25 february 2013

paper cut-out with hoar frost, willow and sky

paper cut-out with hoar frost and aspen branches

paper cut-out blends into snow and shadows

Cloud Project: 25 february 2013

Cloud Project:  This morning it was -15F and there was a beautiful, early morning fog.  Everything was covered in frost.  Here are few of the cloud project drawings interacting with frosted aspen and a chain link fence.

28-29 September, 2012: ever/present/flow

ever/present/flow- September 29th and 30th, 2012
A collaboration with Coal Creek WatershedCoalition (CCWC).

Last autumn, I collaborated with a local non-profit, CCWC, to create temporary artworks in the landscape along a route that highlighted their recent reclamation and restoration works in the Upper Slate River Watershed.  The artworks were an homage to water that gently noted how water is a great connector of all life.  

A bike tour,  including water and mining reclamation experts, would stop at key positions to talk about progress on cleaning up old mine sites and the state of water in that particular valley.

I had two pieces on site.  The first consisted of 100 blue flags meandering down a hillside in an area where water obviously travels to the Slate River below during the spring run-off.  The second was a group of  three paper cut-outs placed close to the Slate River.  These cut-outs alluded to patterns of water.

This collaboration was significant for me as it was the first time I had a present audience and the artworks were 'happening' for a set time where many people, hiking and biking, could come across my work in the landscape.  Up until this piece, the work occurred in a very private manner and was shared only through photographs.

I approached the CCWC to collaborate because I believe art can add so much to the conversation environmentally-engaged nonprofits are having with their communities.

Soon, we will be meeting again to talk about the possibilities of another artistic collaboration.  I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to Great Big Color of Denver for donating a wonderful chrome coated paper for the cut-outs.

16 Feb 2013

Last autumn, I conceived a new drawing project.  I am inserting small drawings of cloud patterns on vellum or rice paper into the landscape and photo documenting the moment.  I envision doing many of these little interventions in a variety of landscapes or settings. The working title for this series is "The Cloud Project". I will continue to post more of these images here and share the trajectory of the project.

 

 cloud drawing on vellum, charcoal pencil, 

in snowplow track with ice/snow, 2013.

 cloud drawing on vellum, charcoal pencil, with ice/snow, 2013.

cloud drawing on vellum, charcoal pencil, roadside gravel, 2012.

11 February 2013

here are few photos of a new cut-out in the studio.  a faint blue piece of rice paper.  i am excited to see what happens when i put it in the land.  today i was inspired by an interpretation of one of rainer maria rilke's lines:

the knowledge of impermanence
that haunts our days
is their very fragrance.

 the scrap pieces are just as interesting as larger cut-out and will be put into the land, too.

here i've hung the cut-out in progress on the wall with a darker paper behind it to best share the effect.  the pattern is taken from a photo i took of small, spring flowers.   i like how the shapes might be clouds or some other organic, changing form.  

in other news........i am in the process of revamping my blog and the below posts record artworks and inspirations from 2012.  more entries to come.......

Summertime 2012

Even though these nature pics are serene....they both reveal some of the underlying issue of the summer- drought.   The water levels were at historic lows and wildfires were giving the sky a beautiful though peculiar glow, especially at dawn and dusk.  Over the summer, I started to work with the Coal Creek Watershed Coalition, a nonprofit that works to ensure the health of the Coal Creek and Upper Slate Watersheds, to envision site specific artworks to include in a tour of their mining reclamation work in the Slate River Watershed.

Summertime 2012

the patterns and textures of plants.... more inspiration.

Summertime 2012

The clouds are a never ending source of inspiration!

20 may 2012

I created this cut-out in about 20 hours.  I was lucky enough to borrow a pair of small, fly-tying scissors from the local fishing guide shop to cut out the tiny details.  I enjoy sitting quietly to work with focus.  The pattern is taken from my photograph of looking up through new leaves and branches.  Initially, I project the image on the paper and trace with white chalk.  Then I used an xacto knife and the scissors.

approx. 22" x 30", mango paper

 

Next, I cut the whole paper in half and glued the two pieces together to create a longer banner-like length of paper.  I took photographs of the work by the Slate River.  It was a beautiful day.  The conversation with this cut out came to an end early- as I submerged it in the stream to photograph, the paper came apart almost instantly.   For some this might be frustrating, but I enjoyed the underscore of the temporal nature of everything.  It was a beautiful moment shared with the river.  I quickly fished the scraps out of the water as I do not want my artworks to become litter.

13 April 2012

Shortly after this blue paper cut out was in the dried out wetland channels, I took it to the Utah desert.  The pattern that was originally made to allude to water took on the wind patterns in the sand.  An intriguing overlay of thoughts about water.

 pinon pine branch shadows blend with paper, patterned shadow, grass and sand.

cut-out with drop shapes in yucca + sky

5 April 2012

Last spring I made the first of a series of works that were ruminations on water.  The spring was particularly dry with melting snow starting in February and most peaks having melted out by mid-May.  This was and is very concerning.  Here at high altitude we experienced an incredibly dry spring and summer.  And the drought has continued through this following winter.....Water continues to be on my mind, in many ways.

This particular piece is a paper cut-out serving as the memory of water.  A wetland that I interact with often was altered one winter to prevent flooding.  Some of the off shoot channels no longer receive water.  The water flows in a more direct route in the channel that was created.  This piece carries mourning for the lost water.  The reeds do not grow as tall in the summer, the umbels that produce flower and seeds are much less productive and the birds have altered their visiting habits to this area.