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July 8, 2006

artist's way guided intent (july)

by gl. at 9:56 am

wednesday was the most recent guided intent night, and we actually did something other than collage! *gasp* this month was lifemaps, where one creates a visual representation of one's past, present or future either as a literal map (svenlandia!), or juxtaposed using another visual metaphor like a body, or even the classic timeline approach. the trick is that it's a visual timeline, so no words or numbers can be used.

i created two quick lifemaps to work out some ideas (one was powell butte, one was a garden). i have trouble w/ pastels: they smudge everywhere and i can't get the detail i want. but i often reach for them because they are so smooth and soft-edged. the first two maps were incomplete and aren't worth sharing, but helped me create this:


["the past is finally crumbling": click the image to see the other lifemaps]

in this crumbling castle, the ghost of my mother is walking the parapet endlessly, like hamlet's father. it's overgrown with thorny vines that are tearing the castle apart. raise the flag for scarlet star studios, pointing towards the sun rising in the hills of the future. but one window is still lit: is someone still inside, or does it symbolize hope among the horror? during the writing exercise i wrote: "i see the metaphor here but feel silly explaining it. what am i, a princess locked in a tower? well, wasn't i? aren't we? all girls, in all ways, are still locked in the tower."

like the last artist's way guided intent, i may not end up thinking this is a great work of Art, but i'm happy with the imagery and could totally work more with it. art is such a fascinating process: if i had set out to create this piece w/ these meanings, i doubt i could have done it. but simply drawing what needed to be drawn next allowed the symbols to emerge on their own.

i was surprised to find that though the exercise was designed to explore drawing forms, a couple of people chose to use collage techniques. also worth mentioning, with or without a good transition: we were delighted to meet a lurking blog reader that night (hi, kori! *waves*).

since sven & i will be in canada for the next artist's way guided intent, in august i'm going to collapse both events into the "fabulous end-of-summer august art swap!" give things! get things! stay tuned for details...

posted by gl. | July 8, 2006 9:56 AM | categories: artist's way