June 17, 2010

I went into some nearby woods today. The thread kept ripping, the mosquitoes/bugs kept biting, which made me twitch and wave my arms around, and I couldn't really get anything done. The curved needle really does work much better - I can actually put stitches through the earth.

Summertime, May 2010.

Well, the weather is fantastic, and I've been trying to keep up with my outdoor ventures... although I've been busy with other things lately, so it's hard to make time for field trips.

I've resumed my experiments in trying to sew up the ground/plants. I went to my favourite field and wooded area in the center of Windsor (the unpopular South Cameron wood lot). It's a place that is slowly shrinking because of residential developments. I like to check up on that region frequently, and I've done a couple of my groundscapes in the field. There's a group of deer that keeps me company sometimes.









As you can see, the sewing is still awkward and I still can't do it as extensively as I'd like. Maybe the problem is that I'm not a good seamstress, but it is very difficult to manage such delicate surfaces, and the thread keeps getting tangled in the surrounding plants. AND I'm using water-soluble thread now, which makes it even more awkward (you can see the thread beginning to dissolve in the picture with the chunk of moss). I bought some different types of needles which I'm hoping might make things easier.
Still lots of learning to be done, and the learning is probably the more enjoyable part of this project. I feel more connected to nature through the frustration of my unskilled attempts to take control of something beyond my human powers.

[PS: The water-soluble thread is supposedly biodegradable and safe for the environment. I e-mailed the manufacturer and was pleased to receive a response, stating that it's safe even if ingested.]

the past week (end of Nov., 2009)

Colonization project:
I will colonize the world, but not "I" exactly. I will act as a sort of advocate on behalf of nature. I don't know if I can take it seriously, it feels like a big joke. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but I am sure that in some way it is a commentary on the transience of land ownership, and how ridiculous the idea of owning a piece of earth is. The plan is to make flags, and to go out and colonize places by sticking the flags in the ground, which are biodegradable and so would disintegrate along with my "ownership". For now I'll focus on Windsor, especially areas that will soon be developed into subdivisions. Later, probably while I'm moving to the location of my Masters program (if I get into Victoria), I will move my colonies in a westward fashion (manifest destiny of the Sash empire).
Originally, I was going to hand-weave each flag out of cotton string. but that takes way too long. and just doesn't seem right overall. using regular store-bought fabric doesn't seem fitting either. So recently I came up with the idea of collecting materials from the area which I wish to colonize, and then sewing those materials into a rough flag-shape.
So here is the result:

I like the way it blends with the landscape... makes it the landscape's flag more than mine. It looked kind of crappy when i was sewing it at home, and i was thinking "what am I doing?! this looks like an amateur highschool project". maybe it is an amateur project... but I think it's still part of my process. and it might evolve into something really good later.

(Today:)
Actually the process of sewing the leaves and grass together was such a delicate and beautiful act, that I resolved to turn it into a whole new ongoing project, which I believe is more spiritual and holds more potential than my flags.
The idea is to sew the surface of the ground together - to create a kind temporary web between the elements. I went out today to try this out, and it was very clumsy. I have to work on perfecting my technique, and if I do perfect my technique I might invite other people to join me. What's the good of doing this if there's no audience except trees and birds? It's an educational process about connecting to and respecting the environment. But all that will have to wait. I have to wait until spring to continue this process, my hands went numb today.
Today I used regular cotton thread, but I ordered some water-soluble thread online (which is usually used in quilting and other such crafts). I think the water-soluble thread would be much better at communicating the idea of transience. It would also be really interesting to use glow-in-the-dark thread, but I have yet to find out if it's biodegradable.

Anyway, here is what I did today:


(Maybe I don't need the flags at all? Maybe I am "colonizing" just by interacting with nature in this way? oh but sticking a pole in the ground and proclaiming ownership is such fun)

the past few months

It's been a while. In the past few months I haven't had a chance to dedicate enough time and effort to working outdoors, and especially to updating this blog.
In the summer I didn't do any extensive outdoor work (unfortunately, now that it's getting cold and miserable again I suddenly begin to feel the urgency to go out and create... leave it to me to choose adverse weather conditions for work. This might have to do something with other people wanting to stay in in the winter... Too many walkers, bikers, joggers, dog-walkers, and children out in the summertime - to disruptive to my liking.)
I participated in an exhibit related to Sandwich, which was concurrent with the annual Sandwich festival. I walked the streets in that area, and painted pieces of my wanderings, such as the pavement or lost objects. I couldn't muster the courage to actually paint outside for that series, I painted from photographs. Needless to say it wasn't as rewarding as painting from life, but some pieces turned out to look quite nice. They're all very little paintings (smaller than your computer screen). My infatuation with Nu-Lustre-55 (high-gloss epoxy) is still going strong!

Sunday, Feb. 8, and today (feb. 10)

On Sunday I once again went to paint in the backyard, the finished product is shown above... I suppose it's not the best picture. I have yet to figure out how to document my art with good quality at home... everything is always crappier at home for some reason... but maybe i just have a crappy camera, it tends to make things too pixellated/fuzzy.

The weather is getting warmer now, so I believe I'll venture outside the backyard soon. I'll try to find some actually interesting earth areas.
Also because it's getting warm, I've been going for more walks. and because the snow is melting, all kinds of crazy stuff is turning up! This is the best time of the year for me. I should have been prepared for it, but I am not. I should have had 10 canvases prepped for spontaneous trips to paint my exciting new finds, but I have only 1 to spare at the moment. So when I went for a walk today, I found a really awesome cat but did not paint it. There was also a rabbit I found yesterday, and did not paint it either (maybe next week). But I did go back to take pictures of the cool cat, which you can see below:


(s)he appears to have been sliced in half on a weird diagonal, and it looks like a very clean slice too. I sketched the cat a bit too.. not sure if I'll go back to paint it from life yet. It might be gone later, it's in a rather suburban area where people like to go for walks, so someone might think it's not a pleasant thing to see and get rid of it... or recognize the cat as their own and take it away... who knows.
such a weird cat...

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

Well, I thought I'd get back into gear.
I won't be looking for dead animals again until it gets warmer. I haven't seen too many lately anyway.
For now the focus is earth as a dark space, so I will try to paint soil/sand/stones. There's a lot of snow about at the moment, and it won't be going away for quite some time, so for now I cleared off a section in my backyard and covered it up in case it snows again.
It's a completely different experience. No pressure at all in this private space of mine, just wondering if my immediate neighbours will notice me.... but they never look out their windows. (the beauty [?] of suburbia: everyone hides in their little ugly units of bad architecture, not paying attention to the people who live their lives only a few feet away... I have no idea what my neighbours on the right look like.)
The painting turned out nice I think. It's a good start... I might post a picture later.