His Tern

It's hard for me to believe this is the final challenge in our first 18-month cycle.....and Mary really picked an interesting one, "to create a work of any aspect of nature with unexpected and surprising color substitutions".  At first glance, it seemed like it would be the easiest, but as the month moved on, idea after idea was discarded.  Paisley lizards and snakes abound, as do a rainbow of birds on a wire.  Colorful cats are not art (so I'm told) and a lot of unexpected colors actually *do* exist in nature, so those won't work.  Maybe I have just over-analyzed the challenge....

I photographed a lot of sea birds when I lived in Florida and was always amused by the terns.  They have an almost laughable seriousness about them, always lined up, facing the same direction, waiting for who knows what.  I went through lots of these photos when I was making my auction square this year and remembered this character in one of them - this "different" bird, making his joyful noise - while the others ignored him and looked away.  He was a colorful guy and I think it is "His Tern".

Material: Hand-dyed cotton fabrics with raw-edge machine appliqué, embroidery and quilting. 18" W x 24" H

Transformation of odds and ends

by Misik Kim

After working, many pieces are left.

I did not throw away them.

Put these pieces in the box and were stored.

So there are a lot of boxes in my studio.

Some of them are very old and are forgotten.

One day in the vacation, I opened these boxes.

So many memories of my works are there.

Recently I try to work with these pieces to.....

Thanks to all of Viewpoints9 Artists.

It is like long journey to me.

It is hard, surprise and fresh ........ to me.

Now I am waiting next trip with Viewpoint9 .

Thanks again.

 

The work  : 20” ⅹ 20”

Tangerine Trees

Tangerine Trees

I took a watercolor class at the library about ten years ago and the instructor challenged the students to be bold with color. She said if you looked hard enough, you could find every color in the spectrum in your subject.  "You think a palm tree is green? Look harder. In addition to myriad greens, you'll see yellow and blue, even fuchsia." Fuchsia? Really? I get the greens and yellows and even reflected blues, but pink? In a palm tree? Then she showed me.

She painted a dab of the most remarkable pink right next to the heart of the tree. Amazingly, it worked. Not only did it work, it made the painting more interesting and dynamic. What a fun and memorable lesson!

Of course my first thoughts of this challenge led me to the fuchsia palm. I sketched the pink palm with the green trunk next to a yellow sea and purple sky. Nice idea but unfortunately it only worked in theory. Other designs buzzed around my head like bees on a flower, but time ticked by and nothing congealed.

To say I'm not fond of the waiting phase of the design process would be an understatement. Rather than focus on the excitement of visions buzzing about the periphery, I feel pressured by time. I've always been a results-oriented person and knowing there is a deadline looming with a solution just beyond my reach is frustrating. My remedy? Play.

Detail

"Tangerine Trees" is the result of playing with inks and fabrics I hadn't used before. It is the product of "What if...?" combined with a healthy dose of urgency. The soft peachy color is unintentionally faded orange. I was impatient to get to work so I set the fabric in the sun to dry. You know what happens to inks in the sun? Hmm...the bottle does say lightfast AFTER they're dry. Ah well, I can deal with peach, I was just playing anyway.

I used a glue resist on the cotton and then dyed the muslin, synthetic acetate and sheers with India inks.

Oh yes, my husband named it. He said it reminded him of "tangerine trees and a marmalade sky" from the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Out of Control Weather

by Lin Hsin-Chen

Global warming becomes even more serious in summer 2013. Human beings are luckily enough to be able to hide into an air-conditioned room to regulate body temperature. The pursuit of comfort is a human instinct. How about all the other living things on Earth? Are they as lucky as we are? The temperature is getting higher and higher every year. The problem of global warming seems out of control. What a hazardous time we are in! It’s hard to imagine that we human beings will become “climate refugees” in the future.

I attended a cruise trip in July. As a first-time cruiser, I enjoyed the facilities on the ship and felt everything was so novel. But I felt confused when I was listening to the tourist guide on the cruise explaining how the coastline landscape has been changed due to climate change, flood and drought. It swept away my joy and made me feel sad. Why does the environment change? How will it affect the future?

Getting off the ship, we visited the coastline of Okinawa. I saw a scorched tree standing obliquely under the hot sun in the marine park. The tree leaves just looked like black nets. There was no wind under the shade, only high-temperature heat instead. I guess the tree also felt unwell as I did. I quickly ran into the air conditioning car. How about the tree? Does Nature have any method to resist the hazardous climate? Or does it just show the reality in front of human beings and try to give some warns?

Admittedly, this trip was no much fun. The cruise brought me to the coast and let me see the ecological truth and the environmental change we’re facing, which is very different from what I saw from an airplane. The scorched black tree was definitely an unforgettable scene for me! Pray for the Earth!

