Art Chicago 2011

Went to the annual contemporary art fair yesterday which I do every year like taxes…
Noticed it was much smaller in terms of galleries represented…and nothing really grabbed me this time.
Yeah, I took a pix here and there when I could…and here are a few of the ones I liked...

Tougen #36, Screen, 64x152 in., Masatake Kouzaki

Chicken Bone Thrones by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (b.1910-1983)

Here we have a little girl’s dress made out of a folded map...I forgot to get the artist’s name, alas.  But it looks like the work of Elisabeth Lecourt.

Stuffed Head: Breathing Space, 81/2 x 51/4 in., Mary Bero

all hand-embroidered for about $3 thou

The Book of Symbols, Day 5: Sun II

Day 5: Sun II, collage, mixed media, 6x6 in., Otto

Seemed a more fulfilling Sun was necessary…


...so along came Sun II

The Book of Symbols, Day 4: Sun I

Day 4: Sun I, collage, mixed media, 6x6 in., Otto

Spirit and matter –
the transparency of consciousness
and the crystallation of light as focus –
coalesce in the golden disk of the sun.

- ARAS

The Book of Symbols, Day 3: Star

Day 3: Star, collage, 6x6 in., Otto

Stars tell us of the infinite,
the visionary,
of something in ourselves that is starlike,
star stuff.

- ARAS

The Book of Symbols, Day 2: Breath

Day 2: Breath, prismacolor pencil collage,6x6 in.,Otto

The Tao is the breath that never dies.  
It is Mother to all creation. 

- Tao Te Ching

The Book of Symbols, Day 1: Egg

Day 1: Egg, collage, 6x6 in., Otto

I decided to create an image expressing each archetypal symbol entry in the ARAS new Book of Symbols that I received in the mail yesterday. 

It’s a beautiful book in everyway and so inspiring. 

So here’s to Cultivating a Daily Creative Practice -  my collage for Day 1: Egg. 

Cultivating A Daily Creative Practice

All Manner of Spirals

Just had my practice practice group last night, and here is the result of my participation in the “20 expressions in 20 minutes” task.

Check out the site at Daily Creative Practice to see more.

Looks Like Flower Power

Dodecahedron Net, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

...but it's really a dodecahedron net!


And by the way, there are 43,380 distinct nets for this polyhedron.

Dodecahedron Here +

Dodecahedron Form, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

Hey, what can I say? It is what it is. And it's very meditative to do, after I figure out how to draw the shape, that is.



+Actually...I've spent a lot of time putting together another blog for the people taking my upcoming workshop, Cultivating a Daily Creative Practice.  I'm starting a practice Practice group on Monday to get a feel for it.  Anyway, that way the participants can use the blog to post their daily practice if they want.

Octahedra Are Cool

Octahedron Frame, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

No doubt about it.








hmmm...wonder where this is all going to lead...like the song says, "I'm on the road to somewhere..."

Proteus: a 19th Century Vision

O!M!G! I saw this film last night...I am speechless.

Nets for Octahedrons

Octahedron Net, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

There are 11 possibilities, but isn't this one just the coolest?

yea...

But Why an Octahedron?

Octahedron Form, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

Well, an octahedron seems to merely be 2 tetrahedra smacked together for all I can tell...

What's the point of calling it one of the five platonic solids then?  

Guess I'll just have to educate myself, if I really want to know...


Pretty cool shape anyway...

sort of  "as above, so below," don't ya think?

Another Square, Man

Cube Frame, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

You know the drill...

3 versions of each platonic solid...

so, here's the last of the cubes - showing off its framework.

Cube Net, As Is - NOT

Cube Net (before), graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

Apparently there are only 3 possible nets for a cube.  

Who knew?  

This is the second type I've drawn...

...and I've done so in a less neat-and-tidy way.

Does it make a difference? ...in any aesthetic sort of way?

I think it might have felt more interesting or freeing to draw...
we'll see....

Cube Net (after), graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

And here we do see...I was just being lazy before.


This looks so much better, and felt so much more satisfying doing it.  

After taking a break and doing some reading, I went back in the studio and went over it all for another hour until it felt right and finished.

ahh

A Cube, a Box, a Hexahedron

Cube Form, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

...a regular hexahedron, that is. 



- I am just learning so much about math and science these days -






And there's more to come...

The Sketchbook Project 2012

...is up and atom. Brought to you by The Art House Co-op of Brooklyn, NY.

It's a great way to get your creative juices going.   

Check out the guidelines on their website under Sketchbook Project 2012.


I participated last year and surprised myself with what I came up with...

Polyhedra A-Plenty

Tetrahedron Form, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

Tetrahedron Net, graphite pencils,6x9 in., Otto

Here's a 3-dimensional rendering of one of the five platonic solids - a tetrahedron.

Tetrahedron Frame, graphite pencils, 6x9 in., Otto

And a drawing of one of two possible "nets" or diagrams for folding a 3-dimensional tetrahedron shape (with the addition of my light scales, of course!)













And finally, a drawing of the frame of a tetrahedron so you can see through it.




I could go on and on...




you know I can...

Next Up: Platonic Solids

Icosahedron, graphite pencils, 9x6 in., Otto

Yes, I've been playing around with the following 5 polyhedra, but as unfolded flat images, rather than solid geometrical shapes...

Why you might ask?  Well, that's just what interests me...the diagram aspect of it.  The step-by-step procedure for creating them...and of course, figuring out how to apply my light scale sequence to it.  

Which is something I've been experimenting with in each polyhedron...

Dodecahedron, graphite pencils, 9x6 in., Otto

Octahedron, graphite pencils,9x6 in.,Otto

Cube, graphite pencils, 9x6 in., Otto

Tetrahedron, graphite pencils, 9x6 in., Otto

So Many Inklings, So Little Time

3 Intersecting Planes by M.C. Escher

...coming fast and furious, but really, I have all the time that I need for my creative process don't ya know.

Anyway, Escher coming through, and platonic solids, and paper folding, crease patterns, and graduating light scales, and Notan or principles of shadow and light - both Jungian and design-wise, cultivating a daily creative practice workshop, and Sufism, and of course the labyrinth designs, mandalas in general, sequences, stages, phases, diagrams, geometric/ archetypal forms, systems.  

It's all in there, stirring around, re-combining, shifting, sifting.  I'm just percolating...and drawing, and being fascinated... 

A Roman Labyrinth Complete

Roman Labyrinth, graphite pencils, 7x7 in., Otto

eh,

not so interesting to me...

since the Roman labyrinth doesn't crisscross into the different quadrants until each section has completed its spiral, my overlay system hasn't much room to play out.

...turns out, when each quadrant is basically the same, the light scales lay out basically the same, and the end result is...

not so interesting to me.