stratification

i have had this blog sitting around since september.  thought i’d post it anyway….

stratification

wikipedia: In sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes and strata within a society. While these hierarchies are not universal to all societies, they are the norm among state-level cultures (as distinguished from hunter-gatherers or other social arrangements).

merriam-webster: :  to form, deposit, or arrange in strata: a bed or layer artificially made2 a: a sheetlike mass of sedimentary rock or earth of one kind lying between beds of other kinds b: a region of the sea or atmosphere that is analogous to a stratum of the earth c: a layer of tissue <deep stratum of the skin> d: a layer in which archaeological material (as artifacts, skeletons, and dwelling remains) is found on excavation

The first thing that came to mind was the body worlds show where human bodies were plastinated then dissected or basically flayed for the rest of the world to view.  this reminded me of the old encylcopedia’s that we owned which had diagrams of the human anatomy printed on acetate in layers so that you could see the layers of the human body. 

(the following photos are new):

pulling it all together

the end of the semester is nigh! Here are my works in progress from the State Fair Series. The fountain is my favourite so far…..

 

thanksgiving

i have a lot to be thankful for this year.  our family was able to spend time together this weekend to not only celebrate thanksgiving, but to commemorate what would have been mom & dad’s 50th wedding anniversary.  what better way to say congratulations than by sharing a home cooked meal and playing a rouring game of wii rock band (we’re not giving up our day jobs).

catching up

sometimes i feel like i am robbing peter to pay paul (i know, my age is showing). i’ve been neglecting this page & posting images to facebook which allows me dialouge between my cousin (who is also attending university for an art degree) and some of my other friends.  the end of the semester is drawing nigh and there is much to do!

moving along:

since i am a state fair a-holic, i decided to paint a series called “State Fair @ Night”. 

Art Deco StatueFountains @ gate 6

at this time i don’t have an image of Big Tex to upload, but he’s there, in progress. 

I have also been working on my stratified figure layers, i only have the rib-cage to display as i am not going to display the flesh in case i may break a decency rule. i need to photograph the musclue and heart/lung images to post.  the idea is to display these paintings as an anatomy chart that you may see in books or encyclopedias.  the top layers are painted on all media vellum-type paper where you can see the images as they are layered on top of each other.

rib cage-layer #3

figures @ night

what a treat to watch everyone in action.  i’ve always liked assignments because i like interpretation.  we all fret our own decisions, but are anxious to see what lies behind the eyes of our peers.  i found it odd that students were surprised to see other students carrying around manequins taking photos of them.  now if we were downtown dallas or fort worth, i could imagine the surprise on faces.  perhaps i am bias in my thinking..art students are all around looking for and creating inspiration. 

anyway, i liked our escapade and cannot wait to see the images created by my peers. 

my favorites of the evening….

the reflection of the strength set up:

reflective strength

formulated figure-Steed at your service

i had no idea what this could possibly mean “formulated figure”  i am so busy at work that my out of box thinking has temporarily left me.  i thought we’d have to draw the figure based upon a computation or formula.  i like the true translation.  oddly enough we’ve been carrying around figures and photographing them for years.. we were inspired by the movie Amelie where the father’s gnome was stolen, then sent traveling with post cards being sent back to the father to inspire him to travel.

i hated that i missed the class presentations, i wanted to see what fun everyone had toting their figures around and taking their photos.  my work load has really gotten heavy and the powers that be decide that another project needs to be done, it has precedence over the already assigned projects…it’s the vicious cycle of the corporate world.  don’t get me wrong, i love my work (my manager is fantastic), but the load can get to be too much (i’m not the only one worn out in my group)..all this stress and tension does help produce artwork, it can hinder it too (at least in attendance).  grrr…any way enough ‘wah-ing”  it does make one feel better to pull out the ol’ soapbox, but there’s a time to step off….

my “gnome” is Steed.  He is a small stuffed monkey given to me by my mother on the first christmas without our father in 2002. i am in the habit of collectingmonkeys (amongst other things) and it was nice to see that despite the immense sorrow she was experiencing, she was still able to find humor in finding a present.  He was immediately deemed as my traveling gnome.

He was named “Steed” (thusly deemed as a boy) when i found a small bowler (from a tiny bottle of english gin) in a present store in san franciso.  This was our first trip together and as fate would have it, here we are in a store and there sit hundreds of bowlers just his size…”Steed” is the character John Steed from The Advengers (a campy, British secret agent show from the 60′s).  He wore a bowler, sometimes used it as a weapon.

reflected figure

i perused my photos from past trips for reflected images.  it’s always good to get a group shot or or self portrait when traveling without using timers or asking the help of passers by. 

this first photo was taken @ a friend’s “house”-she moved into the Chicken Farm Art Center in San Angelo.  The place is smallish, but has character (it was a chicken farm at one time and the chicken houses have been converted into living quarters). dana & i declared a chick trip to visit Linda.  While everyone was still sleeping, i tip-toed around the place to take photos when i came upon Linda’s coffee press.  i loved looking into her “other home”-i often wonder what’s behind the looking glass, especially when the image is distorted. i wonder if alter egos exist behind the glass or if there is such thing as a parrallel universe. 

 

the next set of images are from the way back machine..a visit to the state fair of texas in October 1995.  I went with my friend, DeAnn and her family.  Dylan was 5 and he liked the fun houses, the one with the glass walls.  We found these mirrors in one of the fun houses.  I wonder what the image looked like from his perspective…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this was taken at the state fair, closing day 2007.  The Classic Carroul had Carmen Gia’s and other volkswagens.  I can’t remember the year of this gia,, but we liked the surface of its hub caps.

This next image is what i am leaning toward in using as my painting. I went to vegas on business.  everyone at work was ‘excited’ and ‘jealous’ because they love  vegas.  i would rather go someplace else. i was only excited about the location because i knew that there were squooshed penny machines all over the city and i need more for my collection.  On the first evening i discovered how nice my view was from my room, then played around with taking photos. i liked the eerie colours created by the outside lights.  and the placement of what appears to be a city scape (New York, New York) in the center of my reflection.

categorizing stress

another colour scheme idea for altered SP

we can put stress in its place with therapy.  you have the power to choose your therapeutic medium: drugs, alcohol, food (my personal favorite), drawing , painting, building, tearing down, running, watching the political brouhaha-mostly work politics not that of our country.  my submersion in the corporate world over the summer pulls me away from my root desires.  i struggle with the separation of work and life….. i’ve been tinkering around with colour schemes for my self portrait this week.. photoshop is cool, picnik is easy….

idea for altered SP

blogvirginnomore

i’ll start off with 3d work since that’s the way i roll….besides i need to test uploading photos..this my final piece for spring 08

this grudge

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