Things That Make it All Worthwhile

Taj hams it up for his photo shoot on my DS.

 One of the Etsy teams I belong to is dedicated to videogames.  I hadn't been very active, but decided to participate in a "Game of the Month" competition they hold.  "Diddy Kong Racing" was the month's theme, and even though not a favorite game of mine,  it was a good opportunity to connect and share with others, and to get back to  3-dimensional pop-art figurines I used to do more frequently before I branched off into tapestries. 
When I put my entry "Taj the Elephant from Diddy Kong Racing" up on Etsy, it was purchased in less than 24 hours.  The collector that purchased it was thrilled when it arrived and sent me a lovely note: 

"I LOVE that Taj elephant!!!!! It is even more awesome in person. It really is a beautiful piece of art, so happy to have for my "pop art" collection. I really enjoy looking at it. Can't wait for my 8-yr-old artsy son to see it when he wakes up."

Then later:  "My son thought Taj was awesome this morning.  On a scale of 1 to 10 he said 100,000!!! So thanks again for making such a beautiful piece of art and putting a smile on our faces. And also, the moment our dog Lila saw it, she barked and jumped with excitement because she thought it was for her!!! How cute and funny is that?"

This melted my heart.  I am generally a selfish artist, and pursue strange visions that are sometimes alienating, caring only if I achieve personal satisfaction from the process.  But Taj the Elephant was created initially to bring joy to the Diddy Kong fans in my Etsy gaming group.  It was a surprise lesson that working from an un-selfish place ended up bringing happiness to others too. 

But there's more!  The lady who bought Taj let me know how much she liked my "Sea Serpent Triptych" and wished it weren't so expensive.  We exchanged a few messages and I agreed to do a a new, smaller sea serpent for a lower price. 

It's always intimidating for me to make a custom piece on request, and the technique I use for my magical creatures (finding the shapes and features randomly in tufts of raw wool) is so different than the more concrete, controlled approach I use when re-creating videogame or cartoon characters that I was a little nervous the customer might not like the serpent in person. 

But I put my 100% effort into the new sea serpent, and sent it out into the world, hoping it would bring as much joy as Taj had done.  I should have trusted this lady's exceptional taste in art (wink wink!).  Her reaction and story brought so much joy to my day I have to share it:

"You are so awesome to make the serpent for us. We love it and now fight over positioning it! Every time I walk by I separate it out and make it curvy, then my son goes by and puts it close together and straight. Two perfectionist type A personalities-- my karma is biting me in the butt. But it is pretty funny to both of us. 

Anyways, everyone that sees the elephant and serpent love them. Thank you for the beautiful art. You are one of my favorite artists. Can't wait to see your other items you post. Later when I can shop again if you are interested I would like more custom items. Thanks again for everything!"

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to this customer for taking the time to share her experience with me.  I have aspirations (perhaps beyond my skill, and tinged with delusions of grandeur) to take textiles somewhere new, push boundaries, to explore darkness and taboo, and to develop a thematic and stylistic coherence in a collection that communicates a more complex vision of what it means to be both animal and divine.  But it was humbling to be reminded of the power of simplicity. . . that art for the sake of beauty and aesthetics--art snobs be damned--is also important and meaningful.

So many different kinds of wool in this sea serpent!





Spitbeard

"Spitbeard" here was made at the request of a dear friend, and is fully known as "Spitbeard the Trail Demon." 

A little back story:  I have made several sculptures for people of their "Inner Demon."  And by demon, I just mean the shadow self.  I feel that bringing the shadow self into the light of our 3-dimensional sensory reality through art, and embracing it and loving it, has healing power.  Spitbeard is the first time I've done this in tapestry form.

Spitbeard comes from a friend who took an epic journey: he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail.  This is no trivial little hike, but a grueling test of self that takes months of planning and preparation, traversing the entire west coast through California, Oregon and Washington, starting from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada.  I can barely fathom how much epic beauty his eyes and soul absorbed as his brutalized feet carried him and a backpack 20 plus miles a day through mountains, desert, valleys, snow.

I'm a walker, and have been since I was a small child, introduced to the pleasure of a long walk by my grandfather way back when there were still fragrant orange groves in San Bernardino county.  One thing I have come to know is that long walks are a place where you can really come face to face with your true self, dark and light. 

Spitbeard started as a painting.

