Infinity Series from 2009

Infinity

Beeswax and natural pigment on Khadi paper

43" x 14"

2009

 Infinity 4

     Beeswax and natural pigment on Khadi paper 

  14" x "19" 

  2009

Infinity 1

Beeswax and natural pigment on Khadi paper

12" x 19"

2009

Infinity Series from 2009

 Infinity 3

     Beeswax and natural pigment on Khadi paper 

  13" x "19" 

  2009

Infinity Series from 2009

Six or seven years ago I realised I had been painting the landscape as waves for years. I thought I had been painting expressionistic landscapes! Then came consciously painting the wave. I have a fascination with derivations of words and symbols. Recently I discovered while researching that "wave" is from the Proto Indo-European root word "webh". I also learned the dirivation of "weave" and "web" is from  "webh".  Taking a bit of a sidestep from my Wave, Weave, and Webh Series I did a series of paintings using the symbol ∞ with layering of line and color. I say a bit because really it describes the polarity of the world we live in similarly to wave, weave and web. These paintings deal with the energy pattern that appears symbolically as Kundalini, Cadeuceus, DNA, and infinity, etc. in many cultures. Generally it represents that all things are interconnected as a whole. 

Written in the Isha Upanishad of 4th to 3rd BC India; 

“That is whole, this is whole, 

From the whole, the whole arises, 

When the whole is taken from the whole 

The whole still will remain.”  

This one is "Infinity 2", Beeswax and natural pigment on Khadi paper, "13" x "19", 2009. 

                                                                  

Toxicity and Visual Arts Materials

The environmental and/or health effects of visual art mediums are a subject not on the forefront of the public’s mind. Perhaps, in part, lured by artistic imagery we don’t perceive the dangers inherent in the materials used to create them. I also believe much of the responsibility for its’ hidden aspects is with those bodies funding the visual arts. Many are petroleum, chemical and governmental sources.

The group Art and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) is a non-profit trade association of manufacturers of art materials. They are responsible for labeling and monitoring art paints for their safety. In other words they are largely sponsored by "in house" industrial representatives. Guess what!

It’s interesting to go to the manufacturer websites of visual arts supplies and read through their safety data sheets. As one example the following is quoted from Windsor Newton’s site on the commonly used Flake White oil paint:

 “USAGE PRECAUTIONS: Avoid spilling, skin and eye contact. Wear full protective clothing for prolonged exposure and/or high concentrations. Pregnant or breastfeeding women must not handle this product.

STORAGE PRECAUTIONS: Keep in cool, dry, ventilated storage and closed containers.

STORAGE CRITERIA: Misc.hazardous material storage.

INHALATION: Harmful by inhalation. Harmful: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through inhalation.

INGESTION: Harmful if swallowed. Harmful: possible risk of irreversible effects if swallowed.

SKIN: Product has a defatting effect on skin.

EYES: Irritating to eyes.

HEALTH WARNINGS: Swallowing concentrated chemical may cause severe internal injury.

OTHER HEALTH EFFECTS: Toxic to Reproductive Health Categ. 1. Toxic to Reproductive Health Categ. 3. Carcinogen Category 3.

ROUTE OF ENTRY: Inhalation. Ingestion.” [skin absorption.]

MEDICAL SYMPTOMS: Upper respiratory irritation. Nausea, vomiting. Allergic rash.

MEDICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Skin disorders and allergies.”

So not to single out Windsor & Newton nor Flake White more information on toxicity in oil, acrylic, watercolor, etc. paints can be found by requesting a Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS) from individual manufacturers, ie: Utrecht, Rembrandt, Liquitex, Crayola, etc.) Most of these companies provide MSDS's on their websites. The Cobalts, chromes and barium colors are significantly toxic as are terpentines, fixatives, varnishes, plastics/acrylics, and preservatives, ie. formaldehyde.

Taking this a little further one asks, “what happens to the environment when a manufacturing plant produces large quantities of this material?” and “how many artists, art students, and hobbyists are using the very necessary precautions when handling the paints?” Once the painting is finished and placed in the living room, kitchen or museum, what is the air quality produced by VOCs/off gases?

