A couple years ago my boyfriend Joe & I went to a film festival in Boulder, Colorado where we saw 2 films: one on Car Henge (Stone Henge made from junk cars- in Nebraska) and one on Burning Man. The experience was one of those pivotal points in life for Joe…after that night he became a “recovering engineer”!! As a recovering engineer he has put all of his awesome engineer skills in to creating art for Burning Man. This year his piece is called “Vishnu’s Dream” and it ties in with the Burning Man theme:Evolution. The chimp evolves into Burning Man as Vishnu dreams our cosmos on the backs of a 1000 cobras.

It’s an awesome project & also very time consuming- I have become a Burning Man widow- I realized I may not see Joe until the actual event so I set up some “dates” where I could help him on the project. So, every other Monday while Joe welds or bends steel or connects point A to B to C x 3 squared (that’s where the engineering comes in handy) I paint or take the rust off of the steel or whatever.

The first time I went over to his house to help him I struggled with collaboration versus worker bee. I had some ideas for the generator box and Joe nixed them- which kind of bothered me – I thought about it as I painted- the way I create my own work is to have a general idea of what I want to say but change happens during the process- often ending up with a painting or assemblage that is completely different from the original idea. With a project like Joe’s that can’t happen- for structural reasons and design wise it has to be perfectly thought out to represent the idea that it is portraying. Look at all of those parts- and that is just the top!!!!

Joe has built a model, done wind load tests and has a notebook filled with all the information to assemble this project- I am in awe!!!! So…I am -happily- a worker bee.
Here I have started painting a cobra on the generator housing box. It looks a bit like a Ninja Turtle but hopefully as the process continues & I progress I will be able to make him look really sinister!

sinister?

the other side:

the twined cobras that pick up on the twined cobras on the project:

since it is about evolution & Joe had to have a fire extiquisher on the generator box I thought it would be funny to show the chimpanzee hand lighting the match picking up on Joe’s design that he is giving on a silk prayer flag to donors & volunteer helpers- Burning Man in a flaming lotus position.

Yep, the title says process not progress because creating is all about processing.  Last year when I first decorated the bike I added glass globules to the fenders & gold sparkly plastic Christmas balls and pink handlebar streamers. Passe!This year I decided to go more Blade Runner/Burning Manish.My bike is called “Time flies” after the large watch face on the handle bars

and since time flies I decided to add wings which I cut & embossed out of copper sheet metal.

I also needed wings to go with the AWESOME set of wings that Joe made me that look like they flap -they have electroluminescent lights on them that are sequenced to look like they are flapping!!

For the Blade Runner look I needed some rust or at least a rust look- thanks to Michael deMeng ala the revealer of the”Secrets of Rusty Things” I now know how to produce RUST!! 

Okay, so far so good but it looked incomplete- I toyed with the idea of putting solar star bursts on the rods sticking out from the wings- they are functional- they go down through the X-mas balls to hold them on to the bike- but I couldn’t find any I liked on the internet- frustration- what to do?

Early this morning in a half dream, half awake state it came to me -what I need to put on those rods- goddesses- so I am off to the thrift store in search of plastic dolls- is Barbie too Barbieish? hmmm…if I only find Barbies I suppose I can alter her too. And this is what I mean about process…ideas come & go & my creations never turn out the way I originally envision them-

So…I went looking for Barbies but came home with dolls-

after I ripped their heads off I could begin to see the possibilities- process.

I’ve started gluing the doll heads on top of the wings with various things projecting from their heads- snakes, dragonflies, dreadlocks…..assemble this, assemble that=assemblage!

I personified “Time” with this doll head & silver flower crown from a Balinese dance head dress- I like it!! Now…what’s next? antiquing will follow…

I love to garden & am very blessed to have a home that backs right up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Outside of my studio  I have a little patio that looks at Lumpy Ridge- I love to sit there on summer evenings with a glass of wine & soak in the beauty of nature. I have a few shrines back there.

This is an assemblage I made called “Welcome Home”- that is how i feel here- I am home- I am safe & nurtured in my little nest. Neuroarchitecture- see the last paragraph of this blog if you have missed the definition in any of my previous blogs..

This one is a stone carved piece that my sister got for me at the Santa Fe Flea Market for my Jubilee Birthday. It is  from India & has a spider goddess in it- she is the weaver of beautiful webs -the strands of which represent my connection to my loved ones- when 1 strand shakes it effects us all- to paraphrase my Balinese friend, Panji. (meaning shapes seeing- I think when you know why I chose this figure to put in there then it makes more sense)

Joe & I pulled up at a greenhouse one day & they were having a sale on concrete yard ornaments. I spotted the concrete shell shrine (with Mary missing), the price was right & I said to Joe “Quick, please stand here & guard this so that no one else buys it out from under me!” (one person’s trash, another’s treasure) I am going to alter the figure featured here some day- she represents gratitude for abundance.

My backyard Kuan Lin- the Goddess of Compassion that my Dad got for me.

my prayer wheel- Joe made it for me and I painted it with 4 images that symbolize earth, air, fire and water in addition to gratitude for the abundance in my life, appreciation for the mystery of life and it’s beauty, and seeking balance.

This concrete Spirit House is a gift from a Thai friend- it offers a home to the spirits that were displaced when the house was built.

I come home through the garage door most days- these 2 naked, carved guys on either  side of the door make me smile and my old 1950’s portrait of my family of origin that I have hanging in the garage by the entry door always makes me laugh!!