When my friend came back from the Pacific Crest Trail he was literally re-entering the frantic energy of San Francisco from another planet.  He was beautiful, and at the same time, his eyes had a touch of "far away crazy". . . and his beard!  John Muir would have been proud.

My buddy has experienced some dark places, both within and without, including Iraq.  But I got the idea (though I haven't asked) that he worked through a lot of things on the trail, learning to love the shadow that walked beside him.  Right after he got back I painted what that shadow looks like to me:  a little scary, but joyously, devilishly playful and wise. 

As I've gotten deeper into creating with wool, he asked me if I could sculpt Spitbeard.  I said I would do it.  I was only doing three dimensional figurines at the time and that's how I was going to do Spitbeard.  But I never felt "moved" to do it and it got delayed and I expect he thought it wasn't going to happen.  But recently my buddy and I hung out with another friend who is a roadie for Ween, and who is the King of Beards.  It was a whiskey fueled debauch off the richter scale, but we came out of it with just what we needed to make Spitbeard into a reality.

Good times, guys.  Spitbeard knows how to party. 

Spitbeard:  seen so much, and so hardcore he got his eye pierced.

Felted Goddess Tapestry

"Obsience to Her
Who is Pure Being, Consciousness, Bliss.
As Power,
Who Exists in the Forms of Time and Space,
And All That is Therein,
Who is the Divine Illuminatrix in All Beings."
-  A Tantric Prayer


Gaia, Ishtar, Isis, Kali, Medusa.  Tree, serpent, branch, tentacle. . .brilliant web of energy permeating the universe, all forms of consciousness connected--microbial, plant, human, alien-- in a radiant sensual dance of electrons and sweat, birthing each moment of our existence.

This humble wool creation is a tribute to the power of feminine energy.





Lord Ember, Guardian of the Secret Fire

Lord Ember

 If you are the first person to wake up when camping there is a good chance you can catch a glimpse of Lord Ember, protecting that last little bit of glowing coal buried in the ashes of the previous night's revelries. 

That hot hidden ember, if carefully coaxed, can turn back into a roaring source of heat and illumination, drawing the other campers out of their tents to warm their hands and feet and enjoy a hot cup of cowboy coffee.

People, like campfires, can let their fire die, but Lord Ember casts his protection in that realm too, keeping a little spark alive inside even the most storm drenched souls.  All you need to do is find something to kindle the spirit, and with gentle stirring and fanning you might be surprised by how brilliantly your inner light can shine.

Trading

You gotta click on this and look at it more closely.

Awhile back I posted about trading a Wooliverse sculpture in exchange for a surprise painting from a really good friend and artist.  I recently received my original Randy O painting, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! 

Lizard's are a special animal to me, not just because they enjoy laying on warm rocks, but because they represent existing with one foot in the dream world, and one foot in regular consensus reality.  This painting, acrylic on canvas, it's hard to do justice to it with a photo. . .it is such a shimmering and vibrant piece.  I'm so touched, I don't really know what else to say.

Randy. . .Thank you!

The Old Ball and Chain



Heart lock and key.

 Pictured here is a solid wool, near-life size replica of a classic ball and chain.  It's the largest needle felted sculpture I've made.

I really like the idea of the object itself, duplicating solid iron in light, soft merino wool. 

I had fun with the romantic sub-text.  Being called a "Ball and Chain" is definitely not romantic, but love and relationships do have obligations and commitments.  It struck me as romantic to turn the ball and chain idea on it's head, and instead of a burden, show it as something warm, fuzzy and cute.  And maybe a bit sexy, depending on your perspective.

A New Direction

(Please read my previous entry "What Does Magick Have to Do With Anything.")

Recently I have been sculpting with wool less, and playing with other techniques, like painting wool on canvas,  2.5 dimensional applique sculpting, and wet felting.  I've also expanded the types of yoga I've been practicing to include Kundalini (the results of which sort of remind me of Israel Regardi's Kabbalisitic "Middle Pillar Ritual." ) It's been fun, but for the longest time it seemed like it was going nowhere. 



Pre-sculpted wet felt



I've decided to share the story behind a new creation because. . . well, I like to share no matter how nutty it's gonna make me sound. 

