JUST ONE COW

Today I carved 6 cows. This is quite a feat considering the procrastinating I've been doing all week. Just one cow...I said to myself. Once I had my workbench set up in the courtyard I had this bright idea that I should get all my phone calls out of the way before starting work. Then I noticed the courtyard was looking messy so perhaps I should get that cleaned up too. This has been happening day after day but today I caught myself in the act. I will nail your foot to the floor if I have to, but you will carve one cow! And I did. The next thing I knew, six carved cows were looking at me. I'm not usually a procrastinator when it comes to my work especially if I have an idea sketched out and ready to proceed but since Christmas I have allowed myself to be swept along in any direction except the most important one.

I now keep a notebook next to me while I work so that I can write down all the things "I must do right now", then I threaten myself with the nailed foot treatment and make sure I put in at least an hour's work before rushing off to do chores. Invariably I end up doing more than a few hours carving.

I've prepared my bundle for Seth's Disintegration Project. It has been buried in a shallow grave under the Bottle Brush tree for 3 days now. I decided to bury mine after reading about artist Christina Oiticica (who also happens to be Paul Coehlo's wife) who buries her art works for about a year and a half....as part of the art process.



Kalahari deposited this bundle of joy on my doorstep today. I love book parcels on a Friday just in time for the weekend.

1. Natural Fashion by Hans Sylvester
2. Rivers and Tides (DVD) by Andy Goldsworthy
3. Tissue Salts for Healthy Living by Margaret Roberts
4. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh



This evening I was fortunate enough to have a long chat to Leslie who phoned from the States as part of the informal discussion she mentioned in this post.........What is it that I want from my creativity? And what does my creativity want from me? Leslie, a gentle, soft spoken angel disguised as a Life Coach, patiently discussed ways to overcome the frustrations that get in the way of creation. I was grinning inside by the time I put the phone down.

And as if that wasn't enough Priya's exquisite drawing made me sit with mouth agape.

What a great day!

BASKETRY TO SCULPTURE

The first time I saw these beautiful art pieces by Lissa Hunter my heart began to race because I knew I was looking at something extraordinary. 


Nancy's Choice

Lissa Hunter's trademark is the small hand coiled baskets mounted in wall boxes. The baskets are covered with paper and these become the "canvas" upon which she paints, draws and adorns.

The Gathering by Lissa Hunter

"Saying that Lissa Hunter makes baskets is a bit like saying that Picasso doodled. She does. He did. But in both cases the work transcends those simple categories.Hunter's baskets are about life, loss, love and death. " - Christine Temin, New England Home, May/June 2007




Fade to black
"First she's a basket maker. First and foremost, and still. First she makes coiled baskets, precise, neat, colorful. Then she covers the exteriors, skins them in paper, paint and texture.
And her point is that when you approach them, they are--what? Ceramic? You can't tell . Adorned with leather, leaves and beads. But when you look inside, there are fiber coils. Discovery, magic. To perform this magic you have to pick them up, handle them. That's what the paper and paint were there to protect and to allow in the first place.
Now the baskets are set in little niches, precisely their size, made for them. The niches are cut into slabs made for walls. To be seen. Hands off, the discovery inside no longer possible, no longer permitted.
So the secret of the baskets has been buried? Is this a cenotaph? Are these baskets votive offerings? Do they hold invisible remains? Are they empty?" -- John Edwards , from the catalogue for Histories.

These are the same thoughts going through my mind whilst looking at them.

If the pieces appeal to you, you're in for a treat at Lissa's website here. There are stories behind some of the works which provide fascinating reading.

Late bloomer

Forgetting

More than you know

Quatro

Journeys

LACE FENCE

While paging through an old magazine I came across the photograph above.

Intrigued, I googled the name Demarkersvan and discovered a young design team based in Rotterdam who produce security fencing with a difference.

Joep Verhoeven, one of the young Demakersvan designers came up with this idea as part of his graduation project. He is utilizing traditional Dutch lace making techniques to change ordinary chain link security fencing into works of art.

Industrial fencing meets traditional lace. Ingenious!

EXPRESSION OF A JOYFUL SPIRIT

Over a period of 6 years, renowned photographer Hans Silvester photographed peoples of the Omo Valley. It is a very remote area in Ethiopia. Wild and unspoiled. The Surma and Mursi Tribes take great pleasure in decorating themselves with the glorious pigments available in this volcanic region.

