Here she is again, my Esperanza (© 2008), the outrageous, artistic, "little bit different", figment of my imagination. I don't typically blog twice in the same day but since I'm not working for the next week, I thought I should take advantage of having extra time. This was a fun project to do and I listed it today on etsy. I began with a watercolor wash and proceeded from there, adding the drawing and collage embellishments. I especially like the bird in Esperanza's hair.
Newest of the muses, La Belle Isault is named for the character in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in which La Belle Isault and Sir Tristan fall madly in love after accidentally drinking a love potion.
This muse has been created from a photograph taken in the early 1900's. She has mesh and lace butterfly wings, holds a pressed rose to her breast and is the art from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. La Belle Isault has been very challenging for me due to her muted tones and piercing eyes.
(Listed today on Etsy; ©2008)
Gentile (pictured above) and Anne (pictured below) join the Sisterhood of the Muses which began with Cecelia. Every artist should have a muse and these are made to be hung in the studio of each and every artist. I love creating these because they are a lot of art in a very little space. These inspirational muses are now for sale on my Etsy site.(designs copyrighted by S. Gonzalez-Day; ©2008)
Cecelia is a three-dimensional collage angel created from an original vintage photograph and embellished with lace, a vintage flower, and and a Madonna stamp. Cecelia will hang in my studio on the knob of my supply cabinet to serve as my muse. I have several more in the works. I hope you like this new road I am traveling.
(design copyrighted by S. Gonzalez-Day; ©2008)
Each year, for the past three years, I have written a portion of my life story as the gift I give my three daughters for Christmas. I often wished that my own mother had written about her daily life experiences and so, decided to do that for my girls. The first two years I wrote with the humor that often comes when remembering the craziness of childhood and the recalcitrant nature of being a teenager. Last year, I moved to a more serious topic and discussed the events leading to the end of my marriage and the years of struggle with my mother's lengthy illness.
This year, I have decided to follow the advice of the author of the book, Thinking About Memoir, by Abigail Thomas. She suggests writing for about ten minutes on one of the topics she mentions in the book. The topics are very simple; or so they seem until one begins to write. The topics have titles such as: What You Wish You Could Still Do; What Was Left Behind: Something That Happened In Water, etc. I am continually amazed at the clarity and insight I have when I just allow myself to write freely. These topics seem so simple and mundane. They offer, however, a window into the everyday events of my life that I would never have thought to write about. Years from now, when the final page of my story has been written, I hope my children will know all about me...my joys, my hopes, my fears, my disappointments, the life lessons I learned, the people I loved, and that life itself is the finest collage one can ever create.
Meet Serafina, the newest addition to my studio. She is green and lithe and very fashionable. She is visually transparent and very easy to dress. Right now, she is wearing a lace shawl and many necklaces.
The necklaces are from the early fifties and are fine adornments, I do believe. Serafina is very proud to have been chosen to decorate this studio. I know I will have many pleasant times changing her wardrobe.
I found an antique mink stole in my cedar chest that she will probably wear when she tires of the lace shawl. And I also think she would look very snappy in denim with a piece of old costume jewelry on her lapel. Who knows what we'll find next. Tomorrow, I go thrift store shopping. Look out Serafina!! I'm sure I'll find something in your size.
