Psychopomp

PSYCHOPOMP is a 21" x 22"composition in a styrofoam packing case frame with a window in it. It is one of the attributes of the god Hermes -- it means the conductor of souls from the land of the living to the land of the dead. You can see the winged cap as he swoops by the window. There are dozens of little bits of glitter hanging in mid-air (mounted on pins, really) to mark his passage.

I recently talked with an old friend who is familiar with my work, and he asked if I was still dealing with death -- which took me by surprise. But when I went back to look at my work, there it undeniably is. And there this piece was, overlooked in my digital photo collection, waiting to be posted.

I didn't take new pictures last weekend as I had planned -- instead I did my taxes. Death and Taxes! The inevitables. I'd rather be artistically inspired by death than by taxes, though, I guess.

Hiatus

No photo tonight -- I have run out of photos, though not of work to photograph! I hope to have some time this weekend to shoot another batch of work. Last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I did a series of small 3" x 5" paper photocollages, which I keep like a deck of cards and add to from time to time. There are over 80 at this point. It is a pleasure to do them, very quick and meditative, and not large or serious enough to make me postpone starting!

I also have a few pieces of larger work that have never been photographed or even seen the light of day for a long while. I'll decide when I dust them off if they warrant posting or not. And I am starting to work in my studio, though not as much as I would like to.

Thanks for looking so far -- thanks also to people who have dropped by the studio to see some of the work up close and personal. More to come soon, I hope!

Saturn Conjunct Venus

SATURN CONJUNCT VENUS is a 29" x 29" paper photo-collage behind an old-fashioned, wood-framed window screen. When two planets are conjunct, it means that they are very near each other in the same part of the heavens from our point of view on earth, and they are said to influence each other.

Venus is, of course, the planet of love and Saturn is the planet of constraints and inexorables, like Time, Taxes, and sometimes, in the Grim Reaper role, Death. The romantic pinks of the Valentine collage give way to tones and images that are both fiercer and colder here. And whereas the other one can hang on any living room wall, this one is a more uncomfortable composition all round.