LAW 130: Looking for America

So i have a pretty good start on my newest project, which i previewed in my last post. It has taken on a definite shape; i see a definite focus, and i am enjoying it! I had better, as it is looking to be a pretty big time commitment. As i currently envision it there will be 9 signatures in the book, with 8 pages per signature. Gadzooks! that's 72 drawings. I am hoping that this will be a daily process. We'll see what my hands think about it.

Personal assistant, studio cat, ship's cat, Magellan

So, the project is called, Looking for America, a tip of the hat to Simon and Garfunkel. In a weird little piece of synchronicity this very cool, evocative song was actually playing on the radio as i started the first page!

page 1, day 1, 5.6.17

I really like creating a series of work, like this one, around an internal structure; a frame work, if you will, that provides unity to the body of work. I have taken this approach to most of my creative endeavors beginning while i was in graduate school.  The rules of the road to not need to be elaborate, or even ironclad. They are simply there as a guide, or, as in this case, a road map.

page 2, day 2, 5.7.17

In the case of Looking for America I created the pages out of maps from the index of a 1954 Hammond Ambassador World Atlas. The pages are 9.25 x 6.25". Formally the text functions as a frame for the map/drawing; is stream of conscious,  and answers the following 2 questions, have i been here? and could i get my boat, Tesla's Revenge there, by water. Drawings are mostly zen doodle playing off the gird of the street maps. Or as an art friend commented recently, mapping the maps.

page 3, day 3, 5.8.17

As always i have help from my beloved personal assistant, Magellan. See photo above.

page 4, day 4, 5.9.17

An online art friend was curious about what led me to structure this piece the way i have.  Since Don and i are planning to travel extensively, starting sometime this summer, it was a natural focus for this work. We are still at the big picture part of trip planning, we still need  to work out something like a schedule for our ports of call. Tesla's Revenge, as a solar powered boat, theoretically has an infinite range, but it does require the sun, and time.

page 5, day 5, 5.10.17

So, each day before starting i usually google the city of the day, looking at water accessibility, travel time, etc and maybe if i haven't been to the city in question, basic tourist information.

page 6, day 6, 5.11.17

So the first signature is done, i have developed a rhythm, my wrists hurt, but hey, what's new with that? I'm a maker, it goes with the territory.

page 7, day 7, 5.12.17

 I have yet to decide how i am going to approach the non map pages. I have several 'tourist' shots that backed some of the maps. Well, i have time to think about, right?

page 8, day 8, 5.13,17

More later,
gail

LAW 129: The Art of Making part ?

It has been a while since i written a post just about making art. So much of my creative impulse recently has gone into disassembling The Floating Empire, and the re-imagineering of Tesla's Revenge that the daily art making has taken a back seat. You all know that some times that that is alright. Whats not ever alright; beating yourself up regarding what you promised yourself you would accomplish. You know that the thing called Life gets in the way of all the best plans.

pages 1 &2, Love Songs, March 28, 29, 2017

I'm winding up my last altered book project, Love Songs. I do need to work on the cover, and inner frontispiece. Since i haven't quite decided what is happening with the aforementioned pages, i'm willing to let it sit on a back burner for awhile. But while we all wait for my brain to kick back into gear on this one, here are the spreads from Love Songs.

pages 3&4, Love Songs, 3.30, 3.31.17

Die Minnesinger, or Love Songs was a small German edition of unknown age, but likely from the 1920's. This is the Medieval German version of the French Troubadour tradition.

pages 5 & 6, Love Songs, 4.1, 4.2.17

pages 7 & 8, Love Songs, 4.3, 4.6.17

 I cut away everything but the main figures in each of the color plates i used. I than collaged behind them; playing the medieval imagery off from advertising coming primarily from the mid 1950s, with a dose of "the male/female gaze" thrown in for seasoning.

pages 9 & 10, Love Songs, 4.18, 4.24.17

The text comes from the advertising that i used, although it is often cut up and arranged in such away to provide a whole different level of context from the original use.

pages 11 & 12, Love Songs, 5.3.17

In honor of Earth Day this year i collaged a series of city maps(from the Hammond Ambassador World Atlas, c. 1954) on to the cover of a children's book, Merry Times, along with colored pencil drawings, and stream of conscious writing.

Yes, Magellan is also a very good studio cat! Really

I've spent the last three days prepping my newest book project, Looking for America. I harvested all the remaining city maps from the index of the aforementioned atlas, cut them to size, along with two spines for each set of pages, which were then glued into a foldable 'page' for signatures capable of binding with a Coptic stitch.

"finished" signatures, ready for Looking for America

Don't know where i am going with this one yet; it could be collage, or it could be drawing. I had fun with the drawing for the Earth Day piece. Likely there will be text. You will see it here, when it happens.

More later,
gail

LAW 128: Ah Spring Time, Ah Pollen.

Yes, we know it is officially spring here on the water. How? Well the river is coated with pollen. At first glance it looks suspiciously like pollution, but on closer examination it is easy to see it is tree pollen.

Breathe Deep!

Yes, it could be much worse. We could live in a marina that was completely urban, or completely industrial, with out the benefit of our beautiful, bountiful, numerous trees that line the bank here at Middle River, across the river in Hawthorn and down river.

Not complaining, no sir. My sinus' are however. It is not much fun to wander around with a head full of glop.

Progress on Tesla's Revenge is coming along slowly. We are still waiting to get the mast removed. Once that happens we can proceed with the wheel house, solar panels, etc.

Next, the snake farm

In the meantime i have finished re-upholstering the foam cushion for the settee in the salon. The fabric was gifted to me by a friend, i think it might be a vintage Marimekko, certainly it is vintage.

Talk about wrestling with a dead body!

Next i will piece together the remnants to make the curtains.

That's all for today, off to run errands.

More later,
gail