Blue Note

#9 of the 30-in-30 challenge.

I think it is a wonderful coincidence that the world maps on the backs of the LIFE books that I am using for this series have exactly five latitude lines - just like a musical staff. I like the idea of the earth hanging out in there, being a song consisting of only one note, a colossal note, a ponderous note.

At the same time, this note is not massive at all. Because it's a blue note.

As a child I wanted to learn to play the violin, or piano maybe, some instrument that wasn't a recorder or glockenspiel. I didn't get real music lessons back then, and I never took the time to learn it later on.

But I have become a music lover anyways. I appreciate many different music genres. I have developed a love for jazz and blues in particular, and, I believe, some decent understanding of it. 

So this is my love letter to the blue notes and to the artists who know how to play them.

"Blue Note"
Clippings from a storybook, vintage sheet music, and an adult coloringbook, sewing thread, on the hadcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book.

After the Ball

#8 of the 30-in-30  challenge

Whats the elf doing there, said my daughter this morning. No, it's a prince, said my son. He doesn't look like a prince, said my daughter. He doesn't have to, said my son. Oh now I get it, said my daughter. I get it too, said my son. It's it's it's -

Yes, that's right. It's political.

After the ball, the prince finds a glass thing that was left behind on the staircase. Who does it belong to? Good question. The prince looks puzzled and not in touch with the situation.

I used images from a book about mansions in "Early America" (top) and about president's homes (bottom). The elegant room is the East Room in the White House which has been used for balls and other festive events, so I've learned. The room looks lifeless, of course, with no dancers dancing, and the still piano makes the quiet even quieter.

By the way, most colors of the hardcovers that I am using for this series are quite bold; many shades of red and darker blue. Sometimes the world map is printed in black instead of white, and sometimes the lines are very thin, which makes it more challenging to incorporate the graphic into the image. This one was perfect for the glass globe.


"After the Ball"
Book clippings, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book.

Rock Me

#7 of the 30-in-30 challenge.

This rocking chair - what a find! I love the 50s design so much. And yet this piece of furniture certainly does not speak comfort and love. This piece of furniture neither invites an old lady to knit a pair of socks, nor does it serve an overtired mother to fall asleep while nursing her newborn baby. 

I like how the troubled Earth is sitting quietly in the chair. I don't like the fact that the Earth who is in severe need of love and comfort is not able to rock herself to peace.

Interestingly, from far the image looks like a pregnant chick. Let's think about that for a while.

"Rock Me"
Clipping from an antique guide, ink, on hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book.

Find Me

#6 of the 30-in-30 challenge.

"Find Me" may be an open invitation by the reader to join him in his retreat and to discover what he is discovering. Maybe he's asking you to see and understand his mind and his soul. Or maybe it is the globe that is talking to you, inviting you to explore the world and define its meaning and purpose that it has for you.

Whatever you are seeing in this image, it sure is a comfortable place up there.

"Find Me"
Clippings from storybooks, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book

Hopes

This is #5 for the 30-in-30 days challenge, and this is day 11. I've had too much on my agenda to even think about blogging. And actually, this day is not different. So what should I do in  the middle of all this stress that I am currently having? Yes that's right, the right thing to do now is to sit down at our kitchen table, sharing a few minutes with my husband who has turned the radio on and poured me some nice coffee into my chipped favorite mug. Hold me now warm my heart stay with me. Someone is singing, I forgot who. Meanwhile, the soft rain is making little ponds in our flowerbeds for the birds to bathe in.

I made this piece about hopes. Sometimes hope is all we have to keep going. Even if there doesn't seem to be a reasonable basis to have these hopes, you may let yourself fall into something unknown, hoping that the place where you are going to land is going to be better than the place where you came from.

The children which I have chosen for this image all have bare feet to emphasize their ungroundedness. They also have open hands to show their vulnerability. 


"Hopes"
Clippings from storybooks, sewing thread, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book.

Hear Me Sing

Day 4 of the 30-in-30 challenge.

