Kismet Arts Tangent

Today at the Urban Craft Fair, I found a lovely booth that sold supplies like pipettes, syringes and tin canisters. I bought a film tin to put my collage paper in. I’ve been reading a couple of books on collage and the right wall hanging at Value Village presented me with just the extra pushes to do a collage. I want to branch out from just acrylic on canvas, branch out from painting. This collage is kind of simple, but I’m planning on using it in later designs. This one is incorporating a picture from Charlotte’s 5:55 album art and a quote by Margaret Atwood from her book, The Handmaiden’s Tale, which I am currently reading. The quote is incomplete, but it would say, had I had fit it all in: It’s those other escapes, the ones you open in yourself, given a cutting edge. I like reinterpreting it to mean creativity can be tapped into, given the right spark. I like this. Copyright is fair. I respect these wonderful people’s works of arts and want them around to be further inspired by.

I’ve been thinking about an old flame a little doing the Garamond Series. The Garamond Series is comprised of interesting words and quotes. A good portion of them have been words that someone I used to know really liked. Being a writer and an appreciator of language, these words have a seal of approval and inspire me and at the same time, make me nostalgic for what was. “She keeps earthquakes a secret” was the title of a poem he wrote for me. Sego lilies are his favorite flower.

I purchased a rustic Watermelon sign (frame included) from Value Village four months ago and tonight during some reading, I feel like I finally made good use of it. I was reading a book about Edward Munch when I came across a lovely portrait of one of his wivse in this neat dress. I thought it would be fun to make a self-portrait wearing this dress in this aristocratic pose. My reference photos weren’t lit in the same way, so the end result is a kind of intersection of the two. I like it. It reminds me of a Spanish Kate Winslet. I really like the juxtoposition of a well to do, leisurely lady (with hankerchief in hand) and the culture of agriculture and country life.

Inspired by Magritte’s The Lost Jockey, primarily the whimsical trees in the background, these wall hangings were fun and I like their simplicity. I think they are fitting of wall hangings, which I think should be more simple than a painting proper. These words are really flouncy? I liked how they augment the rustic quaintness of the works. They remind me of book covers…

The following guidelines set by the Art Department are quite specific; please read them carefully. You will be presenting ten original works of art, all of which must have been completed within the last two years.

1. Present five drawings from observation using black and white materials. These works should record what you see — not what you imagine and not what you observed in a photograph. Examples of this type of drawing include:
   • Landscapes
   • Cityscapes
   • Still-lifes
   • Self-portraits
   • Figurative works

   Or present five photographs that reflect your observations of the world. The content of these images might include:

   • Commentaries on life or society
   • Strictly design or visual statements
   • Concepts or ideas
   • Your personal view of life
   • Alternative or experimental statements
2. Present five pieces of art that are related to one another and form a cohesive body of work. Ways in which the pieces might relate to one another include:
   • Subject matter
   • Media/materials
   • Concept/idea

I mean other than this one. countissarts.com

Added foreground same day as adding the horse foreground. I guess it’s done… for now.

This painting was so long  to come by. The pink background was done about three weeks before the landscape. And two weeks later the word “lachrymose” was added. Almost two weeks later, foreground and a foal was added. I didn’t know how this one would turn out, but I’ve been meaning to do a baby horse painting because I love Dan’s little baby horse stuffed animal, and thought it was more than coincidence that my darling nephew had a stuffed foal as well. They are really magical and innocent creatures. Horses are my favorite animals. And purple is my favorite color. I’m trying to be inspired by myself and what is personal about me instead of looking to others for inspiration, which is difficult when they are not consistently inspiring. Some people are actually disappointing.