destination

need

Sketchbook

The Belly Eye!

The Woman Role

  

Blame it on art

Ugh I want to do something like this

For fun

I made this for the ladies I go to church with. I am blessed and surprised to find such unbelievable women in our church as well as men. There is such a large gap of families our age and college students. The families that keep our church going work so hard and don't have many to invest time in them and remind them what their purpose and direction is as a contemporary man and woman. This is for the beautiful women in my life who just do it all somehow. 

Ray

I'm continuing to explore the various definitions and characteristics of the pioneer woman. I traveled back down to Rosecreek yesterday. Unfortunately my model, Natasha, isn't available to come with me anymore because of her new job so I went by myself with my son. Ray wanted to give me a tour so I accepted his generosity and he gave me an education about the village and farm. His three young kids climbed in the cab while he drove me and my three year old around. I asked him about his family's choice to have such a raw lifestyle compared to the rest of the country. He commented on his background as a professional welder and how his presence with his family when he arrived home was rarely 100 percent after 12 hours of work. He wanted to change that so they rooted themselves on Selmer TN. Neither he or his wife come from a family of farmers so getting started was difficult not only because he didn't have the resources initially but his knowledge of self-sustaining living was so limited. The average farmer now is 65 years old so finding good physical help as well as education is so difficult. Although I was unable to talk with his wife very much, she wasn't shy to let me take her photograph. Their fridge had stopped working and she was briskly transferring frozen vegetables and other items before it all went bad on a 70 degree weather day. Although she didn't have much time to visit I was so aware of her strong presence in the home. She was 8 months pregnant and had no sign of weakness or exhaustion. When her husband asked a question, she strongly answered and directed him. There was no fear or lack of confidence in her role and she didn't stop her duties to treat or serve me. Photos coming soon. 

The News from Lake Wobegon

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Pioneer woman collages

Pioneer Woman

Chickens?

Proverbs 31

I'm interested in working visually connecting the idea of the pioneer woman, proverbs 31 and modernity vs pre-industry. Here are scriptures I've rearranged according to the subject and my interpretation as it relates to today's culture: 

Plan, prepare the finest and work eagerly for harder days to come: 

She selects wool and flax

    and works with eager hands. 

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

Cook and prepare food for my family well as well as anyone who works for us:

14 She is like the merchant ships,

    bringing her food from afar. 

she provides food for her family

    and portions for her female servants.

Always be available:

15 She gets up while it is still night;

    and her lamp does not go out at night.

Use my craft to be profitable:

She considers a field and buys it;

    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sees that her trading is profitable, 

She makes linen garments and sells them,

    and supplies the merchants with sashes.

Be strong and vigorous, without fear:

She sets about her work vigorously;

    her arms are strong for her tasks. 19 In her hand she holds the distaff

    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

Help others in need who ask:

20 She opens her arms to the poor

    and extends her hands to the needy.

Create home and myself into beautiful sanctuary:

She makes coverings for her bed;

    she is clothed in fine linen and purple. ;

Represent my husband well:

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

Always be prepared and never fear difficulties that may come. My spirits must be always pleasant:

 she can laugh at the days to come.

Exude a strength, respect and speak wisely and thoughtfully:

 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity. She speaks with wisdom,

    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Protect against others and not give into sinful desires: 

She watches over the affairs of her household

    and does not eat the bread of idleness

Seek respect and blessing from my family: 28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

    her husband also, and he praises her:

Fall 2014

Color-blind Show: 1 2 3 4

The skin is the one body part that includes so many different aspects.  It's biology is complex. The skin's color is genetic, responds to lifestyle choices, adapts to climate changes and has a dark history of social discrimination.  The color of people is a rainbow of beige.  There isn't a true white or a true black, it involves pink toned beiges, yellow beiges and even grey beiges.

The biology of skin color involves a balance of getting the nutrition it needs.  Anthropologists have found that the area of the most intense UV rays are in northern to central Africa.  They have also discovered that area's climate was previously extremely fertile and allowed shade on natives.  The ancestors of northern and central Africa were in fact "white" or had much lighter beige skin.  As the climate changed, their melanin adapted and genetically transferred to their children in order to serve as a barrier to the intense UV rays.  Although now that we have reached an age of modern traveling means, skin doesn't have a chance to adapt to different climates, therefore darker skin in normal UV ray areas suffer from Vitamin D deficiency and much paler skin suffer from sun overexposure leading to skin cancer and burns.

These few pieces are deconstructions of portraits of various skin tones.  The lack of knowing exactly what the person in each one looks like, what they are wearing and what portions each of their features are allows the viewer to really engage in the color.  To lighten the mood, you'll see a smiley face staring back at you if you look closely in the center.  The color of skin can be uncomfortable depending on what background the viewer comes from.  As the artist, I am not interested in advocating any anti-discriminatory campaigns with these images.  I believe the word racism takes on an element of hate and I think we are beyond that motivation. Although, there are some who still struggle with generalizing a population of people based on what color they are and I hope to enlightened them visually with this collection.  The first one titled 1 2 3 4 is my favorite because you can really see each skin tone in unison.  It reminds me of what a sea would look like if it were made of nothing but people.

smiley face one and two

 

What's more interesting than to be an artist that teaches rather than advocates? I'd like to show you how I got from one to two to three in a way I cannot explain with words, although words aren't void of insight. The poetry of my work is the road I live on with my muse. It takes me to a never ending destination. I'm always exploring and I rarely rest on a solution. None of these pieces are my best or favorite. They are pit stops to a never ending journey of exploration. My mind and intuition about whom I live with continues to a new place with little rest. The things I show give you a one percent look into the unfolding aspect of my sub conscience. 

I chose many layers for intense depth. It enlightens chaos with a surprising formalistic discovery. The colors give meaning to human color, nature's colors and a deeper understanding of the color beige. The largest human body part is put under a microscope and compared to others. Geometric shapes aligned intentionally exude a shapely form. Hidden messages code humor. The title of the show gives a word-play element. The value of skin color brings about some uncomfortable emotions due to the geography we are located. And finally, the use of picking a certain look and expanding on it in front of the viewers eyes makes the artist vulnerable but issues the viewer a back stage pass.

Anthropologist viewpoint on skin: TBD 

Face 2