Symbolic Projections

“Good art theory must smell of the studio, although its language should differ from the household talk of painters and sculptors.” - R. Arnheim Outside facing sheets. Inside facing sheets. As of late I have been exploring layers and organic dyes. Those who have seen me work know that I love layers. I get submerged in the process of working and with each layer working through something. I have done natural prints in the past using various methods.  When I was growing-up in Cuba I remember my mom helping me pick-out colorful leaves from Croton plants and tropical flowers. We would mash these up in a mortar and add alcohol.  The resulting juice was filtered through a sheet of fibrous paper (much like a coffee filter).  As the plant juice filtered through and dried, the colors would separate into distinctive bands of color (wow, could this have been my very first mandala!).   It was only a matter of time until I ventured into natural dyes. Thats rig...

When I signed-off for the holidays I did so not expecting to have the time nor energy to make much art during the holidays. It appears I was mistaken on both accounts.  When the need arose, my mind would not be still and I had to make the time. Emptying Nest - 12/2013 At the end of the Fall 2013 semester as my interns prepared to leave, I began a small reflection piece that began on one page and soon expanded beyond. Using watered down acrylics and a watercolor brush my focus was on movement. Soon enough I had the basis of what was to become Many Faces. This seemed to be my theme this month: a desire to move paint. To break out of my careful pen doodles and piecing together of small bits.   In Emptying Nest, long smooth motions eventually came together in a nest-like form made of hair. These were in vast contrast with the short strokes of the background, which is dense and layered. Applied quickly and with a spatula knife scraping the surface.  Each appl...

A Leaf on the Wind - Tissue paper, Fall leaves, Sharpie My musings have been tapering-off for a while now. A slow drain and depletion of my usual spontaneity. I’ve found myself explaining to others and myself that “I just don’t have the time I used to”...”this week has been busy”...”maybe next week?” ... “or the next”... The excuses are piling-up and so too are the stashes of ideas. Lets get one thing down, just because I have been unable to work on any one given thing for any length of time does not mean that my “warehouse” is empty. Oh, far from it. With all the work and life stresses I still ‘think’ in pictures. So, as things go when they don’t GO the way we are used-to. I now find myself compensating for my recent lack of habitual visual expression by squirreling away idea stashes. A pressed leaf, a meticulously emptied and unfolded tea bag [quite reminiscent of the mantle of turin], word clippings, and half a vespa. The stashes are everywhere. Journals and book...

Altered Book - Clorox wipe tie-dye cover It is August in Florida and the rains seem to be spacing apart. Guess that means fall is approaching and with it a break from the heat and mugginess. A break from mosquitoes and excessive sweating. Every-morning I find myself cracking the backdoor in expectation of a cooling breeze, one that wont come for another month or two. It is in this anticipation that I have listened and finally decided to publish this blog. It is something I have sat-on for quite some time and avoided the plunge. Nov. 2012 As I finish my first altered book I check the first few pages for a date and find that I began making entries on October 5th, 2012.  I could stretch it and keep meddling in it until the 5th of next month, but I wont, I need to move-on. If not for anything in particular except that I have quite a plethora of viable candidates waiting to take its place.  Watercolor sketchbooks with deeply textured pages, square books for those pe...