Will You Be Ready When The Horses Come For You?

 

 “Will You Be Ready When The Horses Come For You?”  by Crystal Neubauer

My recent work time in the studio found me attending to this piece for the "100 Artist Show: Art of Communication" opening at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem, Oregon the first weekend in February and running through March 3. The show features 100 artists who were invited to participate in partnerships of 2 artists each. After writing handwritten letters to their partnering artist, each artist was assigned to create, in their own medium, a piece inspired by their partners words. 

As I read the explanation from my partnered artist, Patricia Giraud's letter of her own work as an artist: “the horse became my totem around which I consider the principles of relationship, challenge, generosity and stewardship.” a song began playing on the radio in my studio called “Horses” by Margaret Becker. The lyrics read in part:

"Last night I dreamed of horses
Coming for my soul
Taking me to places
I wasn't ready yet to go

Last night I dreamed of silence
The silence that I keep
All the things I could've said
Well, they stole away my sleep

I need to remember
The horses will come
I need to remember
How quickly they run

I want no regrets
When the horses come for me
I cannot forget
That the horses come for me"

I view this type of serendipitous moment in the studio as divinely led and knew that the theme of the piece I would be creating for the show would center around the horse imagery Patricia described in her letter.

Patricia writes that she has been delving into issues of self and home, thus the bits of mesh and textured material in the upper portion of the collage above the ghost like images of the horses in the bottom portion are meant to impress upon the subconscious of the viewer as if looking through a kitchen window, curtains blowing in the breeze. The bits used here are multiple components from the spines of old books.  The use of book spines in my work always symbolizes inner strength. Just as the books strength comes from the structure of the spine hidden inside, so our own strength is often hidden within.

Patricia's own handwriting can be seen on the right and left sides of the bottom half of the collage, as I have used her letter and the envelope that it was mailed in as part of the composition, along with miscellaneous bits of antique letters and envelopes, English and Japanese, a sort of passing of a memory from one generation to the next.

Patricia is a very talented print artist, whose entry and explanation of what inspired her art from my letter can be viewed here. I love the piece she created and find myself selfishly wishing this partnership were a true art swap so that I could claim it as my own, but am well pleased that the show is actually a silent auction that will be raising funds for an art education program. You can read all about it at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery website here.  

Happenings

Reel Life - From Chicago is My Kind of Town Series: 6" x 18" digital collage with acrylic and found materials

We've been experiencing an unusually warm winter so far in the Chicago area, but the snow is on the way. No matter what the weather is, there is always an exciting vibe in the city. It is indeed My Kind of Town.

This week finds me dropping off several pieces from my Chicago series, along with my collage work, to Sacred Art, a popular and trendy little alternative gallery on Lincoln avenue that features emerging and established artists in a laid back environment. Be sure to stop by if you're in the area.

I am also excited to announce that I am now carrying Giclee Fine Art Prints of some of my favorite collage works in my Etsy shop. There are currently four designs to choose from.

And finally, this Sunday I am teaching Intuitive Collage and Encaustic Basics at Perfical Sense Studio in Evanston and there are still a few spaces available if you are looking for a fun way to spend the day.

Image Of The Week: Minute Book

 

Minute Book: Mixed Media Collage by Crystal Neubauer

A new year brings a sense of expectancy, new beginnings, second chances and continued growth, yet we long to hang on to the memories of the year that has passed and honor the places we've been. Not "out with the old, in with the new" as tradition would say, but "out of the old, I am made new".

Local Workshop Announcements for January 2012

"Do You See Me?"   by Crystal Neubauer

 

Local Workshops were announced in last weeks Image of the Week Newsletter. Here are the details and a date change to the workshop being offered in my home studio:

Intuitive Collage & Encaustic Techniques
Sunday January 15, 2012 at Perfical Sense Studio in Evanston, Illinois. Visit the website here for details and registration information.

Wax, Wire, and Paper
Saturday January 21, 2012 at my home studio in Grayslake, Illinois.
10am - 4pm with 1/2 hour break for lunch (bring a lunch and drinks will be provided)

This class will focus on combining wire frames and paper with encaustic wax for personal adornment, sculptural works, or adornments (a spin-off of my Wax & Wire Jewelry class taught at Art&Soul and EncaustiCamp). Working with encaustic and paper students will also learn to create non-traditional collage works free of any structural forms. Materials are included, but students are encouraged to gather found papers from their personal collections for a more personal experience.
 

$120 per student - 1/2 down with registration and balance the day of. 

Email crystal_opf@comcast to register.

A Clean Slate Series

"A Clean Slate Series" by Crystal Neubauer

Sometimes my art informs my life before I even understand it - this new series is titled "A Clean Slate" and made its debut at Chicago's One of a Kind Show this year. 

As I looked at the works in this series- named for the centerpiece shown above- and talked about it to those visiting me at the show it struck me over and over how profound it was, the way it came together and the timing of it all. The series consists of several large works that have been evolving in the studio for several months. I've agonized over some of these pieces and was not able to bring them together to a satisfying outcome. Over and over again I would pull them out, work a little on them and then in frustration put them away thinking it just wasn't going to happen. Then just a few days before the show, when I was supposed to be framing and putting the last minute details for the booth together it all struck me so clearly - I could see what each piece needed and I worked frantically adding the black fields of Indian Ink and some graphite details. Better, much better. But still needing something. More pencil and mark making I thought. So I picked up a small pack of drawing pastels, in which a white piece was included, and as I put those white marks to the black ink I knew it was done. The worn chalkboard appearance with all the visible erase marks. Words came out of that white pencil. Labels I wanted to be free of. Names I had been called, or had called myself. And places I had been that I never wanted to go back to. 

I wrote and I wiped away and A Clean Slate series was born. 

But little did I know as I put it all together how much more it would mean to me just a few days later. 

"A Clean Slate" by Crystal Neubauer

On the bottom left of the centerpiece is an old ledger page, over 100 years old, that I had splatted with ink during a time of worship as the words "by your stripes I am healed" were sung. It is significant to me that this page wound up in the collage without my knowledge of what the finished piece would be about, symbolically adding to the theme of a clean slate, speaking to me - "your debt has been paid, the slate truly has been wiped clean."

 "More Then a Woman" by Crystal Neubauer

I've written about this piece in the past. I thought it was done, but was never quite satisfied with it. As I worked on the centerpiece of the series I spied this one hanging on the studio wall and had the same epiphany as I had with the first work. More mark-making and the slate appearance was added, more words and labels written and erased, and I am so fully satisfied with the result. 

"You are more then the labels they want you to wear. More then your past mistakes or any one thing. You are more then a woman. You are uniquely made and have unsurpassable worth." 

 "Do You See Me?" by Crystal Neubauer

This one also came off the wall to be reworked. The thoughts and feelings being poured out on the canvas. 

"Sometimes I think you look right through me. Sometimes its like I'm not even there. Do you see me? Does it even matter to you? I'm a real person - you can't turn me on and off. I am not disposable. I matter. Do you even see me?"

A new chapter is beginning in my life, with a clean slate. I am blessed by the places I've been, good and bad, as they have made me the woman I am today. I'm looking to God to show me the next steps and am following hard each day, the places He is telling me to go as I heal and begin again. I have many workshop announcements and exciting things to share so be sure to come back in a few days. Meanwhile be blessed.You too have unsurpassable worth.