RE-POST: CROW

Curious Crow by James Kitchen


I'm taking part in Seth's "Buried Treasure" collaboration and am re-posting CROW, one of my favourite posts because it made me laugh at the memories.


2 Crows by Katherine Treffinger


For some reason artists have found crows and ravens highly portrayable and many of the artworks are created in a humorous light. I will share a few I found browsing the internet.



Hand Carved Flock by Allen & Mary Dee


When I was just a kid my brother arrived home with a poor pinioned crow that had been advertised in the Pets for Sale column. The owner couldn't handle him so my brother bought him for me to tame. Crow, however wasn't going to be tamed by anyone. He had the meanest of mean streaks and if he hadn't been pinioned we would have set him free.

Crow handcarved by Allen & Mary Dee


We put him in the avery outside the bathroom window where he could chat to all the wild birds in the garden. He mimiced everything including running water, flushing toilets, ringing telephones and a whole repertoire of bird calls. He had us on the hop from morning til night, rushing around the garden looking for gushing taps and then belting back inside to answer his telephone .... all of which he found rather exciting.



Sculpture by Gunter Reimitz


Eventually he managed to entice my Indian Minor (which I had reared from a featherless fledgling) to the wire and before anyone could blink he had yanked poor Zombie's head through the wire and swallowed it whole. That was the end of that...... Crow had to go!

Craven (half crow and half raven) by Rod Bearup


My husband's friend owned a pub...and a crow. The crow kept the patrons entertained every evening. She would strut up and down dipping her beak into the glasses, getting horribly drunk and rather raucus. Her favourite trick was to swipe an ice block out of a glass when nobody was looking and rush to the other side of the room challenging anyone to give chase. When she was sure that nobody was watching her, she would hide the iceblock, either under the corner of a mat or behind a curtain. She then strolled nonchalently to the other side of the room where she kept watch, making sure nobody went anywhere near the hiding place. Inevitably the ice melted and she couldn't resist having a quick peep at her hidden treasure ....only to find that somebody had stolen it. Much to the delight of all the patrons, she flew into a rage, jumping up and down, flapping her wings and squawking. This would happen every night and crow could never quite understand how someone snuck past her watchful eye to steal the iceblock.

Clay Crow Sculpture by Virginia Wyoming


In Africa crows are considered to be guides, protector spirits and messengers. They warn people that danger is approaching.

Two more crows by Katherine Treffinger

REPLENISH, REDISCOVER, RECONNECT, RE-POST

Tree Deva, carved in 2007

Its been a long time coming. A whole day to myself to replenish. I was outside carving as the sun came up.

Good Morning!

The monkeys arrived soon after, following their noses to a pocket of granadillas that just happened to be resting against the courtyard wall. I, of course, know nothing about it ( I'd be in hot water if anybody thought I was feeding starving monkeys). I didn't put the pocket there and I didn't see frenzied little hands empty it quicker than it had been filled. I was too busy carving.

The bad weather arrived at noon which gave me an excuse to move inside to do my 10-minute collage. I am totally addicted to this process and never miss a day. (Free E-course, here.) These collages are teaching me to reconnect with myself. Not every day is an AHA! moment but I notice I'm gradually understanding myself more and remembering things from way back that have influenced the direction my life has taken.






I'm still in the rediscovery phase....... Listening to old CDs






Rereading Rice Freeman-Zachery's book, Living the Creative Life.






Looking through my Picasa files at all the carvings I've sold and reinventing them in photo montages.





On Thursday I will be participating in Seth's, Buried Treasure Collaborative which involves the re-posting of a favourite blog post. Join in or go to The Altered Page to find the links to all the participants.


"Buried Treasure is about digging deep to uncover some hidden gems. The premise is simple. On Thursday July 16 all participating bloggers will re-post one (or more) of their favorite posts from their blog. As you might already know, I don't like too many rules when it comes to art and art collaboratives. So anything goes. Please leave a comment on this post or email me if you would like to participate. Just try and let me know by Tuesday July 14. On July 16, I will post a list of all participating artists so that you can be sure to find all the Buried Treasure".

REINVENTING OLD IDEAS

"Work begets ideas, which begets work, which in turn begets more ideas.". - Rice Freeman-Zachery

I know there are definite cycles when it comes to creating art.... a prolific period followed by a fallow period. I've also noticed that if I keep working steadily the ideas will keep flowing which means I keep working and the ideas keep on flowing and .....well, you get my drift :-)

At the moment I'm going through an almost frenzied phase of carving, which is part of the cycle. Autumn and Winter are the most creative seasons for me but come Spring I start slowing down and with the arrival of our harsh South African Summer work usually grinds to a halt for days on end. So I am making hay while the Winter sun shines.....and I'm covered in sawdust from dawn til dusk.

This week I've been revisiting my earlier totems.

"I will wear my heart upom my sleeve for daws to peck at " - Shakespeare

Three years ago I started carving a tribe which became the "Tribal People" series for an exhibition in 2007.

Then ..... the "Broken Angel" series.

Browsing through old photos of pieces long gone I'm rekindling and reinventing old ideas; doodling and playing with old sketches and developing them in new directions. The piece I'm working on now is related to these pieces.

Small detail of carving I'm creating at the moment.

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." - Carl Jung.

