Building #2, Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Complex
Even though Claire and Leslie were not present for the workshop, I find working with the processes highly transformative. The week at the Crow Barn made me come to a decisive decision to turn The Beauty of Holiness Studio at Mellwood into a wet work studio. I was leaning that way by way of wanting to try wet and nuno felting. It didn't take long for me to move my dye supplies and accessories there.
Yesterday I had a stretch of time that I spent at the studio and my goal was to work on the "crow" piece but I couldn't find the laminated pieces I did and was for certain they were there. After tracing my steps they turned up at Valerie's house where I had taken them to show her what I worked on. I could have sworn that I had put them back in the car and my fear was that I had lost them out of the car in the moving of supplies. I was close to heartbroken and panic when Val returned my call and said they were there!!! My aim is to pick them up today.
Here are 2 of the fabrics I did while at the Crow Barn:
This is a side view of the piece. Corrected view is 90 degrees left. I'm calling the series Crowbonics. I was going to call it The Secret Language of Crows but I challenged myself to find another word, a created word, that expressed my intentions. I selected the Crow not only because I'm enamored with their intelligence, but also Crows represent cultures of people who are not centered in the mainstream. The people can function on their own terms and/or seek/struggle to lessen disenfranchisement by the mainstream and/or people who attempt to balance the dualities of their own defined culture with co-existence in a mainstream/pop culture. This way I include Audubon's mother, an African French woman of mixed race. The piece has to be completed and in Henderson, Kentucky by the 28th of this month.
Here is another partial view of a laminated piece:
Dark clouds, thunder, wind, and rain are going on. Fine, if I'm not compelled to be out...but I must do what I must do. On second thought, I'm going to wait it out! May the angels cover us all.
Love the colors. Crows are so fascinating. My friend's husband started carrying dog biscuits on his walks for dogs he might encounter. Then he started leaving bits of dog biscuit on the large stones in the front yard for the birds. Now, when he leaves the house, the crows are waiting for him and his treats. Did you know that they can do face recognition? They know when it is him. The follow him down the street, cawing away at him.
ReplyDeleteyes, i heard the report of some study on the crows last year and have been taken with them since! and they cannot be fooled either...when the researchers placed masks on people and turned them upside down, the birds flew upside down...and if you piss them off, you have made not just an enemy of one crow but all of her crow buddies too! love that hehehehe
ReplyDeleteif you haven't already seen it, you might like reading Bird Brains by Candace Savage. It's about the entire corvid class of birds but crow images to predominate and they are awesome. Your posts about crows encouraged me to haul out my copy and keep it at hand for visual reference.
ReplyDeleteAcey, its on my list of books to check out at the library. you mentioned it to me before. thanks.
ReplyDeleteWonderful work and what a great experience to have been at the Crow Barn!
ReplyDeleteKeep on going - your work is soaring !