Axis Mundi X discussion

The famed artist Robert Rauschenburg died last night at 82. What a loss to the art community. His exuberant embrace of life and everything in it was an inspiration to so many of us. See the NYT article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/art...
And here is a slide show of some of his work. Click on the arrow in the upper right of the picture to scroll thru:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008...

He was a great artist. I'm a collage artist myself, and he is one of the greats. Thanks Ruth.

I love his work, too. And from what I hear, he was a really nice guy, to boot.

Wow. I didn't know he was still alive. I need to pay more attention to things. But he was great...

I had a boyfriend in college who pretty much worshiped him. So I've always felt connected...

I saw that PBS piece, too. Very good. (But Ginnie, it's Christopher Knight.) Rauschenburg was involved in all sorts of cross discipline things. I would imagine it came from his early years at Black Mountain College, where the arts were interbreeding like mad.

You do collages, Charissa? Can we see?

Whisper (psst, I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours...)

Sure Ruth! I'll upload one of my digital collages as an avatar for the day... and then post a link to some of my other work.

here's a link to my portfolio on line... the collage pieces are down at the bottom of the page

http://web.mac.com/cdrengsen/iWeb/cur...

Wowy wow wow, Charissa. When I friended you I had no idea you had talent. I just liked your avatar. There's a lesson there about shallowness, but I probably won't learn it.

Hee! Thanks David. That may be the first time someone has loved me for my looks only. Awesome. Of course, you can't see my ass from there, so... ; )

Hey thanks Ginnie! : )

Charissa! Beautiful work. Really, really nice. Some of those assemblage pieces remind me of Joseph Cornell. He's a god.

I don't have a website, but I have some stuff on Photobucket I think I can link to. Not tonight though. I'm wiped.

I read CK's article in the Times, too, Ginnie. You know, I think I met him years ago.

Here are a few images of my work.




This one was cover art for ONTHEBUS Poetry Magazine a few years ago:







R

These are not what I do now. I'll post about those later.

Wow, Ruth! Just, wow! Love your shadows, especially...

Nicely done, Ruth. Are those oils?

Thanks Jackie, Charissa and Ginnie. The tennies and the sunbathing woman are both oils. The tennies are 36x48 and are hanging over my couch right now. I was kind of glad when they never sold because they were a favorite of mine.

The woman was sold immediately from the show it was in. It's about 48x48 or maybe a little bigger. Don't remember without looking it up.

The house and fire is pastel on paper, 22x30, and the still life is colored pencil on paper, also 22x30.

Wow Ruth. Each piece, while beautifully rendered, is so different, altho all are so emotional and evocative. Isn't it funny we all are drawn to a different one. For me, the last one awes me. A still, but so much violence there. It tells a story.

Charissa - I had no idea what you did! Very clean designs, very powerful too. Class act.

Ruth, those are beautiful!! I love the textures and the strokes. What type of pieces do you do now?

Thanks, Willie and Lori.

Lori, many of my still lifes contain the beautiful and the dangerous. So does my fire series. I'm fascinated by light and beauty, yet I'm always nervous it's going to be taken away. Hence the combination of beauty and danger that keeps cropping up in my work.

Very nice style, Ruth. Realist, but soft and true.

Lori, hey thanks! I'm available for weddings and bar mitzvahs. I be here all ze week.

Thanks, Charissa. I really like your work, too. Collage calls to me. Have you shown anywhere? You should.

Hey Carrisa,

Love the curly-cue design shop and your work. Reminiscence of my catholic child hood connects with the shrine. I am staring to work in three dimensional mediums but I am to structured and wish to be more free as to work with collage. I did one once and made it into a card. Of course when I scanned the artwork into my computer I couldn’t stop fussing with the lines and text and adding computer graphic touches.

Mostly I've just shown my underwear by accident.

but someday soon... when this move is over I will have a place to paint again. yay! and then.... no cafe will be safe...

Yeah, "by accident."

Willie.... my MFA program was focused on breaking down those kinds of barriers. To becoming freer and pushing past the inner critic. It was a great education and one that has applied to more than art... it leaks out into my life on a regular basis. I feel lucky to have that to bring back into more formal/traditional media, like graphic design.

I recommend a program called The Painting Experience if you are serious about getting past your own limitations. It's the most accesible and most universal venue for doing that kind of work:

http://www.processarts.com/

Dave... shush... you're blowing my cover man!

Thanks for the info Charissa, I'll check it out.

Sorry Charissa I forgot Willie and Ruth were new.

:::adjusts her librarian outfit so as to hide the dominatrix outfit underneath::::

Charissa, I forgot to say how much I enjoyed seeing your work. Lovely, interesting, cool!

I think you can go beyond cafes, Charissa. You're close to SF, why not try some of the galleries there? And university/college galleries. Get up a body of work, photo it, tart it around.

Where'd you get the MFA?

John F Kennedy University in Berkeley, Department of Consciousness and Transformative Arts (ie hippie school... heh)

I do like to tart around... thanks Ruth, that's a nice vote of confidence.