Babbling Balderdash
Trapped Among Opportunities. Intaglio print. 12” by 9”. So this print is sort of the result of me venting my frustration with the college I am going to. The school pushes for the whole contemporary art style but I have found that in some of my classes they give you an assignment but don’t teach you the basic skills to create what you want to make. It makes me feel trapped when college is suppose to open you up to many different possibilities. Print is the one form of art where I feel I have the skills to truly express myself. So anyhow Trapped Among Opportunities is full of symbols that expresses that feeling of being stuck in an environment that should be encouraging you forward. The octopus is surrounded by symbols of hope and encouragement but cant get to them in the glass jar. The lark is a symbol for a new day or new beginnings the four leaf clover is luck, the butterfly cocoon is rebirth, the Tiger lilies are feminine strength and the Gladiolus symbolizes strength of character. The octopus is an adaptable and clever animal though so I am still feeling hopeful that things will all turn out ok.
So I have started to learn how to paint in egg tempera. It is a lot of fun and is easier for me than oil paints. These birds are the first of five that I will post later when they are finished. All five of them are on 8” by 8” panels.
This is my take on the mythical creature the A Bao A Qu. The A Bao A Qu is an invisible creature that lives on the bottom step of the Tower of Victory in India. When someone climes the stairs it follows that person gradually becoming more visible the higher it climes. Only if that person is pure of heart will the A Bao A Qu be able to reach the topmost step. If not, then it will return to the bottom step and become completely invisible again. It is believed that the A Bao A Qu has reached the top step only once in its lifetime. This print is a woodblock and the background was colored using hanga.
