Welcome to MissouriBendStudio!

This is an online journal of my artistic investigations and a way to communicate about my work, ideas, quandries and queries! I welcome comments and conversation and do hope you enjoy these musings. My artwork is available in my shop MissouriBendStudio on Etsy.com or on my website.

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Monday, May 21, 2012

Endless Repetition

Monday greetings! Hope you had a great weekend. A few things to share with you at the beginning of this new week! May as well start with the dailies....as I didn't make it back here on Friday as planned, there will be quite a few.

May 15, 2012

May 16, 2012

May 17, 2012

May 18, 2012

May 19, 2012

May 20, 2012

May 21, 2012

Today's daily brings me to the ultimate topic of this post.....repetition of a single unit....in this case, the humble dot. I've recently been finding myself longing for a new direction of sorts....maybe not a new direction, but a new voyage of exploration. I'd also been hearing the little voice in my head reminding me of my desire to get to the essence....often it comes to me as the notion of "the one thing" and the search for the "one thing" that will let me express the unsayable. At some point over the weekend there was a convergence of those desires and I realized that what I wanted was to find the "mark" that I would make....the single mark that would be repeated to see where it led. This sounds rather mundane as I describe it here, but I thought that it would help me move away from dependence on the recognizable image, so that I could get to some new landscape of mark making that might let me talk about the layers underneath....the longings and yearnings we might never be able to put in words. As you all probably know, especially from the Nocturne series, I am often most happy when making repeated dots. The dot would be "the mark" and I would set off to sea making random dots to find out where they led. There are endless possibilities, it seems, with just one mark. I'll explore this and see what happens. I did it with today's daily and then this afternoon I started another piece....multiple dots of white ink on a very delicate, almost translucent handmade paper made with cornhusks....hard to see, but here is a section of it. It will probably get dipped in beeswax at the end, but not sure yet.


And one last bit of good news to share! If you have a chance to see the upcoming issue of Sew Somerset, I'm one of the featured artists! I got my issue on Saturday before it hits the news stands...very exciting to see your words and work in print.


It's back to work-work for me tomorrow, but life will continue developing along other fronts as well. Thanks for reading....enjoy your week....may you be inspired and find joy in the simple pleasures.
Time to head on the deck for a glass of wine and the last few chapters of my latest book!



8 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the appearance in SS - much deserved! In this batch of dailies, it's May 17 that I'm in in love with - there does always seem to be one that steals my heart! As for mark-making, I think all artists go through this at one time or another - trying to figure out how we make our mark and where it leads, literally and figuratively. We always get so panicked thinking we are simply repeating ourselves, or our motifs, but isn't this what a "signature style" is all about? It's the repetition that leads to the essence. I love the marks you make and the journey they take you on allows me to join in too. Keep on traveling...

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    1. Gabriella....so glad May 17th is the stealer of your heart this week....I'm always curious to know which ones strike a chord with folks....and it's usually a surprise! I've come to think that single mark is sort of like the breath in yoga....a centering, calming thing. Always wonderful to have you with me on the journey!

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  2. Love these dailies!! I love the variety -- there are so many different ways to express yourself on a teabag.

    I'm looking forward to finding the new Sew Somerset. Hopefully it will be out before my long car trip this weekend. Congratulations!!

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    1. Hi Kim....thank you!! It does seem to be true that each day brings a new drawing, often quite different than the one the day before, but sometimes an offshoot.....it's an interesting process. I think the teabag is a great surface to work on for the color and texture....so much better than staring at a white blank piece of paper! Have a great trip and enjoy the weekend!

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  3. I'll be looking for you in Sew Somerset. Sometimes the 'mark' is something we're not even aware of -- a shape, design or whatever that keeps appearing in our work. I like to think of it as being perhaps the deepest part of us, an identifier that can perhaps reveal a little bit of who we are.

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    1. Hi Penny....yes, I agree the mark is a deep seated part of our artistic language....allowing us to discover ourselves and the world around us. Hope you enjoy the Sew Somerset article....many other great features in the issue as well. Have a great week!

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  4. hi patti. congrats on the mag. very fun. I don't know why but I am wondering what one of your tiny marks looks like magnified.

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    1. Hi Marchi....now that's an interesting notion....a tiny mark magnified. I'm so used to thinking in terms of an intimate scale that it doesn't occur to me to go in the other direction. I'll have to explore the possibility. Thanks for the idea and the congrats on Sew Somerset! Cheers!

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I'm happy to hear from you...comments and questions are welcome!