In case you are in Spain, go to this show and then tell me all about it.  I will be dying to see pics of my work there (which Sergio is always so kind to share them with me).   As soon as I have them, I will happily pass them along to you!

(and for the women whom I told you the show was in a slaughterhouse- my apologies, I thought I read that somewhere in my correspondence!)

Thanks for supporting my work- for updates on new things, you should definitely hit the “like” button on my Facebook page.  Just do it, I won’t bite.

It seems its the season for thinking about names.  My sister is due to have my second nephew in a few weeks.  And a number of friends and family members have either just had a child or are about to have a child within the next few weeks or months.  The first question I ALWAYS ask is “what is the name?”  I loves names.  I love thinking of names and I am proud to say the top contender of a name for my new nephew came from me.

SO what’s in a name?  I think it shows so much of the hopes of the parent- not just a bright and healthy future but also the personality you hope to nurture as a parent.  I have never had this experience for myself.  The only thing I can possibly relate is naming my cat…. and well, naming my paintings and most recently, naming my show.

Naming my show was surprising similar to how I hear my friends discuss naming their baby.  I just returned from a baby shower where my friend still has two choices for their daughter- Morgan or Mackenzie.  They decided that they got this far but when they actually meet her, they will “call it in the air.”  They want to wait to meet her and see if her personality is more “Mackenzie” or more “Morgan.”    I’m not sure what those traits are but then again, I don’t have a history with either of the names to inform that decision.

As I have been feverishly trying to finish my Texas show, the gallery contacted me and needed a name for my show.  Oh my god, a NAME???  I had forgotten the name!  I thought so much about the series to be represented- Architect’s Daughter and the debut of Sojourner.  Both series are very similar in spirit but still different.  How was I going to encapsulate both and not favor one over  the other?  So I slept on it.  I hoped it would have some divine intervention.  I hoped I could leaf through from poetry terms and it would come to me but nothing.

Then I instant message with Catey and ask her.  Who knows- she may have an observation I had not thought of.  As she “interviewed” me, I settled on “synecdoche” even though I didn’t think it was totally right.  But I decided to let it go, it was too close to a movie name and I never feel quite that secure in pronouncing it.  If it didn’t feel right then it just wasn’t.  Maybe this was one of those moments of looking at your child and deciding that maybe it’s more a “Morgan” and less an “Mackenzie.”

Back to my interview with Catey:

ME: can you name my show please? i forgot to do it
Catey: what work is in it?
and where is it
and when
ME: new architects’ daughters but newer “sojourner” pieces… it’s in august. in Texas
you want me to call it architects daugher and sojourner are new in august in Texas
Catey: haha no
i wanted more information before crafting something potentially useful
Catey: what do you think are the defining links between the two series?
ME: well, probably the deconstruction/reconstruction- sort of
more like the exposed and veiled
Catey: Do you think they are potentially overexposed or underexposed?
ME: eh. i don’t know. thinking all around that- both
weird answer
i was loving synedoche for a bit. but that is also a movie. and i don’t like that. it’s not quite right
Catey: hrmm
ME: i thought about just the definition of sojourner: “Noun 1. sojourner – a temporary resident” but then it’s weighed more heavily on that series and it;s not done yet and may suck
Catey: is there a word to describe
transient people
that also build more permanent structures?
to kind of tie the two?
ME: i’m googling and seeing what comes up
so far homelessness
Catey: name it hobo

I was close to naming it “hobo.”  I, in fact, would like to make a show to name “hobo.”

But Later in our conversation, Catey offered up another word “transigir” which is french “to moderate.”  I also found in Spanish it is “to give in.”  I decided it wasn’t quite right.  I actually thought giving in meant the show was passive.  That it was about victim of circumstance.  That’s not really the connotation I wanted it to have.  But I was very swayed by how pretty the word looked and just imagined it on a postcard and how sexy that postcard would be (again, I love me some printed paraphernalia!!).

I went back to my poem vocab and then thought about allegory… Could I name it just allegory?  Could it be the allegory of something?  It seemed too contrived and over romanticized.

Then I started through synonyms of that gorgeous “transigir.”  I came across a few but then I saw it and I knew it had to be mine!

INICIAR

INICIAR

INICIAR

Yes, I loved it!  It means “to intitiate, begin.”  Yes, this was the one.   The word is active; it is positive; it is about potential; it is acting out and pushing forward; it is moving up; it is anticipation.  This was my “Morgan or Mackenzie” moment.
Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, please join me in welcoming my new work on view in t-minus two weeks at the Croft Gallery in Waco Texas.  INICIAR.  It’s perfect.

(the top image is THE CARD that is at the printers as I write)

On a sidenote: Catey has strong feelings about untitled work.
I quote her in saying: “untitled artwork: if you cant be bothered to title it,  why should i be bothered to look at it
i mean seriously, i dont care if you name a piece of abstract squares, chicken nugget
anything but untitled”

I better get to titling paintings!

I have to say, getting things ready to move here at the homestead is making blogging on challenging task but I have been dying to get this image up for you to see.  I have been feverishly plugging away at this portrait for months and finally over the weekend, I completed it!!!  Before I go on, the image is 20 x 30 inches- photo printed on arches watercolor paper; tea stained, hand embroidered and marked with graphite.

This piece is entitled Sojourner. Its a concept I had been dwelling on in the back of my mind for months and have been experimenting with the past few years.

I have been thinking about our self awareness and how we grow and evolve.  It seems we are vessels that we fill moment by moment with experiences and emotions; thoughts and decisions.  Although fundamentally, we are the same person, we are always in a constant state of transition and therefore a sojourner. The idea of travel and landscape is metaphorically applied to the image.  The tea stain suggesting water bodies, embroidery a landmass.  These marks contend with exposing and covering the body, as well- a means of protection or veil of concealment.  The graphite mark is made with a compass- not only referring back to the navigational instrument but also one’s moral compass that operates a value system.

This image is of my younger sister.  I have known her since day one and yet as we grow older, our relationship evolves.  Never have I found her a literal “temporary resident” in my life- actually, she is more of a constant beacon of stability. But for me, she is a subtly complicated person.  She is many things to many, many different people and although never is that simple, never has she made it seem complex.  I know she quietly negotiates her values and emotions while considering who it effects.  These roles and responsibilities form a person, she now is shaping how that may apply to her.

I gave a lot of thought to her marks.  Many of them refer to our heritage.  We are from a craft background that both of us honor.  My sister even noticed the shape of the graphite taking on the Russian Orthodox icons we used to see growing up during visits to the coal regions to see extended family.  My sister and father collect Icon imagery- which must be part of my subconscious.
The circle is something I come back to often in my work and while exploring my sisters image, it always resurfaces.  As many know, the circle is never beginning or ending.  It is indicative of a cycle, a course taken infinitely.  For me, Sojourner is that infinite evolution of the Self.   It is something that will always be happening and in change, metaphorical or literal, is when growth happens.

So last week or so, I was asked to judge the portfolios for a local high school.  To my surprise, I came across this image that a student did.  The student did a series of the school’s custodians.  They interviewed each employee and then asked to photograph them in chosen areas around the school.  This employee chose to be photographed in my recent exhibit.  I thought this was lovely.  I don’t know the student’s name who photographed this, but thank you, whoever you are!

(this image isn’t the best quality- I photographed it with my phone)