hgwinn

Renewal

My mind is a busy place; careening, searching, considering, grasping, hoping. Much gets collected, sorted, held, dismissed, treasured. When my mind comes to center, Truth, accompanied by quietness, confidence resides. Recently, with more time in the studio, and more time to ponder, I’m recognizing a freshness. Somehow images of nests and eggs and sometimes birds have moved continually to the forefront and demanded my ongoing attention. In my studio bathroom, hangs a beautiful calligraphic image with something of a “nest/cradle symbol” superimposed:

“All Things Are Symbolic” by Bob Phillips

Nests are safe refuges; soft gentle interiors cradle newness. Spiny, thick exteriors extend protection, and threaten intruders. My eyes have opened in search of nests to undergird my hopes of expressing what is happening with me. Taking note in backyards, and in my travels through the desert,I have encountered exquisite nests:

“There’s absolutely nothing that cannot be inspiration for creating art.”…………Dorothy Lorentzen
There’s no lack of inspiration! What I want to express visually may not compress into words……..something along the lines of RENEWAL, NEWNESS, FRESH GRACE, HOPE ANEW……. Even when words won’t do, it helps me to try them out. They clarify direction for me.
“The Artist must train not only his eye, but also his soul”
Wassily Kandinsky

I’ve posted a few of my new Nest Series images on my website; the Paintings page.

Chinati

My brain ruts were flattened and smoothed by a handsel from Chinati on Saturday, April 23, 2011, the forty-third birthday of my daughter. She was on the Gulf Coast celebrating and I was in the Chihuahan Desert of South-Southwest Texas, receiving subtle jarring grace. Charred by the recent wildfires, one major fire still covering the sky with clouds of smoke, we drove into Marfa, Texas to visit Chinati, the art compound of the late, famous, controversial minimal artist Donald Judd.
This phrase by David Raskin about the scale of Judd’s work rings true for me as I weigh Judd’s hypnotic, serene, laconic style: “the immaterial becoming dense and the material ethereal.”
The connection between “Untitled Works In Mill Aluminum ” (100 mill aluminum “boxes” of the same external dimensions, with varied internal elements, exhibited in two parallel rows, in two converted artillery sheds) and the stark, seared, spiny desert beyond the huge glass windows established an altered state in my spirit, a state of questioning the reality of what my eyes beheld. Moving through the exhibit with others on tour and my friend, Janice, kept me grounded in the present.
Donald Judd’s presence was palpable in his works. Careful consideration of detail, moved beyond careful all the way to consuming meticulous concentration, with a silent, still rhythm immanently marking both placement and presentation, each as vital as the physical images. What is there to say? my intuitive response borders on a profound spirit of silence, a wordless respectful acknowledgment of precise, stark, creative power.

: At Chinati: challenged & inspired

Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum by Donald Judd

Canyon Depths

Sharp ridges slash brilliant clear skies at midday.
Haunting shapes can appear like a mirage in the
canyon depths.
When hikers journey deeper,
courage is summoned with each meditative step.

The Pottery Studio

New energy is bouncing around the Pottery Studio. Tuesday and Thursday have been established as days when help/instruction/discussion is available. A delightful cadre of “newbie” potters with exciting hopes are working with a master potter present for encouragement and assistance. Experiments and practice amid much exchange of ideas sparkle with creativity. I thoroughly enjoy being there/working there/interacting there but I’m so accustomed to working in solitude in my own studio that I sometimes come home reeling with all the chatter in my head. It takes me awhile to transition back into the quiet where I enjoy being/working/thinking also.
At the pottery I’m continuing to work on my ideas of newness, rebirth and beginnings. Nests, envelopes, birds seem to be the main imagery expressing that for me right now. “Clay Mail” envelopes continue and a few “Word Angels” are in progress.

Sun Gifts

The earth perpetually plans, prepares and presents
gifts
of awesome magnitude.
The Desert-Southwest, a life-shaping force
creates its gifts with
powerful winds, blazing sunbeams and parched clouds.
Its rich wisdom
like broken bread and wine
at a sacred altar
nourishes daring communicants
who boldly engage it.

New Mexico Bar Bulletin

One of my paintings, “Let’s Talk” is on the cover of the current New Mexico Bar Bulletin, a publication of the New Mexico Bar Association. You can see a good reproduction of the painting on my website: Paintings page. “Let’s Talk” is a good symbol for attorneys ……… agree? I’m delighted to see it there. The cover of the publication is here:

In The Crags

The gifts that are available to us from our natural surroundings are no simple matter. My beloved Desert-Southwest with its ancient enduring cliffs and canyons draws me toward its gifts; some are vast and obvious but some are subtle and hidden. My involvement with the “Cliff Gifts Series,” an extensive group of mixed-media paintings, leads me deeper into the canyons of my being and into the canyons of God’s creation. I’m finding rock-solid grace, the bedrock of endurance, and the continuity of hope. It’s all there, and also to be found there, though it sometimes requires a search, are the seeps of delicate newness, fragile growth, and even streams. In the crags, among the boulders, between the rocks of life, there are poignant gifts of exquisite beauty, tiny graces that feed the ponds of joy and embellish the textures of each day.

10,000 Sketchbooks

I read on the Sketchbook Project web page today that they received a little less than 10,000 completed sketchbooks. That’s quite a different number than the 26,000 reported earlier; still many many sketchbooks to deal with. I hope a procedure will be worked out to make it easier and less-stressful to view the wonderful books.

Best of Show

My local art group, Carlsbad Area Art Association, has a membership show every year at the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center. This year the show was judged by Noel Marquez, a well-known muralist in our area. He chose my collage “PATH” for the Best of Show award! You can see “PATH” on the collage page of this site. My other two entries also won awards: “FRAME OF MIND” (on the Paintings page) and “ENVELOPE SHRINE” (on the Assemblages page).

Sketchbooks in Austin

I was in Austin over the weekend to see the Sketchbooks! I was DISAPPOINTED in the management of the show! BUT DEFINITELY NOT IN THE SKETCHBOOKS! The sketchbooks were exquisite, quirky, creative, beautiful, varied, colorful, stunning, amazing! Some (including mine) had pop-ups, fold outs, dimensional elements, or carefully engineered embellishments. They were a thrill to see once I got to see some of them.

fabulous fold-out page — Fabulous Fold-out Page

The show did not open on time, it was delayed by 2 hours. We had traveled a long distance, and arrived early, so the wait was a bummer. The room was too small to accommodate the crowd that came to see the show; there were no tables or chairs. We stood shoulder to shoulder, crammed into a small space and tried to look at the books and enjoy them. Books had to be checked out by author or category. The stacks could not be perused. So it was not possible to get a book that looked interesting unless you knew its category or its author. Most people had no idea of the categories and there were no posters or information leaflets to explain. It was easy to return books to the drop box but then it was necessary to wait in line again to check out a few more.

Waiting for the books — Waiting For The Books

The staff was gracious and remained friendly throughout the short duration of the show but they were too few to serve the attendees.

crowd left, staff right — Checking out books (staff on the right)

My daughter arrived late and wanted to see my book. Although it had been returned to the drop box for returned books an hour or so earlier, it had not been logged back in and returned to the shelves so she was not able to see it.

We learned from one of the staff members that Austin had more sketchbooks than any other city except for NYC, so it is an enigma as to why the staff did not prepare for the crowd. They knew last year how many books had been purchased and they have known since January that they have 10,000 (?) books. They also knew how many books were from Austinites. I hope that as the tour continues, adjustments and refinements will be made to make it possible for the sketchbooks to be seen and enjoyed.