SAGKAFIOR

I haven't posted for a while, sorry! Things have been a little out of whack recently, probably due to the fact I moved to upstate NY for the Fall. Nice place to be for Fall, but such a big change from tropical Sarasota! I'm finding my moods being strongly affected by the ominous change of Fall into Winter, with it's lessening light and dissappearing foliage. I'm not used to coat-wearing and huddling inside. I lived up here for many years and the same thing happened every time. It's one of those deep, animal things... One of the consequences of the darkening season is that I get more intensely into creative projects. It's a way of fending off depression, I think, but it works! I notice there's an edgier quality to my work, with a more troubled spirit. But that's kind of interesting.
This piece, named Sagkafior, (for no particular reason-I just wanted a mysterious sounding name!), is an experimental piece, not done for a client. I was attempting to tell a story in a more abstract way, hinting at the nefarious goings-on in the story,(if it was a story). I imagined a queen of an alternate world. Beautiful, but evil, she schemes and plays people off each other, while gathering power around her ever tighter. But really, I also just wanted to play with design ideas, so things don't really have to make sense, do they?
This image was built on a shot of a new, ( to me), Egyptian model named Ewa, that Shirley Green photographed and kindly allowed me to play around with the shots. Because no client is waiting for his or her concept to be realized, I can be free to push the envelope. There are so many elements and textures in this that I'll just name a few: the "ribbon" is a doodle I saved and scanned, texture in the upper right is frost on a window, the wheel thing is part of an architectural decoration on a Chicago building.
Ok, now I've taken all the mystery out of the image. But that is partly why I do this blog. To lift the veil of mystery we artists try to maintain around our work. There's an awful lot of B.S. out there concerning how art is created, and I think it's harmful. Art usually doesn't just flow like a faucet out of an artist's fingertips. Most of the time it's thought about, planned, tried and rejected. Ideas are played with and played with some more. I believe most artists only have a vague notion abot where their work is going and that's as it should be. It keeps life interesting. But it also makes for anxiety when you embark on new direction, as I'm always doing. I have reinvented my art so often that it's hard to nail down my style for gallery owners and art directors. My hope is that somehow an essence of whoever I am comes through in all these different styles. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!