Hi, I’m Carrot!

Hi, I’m Carrot! This is a big one, about 23 inches tall, I think. It was inspired by a Mothers Day gift of collaged tarot cards that my daughter made. She is such a muse for me! “Carrot” here is the fool archetype. I added the book…. So s/he’s a cat dressed up as a rabbit of sorts and rather than read the book, s/he stands on it. The fool has ways of knowing other than academic and intellectual approaches. The fool is intuitive and doesn’t even know how wise s/he is. S/he blunders the way to good fortune.

Akio sculpture clay, white slip, various underglazes, incised, then bisque fired. Oxide and underglaze washes, glazes and underglazes, fired again, then inked to bring out the crackle.

Spring!

Like the seasons, one thing leads to another and back again. This is my image vocabulary at work. There again is how “Spring” came about. An image of hand painted flowers from Raw Vision Magazine (one of my fave publications) captured my attention. It looked painterly and raw. It led to this series of dresses, also a recurring theme for me. Bring in the pigtail girl, too. Illustrating the surfaces with underglazes and incising with an exacto knife became the methodology of the next series of pieces: colorful, fun to do, feminine. I’ve been wanting to apply this surface treatment to pots again for ages. Pots as in bowls and plates. I will get to it!

Produce

Produce

“Produce” is perhaps at the other end of the spectrum from “Moami”, the piece in the previous post: an abundance of fruitful ideas. (Remember the goblet full of heartberries?)

Moami

Moami, an African name for Mommy, is about being a child and a mother. The doll shape is a hole in the piece, suggesting a memory of loss, a longing.

China Dolly Wallies

I had so much fun riffing on these! As mentioned in an earlier post, I applied rice paper transfers to get these prints. These will be part of my show at Hanson Howard Gallery in Ashland, OR during the month of August 2019. If any are left, I’ll have them for sale in my studio during Portland Open Studios in October, which runs two weekends: 12-13 & 19-20. PLUS, we’re having a special preview Friday, October 11, noon to 5 where you can see and get first dibs on all the work. The “we” is Tamae Frame, June Haddox, Susan Borger, Sally Squire and I. Yes, that’s right, 5 artists in one location!

Shrine

I made this shrine for myself in the May 2019 Shrine workshop. The top figure is a Black Madonna, symbol of a down-to-earth goddess. The other figures are guardians. Like most pieces I make, it was based on intuitive choices from a collage. During the time I was finishing the piece and getting ready to photograph it, I was reading “Dancing in the Flames” by Marion Woodman, a Jungian analyst. In it she discusses the earthy goddess archetype (Black Madonna) and the horned wild man archetype and how these two must unite symbolically in the psyche for wholeness. Well, that’s my simplified version of her ideas. But anyway, there they were in this shrine! It was an odd moment of startling synchronicity and one of those times one realizes there is so much more going on than is apparent in conscious awareness.