"memory" cyanotype, march 2010

this is the end of a long day. today marked six months since a dear friend passed away and it has been a day of remembering...and also of trying to look forward. i am now living on the land she spent decades farming and tending, the land which she poured love into on a daily basis. her passing is still difficult to believe, and when all her friends gathered this evening in the glow of the setting sun, united by her spirit, Jane was so present that it seemed to me for a time that if I would only get up and look around the Nanking cherries to the garden side, she would be standing there, listening to us all and smiling that gorgeous loving smile she was known for. i feel her presence often here, but tonight she was almost tangible. this spring i made this print of bird wings, and at the time it seemed very happen-stance, a photo that i took mostly spur of the moment, without an articulable motivation or intent, keeping it and developing it, turning it from silver to cyanotype, because it was "pretty." but now it occurs to me that this is Jane in my thoughts, taking flight and not, all at once. and so, i dedicate this print to her, my loving, beautiful friend, gone far far too soon. here are your wings.

-lifespan-

-contemplation-

-reflection-

here are three more of my Lith prints, though for a different project. the main thought behind these was a reflection of ideas of mortality(in a positive light), life direction, and potential in tandem with each other. the Lith quality can lead viewers to read these in a bit of a dark light, and that's fine, if that's the direction your mind leads you in. when i made them i was thinking more along the lines of potential and possibility than anything else and the dark quality was something that i thought complemented my subject matter, though hopefully doesn't overpower it.

ok. so it's been almost forever since i posted on here last and, of course, a lot has happened. but i'm not going to get into all of that, at least not now. suffice it to say that i've decided to make a go of this whole blogging thing, get some of my art up gradually, and send some of my rambling thoughts out into the great wild blue.

at least initially, this is not going to be very chronological, art-wise. there's some catching up to do, and i don't particularly feel like being very organized about it, nor do i see a need for chronological organization. there is a time and a place for that, but generally i think that artwork should only adhere to such things when there is a persuasive rational for doing so, and otherwise should follow whatever more hidden, internal order there may be.

and so, to begin this new phase of my vade mecum, i give you my bones. this is a series of Lith prints i made of specimens that i found in the zoological museum where i've worked for the last year and a half or so. they also comprise my first show, and are on display on the first floor of the Health Sciences building at the University of Montana.

-FrameWork-

the inspiration for this series came in a mix of forms, the primary one being an obsession with bones and structure initiated by the discovery last fall of a bone tumor in my femur. that has since been taken care of, the tumor was removed, and i am continuing the longer and infinitely life affirming process of relearning how my legs work and retraining my leg to walk. life IS good, and bones are beautiful and mysterious, hidden and essential.