A look at the alternatives with the painting arts that do not produce a toxic body or environment gives egg tempera, casein (milk), water and beeswax mediums. All can be used without toxic pigments, petro chemicals (varnishes, acrylics, fixatives), heavy metals (cadmium, chromium), and formaldehyde and other preservatives that are in common use with many paints.


For more information on toxicity in artist's pigments:
http://www.healthcareforartists.org/ and http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/paint1.html have more information on hazards, and also look at Square Feet Chicago's "Safe and Healthy Spaces".

With sculpture there is clay/earth/stone, wood, fire, water and air to create work.

Sustainable solutions are at our fingertips.

There’s been alot of excitement in the last 30 or so years with artists applying the natural world to create their statement. A wonderful website to view what is going on in environmental art, with many artists and approaches as examples, is www.greenmuseum.org.

Digital / "Dune Grass Artist"

Weave 4

                                                            Weave 4
                         Beeswax and natural pigment on Papel de Amate
                                                            16" x 24"
                                                               2010

WebGround 3

WebGround 3 is the latest piece from the WebGround Series. There is greater definition than in 1 and 2 between the intensity of the red layered onto the grid of the Papel de Amate and the violets, blues, greens, yellows and oranges within the "windows painted on the lower relief created by 

mounting the Papel de Amate upon the Khadi paper. The grid implies the connecting between all that is. Within the windows representing the individuality and contrasting aspects of each that is; couple relationships, global communities and the inner dynamic of each of us. It can represent philosophies, politics, and non human entities; bears or mollusks, or the inanimate and immaterial mountains, or the oceans and the streams , or the philosophies and the politics.

R. Buckminster Fuller quote

"If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference."
R. Buckminster Fuller"

Weave 1 and Weave 2

click on image to enlarge

Weave 1

Weave 2

Weave 1 & Weave 2 are beeswax and natural pigment on 16" x 24" Papel de Amate.

WebGround Series

click on images to enlarge

WeaveGround 1 and WeaveGround 2 are the first two pieces from a new series I'm working on. I'll be posting WeaveGround 3 tomorrow. I construct the surface by wheat pasting the Atomi paper to Khadi paper. Khadi is handmade in the Khadi region of southern India from recycled cotton rags by a family of papermakers. The overlay creates a grid like relief. In over layering the colors onto the surface its finished overall color pattern begins to develop as a natural progression. In the final process I draw the colors together  with a sharpened bone and finally burnishing with a soft cloth. These beeswax and natural pigment paintings are 16" x 24".

A Whole Foods Diet Balances pH

   Many forms of dissease, from cancer and benign tumors to edemas  and common colds  thrive in an acidic body.  By normalizing the body's pH balance,  stengthening the immune system and nourishing the body with healing foods our body will clear the dissease without  the invasive interventions  of chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiation if detected before major surgery is warranted. If chemotherapy, radiation or surgery are warranted than the suggestions here will compliment this process without interfering with the interventions’ effectiveness. Always consult with your practitioner for specific individual  protocols.

Dietary changes: 

Incorporate whole, organic, fresh foods/drinks; 

Set as a goal of eliminating  in your diet:

- Processed foods containing chemicals, sugar, caffeine, hydrogenated oils.

- Processed sugars

- Caffeine, alcohol,  tobacco, narcotic substances and carbonmated drinks.

- Avoid mucous forming foods, ie., dairy, wheat . Too much mucous in our  food remains “stuck” in our 

      digestive tracts and block normal digestive processes as well as providing a medium for  bacteria and 

     pathogens to inhabit.

- Unfermented soy product. Use fermented soy sparingly.

- Eat alkaline foods:

         raw  seasonally fresh steamed, baked, fermented w/o sugar, or  lightly  cooked in oil vegetables:

         Crucifers: brocolli, cauliflower, red and green cabbages/sauercraut

         Root vegetables; carrot, turnip, parsnip, gabo/burdock, beet

         Dark leafy greens; kale, the chards, watercress, parsley, nettles, bok choy, lettuce (excluding 

             iceberg), scallion/leeks/chives

        Peas,  lima beans, squash, celery, fennel, onion and garlic

        Sea Vegetables; kombu, dulse, wakame, hiziki, etc.

