Copper Toy Train

My ongoing fascination with wheeled pieces.

"Driving Passion"
Copper, brass, glass, dried roses, aluminum, mixed media
10x12x3"

Poppy seed pods

I love poppy seed pods. They're perfect little seed dispensers, but more than that, for me they are a symbol of illusion (due to their association with opiates).

It is amazing to me that how I perceive how my day is going is directly related to my mood, which is directly related to the noise going on in my head, which is directly related to my hourly illusion of good, bad or indifferent. So it makes all the sense in the world to change that illusion to something very upbeat and enticing, right? Well, there is the challenge in a nutshell for me!

"Into the World of Dreams"
Etched copper,  brass, aluminum, pewter, enamel, mixed media
12x6x4"

Your Elusive Creative Genius

This talk by Elizabeth Gilbert about coming to the page daily and being open to one's own creative genius is so very very true for me.

A Transformation

About 3 years ago I made a figurative piece called "Up, Up & Away".

It was never one of my favorites. So yesterday I took pieces apart, turned things around, edited and added parts. I like doing this kind of thing. My partner, Ken, calls it the 'Morgan Brig Organ Donor Program'. 

So afterwards the airplane below appeared. The new title is "Inner Voice Navigational System". Inside the plane body hangs a small tube that holds a piece of acetate with writing on it. I like the piece a whole lot better now.

Plan B

There have been a multitude of decorative Christmas brass horns lately at the local second hand store. Some are straight and some have a french horn curly-cue to them. I love them!

I also have many projects that take a turn mid-stream and go into a "plan B" mode. So here's the combo: Plan B meets decorative curly brass horns (and straight ones). It's titled "The Brewing of Plan B".

"The Brewing of Plan B"
Copper, brass, glass, enamel, fishing lure float, mixed media
29 x 12 x 5"

Detail

Speaking One's Truths

I had a dream about speaking my truths recently. It has stuck with me, and just this last week this piece came out - seemingly in honor of that message. I etched the narrative of the dream at the base of the glass.

Funny how the subconscious works.

"Speaking One's Truths"
Copper, glass, brass, vacuum tube, enamel, mixed media

Introspection

A state of mind I'm waaay too familiar with.

"Introspection"
Copper, brass, camera lenses, enamel, mixed media.

Another Wheeled Piece

This one is called "Reoccurring Lessons: Loss, Love and Illusion".

Copper, glass, bleached bones, dried roses, poppy seed heads, wheels.

Altar to What is Cherished

Once again I am inspired by Mary Oliver's writings. These words are etched into the glass at the base:

Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?
Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into  the garden
and softly, and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,
with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness to be wild and perfect for a moment,
before they are nothing forever?

"Altar to What is Cherished"
Copper, glass, dried roses, brass, found pivot wheel

Dress Collage Inspiration

The life of the body is,
I suppose, along with
everything else, a lesson.
I mean, if lessons are what
you look for.

Mary Oliver

"The Part About Letting Go", mixed media on panel, 24x24"

Boat Show at Bainbridge Gallery

I've got several boats at Bainbridge Arts & Crafts Gallery this month. The opening night is Friday, July 6th, 6-8pm. 151 Winslow Way East, Bainbridge Island, Wa 98110

Lots of other artists in this group show! Shane Miller, Denise Harris, Gillian Bull, Diane Culhane, Megan Drew, Woodleigh Hubbard, Sandy Hurd, Linda Jarvis, Pierr Morgan, Deborah Peek, Sally Robison, Lynnette Sandbloom, Cameron Snow, Jessica Spring, Diane Walker, and Ellen Wixted.

Hope you'll drop by.

"Bordeaux", Copper, enamel, mixed media.

A Few More Dresses

I've been continuing to work on the dress series this past month. Here are a few more. All of them are photo collage with a layer of acrylic polymer and then waxes.

"The Way She Wears Her Wisdom Into a Brand New World"
30 x30"

"Aspire"
24 x 24"

"She Came to Know the Wisdom of the Ebb & Flow"
24 x 24"

"This House of Belonging"
24 x 24"

Photo Collage

It seems as though in the last number of months that I've had a perfect storm of sorts in my creative likes and dislikes, boredom of certain materials, and an intuitive calling that I can't quite put my finger on, that has pushed me in a new direction. Metal has been my first love, yet the pull of photography, collage, a larger scale, and experimenting with new mediums has me off on another tangent for the time being.

Graciously, Patricia Rovzar (of the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in downtown Seattle), has been very open to taking these new pieces on. I'm a worrier, so, well, I was worried. But she said that she still sees me and my thinking clearly even in this new work.

The dress icon is a way of trying on concepts and emotions that occupy my head and heart - things that seem beyond me most days, yet also at the same time I understand how they are possible and probable. Like the idea that we are all born already knowing inside what our life purpose is, but have to go through the process of awakening it. Or the concept that we all carry the Universe inside us and therefore have unlimited knowledge and possibility.

Along with the photo collage is a coating of acrylic polymer that creates a depth I love, and then I coat the surface with waxes and demar resin. It's a way of getting a dream like murkiness that I am also attracted to.

"Some Say It Is Already Written, We Must Only Remember"
Photo collage, acrylic polymer, waxes, demar resin.
24 x 24"

"The Universe Inside Her"
Photo collage, acrylic polymer, waxes, demar resin.
24 x 24"

Upcoming Show

I've been working over the past number of months to finish up pieces for this next show. It's only a week away now (!). It never fails to sneak up on me no matter how prepared I think I am. Opening night is Thursday, February 2nd at the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in downtown Seattle, 6:00 - 8:00 pm. You are invited and I hope to see you there!

This show will have a blend of the type of work I've been exploring recently. Some shadowboxes, some photo collage imagery, and some of my found object conglomerates. Here are a few examples.

"She Came to Cherish Her Creative Life"
Copper, etched brass, enamel, silver leaf, mixed media.
12x9x4"

"Following His Instincts Into a Brand New World"
Copper, enamel, etched brass, mixed media.
12x24"

"Good Under Pressure"
Copper, enamel, gauge, lens, mixed media.
20x6x4"