not so much the outcome, but rather the process I am enjoying. I go through all possible emotions while painting. When I am reasonably happy, I have to hide the work for a while – otherwise it will get painted over the next day.
Last week was frantic and I am so looking forward to finishing one of my puppets today. The Sad Puppy. It only needs its skin.
For a period I explored chess pieces to work through a very unpleasant experience in my younger years. Needless to say, the black king featured very strongly. I came across one of the prints recently and was looking through my files today to find the electronic version. But they seemed to have disappeared. I think it must be good on ten years, and a few computers ago when I worked on this…
This image here will have to do. It is from the same period. I used this one in a book before, therefore it survived and was easy to find.
When I went through my chess phase, I began to wonder: How come that the queen is realistically the strongest piece on the board and can do all the moves… While the king, on the other hand, needs protection from all his men and is effectively very weak. He can only move one square at the time. Now, how old is the game?
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