        Mushroom: Shitaiki, Maitake, Ganodermas, Chaga, etc.

        Beans; red, black, white, brown and green, etc.

        Whole grains; brown and basmati rice, millet, buckwheat, kasha/buckwheat groats, barley , etc.

        Nuts and seeds; almond, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.

        Fish (non farmed, deep sea, non scavenging)

        Red meat; limit consumption to once a week. Use graze fed, organic and or w/o dyes, growth 

             hormones and anti-biotics. Make soups with beef bone.  

        Fowl; Chicken, turkey, duck, goose w/o dyes, growth hormones and anti-biotics/organic or free range.

        Fruit, seasonally fresh, organic.

-  Use only organic extra virgin olive oil, saflower and nut/seed oils, ie., sesame, sunflower, almond.

-  Drink at least 40 oz of quality spring water. Alkaline water can be established by adding freshly  

        squeezed lemon juice to a glass of water.

-  Avoid daily consumption of fruit and vegetables juices as they are concentrated and filled with 

        condensed sugars

- Avoid nightshade plant foods; potatoes, tomatoes (except in season fresh og.), and eggplant, 

  particularly in arthritic conditons

Lifestyle changes:

- Exercise daily, ie., walking, yoga, tai chi, dance, breathing, laughing, singing  as energy  and/or pain allow

-  Refrain from using shampoos, conditioners, creams, lotions, etc. that  have chemicals such as

        Propylene glycol or Sodium Laurel Sulfate in them. 

-  Wear only natural fabrics such as wool or cotton; no synthetic fabrics. 

-  Keep electrical appliances that upset the natural frequency  and resonance of the body;  microwaves,  

        cellular and portable phones, battery powered wrist watches, etc at a distance, avoiding electrical 

        pollution as  much as possible. 

-  Keep toxic household cleaners which put/vaporize gasses in your home environment well contained, 

        and away from living space. Avoid contact with all petroleum (drilled oil) products.

-  Sunshine in appropriate dosage is healing

-  Spiritual exercise is also healing

-  Laughter is a wonderful massaging healing activity

Snow WaveGridWeave

for me this photo almost defines sustainable art in its purest sense. in its purest sense there wouldn't be the photograph, there would only be our observation of the event.
sustainable art obviously relies on the human element in relation to nature through linguistics. the deck's constuction  depicts humaness, the rest is nature, the world we live in, earth.
the wave and the grid/weave.

Blue Sky

The 5th Chakra, Throat Chakra or Vishuddha relates to truth, purity, communication, growth through expression, independence, thought and speech, hearing, listening, and singing. It is connected to the cosmos, or space. The 5th Chakra is associated with the jaw, mouth, neck, throat, thyroid and parathyroid and tongue.
Yoga poses can help with ailments of the Throat Chakra. Depending on the specifics they are the neck stretches and shoulder openers like Halasana/Plow Pose, Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana/Bridge Pose and Ustrasana/Camel Pose.
In accord with the Doctrine of Signatures some blue flowered North American herbs that relate to 5th Chakra are Blue Vervain Verbena hastata, Sage Salvia lyrata, Comfry Symphytum off., and Heartsease Viola tricolor.

Snow Weave

opening

finished the work this morning and hung it at ArtExposure. there were a fair amount of people at the opening tonite, a raffled painting to help with Haiti, the usual cheeses and drinks and conversation with different folk.
conversations:
-  the gathering of member artists has now reached 25 - 30 artists; painters, sculptors, photographers, woodworkers, and other craftspersons.
- small amounts of snow in the south stops everything, there's no equipment to remove it, people don't know how to drive in it, and buildings aren't structured to withstand it.
- are reproductions art?
- what will happen to all the artwork packed away in artists studios?
- what is the spiritual in art; Kandinsky and Sister Wendy
- we need something radical around here!
- bridges in Japan are as high as the skyscrapers

it was snowing when i left and misting by the time i got back on the island. its snowing now and the cats were not too impressed with a snowball.

finishing up two new pieces for opening tomorrow night at ArtExposure.