Quan Yin- she stands as a reminder of compassion & loving kindness at my front entry. I found her 1 magical day in Santa Fe at the flea market:

Neuroarchitecture “The premise is to consider how each feature of the architectural environment influences certain brain processes such as those involved in stress, emotion, and memory,” says Eve Edelstein, PhD, adjunct professor at the New School of Architecture & Design in San Diego and a research consultant to the Academy of Neuroscience for architecture. “Decorating with an original piece of art not only puts your unique fingerprint on your place, it transmits a sense of authenticity and trust”, says David Lewis, PhD, research director of Neuroco, a British neuromarketing company that uses EEGs (which measure electrical activity in the brain) and other techniques to understand consumer behavior.

Sometimes my whole house is my studio- right now my bike for Burning Man,”Time Flies” is waiting to get antiqued in the living room. Since my kids have left home, one bedroom has turned into overflow for storing paintings & supplies and my kitchen table has become a depository for all the stuff I need to start creating a new idea called “Memory Maps”. When I am out of sorts and need to ground myself I go into the studio & start cleaning up. It makes me smile. Ahh…neuroarchitecture- read on…             This is a paper body memory map that I created of me in a Gail Rieke workshop (speaking of Gail, I think she has one of the most aesthetically beautiful studio spaces I have ever seen- she opens it to the public every other year & will do so this year July 31-August 2 in Santa Fe- go if you get a chance!!!):

Neuroarchitecture: “The premise is to consider how each feature of the architectural environment influences certain brain processes such as those involved in stress, emotion, and memory,” says Eve Edelstein, PhD, adjunct professor at the New School of Architecture & Design in San Diego and a research consultant to the Academy of Neuroscience for architecture. “Decorating with an original piece of art not only puts your unique fingerprint on your place, it transmits a sense of authenticity and trust”, says David Lewis, PhD, research director of Neuroco, a British neuromarketing company that uses EEGs (which measure electrical activity in the brain) and other techniques to understand consumer behavior.

a sign I had made in Bali for my studio

my work table

bulletin board

my muse & goddess Saraswati- the goddess of knowledge & the arts- on top of my bookcase-plus a few of the endless notes I write to myself to remind me of creative inspirations & goals along with my painting:”Water Under the Bridge.”

my day of the dead studio companions and silk prayer flags that I made

my music source- I really have the wants for a Bose system- anyone out there have one? your thoughts? plus a couple prayer flags & a Hindi poster about Working Women

my studio patio- I’ll blog about my yard & outdoor shrines in a later post

A friend of mine recently turned me on to one of Somerset Magazine”s latest creations: “Where Women Create”.    I create in the beautiful town of Estes Park, Colorado- here is the view from my front deck:

I have so enjoyed lingering over the pages, inspecting other women artist’s studio spaces- intrigued by the colors, textures, collections, storage solutions and the materials used along with the life styles represented within the pages. The same evening I looked at this magazine, I also perused “Architectural Digest”. Most of the houses/rooms that were featured looked “soul less” to me- clean cut, white , stainless steel, sharp, antiseptic or a multitude of patterns & features that looked very “put together” but impersonal. “Yeah, I think I’ll buy that painting or that object because it matches the couch versus it speaks to my soul” or “I love pink & orange together but this year’s colors are beige & sea green so…”, or “I could never put silly photos of my kids/the people that I love up around the house because I might get judged by guests in my house for my lack of decor taste.”

I do love a refrigerator filled with photos as you can see here- it is sort of a layered archaeological account of my life and every time I open the door I smile at the memories:

Okay, so I am probably being a bit judgmental here…and I know that when people come into my house they either really like it or think I have terrible decor taste- I hear “your house is ahhh….different, outside of the box, or wow! I love it!” It doesn’t really matter because my house is my home & I put the things in it that I love and make me feel at home- safe & loved!!

Yes, I am a collector of stuff- mostly from my travels but also from the ground ..when I am out walking in the woods-feathers, interesting wood or rocks or even at the Pushkar Camel Fair in India- great Hindi advertisements & rusty metal.

I have told my kids & loved ones several times- “I love my stuff- it represents fond memories for me- but when I am dead & gone, do not feel that you have to keep it – burn it, throw it away, take it to the thrift Store- I certainly won’t care!!!”

Here’s a little tour of some of the rooms- I’ll do my studio & gardens in other blogs.

my entry way stained glass- I used to do stained glass in an earlier incarnation of my life:

the hand collection with mosaic glass

a bookcase

an ancestor house from Thailand

my ancestor shrine

a water puppet from Vietnam

The red collection

some huiples and ikats etc.

My angel suit wall

I am a believer in Neuroarchitecture. What is Neuroarchitecture? Read on…

“The premise is to consider how each feature of the architectural environment influences certain brain processes such as those involved in stress, emotion, and memory,” says Eve Edelstein, PhD, adjunct professor at the New School of Architecture & Design in San Diego and a research consultant to the Academy of Neuroscience for architecture. “Decorating with an original piece of art not only puts your unique fingerprint on your place, it transmits a sense of authenticity and trust”, says David Lewis, PhD, research director of Neuroco, a British neuromarketing company that uses EEGs (which measure electrical activity in the brain) and other techniques to understand consumer behavior.

I hope your home makes YOU smile!!