White kaolin, ochre-red, copper green, luminous yellow and ash grey.

In addition to the pigments all manner of materials from the surroundings are added to the "fancy dress".

Flowers, leaves, grasses, berries and seed pods

.....shells, butterfly wings, animal horns and tails

....... sometimes the odd modern accoutrements such as glass beads, bottle caps and bullet casings.

These joyful people are walking masterpieces of abstract art. Marked with spots and stripes, stars and circles. The first time I saw the photographs, I thought they were contrived but apparently not. We are looking at the expression of a joyful spirit. The ancestral art of body painting together with headdress are part fashion, part protection from the sun and also part trophy display.

See more here.

Books available:

Ethiopia: Peoples of the Omo Valley (Set of 2 volumes) by Hans Silvester

Natural Fashion by Hans Silvester

THE COLLECTOR II

There is the slightest nip in the air at dawn and after sundown. As the day progresses and the heat starts steaming off the earth I actually wonder if I imagined it ......but at least Autumn is trying to make an appearance and I can anticipate beautiful mellow days carving in the courtyard again.



The last few days have been about gastric flu and major plumbing excavations in our back yard. How the two happened upon us at the same time is a cruel trick of fate.....but we've survived it. Amazing how this virus operates. We all gathered at one house to welcome family visiting from Australia. A day later the virus hit everyone who attended the gathering at exactly the same time.....leaving us all flapping like beached fish, completely devoid of the will to live.


Today I started planning my next carving so I must be feeling better! I promised Heather that I would post photos of my latest totem. The first Collector totem sold within days of completion so I have created The Collector II.

What with the heat wave interrupted by downpours, it has taken me longer than usual to carve this piece but when the weather was kind I enjoyed an hour or two carving outside under the tree.

HOME-GROWN TALENT

The latest Visi magazine is out and what a treat it is! The work of Cape Town illustrator, Alex Latimer is featured on the cover as well as three double spreads plus more....which is quite an accomplishment in my book. His illustrations include famous south african personalities as well as typically south african imagery.


In the illustration above (lower left corner), see Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team, who was involved in the match fixing scandal in India (Year 2000). At the top right, is Hugh Masikela, world famous musician. There's my raucus friend the Hadeda on the right as well and a typical Kombi taxi above it. Chappies bubble gum, the good old Sprinkbok, the Johannesburg skyline (with revolving restaurant) and so many other wonderful images.



A big thank you to Visi for featuring the hottest home-grown talent. This edition is a keeper!




You can see more of Alex's work here and blog here. His wrapping paper of small dorp (town) South Africa is awesome.

EXPRESSIVE HANDS

A street artist known as Asbestos has painted an awesome series focused on the hands of fellow street artists. He prefers to paint on discarded surfaces such as weathered wood and tin that he finds on the streets. These hands are so expressive. They touch my heart.

"The hands have been a revelation to paint. They're the tools that seperate us from the animals. They can create and they can destroy and that's why they're so fascinating to paint. Each pair has it's own grain that highlights the personality of the owner." - Asbestos

See the rest of the series here.

After discovering the art of Asbestos at Wooster Collective, beautiful hands seemed to pop up everywhere.

Nickie Owens has painted a hand series which you can see here.

"As a budding artist I was told by my Mum that one of the great painters (I can’t remember who) always struggled with hands and would have an understudy finish his work.
So began my obsession. I thought if I could draw / paint hands I would be great... I just became great at hands!"

The beautifully stitched and collaged hands of Karin Bartimole. You need to visit her blog, Beyond Words, and enlarge her amazing journal pages to see all the details.

SantaCruz-CuevaManos, Argentina. Photo from Wikipedia

Photographs of hands in cave paintings have fascinated me since I was a little girl. They were painted 9,300 to 13,000 years ago. The hand was held against the cave wall and paint was sprayed through a hollow bone pipe to colour the area around the hand.

This photograph was taken by Pim at the Wat Rong Khun temple in Thailand. Donations are thrown into the pot surrounded by grasping hands. You can see Pim's photostream at Flickr.

Etching by Vladimir Gazovic

Drawing Hands by M C Escher