'out beyond ...', my contribution to the Medicine Wheel's Day Without Art

'out beyond ...' acrylic on board, 2x2ft

This fall Michael Dowling put out a call for artist to create one of 1,000 panels to be exhibited during  Medicine Wheel's Day without Art and I jumped at the opportunity.  I have worked with Michael and Medicine Wheel on numerous occasions and each time has been a rewarding and inspiring experience,  as was the case with this time. 

The vigil starts tonight at 11:30pm at the BCA and continues for 24 hours. Here is more information about the event, a link to Medicine Wheel Productions as well as a link to donate to this important community.  And below that information is a bit about this painting as well as a visual documentation of the many stages that the painting went through.  Enjoy! 

Medicine Wheel Vigil 

Day Without Art

World AIDS Day 

Friday December 1, 2017

Boston Center for the Arts 

539 Tremont Street 

Boston, MA 02116 

Vigil begins at 11:30 pm on 

Thursday November 30th 

on the BCA Plaza 

and runs for the full 24 hours of Friday December 1st 

ending at Midnight. 

Gather at 11:30 for a processional walk into the Cyclorama Plaza! 

In 1987 a small group gathered in a San Francisco storefront to document the lives they feared history would forget. This action served as the beginning of the Names Project, also known as the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Today, 30 years later, over 1000 artists, visual and performing, have re-invested in the power of that action to create a space to hold the human heart, a space to reflect, a space to remember, a space to see who we can be for ourselves and one another. 

To honor this anniversary we will be displaying a large section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt during the vigil. 

Please bring an offering of remembrance to leave in one of the Medicine Wheel shrines. 

DONATE

World AIDS Day 

Friday December 1, 2017

Boston Center for the Arts 

539 Tremont Street 

Boston, MA 02116 

Vigil begins at 11:30 pm on 

Thursday November 30th 

on the BCA Plaza 

and runs for the full 24 hours of Friday December 1st 

ending at Midnight.

Now about 'out beyond ...' 

This Fall I saw this call for art,

" As we gear up for the 26th annual Medicine Wheel and the 29th Day Without Art/ World AIDS Day we are looking for 1000 artists to re-invest in the power of Art and Healing to create a space that holds the human condition. Please consider painting a 2 foot by 2 foot panel with the theme of AIR in the colors of the sky to be part a the 1000 voice mural at the Boston Center for the Arts December 1."

and I happily answered YES! 

With the theme of AIR and the colors of the sky I decided I would work in blues and revisit my ' intuitive line paintings' from my installation that I creates in 2009 with Medicine Wheel, 'this comes from within ...'  Painting the walls for that installation is one of my fondest creative moment memories!!

'wall detail' from 'this comes from within ...'

 I love how organic these method of painting is for me.  

This painting method is a true dialogue between me and the work, 

as you will see how this painting went through so many versions 

before the painting and I agreed it was finished.  

When I got the blank white 2x2 board I started out by painting in big letters,

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing"

Recently I am enamored with Rumi's poems and 

especially this line and the meaning of these words.

Once the words were painted, my journey began, shapes and objects appeared

and disappeared.  

in this photo you can still see a few of the lettering ...

at this point the lettering has vanished ...

now is the time with the subtle changes ... this can also be the most frustrating time
as I don't want to overwork the painting, but somethings still don't feel right

painting in my living room, my daughters are so patient with me :)

voila - the finished painting, waiting to head back to Medicine Wheel Productions

An illuminating weekend, part l

Last weekend I had the privilege of spending 2 luscious days camped out at a monastery with Michael Dowling and 5 other creative and vivacious artists.  It was an amazing 48 hours where I was reminded of my place as an artist while experiencing Michael’s many observations, one of them being the interconnection of everything and how we need to have faith that where we are is exactly where we need to be.

Michael Dowling has come into my artistic life off and on for many years, usually at a time of self-doubt and artistic struggle.  He gave me the awesome opportunity to create my installation; ‘this comes from within’ in his gallery at Medicine Wheel in 2009. So it was really no surprise that I had ended up at one of his artist’s retreat, although I almost didn’t get there.