So I had an idea that was an integration of all the experiments I've been doing with wool.  I wanted to create a wet felted "wall hanging" with a very primitive look to it, sort of like an animal pelt, and to use that pelt as the "canvas" for sculpting an image onto.  My idea was to combine "pop and primitive" and I wanted to do an image of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu (because I enjoy Cthulhu as an image, and wool locks work well for his tentacled face.)  But as is often the case, what I WANT to make and what ends up actually getting made aren't the same. 

When I conceived the idea I had for weeks been in a near constant state of bliss, practicing yoga with a renewed energy and interest, and swimming regularly.  Not that it probably matters, but this was shortly after the lunar eclipse.  It wasn't until the moon was moving into Capricorn (goat) that I was ready to get working.  Then a series of interruptions happened.  Just mundane life stuff, but I let it get under my skin until I let myself get into a really angry place, really resenting that "my only day off to fully work on the new idea" was getting "ruined."  It was pretty ugly.



"Valour"

 I calmed down somewhat and went to my kundalini yoga class, which I hadn't been doing for very long.  This type of yoga deals with raising energy located at the base of the spine.  When I had done this class before, it always left me feeling invigorated, light, joyous and filled with a love that seemed to radiate from my core.  On this day, the anger I had been feeling was gone afterwards, but in it's place I was just tired.  About two hours later I was running a fever and went to bed.  I slept for nearly two days.

When I was feeling well again and had an open space to work I began with a deep mediation, followed by contemplation of a single tarot card.  I used a different deck than normal (Bohemian Gothic Tarot) and I don't know why.  I only have the deck because I enjoy the artwork in it.  I drew the seven of wands.  Sevens represent a degradation of their element, and wands are fire or primal energy.  This particular deck is unusual in that it associates this card with a goat image.



Mounting the piece

 I had actually prepped and laid out the wool for wet-felting some days before.  The process of wet felting can be really surprising, especially when you use a number of different types of wool.  The way it shrinks brings about shapes and edges that you can't predict.  The picture of the wet felted piece above was quite different than I expected and it's shape was all wrong for the Cthulhu image I'd wanted to sculpt on it.  But there were five definite points and an implicit goat shape.

I was actually doing this piece as final project for a mixed media sculpture class, and one of the things the instructor had been emphasizing was the juxtaposition of topic/image with material.  How perfect then, to evoke an image of a goat in the hair of sheep?  Not exactly a profound idea but the individualist/goat emerging from the herd/sheep was thematically coherent and the essential shape was suggested by the way the wet-felt had dried, like Jesus in a corn tortilla. 



Fuzzy Ears Are Fun to Rub!

 The process of actually sculpting the image, as is often the case, flowed almost unconsciously and even now seems sort of like a dream.  But it was a goat alright.  Of sorts.  And so soft and tactile (pure merino wool). . .it's ears feel really, really cool. 

I had also originally planned on hanging this piece by tying the four corners to a frame of sticks, but that just seemed all wrong.  It just seemed to beg for rusty nails and ragged old wood--like nailing an animal hide to a decrepit barn.  I figured there would be no way I'd find the right wood mount before the sculpture class ended, but I literally stumbled onto exactly the right size (and decrepitude) of wood on a morning walk at Ocean Beach. 

I thought about leaving out this next little bit of info as being a too creepy and weird--even for my most open minded of friends, but well. . .I've gone this far.  And synchronicity is interesting.  So here it goes.  The morning after I finished the sculpture (but before I had nailed it to the board) I snapped a quick pic of the piece with my phone. . . and happened to notice that it was the 666th picture on my memory card.  And when I checked my email right after that, I had received a notification that was time-stamped at about the same time as I was finishing the sculpture.  It was a notification that my "Bastet" sculpture had been featured in a "Goddess Treasury" on Etsy.

Bastet was created back in November of 2010, and prior to this experience, was the single most intense visionary and artistic experience of my life, and preceded a phase of true and meaningful personal growth.  How fitting that this goddess should get her first exposure in a treasury at the exact same time I was finishing an ancient god-image (Baphomet) associated with fertility, virility and individuality? 

I don't make too much of all this, but I don't dismiss it.  What does it all mean?  Anything?  Nothing?  Selective perception?  Coincidence?  Who knows.  All I know is what it feels like.  It feels like hard work.  Like overcoming challenges.  Like growing pains.  It feels like being the goat, being an individual, is painful business.  Because it means being honest and embracing the entirety of one's humanity: the animal, the angel, and yes, even the demon.

This piece just begged for a dramatic tongue-in-cheek "heavy metal" cliche photograph.