Cloisonne enamel Fish: Procrastination and the Creative Process

Well, I have distracted myself with grisaille enamel painting and SEO and this blog and starting a new business and production work and everything else I can think of - even housecleaning - but the reality is that one of these days I have to sit down and realise those cloisonne panels of the Armless Maiden story that I came up with OVER A YEAR AGO! That is how well I can procrastinate.

Though I have to say that in this case, it's not procrastination of the lazy kind, but of the fear kind. Cloisonne is not a technique that I have a lot of experience with - and you may remember that I did a series of cloisonne designs based on images from nature in order to practice. Well - that was so long ago I have practically forgotten all that I learned. Or maybe I have just been internalising and processing all of that experience...

Anyway I picked up this fish project - which I left unfinished three years ago - and decided that I could complete it now. That wasn't a fear thing - that was a making a living thing. Sometimes it makes me sad and sometimes it makes me angry - but the reality is that I can only spend a certain amount of time on things that are going to be hard to sell. When I started this piece - it was even before the Armless Maiden panels were a thought in the back of my mind. I just wanted to explore cloisonne. But I stopped in the middle of this piece - because it was clear from the labour involved that it would be in the $300-$400 range - and that is higher than I can usually afford to sell ...

I have mixed feelings about having to think about money while I make my art - sometimes it prevents me from doing my best work - and sometimes it forces me to be creative in ways that I wouldn't expect.

I like to think that when someone buys something from me - it's not so much an exchange of money for merchandise - but an expression of the fact that they support my endeavours as an artist - they give me the money to support me while I work - and I give them a gift ...

Anyway - thanks to all of those who have supported me over the years - as I am going to spend some time making a probably totally unsaleable series of cloisonne panels based on a folklore tale! And I am going to do it NOW.

Viking Horse, champleve enamel

When I first started enamelling - I thought I would never want to do any technique except champleve. This viking horse (just finished this morning!) is typical of the designs I have developed for it. I had a special relationship with this technique - as I found out that it was an invention of the Iron Age Celts, who had captured my heart in historical studies. It was later that enamelling in and of itself really got under my skin.

In the beginning I taught myself how to enamel, and champleve was quite enough to have on my plate! There was a fairly steep learning curve just to get the metalworking (etching) techniques under control. The real understanding of enamel and how it can function to bring depth and light to a piece as well as colour didn't come til later.

I have never lost my love for champleve - and am back at it, as I see my show season looming ahead! Wiscon is just a month away!

The Codex Manesse: from Medieval Illumination to grisaille enamel

My latest experiment in grisaille has involved translating some illuminated manuscript illustrations into the painted enamel technique. I love the stylised form and composition of these old illuminations. The Codex Manesse is one of the most beautifully illustrated - go and have a look at all the full colour renderings. You will notice that the poets all look remarkably alike! This is not becasue they are all related ;-) The Codex is a compilation of biographies of famous German romantic poets of the period, and the illustrations are idealised portraits of the poets engaged in 'poetic' activities, probably never meant to be actual likenesses.

This one is based on the biography of Der Kanzler (folio 423v) who was apparently a german poet of the mid 13th c of fairly low social status who versified on knightly and moral topics.




This one is based on Herr Konrad von Altstetten (folio 249v) who stood in the service of the Abbot of Gallen, who was himself on of the 'knightly' abbots.

St Sebastian: Further Adventures in Grisaille Enamel

Here are the next steps in my adventures in grisaille enamel.

The last few weeks have been crazy busy as I try to put together an on-line enamel supply store. I have taken workshops in E-Commerc e and had meetings with accountants - which is not something that usually happens in my world ;-)

The only thing that keeps me sane through it all is doing some work in the studio.


detail


detail



St Sebastian fell afoul of the emperor Diocletian by converting so many prominent people to Christianity. Diocletian decreed that he be killed with arrows, but when his body was retrieved, he was found to be still alive. He went on to perform several miracles (including giving sight to the blind) before he was again killed by Diocletian and his body thrown into a privy. However, he appeared to his follwers in a vision, telling them where his body could be found for proper burial.

