More coconut fiber - transparent

So I'm getting braver and taking on a larger canvas. Like I'm feeling good about my painting style. This piece incorporates pieces of paper I made while demonstrating paper making at our town's annual Cherry Blossom Festival. I used some of last year's programs that were printed on pink paper. The black ink and the pink paper gave me a pale greyish pink paper. I added a few orchid pedals from an old lei for additional contrast and surprisingly then held their red color. I also made paper pulp from slightly ground yellow pages from the phone book since the new books came out recently, giving the greenish-gray sheets along the left side of the canvas. Recycle, recycle. I combined the cast paper over my painted canvas and then used the coconut fiber that I un-wove to give the transparent effect I'd been longing for. I donated 100% of the sales proceeds to a newly formed local arts organization.

Cruzin' to classes

Classes are going well. Only taking 3 classes to see if I was up for it. The commute to Hilo is a pain, however the car knows the way by now. I especially enjoy the online classes. Much more interaction with students online than in the classroom. The younger ones will communicate with me online, not knowing I'm a "Mature" student. LOL. The hardest adjustment to taking classes is not having as much control over my time like not being able to trade stocks in the morning. I'll have to get use to placing orders for trading. I did grab some of the 10-key calculator printer paper to add to my next batch of recycled paper pulp. Got to remember to add some of the dying lint to the mix.

Back to school

Back to school - haven't said that in many years. I'm looking forward to started classes as I enrolled in an accounting program at our local college. Accounting, you say? Yes, figured I needed something to supplement the income during the lull in the economy. Never hurts to have a plan B.
Accounting classes will be working the other side of my brain for the next 1.5 years. As any artist knows it's almost impossible to do create art and think logically at the same time. So I'll give my creative side a rest. I'll finish the program earlier since the college is able to transfer credits from my BFA degree. This should be easy for me having years in business, just concerned about keeping up with whatever generation this one is called.

Adding Coconut Fiber to the Mix

I found it fairly easy to work in coconut fiber from the palms trees in our yard. The trick is a certain amount of processing, cooking it with soda ash, to break down and soften the fiber. This piece is the second of two where I have incorporated the fiber with handmade recycled paper, plus cotton and metallic threads. I've titled it "Tapa II", 18 4 14". Won an award for it at a juried show in Hilo one year.

Getting into color

This piece in almost all acrylic paints. It is so uncomfortable to paint in 2-D so I added a few sheets of cast recycled paper on the canvas before painting, in order to give the piece some texture. (detail) I cast the wet paper over various leafs from the yard - plumeria, hibiscus, and ferns. The overall grid pattern comes from my weaving background.

Sept. '07 exhibitions

. . .


Title of art to left:
"No Freedom", No Future"
18 x 24", $670

Announcing two art exhibitions I have been invited to participate in:

"Five Artists", Sept. 4-29 @ Firehouse Gallery in Kamuela
AND
"Invitational Fiber Art", Sept. 4-28, East Hawaii Cultural Center Gallery in Hilo

Both shows feature recent works of mine that I have created from recycling paper.

Since the Hilo show is only fiber (I have 4 paper/mixed media pieces in that show), I am showing the first in a series of pieces created from road kill - no not what you think, no blood or guts.
The Road Kill Series (destroyed tires) came to mind as I drive around our beautiful island and witness the trash, etc. on the roadways. So I literially picked up my first tire pieces, i.e. "material", a shredded truck tire during the summer. After cleaning, I mounted it to an old bookshelf and took out my acrylic paints. I felt I was keeping the integrity of the tire intact, however I'm surprised at how many visitors to the gallery don't see that it started out as a tire. "Road Kill #1, Hwy. 19, mile marker 61" is on display and for sale at the Firehouse Gallery in Waimea. I will donate a portion of any sales to the Waimea Arts Council.

Friday, Sept, 7 is the reception for the Hilo show, while Saturday, Sept. 8 is the reception for the Waimea Show.
I should be able to recycle my lei, wearing it at both receptions. After that I'll see how I can utilize the flowers in the lei into a future piece of art.

So much for my first post to this newly created blog.
Your comments are welcome, however no stink, please.

Sept. 6, 2007 - a new beginning