cobaltika

is a “fun little project” that much fun if you lie awake at night beating yourself up for not doing a fabulous job? that is how encounteredArt is going. yes, sure, there has been LOTS of work (not the art kind) and travel going on the last couple of months. i have barely been to the artTable. but i had a stash of small art to share. did i remember to put them in my pocket while i was tearing through the streets of Boston a couple of weeks ago? did i remember to put them in my pocket while i was ambling the streets of Kansas City yesterday? NO.

i keep forgetting!

but i am not giving up yet. i do have some other things in mind, that i will begin after the first of the year. in the meantime, i will share some beautiful discoveries of yesterday. in two hours, my oldest daughter and i saw more excellent contemporary work than i have seen in months. we wandered in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City. a lovely time.

Sherry Leedy Gallery:

bev gegen

tom nakashima

Byron Cohen Gallery:

leslie lerner

The Dolphin Gallery:

anne lindberg

Blue Gallery:

john folsom

william rainey

…only a few of the wonders!

while travelling over the holidays, i released nearly all of the rest of the small pieces. again, i found it more difficult than it *should* be, to leave things. sometimes i would forget altogether and i missed some great spots. once, my companion caught me sliding one behind the stand-up dessert flyer at a stripMall salad eatery in oklahoma. “why here?” he asked. “no one *here* will care.” i didn’t admit that i had left them in many careless places. i tried to explain my concept of release without attachment, but i don’t think i did a very good job. he still thought i was wasting them. maybe i am.

i try hard to release in good spirit, but i can’t help wondering if any are found and if they are appreciated. i do wonder how many are trashed. but i also realize that i am abundant and productive and there is more more more within. if just Time were more abundant! ha.

next weekend will be a quick visit to Boston, to view my oldest daughter’s end of semester theatre work. i love to think i will have time to create a small special set to take with me. but there is the 8-5 and freelance work due, so we’ll see…

#53 & #54 : november 2006 - two of 10. each unique.
mexican calendar, tissue, paint, found text & imagery, rayonThread

these are the last of this particular group. i meant to make a certain set to pass out along the country, like a Gretel, but … time time time. instead, as i have been a slacker at releasing lately, i have quite a handful ready to go with me. about 2 dozen small pieces to release between here and Texas next week!

adios.

well. it has taken me *this* long to release the next 9 pieces. i think i will not hold myself to “scheduled” releases from here on out. it feels like a stress and this is not that kind of a project! the larger pieces, although more visible and obvious, and likely to be examined, are more awkward to put in a pocket or discreetly leave somewhere (i am still very self-conscious), so i think i will continue with smaller pieces. tiny treasures. there are two new sets in progress on my table, but this has been a busy week so far and no artPlay time. maybe tonight. and i will scan a couple!
i have also thought that i might use more mundane imagery and text in the next pieces. i tend to prefer glamorizing the mundane anyway and have thought of “altars to ordinary things”. the work i have been leaving out right now might be too obscure and “weird” for the places i am leaving in this little town. i have a (sad) picture of a college kid picking up the one left by the elevator and going “WTF?” and slipping it into the trash. sob.

in the upcoming month, i will be doing some travelling and that will be fun! i am going to work with my texas and boston images and get some small pieces ready to travel along.

spam comments have already been coming in and it is irritating. i really wanted to keep comments open, in case a “discoverer” would like to comment, or for fellow found-artists to discuss, so my fingers are crossed that the spam thing doesn’t get too awful. grrrrrrrr.

november is flying past so quickly. i can’t keep up. really. but daily life continues to move slowly. i am learning that can be a good thing. peaceful, in fact. i am a little less distressed by the time change, although still waking WAY too early. have found a fairly comfortable rhythm for coming home, without being sluggish at 8pm. (whew) i am working on many projects, either behind the scenes or in contemplation, but still keeping hands busy and messy. right now, making the tiny art for encounteredArt release. but i am almost over that for a while and will have a good stash to keep in my pockets. i *do* want to make some “special” pieces to take with me to Texas and Boston in the next month. ha. scattering treasure across the country in my path. check your local highway rest stops! ha ha.

i think i have generated a certain quantity of endorphins thinking about travelling. i get so restless here. my poet teases (i think?) and says i am a spendthrift, to travel when i can barely pay my bills, but i MUST. how else will i see my girls, my family, Different Things??? it feels essential. damn the debt load anyway. the travelling also comes at my busiest time of the year with the magazine, *and* just before the medieval art history final. aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! (wheeeeeeeee!)

friday again. and a holiday. but i am working and earning time-and-a-half. i will NEED it!

#36 : november 2006 - one of 10. each unique.
altered photo, tissue, paint image, found text, eyelet

i have gone back to the smaller pieces and am very happy with these. but … are they in my pocket ready to be released this morning? NO! they are lounging on the artTable!. oops. i will get the hang of this, i’m sure, eventually. one more similar set in progress, which i will finish and then i am inclined to work BIG this weekend. then a set of pieces for travelling, which will be great fun … to leave across the country.

as much as i love the good food my poet makes me for dinner, sometimes i would rather just come home and put on my rags and grab a cup of tea or glass of wine and go straight to the artTable. now that it is dark so early, it seems there is even less time for art after the office. i would like to reconstruct my energy, but i can’t seem to get past 9 or so without shutting down and looking for a book, unless i am *really* involved in something.

last night was one of those and i worked happily without dinner for several hours. when i was hungry, i ate … ok. potato chips! i finished the next set of encounteredArt, only 9 for next week, 20 seemed very many and was rather stressful. i just don’t go that many places. i also finished my small art for Visual Aids - Postcards from the Edge. yay! last year i forgot the deadline and was very sad, because i have done the show for about 4 years. i LOVE the piece for this year. i have scanned it, but think it best not to display until after the show. beeswax on it! mmmmm. i realize it is hard for me to make a singular piece of art. working in multiples or sets, or groups, is more exciting and makes more sense (to me).

i am so glad for friday.