A New Decade upon us...

    New Years for me is a capsule of time that I can use year after year to compare 'myself now' with 'myself before'.  In my case as of this writing a head injury in 2007 reset my clock so that I only have 3 years worth of comparison; 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Still it is an effective measure for me of whether or not I am moving in the right direction.
     Being an artist most of my real goals are not about money or acknowledgment; they are about whether what I have been creating is fulfilling the part of me that lives in the imaginary world of my creations.  I have heard 'that part' referred to as the muse, one's soul and the creative spirit.  I call it 'the land of the gauds'.
    Today I was working on a rusty and weathered piece of metal.  Though it has been hanging on my fence for nearly 5 years I have never much liked it and my eyes have slid right past it every time I went in and out of that gate.  But suddenly today I saw it in sections and I realized it would make interesting additions to the art I have been working on the past few days.
     I was trying to split open a jump ring to separate the sections and it required precision use of both hands.  My left hand has not been fully functional for the past few years and serves as both a symbol and a signal as to how I am doing.   In comparison to New Years 2009 I have a good deal more functionality in my hand.  And New Years of 2008 I could not even dress myself without the help of a friend.   So though I was initially frustrated by my hand's inability to do what I needed it to do I kept trying different ways to open up the jump ring and separate the different parts.

     Still there will always be a part of me that remembers I once wore a superwoman cape and could accomplish anything (or so I thought).  Certainly before my head injury getting the parts of the rusty metal thing separated would have been a 'no-brainer'.  The memories of my old self and my new self can make the comparison process a messy, non-linear, ball of confusion.  And sometimes, when I limit my comparisons to what my left hand can and cannot do it is very easy to see how much healing I have done.  After all I am using both hands to type this very message to you.  It has taken two years for the pinky finger in my left hand to learn how to hit the 'a' key instead of the 'shift' key.  And I still get it right only half the time. 
    In terms of my progression as an artist I made two pieces this year that were very personal in nature and that I am proud of.  The first one you can read about and see here:  http://yonacriel.blogspot.com/2009/12/re-post-resurrection-of-yo.html .  The second one was a piece I started in Oaxaca and completed when I got home.  To read about and see this one go here:  http://yonacriel.blogspot.com/2009/12/la-madre-de-todas-mis-santos-patronas.html
     Despite having completed a mere two pieces this year, that's two more than I completed last year and thus in my better moments I say to myself, 'you did good, I am proud of you'.
     I won't show you just yet what I am working on now.  Let's just say it involves a lot of heart.  Once we get closer to Valentine's day I will post some pictures of the pieces I am making for a show I am doing Valentine's weekend.  Thanks for reading.  And happy New Decade!
     
   

Dios de los Muertos

     Perhaps because I lived in San Francisco for so many years with it's enormous hispanic community my version of Halloween in much more akin to Dios de los Muertos; a celebration of those who have died.
     Every year on November 1st and 2nd all over Mexico people 'celebrate' the lives of their beloved dead ones.   Lovers, brothers, mothers and sisters not to mention 1st and 2nd cousins and anyone else deemed important.  Little skeletons of these special people are made, often doing what the person being honored used to do.  In my collection of 'skeletons' one is a camping scene.  Two skeletons with yellow hats are sitting under a full moon playing music as they lean up against a Joshua tree.  Laying at their feet, is a sleepy eyed dog, just waiting for the next adventure.  The most recent addition to my 'skeleton family' is a sexy woman in a red dress showing just a bit of leg.  I love the playful nature of Dios de los Muertos which is why I have been wanting to go to Mexico during the holiday for over a decade to celebrate.
     I am so happy to say this is the year.  Because (due to my own recent near death experience) I couldn't possibly go alone I am going with Michael deMeng (google him, he's fab)  and a group of a dozen or so others.   Michael is an awesome assemblage artist who I met several years ago at Artfest.  He was teaching a class on using old polaroids as mini canvases.  The end product was a 3 dimensional piece that you looked into as if it was a little world inside a 3" x 3" frame.   I would have dig around really deep in my old files to find the pictures.  So you will just have to trust me on this one when i say they were 'fricken awesome'.

  


    It's occurring to me as i write this that both of my most recent pieces have had a distinctly hispanic edge to them.  In my piece called 'the resurrection of Yo' she looks to me like she was born and raised in Oaxaca.  The piece I did at Art and Soul begins with a drawing of a skeleton's head with a blood red path that flows from the area where the doctors drilled into my head.  No wonder the minute I saw the drawing I knew I had to work with it.  (There's a small picture below... before I worked with it and another one after.  I am aware that many might see it as a tortured soul sort of piece.   Especially if you don't notice all the music that frames the collage.  But it was really done in the spirit of Dios de los Muertos; a tribute to my previous self and to the new person I hope to become.

      Nothing like a 'near death experience' to turn one's life around.  And I am so looking forward to this trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and all the transformations it promises to bring. Many, many pictures when I get back, I promise.