New Drawing: Trophy

New Drawing: Trophy

 

Pencil, gesso, red pen and glitter on found paper. 2016

Dissonance Collages

Dissonance Collages

These figure studies are for a lamp shade prototype.

Leap Frog

Leap Frog
2016
pencil, ink and gesso on a bentonite clay-treated wood.

Mirror work in progress: Love Bomb

Love Bomb is almost complete!
I was very excited back in autumn when I found this unique frame at a second hand market.














 
After much trial and error I removed the backing paint and some of the reflective surface from behind; then added my own finish, as you can see here...










Then I etched the rain of women across the front, using various masking layers.

 



The final stage is to decide if the original baubles will be added and to hang it. 

This step is crucial as the lighting and the viewer's orientation to the piece changes the effect dramatically.

I've gilded the original tassel trim that came wrapped around the mirror.

Here is a preliminary sketch for the rain of women.

'Love bombing' often takes place at the outset of  whirlwind romances and is usually directed by sociopaths or narcissists.

 Targets are idealized and literally bombarded non-stop with attention that seems like love and can cause high levels of infatuation. The target is 'swept off their feet' and is unaware that it actually is a manipulative means to gain attention.
(source)

Bodies of work

Following on the déjà vu mentioned in the Paper Dolls post,  I came across a dream journal entry from January 2005 which was used in my Immersion painting series.


Here are a few of the little paintings made to illustrate the dream. 
 






















 ...and an excerpt from the entry:


 'In my dream last night I spontaneously jumped into the deep water, the sun was out and I felt excited. Suddenly, the sky darkened with clouds and I was quickly consumed by roaring waves.  I was lost at sea. I screamed for him to help me, but my voice was only a whisper amidst the roar of the sky and waves.  I feel helpless and need salvation…'

 '...What’s so romantic about loneliness and melancholy? Slip Sliding Away plays in the background as my baby cries in her crib. I haven’t left the house since Thursday. 
The isolation is taking over, surrounding me like the Mediterranean. Not the turquoise one in postcards, but the deep, swallowing one of my dream.' 

 

While sorting through my files, I also stumbled upon these two packets of bodies:

 
















On the left is a pile of doll limbs I painstakingly created but never made use of in 1994.

On the right is a stack of yoga postures created for the work I was making around 2000.

Old dog, new tricks. Back to the drawing board...

Out of Body Experience Drawings....continued

Following on the previous post, I share a few more compositions:








Left: Study for Fright or Flight 



(These drawings are light and not easy to photograph, thanks for clicking on the image to get a better look.)

Left: Study for The Carrier

Out of Body Experience Drawings

Out of body experience drawings.

These composition studies explore the twin concept of depersonalization and derealization, a syndrome resulting from the anxiety of trauma where one is detached from their own body, and feel they move through experience in a dream-like state.

Sketch for... Lean on me

 (These drawings are light and not easy to photograph, thanks for clicking on the image to get a better look.) 






Eve Ensler (creator of the Vagina Monologues) has an excellent podcast on the topic, which I found on Maria Popova's Brainpickings.




Sketch for... Along for the ride

 

Paper dolls

Up to my old tricks again...

As I explore compositions in the studio, I realize how easily I gravitate toward collage. The versatile interplay of shapes and textures is a good match for my mood on many days. I love taking disparate or cast-off things and making them into something new.

But, I've also realized lately that I continue to return to making my own paper dolls. I can find many references from older work where I have carefully drawn, cut-out and characterized figures in simple scenes.

Yet, when I embark on a new series, I don't think, 'I'd like to do silhouetted shapes again, like I did back then'. It starts to happen intuitively and ... then I think,  'Oh - I did it again'.

My recent return to cut-out figures is, I suppose, partially about control and the strong impulse to play the mastermind behind this theatre of forms.

 Left: 
Emerse or Drown, Gold leaf and acrylic on wood.
2006, Mallorca Spain.

Right: 
Chain Reaction, 
Detail of unique artist book. papers, gesso. 
1994, Massachusetts USA

Left: 
Curtains, 
Gallery installation, wood, ink on silk. 
1995, Thesis show at Mass College of Art, Boston, USA

Los Bichos: Macropsia Insectum

Macropsia Insectum 

Ink, guache and collage on paper, 2016


This specimen was designed to mimic the sensation of derealization common during and after traumatic experience.  Read more about depersonalization and derealization here.

In Process: High Wired

I've got a lot of irons in the fire at the moment. Here's yet another work in progress.                   

The working title is High Wired...or maybe No Net. Not sure yet.

 

Reflection of Echo

Reflection of Echo

40X40 cm; ink, gold leaf and gesso on wood
Laurie Pearsall  2015

Frame of reference: Love Bomb

I'm excited to get to work on a new piece called 'Love Bomb', now that I have the perfect 'frame'. I found this one in the usual way, cruising the second-hand markets.

Stay tuned to see the development!









Learn more about love bombing.

Echo at the pool

Echo at the pool

40X40 cm; ink and gesso on wood
Laurie Pearsall  2015 

The Parasites / Los Bichos

Hatred and fear blind us. We no longer see each other. We only see the faces of monsters, and that gives us the courage to destroy each other.                          Thich Nhat Hanh 


The parasite series is beginning to come together.  
Above and below: 
Vermin
Gold and silver leaf, ink, gesso and collage on paper. 
  

Homage to Kafka's Metamorphosis

 


After reading a letter from Franz Kafka to his narcissist father here, I remembered the great impact reading his Metamorphosis  had on me when I was 17 years old. I even used it as the theme of an AP Art Studio final project. 





