My Heart's Desire

What's the object of my heart's desire? Depends on what day you ask me...but typically my heart's desire is to honor God in all that I do...learn to love as Christ loved(unconditionally). Thought I had that one down until the end of last year when God made it so apparent to me that I wasn't "walking in love." I'd been estranged from a family member for too long and God wanted restoration to take place in my family. It's amazing how an act of restoration could impact my art.

All I know is that the work has been jumping off my table since making peace with my family member. Sometimes we encounter offenses in our lives that we feel are too great to forgive...the nonsensical killing of a loved one...spurned love...or someone who just didn't treat us right! Sometimes we don't even remember the original offense 'cause we're just plain old mad. What I've come to realize is that my unforgiving spirit was a huge stumbling block. Got anyone you need to forgive?

On a different note have two pieces along with sistah artist Antoinette at the "Passing the Torch" exhibition for Black History Month. Looking forward to the reception this week. Included in the exhibit which features 60+ artists from Ohio are my two pieces titled "Rose" and "Domestic".




Both "Rose" and "The Domestic" were from my first large solo exhibition in 2007. With both of these pieces I was exploring some different techniques with my collage work. "Rose" was the first time I experimented with the use of bees wax and melted crayon. The outline of her body is black fabric, while the rest of the clothing and accessories utilize paper towel, vintage wallpaper and buttons. Her face is again my collage and acrylic with color pencil on black fabric. After completing her I covered the entire stretched canvas in melted bees wax. The background began with a bright red(you know I luv some red) and then a layer of walnut dye was brushed on. "Rose" is a hard worker but makes a point to never miss church on Sundays.

"The Domestic" actually began with a piece of archival fome core that I normally use as backing when framing. It has a couple of layers of green paint with a reddish brown acrylic added with a sponge for the background. The face is the collage on fabric with acrylic. She was fun to do and yes, it's a woman (she's been mistaken for a male on many occasions) she's not had an easy life. Clothing is white duck cloth, buttons and paint for the shading. She pays tribute to all our mothers and grandmothers who have done "day work". Cooking, cleaning, ironing and looking after other peoples children.

So, guess you could say right now my heart's desire is to continue birthing these art pieces and trying to discover all that's within.