For any of you missing the outdoors: Picture yourself sitting on the edge of the lake, dipping your toes in the cool water. Feel the wind whisk around you as the sun goes down. You can hear the birds chirping as they settle in for the night. And if you listen close enough, you can hear the old pines whispering tales and stories of the forest long ago. :)
Here is my submission to the 10th anniversary Plushform show at Rotofugi Gallery. I was invited by Shawn @shawnimals to participate in this fun show. He is the creator of the Plushform DIY plush figure being customized by 40 artists at Rotofugi, a designer toy store gallery in Chicago. The original Plushform show was in 2008. I was waiting for their official announcement before posting my final so I could link people to the site for more info. I was told they are working on it and will announce soon. This will be for sale at the show.
A fun project to pick up and put down when I feel like it. The pendants show the fixed element. The element next to the character represents a specific birth year of people I know. I am the wood rat. :)
New painting commission + original sketch. 16x20 acrylic painting on wood. Check out the time lapse painting on my Instagram or on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXnUO5QHHTQ
When I am angry and frustrated with the world (politics, wild fires, injustice, etc.) I seem to be drawn to drawing raptors. The first one is today's sketch, the other two are from former days.
Blackwing pencil and woodless B4 pencil on Canson sketch paper.
The materials that Meir uses in her works are not of the refined and so she is called an “arte povere” artist. At times she describes her work as someone dealing in alchemy - work develops as in a trial laboratory with different techniques and materials. She says, “ at times the artistic work process is a sort of puzzle demanding the filling in of all the empty squares “.
Some of her work focuses on women, and they incorporate criticism and cultural protest.
Meir has strong opinions about recycling and environmental protection that is represented in her works by use of materials and shapes. In her work she reacts to contemporary art that communicates with the eco system, waste, and she also searches for different worlds. Her works are made up of layers upon colorful layers that when we look at them it becomes clear that the mound of waste she chose is not coincidental. It actually becomes a colorful kaleidoscope of utopia.
Jaffa Meir is a multifaceted, autodidact artist working in painting, sculpture, photography, product design, carpets and furniture, painting on textile, and computer graphics.
The structural composition of some of the works is influenced also by her many years of working in the architects’ office.
Meir also worked in the developing of ideas within the field of ecosystems and recycling for factories such as Coca Cola, and during this process came up with ideas for designing parks and public game spaces using industrial waste products.
I love the song Blackbird by Paul McCartney. But, blackbirds are very territorial when they have young ones in the nest. There is a sunny tree-lined path I like to walk in the summer. I have seen a fox running out of those woods, a doe lying in the sun-drenched grass, and an irate couple of blackbirds diving at my head while I was peacefully walking by their nest of young ones. I had to start carrying a stick to ward them off. Blackbird Fly! Just stay away from me!
I was bored out of my mind so I just quickly painted this. I am in fact starting my big project. Its on a wood board that I plan to hang if it all turns out!
I have dragged this typewriter around for more than 50 years. I found it in an antique store when I was in college. It's still fully useable, except that it's REALLY hard to find ribbons. Basically, it's just another object to dust. But it is a beautifully made object. The basic shapes and perspective were blocked in with a 2H pencil, then I used a Sakura 005 micron pen to do the contour drawing.
Oh boy, markers (NOT a go-to), least favorite color, and a subject that isn’t on my radar. This was a hard one what with 3 negatives going for it. But, hey, it’s a challenge, right?
Choosing a subject came first….we have a house full of Indonesian masks and sculptures. (My husband studied gamelon music in Indonesia.) Garuda, the “mount” of Vishnu and popular with Balinese artists seemed a good choice, esp. since he can be green, red, yellow or orange.
I rarely choose yellow/orange for anything---artwork, décor, clothing...though I do have a soft spot for sunflowers.
First I drew a bunch of images based on one of our wooden Garuda sculptures and then made a simplified marking pen outline and colored it with markers.
Bear.
Among the backwoodsmen of America there was a superstition that bears breed only once every seven years, and when they did this caused such a disturbance in the atmosphere that any cattle in the district which were about to calve would lose their young.
From "A DICTIONARY OF OMENS AND SUPERSTITIONS" by Philippa Waring. https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5Y7HaBrTw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link