The ceramics of Midori Takaki

Ceramic sculptures by Midori Takaki.  Additionally, see Elsa Mora's post.

There is beauty, serenity and mystery in the ceramic faces of Midori Takaki.  Somehow, as things do on Facebook, she drifted onto my screen and the rest is a love story.

We are enchanted by whatever enchants us.  All our senses take up the cause of reaching a maximum state of besottedness, whether with art, fashion, flavor, sound or the cooler-than-the-air-temperature water of a plastic wading pool. Scent will carry me into another dimension or previous lifetime, its magic every bit as potent now as then, or here as there.  It could be an herb, flower or example of the parfumier's art.  It could be the dust of chalk or ancient wallpaper or the long-held bit of clothing from a departed other.

Gaze into the eyes of a Takaki sculpture.  They don't look at you but rather beyond.  We encounter them, not as ghosts, more as realizations, aspects of beauty and self not often contemplated.  A capacity for stillness which we thought beyond our power.

Word of the Week - 29

Pencil-colored, stuffed kraft paper toy, M. Kelly.

Word of the Week: FACES

A timely topic, in seems, for so many in the art world to which I am connected as a blog follower, FB friend, actual associate or enthusiastic fan are showcasing faces as a favorite form of creative expression.

Since I began work with Rubbermoon more than 20 years ago, I have loved giving faces to ordinarily faceless objects like gourds, celestial bodies and flowers.  The sample above is my newest experiment, animal and cartoonish, mostly female, faces rendered in Micron pen and color pencils on kraft wrapping paper, cut out, glued and lightly stuffed to make what I think of as toys.  A source of happiness now and, I foresee, in the future.

In an overview of what others are sharing so generously, here are some of the artists and sources in the face bonanza.  The links will take you into realms of delight and my hope is they will become inspirations for you as they have for me.

Here is Elsa Mora's blog post of Faces by Different Artists.  To say the mind reels is an absurd understatement.  I challenge you not to shriek.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer shares her Weekend Five, black-and-white faces.  As is true of Elsa Mora's blog, there is so much more to discover here.  I urge you to read beyond the linked entry.

On her blog, Lynne Hoppe discusses faces, journals, materials and much more.  If you Google her, the links are extensive.  After sharing a small sample of her art on FB last week, I heard from other artists who identified her as an inspiration.  Image collection here.

Friend, writer and artist Patti Edmon began a face journey last year, a process she discusses with her usual candor and gives multiple samples of the emerging work.  In her most recent post, she tells of painting faces in the context of chronic illness,  a shared circumstance which first connected us.

Because there is so much I admire about the painting below, just this minute found via Google, I share it and the artist, Karin Jurick, who painted it.  It is a rich world, full of teachers.

Oil on panel, painting by Karin Jurick, with thanks for its use here.

Word of the Week - 18

 

 

Artist Juan Romero.

Word of the Week: CURATOR

Claiming the title curator feels scratchy and not-quite-appropriate.  Yet I could arrive at no other word to describe what I feel is my reason for staying with Facebook.  I believe, I know, that we mostly live adaptively.  We are in an on-going state of adjusting, which means we sift through layers of played-out soil to find what works for us.  Of necessity, we have become people who "make do." 

It is not the second-best choice the phrase implies.  In its quiet voice it hints at ways of amplification, of making what is small grow larger and more visible.  It is not settling for nor putting up with.  With the model of generous and innovative creatives before me, I was steered away from any raging and controversy and much of what I hear about as drawbacks of social media and shown it could be a medium for sharing visually the things of my dreams, my longings, my inspiration.

Balenciaga gown from 1961.

It may be the height of cheekiness to think that what delights me will delight another.  One can but try.  I feel that I write almost constantly about the value of beauty, wonder and joy as antidotes to vitality-depleting aspects of daily existence but I know in my cells, in my skin that it is the truth.  Whether the images are creations of nature or man, they are sources of awe, of awakening.  A poem or a felted creature possesses equal power to elevate the spirit, the mind, to speak with honest, emphatic optimism to any of our sagging parts.  The sight of a yellow gown, clearly the work of faerie magic, says we have not grown too old or too sad, that impossible things have always happened and they always will.

Sawdust stuffed elephant.

Giving credit where it is due: Beginning with Alice Vegrova and the art she shared by European illustrators whose work I would never have found, I began to watch for posts from Madame Susha, Skattie Cat, Elsa Mora, Folt Bolt and Musetouch Visual Arts Magazine.  Each of these is indeed a curator, sharing, I assume, what occupies the greatest real estate in their hearts.  Those who are artists themselves could not be more open about promoting artists they admire.  I continue to find posts from them all which I share.  Where once a 4x5 notepad or the ever-popular back of an envelope was nearly sufficient to record information I wanted to retain,  I now use a yellow legal pad to keep track of the names, links, resources and such, hoping I will be able to find my way back to them when needed.  And in talking of sources, I can't neglect Pinterest, which I fear at times sucks away all my hours and the will to do anything more than stare.  If you think serendipity is a myth, hang around Pinterest for a bit.  Sooner or later, your heart's desire - with an accurate link if you're very lucky - will appear.