Finding a Routine

School has started in earnest now, we're through the introductory phase and workshops began this week. I'm sitting in on the figure drawing workshop, so i can take it or leave it as i please, since i already have a lot of experience with it. Yesterday i took body casting, which was absolutely incredible! Today i took welding, which i stayed for about a third of and then got too freaked out to stay. Did you know that the mask you have to wear when you weld doesn't allow you to see anything but the light from the welding machine? I had no idea. Noooo thank you. Cutting the steel was bad enough, sparks flying everywhere and crazy noise... I think that part of the call of art for me is the kinesthetic sense i get of putting pencil to paper, paintbrush to pain, and, though i've mostly avoided 3-D art, even fingers to clay (or plaster, these days).

So i fled the welding shop to the safety of my own studio, and continued working on the stuff i already had started. I've loved working with collage so far, and i did more of it today. As i've mentioned, i'm working with the theme of the body. I thought i'd posted some pieces already, but i realize i haven't! Ah yes, i said the next entry was going to be about the art exhibits i've seen. Oops, oh well. So -

This is the first shape i worked with, a dancing lady. I love this figure, it's joyful, sensual, and unabashed. Originally this lady was part of a whole row on white paper, but the others got altered:



For some reason i've gotten quite averse to working on stark white paper, and i've been using a lot of brown paper bags, of all things. Here's the rest of the dancing ladies, which where originally on white:



I got really annoyed with the white and filled the space quickly and without thinking too hard about it, and really screwed it up, so i cut out the parts i liked and put it on the brown paper. Since that photo, other elements have been added and it looks more finished, but i don't seem to have a photo of it.

This piece is yoga-inspired. It began as this and evolved to this:



The text around the figures in the original is a sutra from a yogic text, the Vijnana Bhairava, that i study as part of my teacher training. It says:

"The flowers, the candles, the honey
that are offered in worship are
made out of the same divine stuff as you.
Who then is worshipped?"

I haven't added it back into the second version, but i will.

This little piece was inspired by the pre-Christian figure of Sheela-Na-Gig, predominately found in Ireland:



It was quite an evolution, getting the composition right. It started here, then i tried this. Neither of those worked for me, so i moved on, and ended up with the one you see above. Actually, looking at the four versions, i'm not sure which i like better. The figures aren't glued down yet, so i can still change my mind. Suggestions?

This piece is less related directly to the body theme, but i love it:



After the body casting workshop, i did a cast of my own torso, which was an amazing experience. I love the way it turned out, but, um, it's kind of like me naked from the waist to collarbone, so i'm just going to link it instead of posting the image. This is what the texture of the surface is like:



I have very exciting plans for that one, though.

So i've been buzzing along and working a lot, i'm very excited about my cut-outs and collages, though they're very, very different from anything i've ever worked on before. Because of the training i've had, i have this concept that art should be hard and should take a long time to realize. Most of these pieces have taken a couple of sessions of two hours or so, but i'm really happy with them and would put them under glass as they are, and feel good about showing them. That's a very radical feeling for me!

Also, feedback is very welcome.