I was coming off a few intense, emotional weeks – helping my parents after my father’s surgery as well as continuing the labyrinth of getting divorced and caring for my girls.  Upon returning from Phoenix I was feeling overwhelmed and tired. 

It was my youngest, Harriet, who encouraged me to go on this artist’s retreat when she heard about it ~ two days before it began. Harriet knew it was exactly what I needed.

I knew this was EXACTLY what I needed.  However, when Friday afternoon came, instead of packing my car, I fell into bed, questioning my ability to even drive the 1½ hour to the retreat and my role as an artist.

Bexley @ Kenyon

While I pondered the idea of just sleeping for years, my phone beeped.  It was a photo text from a number I didn’t recognize. In my sleepy state thought it was from the folks from the retreat showing me where we were going to work.  I had inquired about what I needed to bring and about the facilities. 

When I saw the picture, my heart skipped a beat. I knew we were going to a monastery and this picture had a ‘scared’ feeling. In fact it looked exactly like my old studio at Kenyon College, a place I loved and basically lived.  Bexley, the building that housed the art department, had been Kenyon’s seminary and now the theology student’s old rooms were the art student’s studios. I felt a huge connection between the past divinity school and the art department, both working from a more intuitive and spiritual place.

So out of the blue, when I was truly about to disappear from the world, I get this picture that got me out of bed.  I thought if there was a chance of working in a place similar to Bexley then I am there.  And in fact, why wasn’t I there NOW!!!

 

I scrambled to gather any supplies that I might need  - paints, canvases, yarn, crochet hooks and of course subscription cards.  I also figured out that the picture was in fact of Bexley, sent by artist/illustrator and friend Jeff Decoster, from the West Coast,.  He had just found it on his computer and thought I’d enjoy seeing it!!!!

Thank you UNIVERSE!!!  It was this picture that got my weary self out of bed and into Friday evening Boston traffic.

 When I finally found the monastery, in the dark, I was greeted with a wholehearted hug from Michael and a delicious meal at a table of kindred spirits!  exactly what the doctor ordered.

Once dinner was over we wandered through the building we were allotted, each setting up our work place.  I settled at a table in a library, surrounded by shelves of books about religion, and pulled out one of my subscription cards.  

The others set up and Michael wandered between us reading from John O'Donohue’s  To bless the space between us : a book of blessings’ ~ heaven.

 As the evening went on Michael saw my card and made the correlation between my ”doodles” and many of the Celtic illuminations found in the surrounding books.  At the word ‘doodle’ my being stiffened.  As much as I love doodling that word conjures up more derogatory emotions than positive ~ I was constantly criticized and penalized for my doodles in school and doodling is associated with wasting time. 

doodle |ˈdoōdl|

verb [ intrans. ]

• scribble absentmindedly : he was only doodling in the margin.

• engage in idle activity; dawdle

“Absentmindedly’ and ‘idle’ are two words that don’t sit well with my puritan- ethic training. 

CARD#18

So I mentioned my reaction to Michael and he questioned me. “why not call them doodles?? Doodling is the most intuitive and authentic form of drawing?!?? Aren’t the illuminations on many of these surrounding books doodles, in one way or another??? And with those words Michael found the Book of Kells and began to lay my cards among the pages. There was a relationship. 

a transfer in my tester book

By referring to my cards as doodles, Michael had stirred an insecurity.  I have been wondering about these cards, in reference to my artistic journey.  I have been questioning their integrity.  I had started them a year ago and put them away because I convinced myself they were an idle activity.   

My desire to do draw on my ‘cards’ was almost overwhelming.  I have begun a test book full of transfers of these cards ~ some that I work back into.  I have done some transfers on ‘good’ paper that I rework.  And yet I was fighting that urge and when Michael saw this he asked, “why fight it, think of these works as illuminations.”