Beeswax Medium

Mixing pigment and beeswax has been used by artists prehistorically. Through the essence of bee’s wax medium we observe and feel its clarity, richness and integrity. The colorfast “wax colors” I'm using now are made in Germany where the carefully selected pigments are food container safe. This form of painting/drawing is free of turpentine, processed oils, petro chemicals/plastics, or, any of the toxic metals/chemicals like cadmium, chromium, barium, lead, preservatives and fungicides that are routinely used in oil, acrylic, encaustic, watercolor, and guache paints. The use of these toxins is legally regulated under classification as non-toxic by ACMI (Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc.) which is funded and controlled by art paint manufacturers. New regulations with safer standards are necessary.

The respect in care of my paintings is not any different than with oils, watercolors and acrylics. Understanding the paintings’ susceptibility to damage is to acknowledge the harmony, fragility, order and pathos in its wave transcience, and of the harmony, poignancy, fragility, order and pathos of nature itself. The surface of these paintings is softer than oils, less brittle than watercolor, and more flexible than acrylic. Their surface is susceptible to scrapes and scratches and to extreme temperatures. They, like oils, watercolors and acrylics, should not be hung or stored in direct heat or sunlight, over heat vents or in temperatures over 120° F (48.9° C) and 32° F (0° C). Glass can be placed in the framing, as with watercolors and guache, to protect the surface from damage. My recent work is displayed without glass. I consider this to be a statement regarding the fragile precipice we find ourselves on created by mankind's devastating treatment to our planet as well as a way to bring understanding to our need to respect and to take responsibility as a caregiver to our environment. 

Is the definition of sustainability...

...  a question of endurance. Which definition of sustainability will be here in 50 years, 100 years, 1,000 years? What determines sustainability? Is it legitimized by political action, academic polarity, by sitting under an apple tree and having an apple land on our head? I think the latter, ultimately. Oh, when will that apple fall, ...waiting, waiting, waiting. When the apple falls perhaps it will roll to the side, not far from that tree (of course) and it will eventually rot, all those juices nourishing the seeds within before winter freeze. The freeze will set the nourishment within the earth and all winter the melted freeze will nourish the soil and the seed. That seed will sprout and shoot up toward the sky, bare out and grow into a beautiful apple tree after some years, blossoming its sweet nectar blooms in the spring. The honey bee will drink from the blossoms and go back to its hive to sleep it off and leave a spot of wax there in the hive. In the morning the bee arises to go out again. Behind it, eventually, that spot will grow, and grow, and grow, until its a handful and we can gather it up in our hand, add a little ochre and spread it over a stone and years later someone will come along and say "look its sustainable, for now."

Tibetan Healing Mandala

I've twice had the good fortune to attend a Tibetan Buddhist Healing Mandala Ceremony. Several monks meditatively work hours to create a Mandala using colored sand and funneling it on to a transportable flat surface with a drawn design. When this beautiful work is completed it is carried to a stream/river and tilted with the sand falling into the running water. With prayer and compassion they enact reality and the impermanent nature of existence.
Further reading can be found at:
http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/mandala/mandala.htm
and viewed on youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uazRvR9p0w
To me this understanding of impermanence speaks directly to the sustainable movement in the arts, business, education, agriculture, politics, philosophy/religion and etc.

working with beeswax and pigments

Ahhh, a nice sunny morning and a cup of favorite brew!

