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.