With that suggestion I was able to breathe deeper and I felt a peace.  I recognized a part of me that would LOVE to be one of the monks that would go into these vast sunlight halls to sit at a long table and make drawings all day long. Whenever I am able to go on a retreat or residency I become extremely monastic – I just want to work!! I enjoy the communal meals, I LOVE that someone else is cooking!!!  But bottom line is that I am completely happy alone, with my art supplies.  So I ‘doodled’ for the remaining time of the retreat. 

When it was time to leave I had a few more subscription cards in my collection and some photos of a connection between manuscripts done centuries ago and my doodles that I am driven to do today. Where do I go from here??? Not sure, but I left the retreat with an assurance that I need to explore this ‘card’ journey further, even though I am not sure why. More about this experience to come . . . but for now ~

 peace

Finally.....

Michael Dowling & Medicine Wheel Productions
present
‘this comes from within’
an installation by
Virginia Fitzgerald

September 18th ~ October 16th, 2009

opening Reception~
Friday, September 18th, 5-8pm

Medicine Wheel Productions
110 K St.
South Boston, MA
Gallery hours: M~F 10-4
or by appt.

further info.
call (617)596-5179 or (617)268-6700
~
virginia fitzgerald fan page
on facebook
~
www.virginiafitzgerald.com
www.medicinewheelproductions.org

peace





(for some reason it took me FOREVER to get this postcard together. nothing like placing the order for your show's invitation less than 2 weeks from the opening -- nothing like last minute promotion :) if you want to have a postcard sent to you please sent me your address!!!)

an evening of Magic

Tomorrow, May 14th

an Evening of Magic
the annual fund raiser for

Michael Dowling's Medicine Wheel Productions.
This is an amazing institution ~

'The mission of Medicine Wheel Productions is to enable individuals to access the hidden world through art. The organization invites people to gain awareness of themselves in their communities by participating in the creation of enduring, site specific public art projects in which they explore and share issues unique to their individual and collective experiences. '

(from their web site)
I have had many wonderful learning experiences with Michael and next month I will be installing a large eggshell wedding dress in the gallery with the help of the Medicine Wheel students, a project that i am very excited about!!

As well as the festivities there is going to be an auction of artwork. I donated a piece from my Strata series ~ Strata lll (let me rage). This is a series inside the Dress Project. I create these dresses using rubber stamps on wood then surrounding the dress with a variety of materials. With this piece the background was created with cheese cloth, dried rose petals and beeswax over a layer of tissue paper. The dress is made up of layers of words - each layer i use a different style of lettering and ink color. I like to think of these pieces as representing the depths of a woman/a person - the many layers that all people have in them. I have watched as each piece has changed ~ the density of the layers, the shape of the dress and the choice of words. With Strata lll I got into almost a stream of consciousness ~ as i was printing one word the next word would pop into my head. With the first two Strata I stuck to using adjectives but with number lll i tried not to limit myself. With the next one all bets are off. I hope to do many of these pieces - experimenting with different surfaces, colors and background materials. peace

good-bye monkeys!!!

As I was reviewing my first entry and editing my blog, I realized that this all looked really serious and that I had become very self conscious about this whole thing ~ which I don't want to do!! In fact, I would LOVE to remove self consciousness from my vocabulary!!!! That is one of my new year’s resolutions, to shed these ‘monkeys on my back’ (as I call them) ~ the little voices that suddenly appear – ‘why that color?’ ‘what will look better?’ ‘is this a serious piece of art?’. I can hear the augment in my head…. Don’t listen, just do!!! Stop thinking and just follow your muse, but my brain can get in my way a lot!!! Yesterday I went to a vision class with Michael Dowling where we discussed many aspects of being an artist, and one thing discussed was not being self conscious in your work. Sounds good to me!! SO…. I am looking at this blog as a place where I can ramble, rant, explore, question, giggle, goof and have fun. And for the monkeys on my back – I have an idea – I am planning a sculptural dress of them – that is a good place for my monkeys!! Peace!