Hekate's Angel and a Fairy Tail

Hekate's Angel

This assemblage and carved wood piece is named for Hekate the Greek Goddess of doorways and crossroads. In ancient Greece she was considered the guardian of the veil between the worlds, the material and the spiritual.

Hekate's Angel is made with a vintage doorknob plate nailed to a found piece of wood. There is a magnifying lens where the doorknob once fit. Behind the lens I inserted an antique porcelain doll face. Behind the keyhole is a tiny bone. The keyhole is covered with mica. I carved the wings from fallen aspen wood.They are painted and then gilded with metal leaf. There is a hook on the back so that the piece can hang on a wall. 
Size: 7.5" x 11" x 1"

Tulip

Tulip is from a series called The Secret Garden. As a child one of my favorite books was "The Secret Garden" The story of a young girl who discovers the locked door to an abandoned, overgrown garden. As the story unfolds the garden is revived along with the girl and her closest companions.

The objects in this series are worn and maybe a little crusty on the outside. They've a few chips and dings. With a little love and attention something wild and wonderful grows out from their ruins! Tulip is made from a vintage porcelain doll and carved aspen wood. I carved the wooden stems and leaves. Each detailed carving is attached by a tiny carved peg and glued in place. The wood is painted with acrylic and waxed.The figure is set in the stem with jewelers epoxy.

Tulip can sit on a surface or hang on the wall.
Size: 2"h x 7"w x 3"d

New Works November - All Souls

I Love November. beginning with All Souls Day and ending with Thanksgiving, it's a month for remembrance and celebration. In keeping with the spirit of this season I've started a new series inspired by Memento mori. This genre of art dating back to antiquity is meant to remind us of our mortality and to remember lost loved ones. My Memento mori, made with antique photographs, carved wood and found objects, alludes to life's ephemeral nature. I'm so excited to be able to exhibit some of these pieces in a fantastic group show at Sacred Machine Museum and Curiosity Shop. The show is part of The Santa Muerte Music and Arts Festival and runs through December 31, 2011.

Memento mori #1

Memento mori #2

Memento mori #3

Memento mori #4

Memento mori #5

Lady of All Souls

Trick or Treat ~ Los Luchadores!

Movie Poster featuring the luchador El Santo, 1965

This time of year in the US most kids and quite a few grown ups are putting on masks for the Halloween holiday. Wearing masks for celebration, theater, and ritual started long ago. Probably around the same time we humans were hunting and gathering. Nowadays there are few places on earth where masks are  regularly worn but in pre-Columbian Mexico masks were worn by priests and kings. The Aztecs and Mayans left behind stone carvings and paintings of those masked men. They were kind of the rock stars of their day so I guess masks were a part of pre-Columbian pop culture. In present day Mexico masks still have a place in mass culture on the faces of luchadores (Mexican wrestlers). Real, live, flesh and blood masked men, luchadores are part superhero/villian/amazing athlete/ film star/comic book character/icon. And not only that ...their images are painted on the sides of buildings, adorned on clothing, and are used in advertisments. They're inspiring subjects for visual artists all over the world.

Luchador postcard

Valentino The Luchadore of Heart Breakers by Robert Palacios

Lucky Lucho by Max Lehman

Their form of professional wrestling is called Lucha Libre (Free Wrestling). The masked version originated in Mexico in the early 1900's. Most luchadores begin their careers wearing a mask. Many only appear in public masked. Even those who appear unmasked go to great lengths to guard their true identities. The mask is sacred. At some point many luchadores will lose their masks either in a  "face off" (challenge) with another wrestler or as a ploy where they remove one mask and replace it in order to transform in to a new luchador character. Sometimes a masked luchador is umasked at the end of his career relinquishing his identity once and for all.

Luchador Poster-Mask vs. Hair

They fight the timeless battle of good and evil. There is  lots of drama in a luchador match but they are also true athletes known for their high flying  moves. Some take on the role of the good guys. They follow the rules of luche libre to the letter and execute the luchador wrestling techinique with consumate skill. They are called the tecnicos. Others are a bit tricky, They are the brawlers, the bad guys. They are known as the rudos. All of the wrestlers are expected to stick to the Luchador code of honor.

El Santo by Teresa Villegas

El Santo and the Blue Demon Coutesy of Saide's Art

Street Art, Madrid

Painting on Metal Sign, Mexico City

At this point you've probably realized that I have a bit of a "thing" for luchadores! When I set out to do this  post I realized that I've gathered quite a collection of luchador stuff. It was hard to choose. Recently I made some of my own Luchador inspired artworks, these little Luchador Angels. I can't wait to do more!

Luchador Angels

I've only included a few of the images here that I wanted to, some from my own collection along with a few stock photos and best of all the works of some wonderful artists. There are links back to the artist's websites under the images of their works. I hope you'll visit to see more of their fantastic art!

Traveling Angels

Tin Can Angel

While you were dreaming... an angel might have flown over.  She was circling the planet. Observing all of the people, the animals, the varied landscapes. Ocean to mountain to desert.  Angels like to travel. This one even has her own map.

Earth and Man

Earth and Man

 

The Earth

Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon
the remembered earth, I believe. He ought to give himself up
to a particular landscape in his experience, to look at it from
as many angles as he can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon
it.
He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at
every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon
it. He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest
motions of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of noon and
all the colors of the dawn and dusk.
For we are held by more than the force of gravity to the earth.
It is the entity from which we are sprung, and that into which
we are dissolved in time. The blood of the whole human race
is invested in it. We are moored there, rooted as surely, as
deeply as are the ancient redwoods and bristlecones.

Navarre Scott Momaday

Earth and Man 22"x6.5"x7"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This figure is carved from fallen aspen wood that I collected in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico.. The base is made with a mosaic of vintage wood. The figure's tattoos and the earth are  painted with acrylic. The entire piece is finished with wax.

Hello Harvest Moon

Bird Boy and the Harvest Moon

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." ~ George Eliot

Sueño/ Dream

 

Sueño/ Dream
8" x 27" x 6"

 

We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

~William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Carved from fallen aspen wood this piece holds a tiny window made of antique tin, collage and mica.The figure is painted with washes of iridescent acrylic paint. The delicate details are done with paint and a wood burning tool. The entire figure is coated with wax to enhance the richness of the paint and protect the wood surface.