The Gryphon's Feather Studio

Preparing for the Light - Weekly Holiday Assignment

This first week of December is when preparations for the holidays really seem to begin.  It is also the start of Advent, if you are Christian, and Hanukkah begins, if you are Jewish.  Regardless of your religious denomination, the weeks or days leading up to the holiday are filled with errands that must be completed, correspondence, phone calls, planning, and perhaps holiday shopping.

I love the holidays. The hype doesn't affect me at all- it is simply background noise. Don't let it distract you.

I love the feeling that blooms this time of year, despite the cynics who say we've all forgotten the meaning of the holidays- the meaning of the miracle of light in the dark.  Whether we are talking about the light that burned in the darkness for eight days when it should have lasted but one, or the Light of the World being born to lift us out of darkness, or the light we must keep burning within as the wheel of the year moves to the darkest night and the return of the light as the days grow longer, the season is about light.

Candles, menorahs, holiday decorations, our windows lit with warm incandescence against the dark night...

And, the love that is shared this time of year- families, friends, even strangers act differently- with more compassion for others.  Ignore the person in the mall parking lot who cuts you off from your space.  Remember all those people who are tossing change into the kettles of charities who really do work to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.  That is light, too, shining at it's brightest.

Consider the faces of children as they play in the snow, wait in line for Santa, or hear the tale of their spiritual history. Memories are light in the darkness, too. Remembrance is a gift.

It seems fitting to me, that we work with photographs at this time of year.  Photographs are, by definition, a record of light.  So, we'll work each week for the month of Decmber, with assignments that you can use to pull content for your journals that is a an enjoyable task. 

Holiday Photo Assignments- week #1

Archives:

In looking through your archives of photos this week, cull for photos of the time of preparation for the light that comes in your tradition.  Look for the light of this time. Don't forget many families choose a tree at this time, or gather for Hanukkah, or attend church or school activities.  Perhaps this is when you decorated?  Maybe there are things you need to remember to feel the coming light?  Choose images to reflect that.

Photo Assignment:

Photograph some aspect of preparing for the light.  Preparation. in your home, in your life, in your heart.

Journaling:

Examine the concept of the light in your journal.  Look to your personal spiritual beliefs and your intuitive response to the idea of light being made manifest this month. Journal your thoughts.

 

Encourage anyone you know who takes photos and journals to join in recording the light.

 

 This blog will host weekly assignments like the one above.  In addition, you will find posts in this season of growing darkness on sharing the Miracle of Light.  

The Sunday Snap

The Sunday Snap = weekly ideas for photograph making...

 

Sunday, November 28, 2010:

In a Different Light

Make photos when the light is different than you might normally choose because of weather and/or time of day...

(For example, I took a walk in the rain just before dusk -which is when the images from here were made.)

 

A painter works with color as the medium, a photographer works with light. 

Carlotta Corpron

(kinda interesting, if you consider that what we see as color is a but particular wavelengths of visible light as interpreted by our brain.)

SEE:

Previous Snaps:

21 November 2010

14 November 2010

7 November 2010

31 October 2010

Joyful

Oh, I love this video- so jouyful!!  And yes, I wept (what can I say? I spent umpteen million years in Catholic school, you know.) and I clapped when the chorus lifted their hands! And when the mama reached up and took her son's hand- oh!

 

 

Purple isn't a typical predominant color for me, but since I somewhere along the line I painted a page using layers of purple, here we are - along with a found poem from a page out of an antique children's primer.

This journal spread comes from an image I manipulated for a class lesson for my Techniques class.  

 

The found poem:

I don't know which way to go

(a found poem)

 

I turn my back to the sun.

See that?

It seems

it is now time to go.

Now, tell me,

will you

let me hear you

in the way of those

that think

the words,

those small

hard words?

Which way, then,

Which way is

good?

 

go with me.

journal page

iPhone Photo Friday

 

Artist's Cafe

(First, just an FYI-I am hard at work on finishing the book I am writing.  Knowing I'd be sorta absent, I stored a few posts for the blog.)