Materials: commercial cotton, poly batting, lace, silk, flannelette, knit patterns

Techniques: 100% hand-stitched

The problem with being a literalist

This is literally what Mary Pal posed to the group on July 1:

For this final challenge in the first series, we will focus on the area of Naturalistic Intelligence (good at appreciating the world and nature).   

I was ruminating...for a couple of weeks when I read the following article on July 14th.

The Boston Globe

Should chimpanzees have legal rights? - The Boston Globe

In the next few months, an animal advocacy group called the Nonhuman Rights Project plans to file a case on behalf of its first animal client. It has already chosen the plaintiff, a captive chimp,...

The question asked in the first few sentences in the article by Chris Berdik, "Should dolphins, great apes, and elephants be granted rights of their own?", got me to thinking.  I have been periodically worried about the chimps aging in now underfunded and mostly forgotten science labs.  

It's In the DNA...Somewhere

I remember Dr. Sherer, a social anthropologist, lecturing about how man is differentiated from animals...one of those criteria was tool making.  Really.  I went to university that long ago.

Who can look in the eyes of a chimp and not see an intelligent being?

I decided to create a portrait of a chimp that reminded me of formal portraits (of important humans) progenitors, with a mottled background.  In this case I created the background by rubbing over stabilized black walnut shells...working toward the title of "It's Just Nuts...Not to"

First Draft:  It's Just Nuts

This is the way it stayed for a couple of weeks...more ruminating.  Questions occurred to me....mostly about how alike are we to our  anyway?  How much DNA do we really share?  Speaking of DNA...where on the DNA chain does "inalienable rights" get attached?  Just when is that that we 'inherit' our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Purple Urchin

Echinoderms R Us

For this challenge, I reverted to one of my favorite phylums- the echinoderms.

Something about the radial symmetry attracts me, or maybe it's the abundance of circular patterns :)

Above is a scientific drawing of a sea urchin test- which is the shell that remains after the spines fall off and the animal inside decays.

I showed a modicum of self restraint and just gave this one a bit of purple around the edges.

Detail of the mouth (?)  He was made from silk and Evolon, heat cut.  He was fun as always!

Red Fox, Blue Fox

For the 9th challenge, I remembered how much fun it was (still is) to open a new box of crayons, knowing I could use those 64 colors to bring drawings to life, going inside or outside the lines.  I love the smell of Crayola crayons and the names they give the colors, like Melon, Chestnut and Periwinkle.  I don't know what Sienna is, but apparently it can either be Raw or Burnt.  No one knows how to cook sienna properly, it seems.

The real Northern Red Fox's color varies from a light tangerine orange to a dull reddish brown. How about a Cornflower Blue one?  Sure, why not?  And why stick with the regular green grass when we could go with Magenta and Fire Engine Red instead?



This was a terrific way to wrap up the first cycle of Viewpoints9. Not only did I get to play with fun colors, but I came back to one of my favorite genres – portraits. The structure of his face is different than my usual human subject, but he has a personality. I think I see a slight grin – or a smirk? – under those whiskers.

Thank you, to the 9 artists who joined this group and shared your thoughts and your artwork! I've learned so much from you, and look forward to continuing the journey in "cycle 2". 

Tech Specs: hand dyed cotton fabric, cut and layered using raw edge applique, free-motion machine quilting, rayon and poly thread

Where's Jack?

I had fun with this challenge and in the end trying to come up with a title for my quilt, with the family helping was a fun event too!

Where's Jack

Artist statement: News Flash- Giant Bean Stalk Discovered in Jungle. 
Explorers have discovered a Giant Bean Stalk, thought to have been extinct, deep in the heart of the jungle. We are unable to reveal the exact location for fear of thief of this rare specimen. Botanical researchers are trying to contact Jack as his expert opinion on the authenticity of the discovery is needed.

Materials: Cotton fabric, dye, fabric paint, tulle, metallic and cotton threads.

Techniques: Dyeing, printing with foliage, created fantasy bean stalk, painted wadding, machine applique, machine quilting.

 Thank you to my fellow Viewpoint 9ers for taking the time to come up with these amazing challenges, pushing us out of our comfort zones, extending our skills and knowledge and forming friendships across the seas. It has been marvellous and I look forward with anticipation to a new, exciting round beginning on September 1!

A Horse of a Different Color

Equus - 24 x 18 inches

Equus - detail

When I saw the original photo of this lovely chestnut draft horse, I was, of course, drawn to the texture of his mane. And this challenge, with the opportunity to play around with color, was a perfect chance to let loose.

Sculpted cheesecloth, water-soluble wax pastels

Participating in the challenges with the eight other artists in this group over the past year and a half has been a wonderful experience and I will watch your progress in the coming year with great interest. Play on!