Saturday, June 5, 2010

the instinctive

root chakra - acrylic paint, oil pastels, colored pencil, and watercolors on muslin and plaster cloth

this week i began exploring the chakras in erin faith allen's e-course 'collaging the chakras'. erin invited me to participate, gratis... when someone offers you something from their heart, it touches you. deeply...

what i did was put plaster cloth on the page where i knew i wanted to dig into the surface to create the dark brown outline. at first i had a red lotus where the egg is, but it didn't work. what i felt i needed at the root chakra was something that represented birth, the beginning... when the idea for the egg popped into my head (after much covering up and trying different ideas), i knew that was it. the white lotus at the top represents the crown chakra - on two pages in regina.

this idea of adding plaster cloth to the muslin pages has taken me over for the moment. i love everything about it. especially that you can dig into it...

colored pencil in moleskine pocket sketchbook

this is the page opposite s. l. jones' smiling face (in the last post). i did my own smiling face, and i think she looks a little like gwyneth paltrow... but i don't think gwyneth'd like that big left ear - even though it's my favorite part. : )

colored pencil in moleskine pocket sketchbook

drawing while thinking about chakras...

* * *

i got a tashchen book about modigliani yesterday and am slowly perusing his faces... i especially love the eyes... how expressive, how pensive they are. but then his use of color knocks me out too...

modigliani

"What I am seeking is not the real and not the unreal but rather the unconscious, the mystery of the instinctive in the human race."

~ Amedeo Modigliani


XO

24 comments:

  1. Beautiful work. Loved this post especially!

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  2. Very interesting, as always. :)Bea

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  3. I am loving the root chakra image - it looks like a magnificent bulb to me - roots that get hidden away beneath the ground and then burst forth...cool stuff !

    I LOVE Modigliani ! The women, the expressions, the colors, the back grounds...oh, the mystery.
    Thanks for the visit today, as always, it is inspiring and beautiful here...
    Big Love, Magnificent One.

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  4. I love your page of the root chakra. It is profound and exquisite. I would not normally think of the root chakra as so delicate, but I feel you are picking up an energy that is true.Wonderful.

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  5. I do love your your root chakra...I can just imagine a book of these symbolic nature images. Just wonderful.
    Aaahhhh Modigliani, I love his work too. I have the 25th Anniv. edition of the Tashcen Modigliani (is that the one you have?).
    His work, the portraits are amazing. The colours, the composition (I love their long necks).
    There is a wonderful DVD of his life that is worth watching if you can get your hands on it, Andi Garcia playing Modigliani.
    I have quite a selection of those Taschen books. The Hundertwasser one is my favourite of my Hundertwasser books...great quality and selection of his work and very reasonably priced.

    Take care and I LOVE what you are doing in the e-class.

    Jacky xox

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  6. Beautiful new page. It seems that no matter what image it is that you chose to draw, you do it in such a special way that always says Hoppe!

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  7. I love that quote by Modigliani. Very wonderful. I like the page you did with the egg too. At first I thought it was a reflection under water or an upside-down person in the water. It made sense for me that way too, with the plant growing out of what the person was putting forth under the water and the water nourishing them both. You always amaze me Lynne!

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  8. Yes I see Gwyneth Paltrow! 'Collaging the chakras' sounds interesting and I like what you have done with the root chakra piece.

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  9. It is such a joy to visit your blog,Lynne,all your paintings make me happy and inspired. Thanks for sharing. Love that Modigliani too!

