Finding my way

I am beginning a new series of work in encaustic and this is one of the exploratory pieces.  I am still experimenting and deciding so until I find out what I am actually up to I've named the series Finding My Way.

 The work is stemming from a temporary visual experience I had during cataract surgery when my lens was removed prior to having the new one  put in. You are looking into a bright light so the world becomes  fuzzy white.  The experience is both frightening and thought provoking. It brought a  lot of observations and questions with it.

 Without colour and contrast how would you represent the world?  What  art elements can you use?  How would you represent your thoughts?  .....

          What if ..... Beach Language  ( 2013 ) 12 x45 in.  encaustic, encaustic gesso, driftwood, glue

Onward

Bear with me. I'm working  out how  the idea of branching  is going to play out in my new work. 

My last post included inspiration shots of what other artists  have done with the idea of branching.  Now it's time for me to start narrowing things down.  One of the ways I do that is to list all the possible ways to go and then begin to whittle them down to something I am interested in.  Then I go through my photos to see if there's anything there to prompt  me.  My own photos  or photos of family history make it personal.  I usually find I have been attracted to ideas before I label them.That's what happened with my wallpaper and object work in the Remnants series.

I started with these documentation photos  I received from a relative. They  that were taken of the homes in  Argentia, a community where my father's family lived.  They were resettled into neighbouring communities when a US Naval Base was scheduled for construction on the site of their town.  Newfoundland had three US bases in its history.

Apart from the aching sadness  I feel for all the  families, one of the things that hits me in the photographs are all the fences that direct the flow of foot traffic and keep people out or animals in.   I was surprised by how prominent fences were in a place that was described to me in very idyllic terms from the time I could walk and talk.   How sad  that all this marking of territory was for naught because they lost it all in the end , and received an embarrassingly small sum for their properties.

   

fences  divide in different directions

 One house , two branches of a family


one branch of a family often lived in close proximity to another

 a business branching out

branching fences to protect livestock

 

 the prominent use of tree branches for fencing and firewood (protection)

 How Argentia looked in my father's day.

 The main runway and side arteries branching from it that provided the new boundaries for this once fishing community..  My family lived around the pond that can be see at the upper left. 

I have no idea who the original photographer of these  photos was but I give  credit for capturing a dying community.

 

Perhaps all of this isn't really about branching at all , but, rather, one idea branching into another.  So it goes.

Branching

Do you notice trees or are they just a backdrop in your life ?  I've had a long standing love affair with trees since childhood because our house was next to a lovely wood that ran down to the sea and trees were my playing field.

Lying in a hospital bed for a week provides ample opportunity to think and you try to focus those thoughts in a positive way. When I want to relax I visualize trees but that led to branches, branching and what's going on in my head.  You know how things keep connecting in an artist's mind. That was a good thing in the end because I have a new series pushing its way to the surface.  It's all just tickling the surface to get out, but in the meantime here are some inspiration photos that relate to the idea of branching.  I'm considering it in the broadest way.

 Santiago Ramón y Cajal ForMemRS (1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) was a Spanish pathologist, histologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel laureate.  This is exquisite mark making.

Artist unknown

Another totally different kind of branching.  Such detail leads me back to the marks of the passage of time. 

Fubiz

The quietness of this work interests me greatly. The composition provides a feeling of protection.

Charles Grogg, Subterraneous
gelatin silver print
20x24 

Another way to think about taking root!

Linda Vachon, pot de fleurs

This work reminds me of encuastic with that soft haze that can be built up with encaustic medium and image transfers.   

Asha Robertson  Raven
22"x24"
Acrylic, paper, fabric, and encaustic, on board

Robertson explores themes of collective memory, time travel, human impact on the land and nature’s ability to reclaim with time .

Andrew Wreach, 2009 , Democritus, archival ink jet print, 70 x 40 in.

Can closed shapes branch?  Can't make up my mind if it reminds me of cells or a view from an airplane.  I am attracted to the colour scheme which makes the whole piece look florescent and glowing. 

  English Wilderness

Love the lacy intricacy of this.  I'm getting ideas.

and guess what this is?

What does branching mean to you?