 

Kelsi Maree Borland had contacted me to let me know a piece I had written for the November/December 2008 issue of Somerset Studio, The Poetic Eye I was being reprinted in Artist's Cafe: Best of Somerset Studio Art & Design.  I received my contributor's copy of this lush, 14 page semi-annual magazine, and to my surprise, my work was featured in not one, but two articles! 

I was paging through the magazine when I found The Artist's Profile piece that Ricë Freeman Zachary wrote for Somerset Studio in 2003!  I was confused at first, thinking, "This isn't what Kelsi contacted me about...  What happened?" Puzzled, I flipped a couple more pages and found the Poetic Eye I piece.  TWO articles!  How fabulous!!  I should have noticed the cover text, perhaps!  I definitely am grateful to Kelsi and to Christen for choosing my work!  Thanks!!

 

Here's a look at some images from The Poetic Eye I article.

And here is a glimpse of the Artist's Portfolio piece that Ricë wrote way back when! (thank you so much, Ricë!)

 

I have to tell you that when I read this article, I was amazed at how much my life has changed in the seven plus years that have passed since Ricë interviewed me by telephone. 

Besides differences between my personal and family life then and now- which are nothing short of immense and miraculous, I was struck by the fact that I shot FILM then, for gosh sakes!  Film!  The journals below span a four year time frame.  The photos you see in the journals are a mix of 120 film (medium format- Hasselblad & Holga), 35mm film, Polaroid-(600, Spectra, SX-70).  I manipulated the images various ways- solvent transfers of photocopies using acetone and xylene, cyanotypes using negatives created on transparencies,  Polaroid transfers or emulsion lifts using 35mm color slides, Polaroid pack film and a DayLab! Every new method I'd try was a fun and exciting exepriment!  I had forgotten!

And, even with ALL the changes my life has undergone in the past seven years, one thing remains the same- my studio space is still in the kitchen! Clearly, something about that works for me!

The Sunday Snap

The Sunday Snap = weekly ideas for photograph making...

 

Sunday, November 21, 2010:

Look UP.

 

 

I capture what I feel, not what I see.

Steve Coleman

 

SEE:

Previous Snaps:

    14 November 2010

    7 November 2010

    31 October 2010

nice press!

There is a nice mention of my most recently published book, Creative Wildfire, on Style, Substance, Soul in the Style section. Thank you so much!

I'll also be featured in the Artist Portfolio in the upcoming issue of Art Journaling!  And, if you happen to live in Australia, I should have a column in the newest issue of Spotlight's  Get Creative quarterly magazine.  (Spotlight is a large chain retailer in Australia, selling craft & hobby supplies, fabric, notions, party supplies, and home decor for bed, bath, and kitchen- sort of like Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Superstore meets Bed Bath &Beyond.)

 

studio move

To accommodate some changes in my household, I have just finished moving my studio space out of the entry and into the kitchen.

(The term "entry" is a little deceptive.  This is a Victorian-era home. On the original plans this room is marked "foyer", and the original catalogue images show a baby grand piano in there. The living room is, of course, labelled "parlor.")

Since we have a four-square from 1911, the original kitchen was approximately the same size as the other three rooms on the first floor.  A common change people made to these homes was to absorb the small back porch into the house, sometimes to use as a pantry and other times to use as the kitchen itself. When we moved into our home, the kitchen was in that space that had been a porch ninety years or so ago.  It was tiny - the open floor space measured about 5' x 8'. Joe removed as much of the wall between the two areas as possible and opened that kitchen into the original kitchen room.  We haven't used this space as an eat-in kitchen, though.  It has mostly been in use as a playroom. 

I guess, in some ways it still is a playroom, as I am fortunate to be able to have my work and my play have some serious amounts of overlap.

Here are some images of my space:

Looking from the doorway between the entry and the kitchen.