This piece was inspired by a medieval stained glass window design.

St Patrick's Day Stories: The Keeper of the Crock of Gold

I was all set to write a very disgruntled St Patrick's Day post about the evils of green beer and issues of cultural appropriation as applied to Irish culture , but I was completely sidetracked by an e-mail from my friend Bairbre McCarthy this morning.

Bairbre is an amazing storyteller that I met at Catskills Irish Arts Week a number of years ago. It's almost impossible during that week to sit down and get to know someone, as you are generally running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to fit in everything that needs to be done , not including sleeping! However last October our mutual friend Roxanne OConnell invited us both to her "New Media and the Global Diaspora" conference, and we got to know each other better - and found we had all kinds of things in common. She has made her home in Saratoga Springs, NY where she and her husband have a beautiful old farmhouse and acres of lovely forest.

She has just been informed that The Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) is bringing her book, "The Keeper of the Crock of Gold," as a gift to the White House today for St. Patrick's day.

http://www.mercierpress.ie/

How cool is that!

So it is a Happy St Patrick's Day after all!

St Joan: a foray into pre-Raphaelite styles in grisaille enamel

As I explore the possibilities of grisaille enamel - I thought I would investigate the possibilities of pre-Raphaelite style. I found this image of a Dante Rossetti painting in a book about the Saints.

I've been away from blogging for a couple of weeks as I try to get my head around opening my on-line enamel supply business. Been taking E-commerce workshops and talking to IT specialists - which you wouldn't think would be very conducive to creativity - but in fact, once I get into the studio I find myself pretty energized. Here's the latest project:























It's amazing how pervasive this image of the warrior woman is. It has always been particularly inspiring to me, much more so than 'mother and child'.

I am SO enjoying painting. It's very satisfying. I can also complete a grisaille in a day, while champleve takes me six days before I see the results. I have some more cloisonne projects ready to go, so I will be posting them soon.

Brenna MacCrimmon and Friends

I thought it was high time that I posted about music again - and since I had a great musical experience on Thursday night, I thought I would share it with you.

I have been friends with October Browne for some time, but since I have moved to Toronto,and she lives just around the corner I can drop in on her any time - and often do! I took this pic when October was playing at Gate 403 down on Roncesvalles where they have a Saturday folk club from 5-8pm. We often meet there and share a song or two.

October is a dedicated full time musician, and has just gotten back from a tour with Teresa Doyle. We have been trying to find time for a visit as we rush about trying to get all of our projects finished. So, I got an e-mail on Wednesday that she was playing with Brenna MacCrimmon ( below) at the Tranzac (Toronto Australia New Zealand Club and home to many of Toronto's folk/traditional events)

When I looked up the event - I saw that other musical friends would be there Ben Grossman, Anne Lederman ... so I decided that I deserved a treat. It started late (10pm) but that was OK because my Metal Arts Guild meeting went til 9:30 ...

I am SO glad I went! Not only did I get a chance to see my friends - I had a truly amazing night of music. Anne, Brenna and October started the night of with a lively set ranging from Moon Dog's compositions to Scottish Waulking songs in Gaelic. They are all amazing musicians - but I particularly enjoyed Brenna's singing, as it had been a long time since I'd heard it!

The second set was almost all Turkish music (Brenna has just put out a new CD of all Turkish songs) and was really fantastic. The ensemble, which consisted of Ben on Hurdy-gurdy, Rick Hyslop on fiddle and Bret Higgins on stand up base backing Brenna's vocals was just great. I am no expert in Turkish music - but there was a large Turkish contingent in the audience, and I don't think I enjoyed it any less than they did. It is very evocative and moving music - and Brenna's vocal stylings just took me right to another world - I loved it!

Music that is based in some cultural tradition is always more moving for me than pop music. It has some powerful connection to what is essential in us. Some of the pieces that were performed were written recently - but they still had that archetypal feel. You just know, without having to understand the language, that they were about the things traditional music is always about: love, loss, longing...