A Topography of Woman

A work in SLOW process!!!!!! I'm really liking the heavy layering of paint and texture lately in my art, and have been working on this piece for almost 6 months. It keeps adding to itself, changing colours and feel, and i think is finally in a background state as i much as i care/want to have it.

I've been thinking a lot lately about family, relationships, legacies and history. What comes from within us that was shaped by our familial circumstances isn't always obvious. The colour of the eyes and a liking for cottage cheese, a certain gesture of the hand or a timbre of laugh is not all that connects us, that makes us part of that circle. I think it's an intangible quality that is just *there*, and i recognize these traits as an inherited (in the sense of nurture)/genetic (biologically speaking)/cultural (the "style" of upbringing, not whether you are brownwhiteblackgreen catholicprotestantevangelical canadianirishswahili) sameness.

It's the Feminine in my family that most stands out--of course, there are men in the family, but it's the women i remember the most, as being the power, the powerhouses, the ones who delegated the power. My  lineage is Matriarchal in all respects but for surnames.

While there are pieces that will progress the line, as i honour my father and grandfather (only knew one grandfather and never met the Greats...) and my brothers (possibly :}), it's the women who fascinate me. Making do, doing without, starting all over, transplanting and transporting, not truly a gypsy family, but damn close!!!! 

This particular piece is for my Mother and myself.

I've never been one to do a lot of "conceptualizing" what i do. However, as i grow older, some things are becoming more expressive and important to me. I promise though that i will never do "ArtSpeak", that abyss of tangled phrases and convoluted reasoning that attempts to "explain". HA! Just look at the pictures and see what you will, feel what you need.

 My entry yesterday was not a slagging of people downloading, by the way. It's just when i see that quantity and the particular items, that i wonder why and where. I "save" as well the photos of work by others--not to copy, but to examine and extrapolate what they say to me, what they could be for me! I have a "folder" for Inspiration and it's stuffed!

Anyhoo, enough of the serious. I recieved the most wonderful "studio warming" box from MaryAnne and am off to take pics of the glories it held. My friend, you are incredibly generous a soul!!!!! 

Comments

[Mary Anne]

Lovely work Arlee! It's wonderful to know that women can be powerful in a familial (is that a word?) setting and so they should be celebrated.

As for MY being generous...hah...I just simply took a page from YOUR book.

[Paulahewitt]

I enjoyed this very much - I come from a very matriarchal family myself. Great colour and form.

[Jackie (Wooff!)]

You don't do artspeak but you do plainspeak and its a pleasure to read, It enhances the visuals!(Which are great)

[Midge]

Catching up again - your words spake to my soul and all I can say is what a wondrous and complex woman your Mother must be. I too, come from a very strong female family background - stoic is the revolting word oft quoted. Food for thought here, that can also have its drawbacks. Love ya.