I have just read it again, in English this time. It's amazing how closely the idea of 'capture-bonding' links to the vermin I have been creating recently, see Los Bichos post.  Gregor is treated as the vermin, the 'problem child' of the family, and finally has evolved into the vermin, much to 'his shock and horror at being unrecognizable' (Ian Johnson translation).

Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt”.  

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

I've been toying with vermin/beetle shell effects.

Airplane Mode

I've just returned from a fantastic stay with family and friends in America. It wasn't an art-making trip, but I did find some time on the flight to play with more figurative graphics. Here you can see a few, plus some yummy supplies I acquired while there. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince the security officers to let me fly with several bottles of Looking Glass mirror spray paint. Sniff!

I'm excited to get back into the studio tomorrow to see what magic I can work with these raw materials.

Dream: Chemical Changes

Burning Coal Dream of 20th June 2015:

This was an early a.m. dream. Lately most of my dreams have been colorful, lucid and a blend of references from old and new places and acquaintances, as well as glimpses of upcoming events. This dream was no different in that respect. One particular segment was so visually provocative that even my waking self was impressed and made a mental note to pay close attention as I was dreaming.

I was looking out an upper balcony down at the property to the left of me, it appeared to be a summer rental where a late night barbecue had taken place in the patio-garden out back. The time was just before dawn. By the smell and sight of some glowing red, I detected that there were still some coals burning in the outdoor grill. Then I saw that everything was quickly turning bright orange-red, like coals, including a long dining table close to the house - it was a big rectangle of ember, like some sacrificial slab. Just adjacent to the table, I noticed a man sleeping in a reclining sun chair. I hurried downstairs to warn the family, the place looked like it was about to ignite into flames, and I assumed the rest of the people were inside. 

When I approached I saw that the man was also was molten. I told him he had to get up and get out of there and evacuate the others.  He scoffed at me angrily as though to say, ‘mind your own business’. He got up and went into the house. Then I realized that after I arrived and the burning man had left, the whole scene cooled down and returned to its normal color and temperature. 

That was when the man’s mother appeared to be sitting just where he was, wearing top-to-toe beige and brown. I recognized her, but hadn’t seen her in a long time. I decided to be civil, give her a kiss on each cheek and ask how she was. She responded kindly. To distract from the awkward interlude, I started to show her an antique entertainment center that apparently used to be mine (but was kept in their house).  I was so relieved that it didn’t get destroyed by fire. I opened the tall unit to show her the vinyl record player on top, the drawers and cabinets for a mini-bar below. ‘Isn’t this cool?’ I said. Then I opened a slim drawer hidden in the bottom molding, one I hadn’t noticed before. With excitement I realized it contained the keys to the little cabinets on the top part of the unit. I handed a few keys to her, and together we started to try to fit them into their matching locks. Then I woke up.  

This is not the first dream I’ve had that includes discovering an antique container and trying to put the missing keys and pieces back together. This theme has recurred for at least 15 years in my dream records.

Frame Finds

For some reason, preparing the frames continues to precede creating the completed art works. Alas! Here you see, nestled in my garden, another good find from the Consell, Mallorca flea market today. I can't wait to start playing with it!

Getting into character: Is making art like acting?

It's difficult to stay in the so-called zone of the creative process when I have to do so many other things required for basic survival. I long for the lifestyle of the seeming throngs of creative types throughout history who did nothing but work at their craft. I'm convinced there were people they were ignoring in order to do so.

I have clear notions of a series of art pieces I want to bring to life. I've noticed that the subject matter is most poignantly available to me when I'm in a state of woe. So, when I finally get a chance for some studio time, what to do if I happen to be in a light, carefree mood? Moreover, I often can't work when in depths of despair, I'd rather wallow in self-pity or meditate until I feel better.  How does one retain the sensibilities of sorrow and struggle when you are in a reflective, recovery state? Will newfound optimism color it, and somehow make the results less effective?

I've been thinking that making art can be like acting in that before settling in to work, I need to embody the state of mind of the part of me that was inspired in the first place. I need time alone, often a day or so to get into character. I seek out images and texts that press the trigger. The levitating woman posted here is one that seems to work a lot.

Is it necessary to maintain continuity with one's state of mind in order to work on a certain theme? I suppose if the work is nothing but honest, what emerges is just what is.

Frames of reference

Above is an ink design framed by a flea-market frame 

which I gold-leafed and antiqued. I've been trying this 

ornate look out, inspired by the miniature gilt frames of 

Daguerrotype photographs.

The mottled mirror-glass of this early portrait technology

(sample upper right) is also fueling my recent experiments.

How my new work will be hung has felt very important. It's unusual for me to fixate on framing so early on in the process. 

I suppose this is because of the value of FRAMING a concept in the most broad definition of the term.

Above: image of vintage 'frame-less mirrors'
that have inspired me as well. 

To the right you see the beginning stages of getting the materials ready for these pieces: 

The top image is of laboriously cut and sanded pine wood panel which has then been gessoed and sanded at least 6 times to imitate the wonderful surface of Ampersand panels which I cannot afford!

Below that photo is a pile of goodies for hanging these frame-less works, all found in my basement of delights. It's in moments like these I know exactly why I don't like to throw anything away. My Basement is like Snoopy's doghouse.

Finally, I share a photo of a mirror hung in the cellar bathroom area of a restaurant I was in this weekend. I love the way it hangs - lurks, dauntingly over the viewer. It seems to be floating.