Spirit of Australia

 

 

My collection of Australian fabrics started during two trips to Australia 10 years ago.  My first exposure to Aboriginal culture was at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.  Walking along the base of Uluru (Ayers Rock) I could understand the mystical power of the land that is so important to the Aboriginals.  The arrow shapes in my piece depict the struggle between tourism and respect of the spiritual significance of the lands around Uluru.  It was disappointing to me that even with signs requesting people to not climb Uluru at the request of the Anangu, the Aboriginal traditional owners, there was a steady stream of hikers. 

12” x 12”

commercial fabrics       

Vision of the Night

12 x 12

The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word "Mystical" is the Moon. Much of my work incorporates images of the moon.  Here, I combined the "Wadjet" or "Eye of Horus" with the phases of the moon.

Horus was a sky god whose eyes, it was said were the sun and the moon.  Ancient myth  describes a battle between Horus and Seth in which Horus' right eye was torn out. Thoth, the god of magick,  restored Horus' eye. It is said the myth relates to the waxing and waning of the moon, during which the moon appears to have been torn out of the sky before being restored once every lunar month.

The base fabric background is dyed with fiber reactive dyes. The eye is painted with Pro Chemical textile paint and Jacquard Lumiere.  

The batting is Quilters Dream Puff and it is quilted with Superior's metallic and silk threads, and then mounted on stretcher bars.

Ethereal

I've titled my 8 x 8 inch collage painting, Mystical, in honor of the challenge theme.

Paper and acrylic paint on canvas board.

Although the three challenge pieces uploaded prior to mine are all quilts, 

I'm taking the original info on Art Squared at its word about being open to all media!

Magical

Magical is beading; magical is fibers. I go to a magical place when I work with them. The background is wool roving. The design is in Ultrasuede hand stitched in place using glass beads. The piece is 8 inches square.  Geometric designs have been used in all of history for magic.

Here is  a detail.

Squaring the Circle

Sue B here...

Mystical was a challenging theme to work with and I struggled with it for a while before I finally decided on what to do...

 

"Squaring the Circle" 12" x 1 1/2" (mounted on stretcher frames)

hand dyed cotton, machine quilted

The 'squared circle' or 'squaring the circle' is a 17th century alchemical glyph or symbol for the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. The Philosopher's Stone was supposed to be able to transmute base metals into gold and perhaps be an elixir of life.

 

 

Ancient Voices

 

Who was the man that stood in front of this rock

in an inhospitable desert where once dinosaurs freely roamed

and felt the need to leave his mark in this place?

Was he simply telling the next people passing by that he was here?

Or that he was a great warrior?

Was he leaving a sign of the spirits he worshiped?

Are these shamans from his tribe ... or was he a shaman himself?

 

The dinosaurs left their bones in great abundance in these Utah hills

120 million years ago.  This artist of the Fremont culture

made his marks between 700 AD and 1300 AD.

To stand before these ancient beings carved in stone so long ago

is magical, mystical, humbling.

You can almost hear their voices.

 

12"x12"  Commercial cotton batik, cotton batting & backing,

discharged freehand design from my photo, hand quilted.

Dinosaur National Monument, Utah

(It really is square!  Bad photo.)

A Tiny Glimpse

The first reveal is just around the corner and I'm almost done with my " Mystical " piece.
Here's a tiny glimpse...

To see the rest, you'll have to come back on October 1st!

Welcome!

Hi there, Deborah Levy here.  First, to our readers, I'd like to welcome you to our new art challenge group. We hope that you will find enjoyment and inspiration in our art as we share our work with you in the months to come.

Now to the Art Squared artists...I am thrilled to be a part of this group of talented artists!  Thanks to Sue B for getting us all together.   I am first up to post a challenge and the theme I have chosen is

MYSTICAL

It can be anything from religious, to the occult, to something magical or simply beyond our ability to explain. It could be from your dreams;  your own vision of mysticism in mind body or spirit, or drawn from our natural environment.  

The possibilities are endless, so have fun with it.  I can't wait to see how each of you interpret this in your work!