The large table is an antique pine farm table that I found at a sale in 1994 or so and brought home on the roof of my Geo Prism.  The smaller oak table is from a Penn State salvage sale, and once lived in countless dorm rooms.   The tractor seat stool is a serendipitous Goodwill find.

Beneath the table are two thrifted tv stands on wheels.

• One has one shelf and a drawer on the bottom that is also on wheels; my printer is in this drawer.  Computer papers sit on the shelf, and it is sufficiently low enough to the ground that I can store my acrylic paints on top.  The paints are sorted into three large plastic shoeboxes without lids. (reds/yellows/oranges, blues, greens, purples  & neutrals) 
• The other stand has two shelves. The bottom has a flat, wide plastic bin holding decorative paper, rice paper, washi, and tissue.  Everything is sorted by type. I keep the tissue sorted by color and rubber-banded. The top shelf has similar bin that holds vintage papers (ledger papers, book pages, photographs/postcards, &tablet pages), assorted envelopes, and other things that can be incorporated into journals as pages.  On top of the stand, I have blocks of watercolor paper, and leftover pieces of art paper from making journals. (the pieces that are usable in size.)

The yellow vintage child's toy dresser holds pens/markers.  The red vintage bread box also holds art supplies.  Watercolors, soft pastels, & panpastels are in the desk drawer.  I'm a big fan of tins, and lazy susans.

The child's bookshelf, standing on the right-hand side of tabletop, holds journals, art supplies, the books I've written, and a few copies of SHOTS magazine.

My furniture, storage containers, and even the Ott task lights, are all thrifted.

 

I sat on the kitchen sink to take this photo. The closed door in the center leads to the basement.  The one on the left is the pantry.

In the front, to the left, is my studiomate's easel.

You can see through the doorway into the entry/ foyer.  There is a credenza just to the left inside that doorway that holds art materials like extra gesso, acrylic medium, cording, tools- things that I don't need as often.

There's a thrifted bookshelf holding books related to art & writing. (and one of my external hard drives.) In the little alcove to the right is a thrifted kitchen butcher block stand that holds a large wooden tool chest.  The drawer has tools like pliers, dremel parts, and drill bits. The shelves hold a stencils, scrap, a paper cutter, and a locker basket of books that have been sewn but I haven't yet laced to cover boards. (why I hate that task, I do not know; but, I do.) I also have a container that holds a stack of small, unfinished canvases.

I always tell my students I'm not ever going to end up in the pages of "Where Women Create", but my studio works for me. 

 

Here's a look at my studiomate's space. 

The large pine cupboard holds Sunny Rose's toys, puzzles, play-doh, and art supplies.  The suitcases on top are empty, save one that holds large sheets of construction paper. Her art supplies- crayons, markers, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, etc are on top of the nightstand, there are stencils and stickers in the drawer.  Tablets, journals, coloring books, workbooks, etc are stacked in the bottom.  There's a drawing book meant for whiteboard markers in the desk.  The easel is a chalkboard + whiteboard with a paper roll in the center.  All the furniture you see here is also thrifted.

Now, you might be wondering, is having my studio in the middle of the home really workable?

The truth of it is I need to be in the midst of my family, on the first floor because I need to be able to work in my studio- writing books, making art, designing classes, etc, while I work in my home caring for my family and my home.  Yes, I do have two full-time jobs. Yes, it is very difficult to balance these two jobs, and all their responsibilities.  For me, being able to work off and on through out the day is the only thing that works.  I cannot recall the last time I had a significant block of uninterrupted time to create- those times are exceedingly rare.  So, if I want to create, to work, to make every day, then I need to work in whatever increment of time I have.  Being on the first floor, in the middle of things, makes that possible.  My husband, Joe, is a high school art teacher, sculptor, painter, & mad creative, so he understands the time involved in the work I do, and my need to do it. 

(I made a quick album of some of Joe's work - pieces that were here at home .)

And, there's a really big blessing:

Because I don't have blocks of time set aside to create, because I work at working it all into each day, I have learned to integrate who I am as an artist into my everyday normal life.

This is a biggie, and I am grateful.