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I, along with 16 other Savannah, GA based artists, was recently interviewed by Kayla Goggin of the Savannah Art Informer about creative habits. Goggin's article explores the data she collected in order to make a conclusion about how artists create best.
The studio I work for, Lovelane Designs, is doing the crowd funding thing (through Etsy!) and asking fans to help expand the company. Demand is growing and production is unable to keep up! We need a special piece of equipment, a large scale conveyor dryer which cures the printed ink to the fabric, in order to stay in flight. This With your super powers and ours, we can continue to create hand-crafted heirloom quality imaginative play-wear for the little ones. Check out the video and the merchandise, support if you're into it!
Thanks!
photo by Lyn Bonham Photography
Before being awarded the opportunity to complete the Savannah Mossterpiece, I was asked by Judge Realty to create this illustration. It was for the invitations to a party that was held to celebrate the tenth year anniversary of the company, to raise funds for a local non-profit organizaton, ArtRise Savannah, and to celebrate the completion of the Savannah Mossterpiece.
Transformation, Adaptation, and Harmony
The A-Town Get Down is a one-day festival is put on by the Alex Townsend Memorial Foundation, a foundation created in memory of Alex Townsend by his family to help support art and music development and appreciation all around the country. The installation is comprised of over a hundred dragonflies flying above a negative space which makes up Mount Kenya. Alex and his family were avid hikers, and Mount Kenya is one of the mountains they hiked. My installation is linked to artist, Katherine Sandoz’s stage installation through our concept of linking Savannah, GA with a mountain the family hiked together by referencing the landscapes and ecosystems of each.
I would like to thank the following people for help on concept and origami folding: Katherine Sandoz, Lane Gardner, Gianina Gabriel, Lyn Bonham, and Payton Gardner.
When I was younger, I believed that however many times it took to pluck the head off of a dead dragonfly was the number of years it had lived.
This week’s post is about the Dragonfly. Instead of exploring the physical and biological aspects of the dragon fly, I’m going to write about human perceptions and myths relating to the dragonfly.
So maybe this post is more about humans than dragonflies?
Human’s like to tinker, especially in the brain. Everything, dead or alive, has a story or a reason for being. This is especially how it was before science happened.
It seems like most cultures had/have positive perceptions of dragonflies. Except for the Europeans, but old white cultures were scared of nature, so that makes sense. In parts of Europe, dragonflies were called “devil’s darning needles,” “ear cutters,” and “eye snatchers.” They were perceived to bring the devil out and do harm, especially to horses. Damn those ‘horse stingers!!’ (Although, on a more biological note, dragonflies actually help horses (and humans), by eating tons of those pesky parasitic insects (mosquitoes) that actually DO harm the horses.)
In contrast, some Japanese myths tell of the dragonfly as a Holy creature that represents courage, strength, and happiness. And, in some Native American (sorry to be so non-specific about Tribes here) stories, dragonflies are seen as the souls of the dead, or symbols for activity, swiftness, and purity of water. Many modern day people view the dragonfly in a positive light as well. They are a symbol of power, transformation, adaptation, peace, and harmony.
It is the idea of the dragonfly representing transformation, adaptation, and harmony that I used while creating a stage installation for a music and art festival called the A-Town Get Down. The one-day festival is put on by the Alex Townsend Memorial Foundation, a foundation created in memory of Alex Townsend by his family to help support art and music development and appreciation all around the country. The installation is comprised of over a hundred dragonflies flying above a negative space which makes up Mount Kenya. Alex and his family were avid hikers, and Mount Kenya is one of the mountains they hiked. My installation is linked to artist, Katherine Sandoz’s stage installation through our concept of linking Savannah, GA with a mountain the family hiked together by referencing the landscapes and ecosystems of each.
You can see both of our installations, as well as many other talented artists and musicians at the A-Town Get Down Festival this Saturday the 21st. It will be held at the Charles H. Morris Center in Savannah, GA from 12pm-12am.
Don’t be square.
This holiday season I will have silk scarves, prints, and other handmade items for sale at the Broughton Exhange Pop-up Shop on 18 E. Broughton St. in Savannah, Ga. The shop will be open every weekend until Christmas, with new items added each weekend.
Paprika Southern wrote a great little blerb about the shop. Check it out, if you can or contact me about what I have in stock for sale. ;)
There are also new products in the works!
Lane and I attended the Savannah Slideluck this year. It was so great to enjoy the homemade (mmm) food and company of the SAV community and to see some great work I didn't know existed.
