Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project: Pages 4 - 7

In between some of my other projects, I continue to make progress on the Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project, which I've posted about before. I chose the Sketchbook tour that involves memoir, called Write/Right When You Get There. I've posted about Page 1 and Pages 2 and 3 before.

Pages 6 and 7 from my Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project
Page 7 is still in progress, as you can probably tell, since the shading and
textures aren't yet complete.

Pages 4 and 5 of my Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project, whose
theme is memoir....In this segment, I'm explaining that, when I was four years old,
 I told my Mother that in my previous life, I had been a little boy whose parents beat him.
When I died, I didn't want to go back, so I was allowed to choose to whom I would be born.
To the see the page that preceeds this, you can click here.  

Sister Moon and other stories....

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Sister Moon" (2013)

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Oracle" (2013) revised from yesterday!

Savannah Schroll Guz, "But I Believe" (2013)

Savannah Schroll Guz "An Old Belfast Friend" (2013)

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Very Glad" (2013)

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Lemon Moon" (2013)

Oracle finished, sunrise, the mess in my studio, etc....

I'm working like crazy to get new works done for an upcoming opportunity (more on this if what I hope develops does come to fruition....). My upstairs studio area is a certified mess, but it's filling up with things I'm very excited about. Remember my earlier post on the genesis of a new work? The first image below is the finished piece. I've done a good deal of bead work, using two different colors, a pearlescent mint green and a fire polished purple glass bead, to visually emulate what I imagine is both the otherworldy nature of the Oracle's experience and the influx of energy she conducts. Around her are various phases of the moon. The rest below is a pictorial....



"Oracle" (2013) watercolor, ink, seed beads, cotton
embroidery thread

 


The view from our bedroom window this morning....



My upstairs studio space with mixed media works in various stages of completion
 (there are skeins of lace on the lower left hand side of the table)

Another up-close picture of "Raining Histamine" (left), now with lace trim at the bottom, and
"But I Believe..." (in progress) on the right.

Another shot of the studio table...."But I Believe" (from the image above) is
close to being finished and appears in the plexiglass frame at middle right.

Genesis of a new work....and signs and symbols

I've been steadily working on new pieces over the last few days. "Signs & Symbols" (the last image in this post) was begun as I was watching CNN introduct Pope Francis to the world. Although there is no bird in my work, it is still partially influenced by the story of that curious seagull, which landed on the Sistine Chapel chimney shortly before the white smoke came billowing out. I'm really interested in the idea of prophetic communication.

The first three images below show progress on a new work, which I started last night and continued this morning. It involves a great deal of sewing and beading, and I'm not sure what I'll call her yet. I'm thinking she might be an oracle. We'll see how she continues to develop..... 



Beading the oracle is a laborious process; often, my needle
won't travel all the way through the seed bead. Instead, the
eye gets stuck right before the bead reaches the thread and I
have to find another. Yet, I mean to approximate tesserae (or
the tiny tiles that make up mosaics), at least in the background
so, it's a necessary process.

My work space and tools.... 

"Signs and Symbols" charcoal, paper collage, watercolor, cotton embroidery
thread, and glass seed beads on paper

Mitosis with Lace and other stories....

Since I sent everything from my previous series to the fantastic GalleriE CHIZ week before last, I've been steadily working on a new body of works that will expand what I feel are paper's many possibilities. Someone recently mentioned to me that, even though I am working on paper, I could be considered a fiber artist. And these new works seem to bear that out, since I've begun more than ever to incorporate seed beads and embroidery to each work. Yet, I'm still excited by the concept of collage, and a few weeks ago, when we went to a small children's science museum in Wheeling, I picked up a new packet of Sunprints, so that I can make cyanotypes for use in my work, too....

"Mitosis" (2013) charcoal, watercolor, ink, iridescent painting medium, cotton
embroidery thread, bugle beads, cotton lace.



Early this morning, after Michael left for work, I sewed some lace we had gotten at auction to the top of "Mitosis", while I watched CBS News and waited for papal smoke. I'm interested in this marriage of texture and pop of creamy white color. It's, at least to my eye, unexpected. Now, I am working on something new and will shortly be threading a needle again (which, annoyingly enough, now requires that I wear reading glasses, since I can't hit the needle eye without them).

It sparkles in the light, although the photographs just don't capture that.



My upstairs studio, where the new series is slowly accruing. On the lower right hand corner
is my Brookly Art Library Sketchbook, which is slowly filling up. I have a new double spread
completed, which I will show soon!

First Double Spread in Brooklyn Art Library's Sketchbook Project....

Here is the first double-spread for the Brooklyn Art Library's (BAL) 'Write/Right When You Get There'-themed Sketchbook Project. My sketchbook will be digitized on the BAL website and will travel to four different cities in the Brooklyn Art Library Bookmobile in October 2013. My book will eventually reside at the Brooklyn Art Library's HQ.
Want to know what was on the opening page? You can click here to see it in a previous post.



Savannah Schroll Guz, "When I was four..."(2013)
This is the first double-spread from my 'Write/Right When You Get There' themed
sketchbook for the Brooklyn Art Library.

 

Raining Histamine...new work on paper completed...

Remember the mixed media paper work, onto which I was sewing beads in yesterday's post? Here it is, all completed. It's much more striking in person, as the seed beads sparkle and catch the light.

"Raining Histamine" (2013) charcoal, watercolor, paper collage, ink,
cotton embroidery thread, and seed beads on paper

New Art Necklace...."Lorraine" and new work on paper in progress....

Something new from the studio..."Lorraine". She's supposed to be channeling 1940s Hollywood beauty here in her fur coat.

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Lorraine" (2013) polymer clay, acrylic paint, protective
sealant, silverplated findings, purple glass beads.

A new work-in-progress appears just below. It's part of a series I'm working on right now, involving histamine and mast cells, part of the body's immune response system. Mast cells carry histamine and heparin granules, which they "rain" on areas experiencing trauma or invasion by foreign pathogens. These two substances fight infection but also cause inflammation. I'm working on my abstract depiction of this process.  

In progress! "Raining Histamine" Right now,  I'm sewing seed beads onto the paper....



The Presence of Mast Cells....

New work out of the studio...a depiction of where all that histamine comes from:

Savannah Schroll Guz, "The Presence of Mast Cells" (2013)
charcoal, ink, Sharpie, paper collage, and watercolor on paper

And the B.A.L. Sketchbook Project begins....

Here is page 1 of my sketchbook for the Brooklyn Art Library's Sketchbook Project.
It will eventually tour four cities and be digitized on the Brooklyn Art Library's website.

Packages of Goodies....

What's in the pile of packages here? Art, of course!

The top envelope contains my submissions for Rochester Contemporary Art Center's 6x6 Exhibition, while the bottom box contains two additional framed works on paper and four sets of earrings on their way to Gallerie Chiz in Pittsburgh!

An update of what I'm working on now will appear here shortly...stay tuned!