Sometimes people send me personal emails in response to my V. Notes. Sometimes those emails include interesting artwork that relates to my post. In response to yesterday’s post about the sumi painter Pan Gongkai, I received an email from Jodi Waltier, a League textiles instructor, including artwork for her upcoming show.
Hey Ruthie,
… am overjoyed to be seeing this ink bonanza you sent out! Wowzer…Here is an ink thingie I made last month as I work towards a new body of explorations of all things umbilical…It has strange overlaps with the sumi world in that I made brushes from my own hair and some sticks…what the hell else is there to do right now, right?
Jodi Waltier Rarely is a bad idea boring.
I could not leave it at that. How could I leave it at that?!? I asked her for more. Jodi replied generously. She sent me much, much more. This is what I found in the next letter, under the subject line “Here she blows…”
WITHOUT APPARENT LOGIC
“My garden should be like nature, without apparent logic. You cannot see it and you certainly cannot understand it, but you just sense the logic.” -Henk Gerritsen Priona, Holland
Artist statement Jodi Waltier
Since logic has taken its leave, for/from so many as of late, my default button is the garden. Any garden, any where. If anything is to make sense to me, I find my clarity of vision operating at a tolerable level or better, when I am outside, amongst living things, that consistently break the rules, if there ever were any, and thrive.
Sometimes seeking, sometimes finding solace, joy, safe harbor, nourishment of body, mind, and spirit. Like a teet on the planet, I can’t get everything I want from it, but always seem to get something I didn’t know I needed.
Trees rustling, birds chirping, singing, warning.
Flowers emitting divine scent or heinous aroma.
Ripe fruits burst open.
Weeds become nutritious offerings when recognized by the slow learner.
Roots become baskets when gathered as such.
Soil and plants enrich themselves when allowed to be left to their cycles.
[image_with_animation image_url=”6674″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] We are almost at the end of this 30 day challenge, so I’ll be coming up with fresh topics to post. Our mailing list has grown by several hundreds of people this month, and I’d like to hear from subscribers. Why did you sign up for V. Notes, and …
[image_with_animation image_url=”6299″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Sara Rahbar Wiki: Sara Rahbar (born in 1976 in Tehran, Iran) is a contemporary, mixed media artist based in New York City. Her work ranges from photography to sculpture to installation and often stems from her personal experiences and is largely autobiographical. In 1982, Rahbar and her family fled …
This is the beginning of a collection: examples of painted grass. When I paint grass I usually start with large shapes first, light swathes of masses break the canvas into smaller segments. I use a rag sometimes to form the first shapes, then a bristle brush so the bristles scrape away the paint as much as …
Today is the 3rd straight day of record heat in Seattle, up to 108 degrees. It got me wondering what it would look like to draw “hot.” What does “hot” look like? How do you draw heat? Here are some fun digital ideas from young artists for how they might draw heat, from Draw Something. …
Umbilical Studies
Sometimes people send me personal emails in response to my V. Notes. Sometimes those emails include interesting artwork that relates to my post. In response to yesterday’s post about the sumi painter Pan Gongkai, I received an email from Jodi Waltier, a League textiles instructor, including artwork for her upcoming show.
Hey Ruthie,
… am overjoyed to be seeing this ink bonanza you sent out! Wowzer…Here is an ink thingie I made last month as I work towards a new body of explorations of all things umbilical…It has strange overlaps with the sumi world in that I made brushes from my own hair and some sticks…what the hell else is there to do right now, right?
Jodi Waltier
Rarely is a bad idea boring.
I could not leave it at that. How could I leave it at that?!? I asked her for more. Jodi replied generously. She sent me much, much more. This is what I found in the next letter, under the subject line “Here she blows…”
WITHOUT APPARENT LOGIC
“My garden should be like nature, without apparent logic. You cannot see it and you certainly cannot understand it, but you just sense the logic.” -Henk Gerritsen Priona, Holland
Artist statement
Jodi Waltier
Since logic has taken its leave, for/from so many as of late, my default button is the garden. Any garden, any where. If anything is to make sense to me, I find my clarity of vision operating at a tolerable level or better, when I am outside, amongst living things, that consistently break the rules, if there ever were any, and thrive.
Sometimes seeking, sometimes finding solace, joy, safe harbor, nourishment of body, mind, and spirit. Like a teet on the planet, I can’t get everything I want from it, but always seem to get something I didn’t know I needed.
Trees rustling, birds chirping, singing, warning.
Flowers emitting divine scent or heinous aroma.
Ripe fruits burst open.
Weeds become nutritious offerings when recognized by the slow learner.
Roots become baskets when gathered as such.
Soil and plants enrich themselves when allowed to be left to their cycles.
It is a circle I see in everything.
It is umbilical.
Round and round and round.
Ladders go up and down.
Hierarchy.
Circles move things, catch things, contain things.
Shared.
An equal partnership.
Spokes on a wheel.
Grab on!
Untether the wheel and be a spoke, that reinforces the wheel that turns and moves and gets er done.
Together.
– Jodi Waltier
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[image_with_animation image_url=”6674″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] We are almost at the end of this 30 day challenge, so I’ll be coming up with fresh topics to post. Our mailing list has grown by several hundreds of people this month, and I’d like to hear from subscribers. Why did you sign up for V. Notes, and …
Flags by Sara Rahbar
[image_with_animation image_url=”6299″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Sara Rahbar Wiki: Sara Rahbar (born in 1976 in Tehran, Iran) is a contemporary, mixed media artist based in New York City. Her work ranges from photography to sculpture to installation and often stems from her personal experiences and is largely autobiographical. In 1982, Rahbar and her family fled …
Painting Grass
This is the beginning of a collection: examples of painted grass. When I paint grass I usually start with large shapes first, light swathes of masses break the canvas into smaller segments. I use a rag sometimes to form the first shapes, then a bristle brush so the bristles scrape away the paint as much as …
How to Draw Heat
Today is the 3rd straight day of record heat in Seattle, up to 108 degrees. It got me wondering what it would look like to draw “hot.” What does “hot” look like? How do you draw heat? Here are some fun digital ideas from young artists for how they might draw heat, from Draw Something. …