The experience of not being heard is one of the hardest, I find. I find it especially hard when this happens in your immediate surroundings, in an environment that you have known and loved for long because it feels like home. You love and appreciate the people there, the ones who have created this environment and who have made you a part of it too. And then things are changing because of irresponsible decisions made by a few people in power, and the changes are not good.

And you want to help make things good again, you want to protect the people you love, you make suggestions, you get involved, you voice your opinion, you explain your concerns, you discuss and argue, and you show and say how you feel. Still, things continue to change, and the changes are not good.

Sometimes you can't change things, you can just walk away.

"Hear Me Sing"
Clippings from storybooks and catalogs, sewing thread, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book.

You Should Be Dancing

Two days late but here is my piece for ...

Day 3 of the 30-in-30 challenge.

I am enjoying the theme I have chosen for this challenge. I have lots of ideas in my head what to do with the globe on those "LIFE" hardcovers. I was occupied with ART-ON-45-related things yesterday and also the day before but managed to finish up two pieces this morning. And: my piece for today is half way done already, too!

So. For this one I did the most obvious and considered the globe a disco ball. I found some groovy young folks in several 70s school books; of course, originally, they were not disco dancing but walking to the library, playing ball, or running in the park.

I added different size O's for the light reflections and to make a sociological/psychological/ political/environmental/historical reference. "O" is a typical sound in German language (and in other languages too) to express pain, empathy, or sorrow. There's a lot of all that in the world. But we should be dancing nevertheless and even more so.

"You Should Be Dancing"
Clippings from various 70s school and storybooks, sewing thread, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE world library book.

Birth

Day 2 of the February 30-in-30 challenge.

I like the idea of our planet being exhaled, it's an image that I have had in my head for a long time. With this one I went a little further and made the fish blow smoke rings. Of course, smoking something, no matter what, is not cool these days. However, the seaweed seems impressed.

Like yesterday, I used the back of the hardcover of one of my "LIFE" World Library books as a basis. I made a half circle cut into the fish mouth so the Earth would appear to be coming out of it.

I like to incorporate sewing threads into my work, especially the ones which used to belong to my grandmother. She used to make dresses for my sister and me when we were children. My grandmother left 25 years ago, and I miss her still so much. Using her threads in my work makes me feel more connected to her and I want to believe that she is feeling that too.

"Birth"
Storybook clippings, sewing thread, ink, on the back of the hardcover of a 1960's LIFE World Library book, 8" x 10"


 

Free

My son Jacob pointed out this morning that my last blog post was from early October. That's right. I did my annual 30-paintings-in-30-days challenge last fall, and then got distracted and too busy. For example, I visited my family in Germany for a couple weeks. Came back, had an art event, then Christmas happened, which was beautiful but too short to make me relax. New Year, new resolutions, new everything.

I got an award from the local arts Council, "Artist of the Year" which makes me feel proud and very honored. Got an invite for my first solo show - really? Yes. My annual fundraising art project "ART ON 45" is keeping me busy these days. And in the middle of all that, I am finding myself doing another 30-in-30 challenge, starting today.

I'm doing the challenge more or less out of despair, because I have this huge pile of special edition "LIFE" books that I recently received from a dear friend. These books are from the early 1960s. They are beautiful, and a little or very outdated, charming books indeed. They take a lot of room in my studio though, so I had to come up with something quickly.

I love the hardcovers of those books, especially the backs. They all have the same design: One solid color (a different color per book) and in the middle is a simple image of the earth as a global map. I love it. I have 26 books altogether and I am intending to make a series of collages, all based on these hardcover backs.

So this is my first one: "Free."

I used photo images from dikes/levees to make an inhospitable landscape. I added sewing threads to make plants without blossoms and leaves to suggest that this vegetation may not multiply.
The scenery doesn't look very hopeful; something has come to an end, or something has just started, or both. Or neither. Meanwhile the figure is sitting on the earth as on an ottaman, being in his own self, listening to his own voice. Nothing else matters. At the end, nothing else matters.

I used sandpaper to make the sky. And a little bit of inkpen here and there.

"Free"
Book clippings, sewing thread, ink, on the back of a LIFE World Library book, 8" x 11"