A brief how to with beeswax and pigment:

Beeswax and powdered pigments are available at most large art supply stores or online. The more sustainable way is to attain your beeswax from a local beekeeper and gathering your own earth pigments. From my own experience, a problem that may occur by gathering your own pigment is that alkaline and other chemistries in the soils can change the coloring. Not to say this can't be part of your intended creative process. Gently heating the raw beeswax to liquid add pigment to your desired intensity and color and stir. This takes experimenting and open minded watchfulness. Use measurements so you can repeat the process later if you want consistency from one batch to the next. When pigment is thoroughly mixed with beeswax pour into muffin tins to cool to solid for convenience in storage. Right now I'm using block and columnar "crayons" manufactured in Germany by Stockmar. They contain non toxic pigments and beeswax only. I'm using them at room temperature state in applying and then burnish the colors to where I want them on the surface of my work. When I feel the piece is finished I buff it gently with a soft cotton cheese cloth to bring out the luminosity with the surface sheen. Art supply stores also carry the solid pigmented beeswax colors as encaustics. Encaustics contain varnishes/resins, oils, pigments and other additives that typically contain toxins in beeswax. If you want to work with it in liquid form heat colors to liquid by keeping them on a "heating tray". They are available commercially or you can make your own by cutting a muffin tin into individual cups for your individual colors and buying an electric, single or two element hot plate and attaching a metal plate about an inch above the elements. Keep it at a temperature low enough to not burn - if your wax starts smoking!, remove and adjust your heater. You can use regular paint brushes to work. If you go with the encaustics its suggested to wear a respirator, goggles and work in a well ventilated space. Work fairly quickly to avoid the medium hardening on your brush. You can work on most porous surfaces; paper, canvas, wood, stone, etc.

That's the briefly of it. Feel free to ask questions.

one shot deal, not necessarily...

Ran across this amazing (awesome?) site to doodle with computer graphics. Probably a good thing that I neglected to bookmark it. Oh, but what fun it was!

awe

Why do most of us choose to use "awful" the way we do when we have all these choices?

Awful Meaning and Definition

*from http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning/awful/

1. (a.) Struck or filled with awe; terror-stricken.
2. (a.) Frightful; exceedingly bad; great; -- applied intensively; as, an awful bonnet; an awful boaster.
3. (a.) Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive.
4. (a.) Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene.
5. (a.) Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.*from http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning/awful/

When we are awed do we rush thru or not acknowledge awe because we are delusionally attempting to gain control over our fear, reverence, awesomeness or to whoever happens to be there, self/other? Do we verbage our way through it like the experience isn't pleasureable, too uncomfortable! I like the high of quiet interest, like a balanced place of objectivity/subjectivity, perfected breathing in an asana, the smell and flavor of an herb when it is just right for the healing situation, an eye to an eye. Where do we define the line between frightful and bliss?

Papel de Amate is prepared by the Atomi people in Hildago Mexico. They pound strips of Ficus sp and "lattice" them together. The vertical strips laying over the horizontals in this photo. It isn't woven. Assembled wet so a lot of the junctures are loosely bound by the lignan content. The outer edging provides most of the structure to it. As I work on it many of the junctures come apart and I re - adhere them with beeswax in the Weave Series. The borders have not separated from the verticals/horizontals in the 4 I've done.

harmony with what is

Focussing on acting in harmony with what is. The Papel de Amate, Atomi paper, that I'm working with now has incredible innate beauty and character. As a painter to honor that intrinsic quality through my marking with color, allowing form and design to emerge as I work and subtly shift to a new aesthetic that expresses this relationship between myself and where the paper comes from in a respectful and loving way. Allowing the contrast of light and dark to be, and for me discovering the paintings place of balance there.

Am often reminded of how similar my painting art and healing art are. Each seeking to find that balance of aesthetic and/or healing. Tweeking with herbs, diet and lifestyle, or color, line and form to reach equilibrium with the sacred and the individual or artwork...

Papel de Amate by Atomi peoples

Have just connected with a new friend who visits with the Atomi peoples in Mexico. A paper, Papel de Amate, I'm using in recent Weave and WeaveGround Series is made by them. The Otami, or Atomi as she spells it, don't have a written language so the spelling is at the verge of birth I guess. What an amazing space to be in. Should they even be encouraged to develop one. What occurs with their day to day culture as they do. We take so much for granted. Their culture has never been exposed to alcohol or tobacco. My friend has been in many third world cultures and she tells me she has never experienced such love. John Lennon "Imagine" comes to my mind. Did he write that down or did he just start singing it?!