Eight Fold Show

My eight fold series (a series of geometric/Islamic designs all stemming from one base pattern) will be on view at the Sprague Library May through July 2014! I'm very excited.
Here's the artist statement for the series:
I love drawing with a compass and straight edge. I was introduced to the art of compass and straight edge construction in college; it was amazing to discover all the different shapes, patterns and designs that I could create with two simple tools. My delight and discovery continued and I eventually found the beautiful world of Islamic geometric designs and a whole new type of designs and patterns that could be created with my compass. I have been studying and drawing these beautiful and complex designs ever since. Recently I was introduced to a pattern base used in many Islamic designs from which unlimited patterns could be produced; I’ve undertaken to create as many different designs and patterns as possible from this base. I’ve thought I’d run out of possibilities a time or two before but it’s been interesting to see how new ideas have come to me while I’ve painted other pieces.

The only problem now will be deciding which pieces to put in the show, there can only be 15 pieces and there's almost double that right now. 

Genesis

This piece is based on Abraham 4:9-10 and Genesis 1:12.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

This one is also from Genesis 1:12. The design is called the Breath of the Compassionate, it's from Islamic art. The Compassionate is one of the 99 names of God in Islam.

The Breath of the Compassionate

watercolor

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

Piece of the Week

Another new one from the Genesis series, I'm excited about how it turned out and glad that I found a way to make this idea work. When I first started the genesis series I had a piece akin to this but it just wasn't working and I couldn't figure out how to make it work. Problem solved.

Day

watercolor and pastel

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

Genesis

Another piece based on Genesis 1:12.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Piece of the Week

The latest from the Genesis series, there's more where this came from.

In the Beginning

watercolor and pastel

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

Genesis

Posting is not going as usual this week, sorry about that. I've got a deadline coming up for a show application (wish me luck there) and it's not sent off yet, and yesterday was my normal blogging day but the days events seriously deviated from my plan. Here's the next piece in the Genesis series. This piece was another one of the first pieces I made for this series, the first ten or so. It comes from Genesis 1:12.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Piece of the Week

This week, two pieces that are currently in the works. Check back to see the final pieces.

Genesis

This piece is on the same lines of the last two Genesis pieces, although this piece was made before the other two I believe. This has a companion piece that will be shown in a few weeks.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Blast from the past

This week's piece, is actually two pieces. Together they make a piece that is better than either on it's own. The plan was to glue them together, this hasn't happen, it may happen someday but who knows.

watercolor

2008

Piece of the Week

Another piece from the Hex series.

watercolor

9x9in

2012

Series: Hex

Genesis

This piece is really simple but I like how it turned out. It's based on the same things as this piece.

Earth
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series:Genesis

"Beauty will save the world" -Dostoyevsky

Template

watercolor and pastel pencil

9x9in

2010

Series: Choices

In part one of this topic, I talked a lot about Wulf, but Wulf has played a major part in my being an artist and my doing what I do now.
I was able to go to Italy in 2011. I loved it, I got to see famous and beautiful art that I'd studied and loved. I got to see works of masters like da Vinci and Durer. I also got to see the remains of cultures and civilizations that valued beauty far more than we seem to do these days. Buildings were made so that they still stand centuries later, buildings that were made to be beautiful, not just to be a building.
I hope to bring beauty to the world with my art, for the world to perhaps be a little better for my art being in it. I probably haven't fully managed that yet but I have goals to work towards.

Genesis

This piece is about dry land being separated from the water/ocean/seas. The scriptural references come from Genesis 1:10, and Abraham 4: 9-10. Again, I used the red and squares because they're symbols of earth.

Dry Land
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Piece of the Week

I've been trying to keep the piece of the week more recent pieces but today's piece of the week is from a few years ago, but I only recently was able to take a decent picture of it.

Joachim and Boaz
watercolor and pen and ink
9x9in
2010
Series: Choices

This piece is called Joachim and Boaz, the names of two columns/pillars that I believe were in/at Solomon's temple. I believe that pillars/columns as the above, can be symbolic for a transition, moving from one thing/place/etc. to another.
Update, so after I wrote this post, I went to Wulf's exhibit at the Springville Muesum of Art I noticed this painting of a similar title.

This is what the little card by it had to say about Joachim and Boaz.

Genesis

This piece is based on the same scriptures as last week's piece. This piece though I took in a different direction. I had seen a picture or painting of space and those sort of glowing colorful light clouds? (sorry I have no idea what they're called) and I was reminded how beautiful space and the heavens can be. I framed the scene in an eight pointed star because I've learned that eight is sort of a symbol or representation for the transition to heaven. If you have a square representing earth and a circle representing heaven, an octagon is sort of a bridge between the two, like in domed buildings, between the square base and a round dome, there's often octagon's to make it a smoother transition.

Firmament Called Heaven II
watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Piece of the Week

And for a change, a piece of the week that's not a part of the Hex series. This is the third piece so far in the Light series. I was driving home and the sun was hot pink in a grey sky from wild fire smoke in the air. It looked soo cool.  I don't have the right colors to get a hot pink but it happened again the other day and it was also a deep red color like I have here.

watercolor
7x10 in (paper size 9x12in)
2012
Series: Light

Genesis

This piece is the next piece of the Genesis series. It's based on Moses 2:8 and Abraham 4:8. The piece is called Firmament Called Heaven, and I tried to use symbolism to visualize heaven. The pillars represent a transition. The orthagon square is in the middle, it contains all 12 of the orthagons, I would once again remind myself and other artists that it perhaps would be good to leave yourself notes on what deep and creative ideas you have behind your pieces, so that you will remember them later on. I guess what I was going for with all of the symbols is perhaps a sense of the eternal, with the orthagons, the alpha and omega and the color purple which it the color of royalty. I'm very sorry that I can't remember more of the thoughts behind this piece.

Firmament Called Heaven
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Piece of the Week

A lot of Hex pieces in the works lately. This was a crucial key in the unlocking of a pattern.

watercolor

6x6in

2012

Series: Hex

Hex Artist Statement

In my studies of traditional arts and craftsmanship, I was delighted to discover sacred geometry and hand drafting with compass and straight edge. These techniques were crucial to the art and architecture of the golden age of Greece and later the renaissance. I first learned about working with a compass and straight edge in college, studying with Wulf Barsch. My discovery of sacred geometry has since blossomed into a love for geometric patterns and designs and lead to an increased interest in Islamic art through the geometric patterns so prevalent there. In this series I have been exploring the possibilities of the number six or the hexagonal shape, in so doing I have relied heavily on Islamic art and other geometric traditions and thrilled as I’ve learned the secrets to these beautiful patterns and designs.

I love what I do over all but there are a few things that I didn't expect to come along with this job title. I've been getting a show application ready and in doing so I've taken what feels like a million pictures of my work which I've then cropped and picked the best images, resized etc. I've been wondering if I should have taken a photography class or two in school. Oh well, it still beats sitting in a cubical somewhere.