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  10. wonderful as always ...
    i love the red root.
    xxoo

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  11. love this chakra - such a change from your faces but clearly your style

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  12. oh yes! awesome Lynne, love the first image especially
    and adore Mody! the movie is worth it ... but depressing of course!! the one thing about the movie that stayed with me, was the line about not painting Jean's eyes, he says (and i dont know if it is movie license or not) that he will paint her eyes when he knows her soul....
    and kudo's for attracting a free ecourse! xoxo

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  13. thank you, leslie...it's always nice to see you here... : )

    thanks, bea...

    kim, yes, i think a bulb is it... an egg bulb... and ditto on modigliani! hope you're having a beautiful weekend my friend...

    thank you zom, i feel that way too... xo

    hi jacky, yes, that's the one i have, although i think i need another, more extensive one now. this one is mighty thin. ; ) i have the DVD in our queue at netflix... and thank you for your nice words! i have no idea what might represent the second chakra! xo

    thank you, colette! xo

    smiling here, seth... and thank you... : )

    wow, teri, i love the image that you thought you saw! how magical it is! love to you, sweet woman! xo

    robyn, i can just imagine that if you were collaging the chakras, the collages would be stunning... my images may end up looking like they came from a class entitled 'painting the chakras'. : ) xo

    oh thank you, hanna. i do appreciate that... xo

    thank you, kathy... xo

    hi sherry, and thank you... : )

    cat, i wonder if this is why he left so many eyes 'blank'? the funny thing to me is that they look anything but blank. they're quite QUITE expressive to me... one of the things that impresses me the most about his portraits (and jeanne comes to mind here because he did so many of her) is that they don't resemble the person at all, and yet energetically i feel he captures them completely. of course this is only my sense of it, but it feels this way to me... xo

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  14. Was here earlier laptop farted out couldn't get comment to leap onto page. Ha. Just to say I love the red egg. Will try later. iPodakes commenting labor.

    Xo bless

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  15. Wonderful view on the root chakra...
    thinking, thinking.... -j

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  16. Hi Lynne, Nice pages! I like the self-portrait, ear & all. My Mildred Nana told me when I was a child that as we get older our ears & noses get bigger. As I have ears like my Dad's (perfect for holding hair back), I figured by the time I was Nana's age I could fly like Dumbo. Hasn't happened yet, but I'm still hoping.
    The e-class sounds great, maybe in July...
    Happy days,
    Joanie

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  17. so i said i love the red egg--a power symbol, no?

    .
    that Modigliani quote is striking! a big yes to it.! The way we "see" and "know" vs what seems to be sitting in front of us, what a gap of wonder!
    .

    was looking at your top image from the post below too, on ipod, it can bee seen differently (stretched open for details) and its full of wonder and openess on the right side! love looking into its "methods" of expression that way.


    let me know if you recall where Walker Percy wrote about the "molecular wind" please.

    big blessings.
    most assuredly summer yesterday (hit the 90's)

    exos

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  18. beautiful and inspiring post Lynne - I love this new piece - the quote touched my heart - I love my visits to your blog - and I'm going to get around to trying the plaster cloth one day - thank you so much

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  19. Holy Moly!!

    You just keep advancing! I was almost caught up with you!

    Well.

    I mean, I bought some muslin and it's in the hamper to be washed.

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  20. Working in a muslin journal must be lovely and the texture incredible. I really like the simplicity and elegance of “Root Chakra.”

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  21. I look forward to seeing what you create in your chakra class! I like this piece, very much

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  22. m., lol, 'commenting labor'... that egg is gold but i can see how it might look red. regardless of the color, it's potent. : ) xo exo...

    thanks, jayne...

    joanie, you might fly out here some day, and we'll discuss art, honey bees, and the mysteries of life. : ) xo

    m., it's still cool here - 42 tonight and maybe down to freezing. no sense of summer yet...

    as for the egg, i think a golden egg represents (mostly) possibility or potential to me.

    already told you about walker... just ordered the last two books of his that we haven't read yet from interlibrary loan. they also have the letters of shelby foote and w.percy. they were lifelong friends...

    interdimensional exos!!

    ah rosie, love seeing you here... i've no doubt that when you try the plaster cloth you'll do something incredible... xo

    HA! chris, you don't fool me... i know far ahead of the game you are... xo

    hi gina, thank you... yes, the texture is lovely in a muslin journal. *and* it's practically indestructible - you can do anything to the pages and they're unfazed. thank you for coming by... : )

    thank you, tammie...

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  23. What a cool idea to collage the chakras. Your root chakra is absolutely gorgeous! I laughed at Gwyneth Paltrow--it does look like her!

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