LETTERS FROM HOME, COLLAGES AND SCRAP METAL

These last few days I've been quite industrious especially since I completed 3 commissions even though I swore I would never do another. The pressure usually gets to me but for some reason I forgot to feel pressurized and thoroughly enjoyed doing them. One piece is a carving for someone who left South Africa in search of job opportunities in Britain since there were no posts for him here. I carved Letters from Home, trying to incorporate memories of life in South Africa. Originally I was going to call it Memories of South Africa but after reading Elizabeth Seaver's post about her Love Letter to Fredericksburg, here, I decided Letters from Home was a much better title.

One of the other pieces I loved doing because the person who ordered it was so enthusiastic about a blog post I wrote a few months ago when I was battling to focus. It was about carving "just one cow" ( read here). When M emailed me to ask if I would do a "small commission", I didn't really want to do it but she said this particular post had made an impression on her and she would love just one cow.

I've been keeping up with my daily, 10 minute collages and in fact am now doing the 2nd Deepening Creativity course through Shelley Klammer (see here) and am still finding it very easy to make time to create a 10 minute collage every day.

A visit to the scrap yard on Friday was one of the highlights of my week (who would have thought) and my mind is ticking over how I'm going to use these finds in my work.

The brass foil was a fantastic find! I had been enquiring at all the art and craft supply stores about it and nobody knew what on earth I was talking about....and then a few minutes after arriving at the scrapyard, hubby in toe, we pounced on the two little parcels of brass foil sticking out from an old sack of crushed brass. Hubby hates going to the scrapyard but he says the amazement on my face was enough to make the trip worthwhile.

Last but not least, whilst visiting my friendly art dealer, I spied this Punu mask hiding behind a pile of kuba cloths. The photo doesn't do it justice at all. It has a wonderful patina and the features are so delicate and beautifully carved that I keep running my fingers over it and thanking my lucky stars that I found it before anyone else realized what a bargain it was.

These masks from Gabon are worn during ceremonies by performers on stilts.

WOOD

Offering (detail) by Lis Lisberger


I love wood. The smell and the feel..... the carving, the sanding and burnishing...... the feasting of eyes on all it's forms. Magestic oaks casting shade .... natural forests flourishing on hillsides....... rotting trunks on forest floors providing food and shelter to all manner of creatures .... weathered drift wood on long beaches....wood stacks next to the hearth.... and then there's the transforming of wood that has been crafted and chiseled as if by magic into art.


Soundingboard by Lis Lisberger



Chained Goddess by David Hostetler

"My medium is wood. Wood appeals to my close affinity with nature and things organic. Wood is a magic material, alive and working organic, and never completely at rest." - David Hostetler

Cycladic Tree Goddess by David Hostetler

David Hostetler continues.....
"Among all goddesses, Asherah is my inspiration, for it is she who was carved from living trees as well as the image of the tree of life. This goddess is the embodiment of my passion for wood and all that is woman."

It's worth a visit to Hostetler's website, here.

Asherah Tree Goddess by David HostetlerBig Hanging Eight Flowers by James Surls (Charles Cowles Gallery, Newyork)

Peace Burden by James Mellick

.....And now for something completely different. I'm thinking spider ....poised for attack....or as Karin commented...something that skitters across the floor when you switch the light on.

Strider 2 by Ben Carpenter

Ben Carpenter's work is strangely compelling. The wood grain is beautiful, the polished surface inviting to touch. There are pieces reminiscent of seeds, pods and plant forms, all beautiful in a Venus Flytrap sort of way. See for yourself here.

Shell4 by Ben Carpenter


Eolian Drifting Pod (maple burl) by Ben Carpenter

ANTONY GORMLEY

I first became aware of the work of British sculptor, Antony Gormley when I included a photograph of his spectacular Angel of the North in a post about angels.

His work is awesome! The cast-metal figurative sculptures (based on his own body), are placed in settings that create an atmosphere of mystery.

"Another Place" (below) reminds me of the beach scene in the movie, City of Angels.

In fact many of his installations have that ghostly feel to them.

I'm bowled over by his Field series. A rolling carpet of little terracotta people all looking up at the viewer.

...and then there is Waste Man created out of wood and furniture. Impressive, isn't he?

Antony Gormley's website is crammed with many more images of his work. Go here to browse.

MUSICAL CHAIRS

This morning everyone was doing their own thing so I thought I would tip toe off and quietly do my 10-min-collage.

The first image to call out to me was of a fine looking table top laden with baked goodies and all the trappings of a domesticated lifestyle. I tear this page out.....and the voice starts....but this is so not you....you don't even like baking.....shhhhhhshhhh....go with it....be still.

Next few pages the phrase, "Musical chairs" pops out at me. I'm attracted to the way Musical is haphazardly painted on the page. The voice is back....whats that got to do with baking....too big....too much...chop off the chairs.....shshhhh, go with it.

Now I'm feeling quieter and in the zone. Next minute the door bursts open....requests fly at me, dog leaps for love, sweet suggestions, the phone rings......my moment is shattered.

An hour later I come back to finish my collage. I'm feeling peeved that I can't even have 10 minutes of quiet to myself. I flip through a magazine and it so happens the image that gets my attention is a cartoon full of mouths and pointing fingers. Perfect!

I put the collage together and smile at the results. The story of my life! Not quite the collage experience I was hoping for this morning but I'm now smiling instead of feeling frazzled.

Read more about the Deepening Creativity Collage Workshop with Shelley Klammer at Expressive Art. (It's a free e-course)