sacred scrolls
I want to do a lot more of these. I did this one in the week we have been back. I was so inspired while away, I had to make it in a baby-grabbing, dangerous-ink-balancing and scary-needle-dropping frenzy. But I am so glad I did.
I had this idea before I left, and had made one scroll, that wasnt quite what I had imagined, but got the juices flowing. For this one I picked up the drift wood from a beach in Comox, and so it is important to me. The quote is from Baha’u'llah, and the tree is, well, across the road from here.
The whole scroll idea came from my morning meditation where I was writing out the quotes rather than just thinking about them. I find it a little difficult to concentrate on just one thing, especially when I usually meditate with a baby in the room…so I write out the quote to keep me focused. It works well, but then I wanted to write the quotes beautifully and on nice paper, and they really started to pile up. My sister was the genius who came up with the scroll idea. Though it took some pondering about how to write them, what sticks to use, how to attach it, and all that, I am happy with this one.
I will be putting it in my shop, that I am debuting as we speak. I want to make these works accessible, and simple. The bonus is that the scroll idea means I can ship them easily!
I cant wait to do more of these…
August 10th, 2009 at 11:38 am
We really enjoyed looking at the scroll when we were at your place. Beautiful idea & artwork, it’s a great way to work in that kind of raw, ’sketch-book’ style because in some ways it can be more reflective and spontaneous. That’s the reason I prefer the Da Vinci sketches more than his finished paintings: you get an insight into how he thought and his creative process (in some cases many random thoughts) and I find that much more interesting. I consider my art to be giant, public sketch books. Great idea with the online shop too, you’ll have to let me know how that goes for you. My art is generally hard to ship, but if I ever venture into art that travels easier I should consider a shop as well.
August 10th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Hey, wow. Thanks so much Cam. That means a lot coming from you. I’ve done some more, and am still getting my head round the raw canvas and ink thing. its all wet-on-wet but with varying levels of dry. I never really thought of the sketch-book quality, but yeah, I guess I like the raw and immediacy of that too. I know I love it when I see other artists who do that… but its harder when its my own, you know you sort wonder … is this really done? I find your work more controlled though, and thoughtful. I get the sense when I look at your paintings that every little smudge has been considered. I like that. And about the shop, well I am not really expecting sales from it, but its really good for me to actually put them out there, with a price tag. It makes me much more conscious of working towards selling my work, instead of them piling up in the basement.