driven to call the moon

I’m feeling accomplished after having finished another altered book today! The found poem reads “driven to call the moon.” The text hovers within a delicate graphite drawing of a moon done onto a thin layer of white gouache. A gorgeous furry wolf is drawn in the same fashion on the left hand side with his head tilted upwards as he howls into the starry night sky of black and white.

birds of a feather flock together

While home at my parents place in Calgary, I went through some old cabinets and boxes of mine to come across this found object that is an absolute gem… The timing was also so uncanny because as you all know I am doing an installation/mixed media piece titled framed feathers centered around found gold and wood frames. Who would have thought that I’d find something so fitting: an old broken earring of mine from high school in the shape of a GOLD FEATHER (sometimes being a hoarder works out for the best)! So, with this lovely re-discovered object, a new piece for my upcoming installation was born. On my way back to the Cariboo, I stayed over for one night at my cabin and visited one of my best buddies, Nick. I showed him the feather and he mentioned how purple would look amazing with it. I agreed. Also, I don’t live in the Valley full time anymore, and so I miss Nick a lot, because he truly is one of a kind. And, without being an egomaniac, I like to think the same of myself. So, for that reason, the classic saying “birds of a feather flock together” seemed very fitting. The frame this piece was made for, was found in a thrift shop on the highway in Clinton, BC during my travels home this week. It was the perfect size for a canvas board I had just purchased in Kamloops plus it had both requirements for the installation: gold and wood. The overall framed feathers installation is really coming together, and I am happy with the progress I have made for this upcoming show, despite the tendonitis set backs I battled most of early 2011. I am on track to get everything I want finished in this series and my Pops even helped me get a hanging solution figured out for the gallery while I was in Calgary where there are fancy lumber shops. However, I am still a bit of a stress case with the launch of my etsy shop this week, tons of travelling and artwork commitments on the horizon, I am trying to make sure I get everything accomplished. It’s going to be once hell of a month. A month to remember.

on a roll

Feeling productive today despite including a bit of my usual internet distractions. I finished 3 mixed media drawings and really wanted to share them with you! They are being added to my installation framed feathers in my upcoming solo exhibition in July. If you haven’t seen my previous posts about this, please have a gander at this one and this one if you like what you see below or if you want to know a bit more about the project. A very wee detailed painting of two tawny owl feathers on a kraft paper sits happily in one of my favorite frames in the collection; and I was actually lucky enough to find it in the thrift shop with a partner that is practically identical… I am planning to create another mixed media drawing/painting of a feather/feathers for that frame as well. Speaking of pairs, I created two delicate pencil drawings of blackpoll warblers for this epic hinged diptych brass (but gold-looking enough) frame that I found at the charity shop here in town. It can either be hung on the wall or can be stood on a table top/shelf/mantle slightly folded. Above are a couple detail shots of the images before framing. I like how the male is acting arrogant and proud with his beak in the air and the female is sitting there being beautifully modest. The perfect image of springtime.