About Me

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Documenting a period in my development that could become pivotal

Monday, August 17, 2009

"Relationships are Precious Vase Painting symbolized by cows Elsie and Plutonium and Pb

Update Sept. 7, 2009 My painting of Relationship Vase is about a fitting relationship that works. I have also completed a clay vase about Relationships that do not always fit nicely. The vase can be seen with all the other ceramic vases on my other blog.http://vaseswidlerwenzel.blogspot.com




Update August 20. My concept of symbolizing all relationships has developed as I painted. Today the painting of the relationship vase has been saved by scrapping the many symbols decorating the vase in order of making the idea of a vase itself being the relationship most valuable. When dirt and water is mixed a clay that can be formed is made into a vessel and fired into hard ceramic - a symbol of creation and of ourselves. Ceramics have brought about the most humanizing changes like food storage and agriculture. Vases have replaced human sacrifice. Vases have democratised the observance of death. some uses of ceramic at first seemed destructive of human virtues but can also be seen as a learning challenge. Ceramic shells can withstand the heat of catalytic atomic explosions.


On the 18th I was making a more complex multiple array of relationships. I painted a shaft of wheat poised above Pu reminding me that fowl smelling manure fertilizes wheat from which we make bread that sustains us. I have also added the relationship of clay mixed with water and then fired to make pottery. Pottery is often used to symbolize relationships. I am now looking for examples of pottery from other cultures and times. I am almost ready to make a ceramic vase about all relationships. I am not completely satisfied with the painting because it has so much happening. I want to communicate at an emotional level and the chemical symbols might not communicate as well as the foods.




The "Relationship Vase Painting" is oil on a 12" square canvas designed to hang in the corner of the room. The idea for this painting was contributed by Rain. Rain is a woman rancher and blogger. She wrote me that relationships are most precious to her. Relationships are valuable not just the lovely, nice fitted ones but all of them. Relationships that do not work for us are ones we learn from.


Rain's "Relationships" is truly a challenge. For symbolizing all relationships, I can't make a sweet pretty gem of a vase. So I have painted an oil painting of a vase with proportional relationships that makes me feel good. This is a historic classic Chinese shape. A vase of this shape was given as gifts or treasured for their reminder of diverse people having similarities in common. In the background I have the periodic table. http://dayah.com/periodic/ and a solar spectrum similar to a rainbow.http://www.solarobserving.com/pics/hydrogen-spectra.jpg. I give two names to the black cow who is like Jekyll and Hyde - Fissile Pu after the radio active isotope plutonium. She has a calf escaping the field of the vase. The calf's name is Pb, the abreviation given to lead because one element that is formed in the radio active reactions is lead. The calves break through the barrier and become their own element symbolizing a relationship in decay and the seriousness of relationships that could be the ultimate destruction or if we learn our lesson well Plutonium could be key to an energy filled future. The other name I give to the cow is Elsie and she is in relationship with sunshine, cow's milk, bee's honey, and wheat bread.


Here is my first sketch for a painting about relationships.


Link to article on the effect of photography on painting

Arts Fine of the UK listed my blog in their directory and asked for a link. On their site is an interesting article about painting style and the camera. http://www.arts-fine.co.uk/BuyArtOnline/Understanding_Art.html

Friday, August 14, 2009

"Society Allowing, and Celebrating Diversity is Precious to Me"

This vase was created in response to Cath's contribution to my ceramic ideas. She wrote "The longer I live in my home town, the more strongly I realize that society allowing and celebrating diversity is precious to me." Cath keeps a blog of her latest art series including mapping abstracts inspired by Aboriginal art. She is a librarian and care giver for her mother in New Zealand. http://cathsheard.wordpress.com







I enjoy painting in the public Sure fire Design Studio in downtown Albany, Oregon. Below are pictures of the vase before firing and the drawing I made before sculpting the vase.


















I am working on the Children's Ceramic Project with my grandchildren and from suggestions in blogger comments. So please share with me a subject for a vase - share with me what is most precious to you. Or ask a young child what is the most wonderful thing in the world. One granddaughter made a bowl decorated with what she thought was precious - valentine hearts symbolizing love. The bowl will be fired and ready to paint the middle of next month. As for me after making and collapsing several first attempts in clay, I drew the idea pictured here. This is a plan for the next hand built vase that will be completed next month.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The most special thing in the world to one veteran's wife is simplicity


I have made a small unglazed cylinder vase to depict simplicity made precious because it is ceramic. This hand built vase is based on the response of a mother of four boys and the wife of a veteran who has served repeated tours of duty.
This is the first completed vase of a series defining what is most wonderful for all from age 1 1/2 to 90 with responses from all over the world.