Kathy Beal's Weblog

More "Winter Gems"

Before I tossed out last week's red lillies, I took some photos to continue my "Winter Gems" theme.  Here's what I'm adding to the collection today:

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

New Images

Trying a new technique in the studio today: took "regular" photos, then blurred them, then processed them as abstracts. (As opposed to working with an original out of focus image)

Let me know what you think.

 

Here are the source files - black irises from the garden:

Garden Inspiration

Inspired by (and derived from) the back garden, here are some new works created this afternoon:

The Back Garden before Winter

Here are a few photos of the back garden before winter sets in. We've had a few freezing nights, but there's still lots in bloom with the current nice weather...

Here's the pebble mandala with the plants starting to fill in around it:

Anatomy of an image

Here's the finished image:

Here's what I started with:

First "twist":

Second "twist" and the image used in the mandala composite:

Just start small and build it up.

Never too old to make art!

What better way to celebrate my birthday than making art!

Here a few new images - hot off the press:

I hope you're having as much fun on your holiday weekend!

Honoring the four directions

I'm starting to work on my series honoring the four directions and my personal medicine wheel. 

Each direction has an element associated with it: East is air, South is fire, West is water, and North is earth.

Using images from my meditation garden which is laid out as my medicine wheel I've come up with the following images for the directions:

EAST - AIR

SOUTH - FIRE

WEST - WATER

NORTH - EARTH

Its just the beginning of my mandala series, but it is a start.

New Work, New Beginnings

The above image is from my studio today...

My image making this year had been in a slump. I felt like I was making the same thing over and over again, directionless and uninspired.  I went into a Compositing workshop with John Paul Caponigro this past April searching for a direction and a reconnection to my work.

The workshop was just what I needed. I started making art again and and was reminded what an integral part of my life this is: creating images is my spiritual practice. Its no wonder that I had been feeling depleted on all levels since I had not been creating new work. I came away from the workshop refreshed, reenergized with some new project ideas, and some new tools to use.

On my next plane ride, I had my notebook with me and sketched out my new idea:

I will be creating a series of mandalas, honoring the 4 directions of my personal medicine wheel.  It's a very personal project, and my intent at this point, is to just do something that honors me.  It is very different from how I usually work, as I'll be starting with a specific idea and concept and working with elements to create the images towards the end goal.  I have some anxiety about this, but decided to just start and see where it goes.

More on the first steps in my next post.

 

 

Meditation Garden is Blooming!

EAST:

SOUTH:

WEST:

NORTH:

Exhibition Catalog Preview

Next Step Alumni 2011 by Daspit, Gill, Bailey, Beal, Caponigro | Make Your Own Book