Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Evening Tea



A romantic notion of mine...tea brewed on an ancient samovar, served on a hand woven carpet. An evening tea accompanied by sweet dates or figs before sleep and early morning departure back out into the desert...into the unknowable. Our dented and banged up samovar sits in the dining room as a reminder of such times. There are remains of charcoal inside and the brass teapot on top has long disappeared but the spigot still turns and once a year I shine it up with Brasso.
The piece measures 18"x18" and is on a foam core base, acrylic, silk fabric, photo collage. I plan on framing this one and the one before in black wood frames and the lighter ones in natural wood. I have a slide show in the side bar and if you click on the left corner Oasis Series it will show all the pieces together. With the series feeling complete for now, I'm going to play in the studio through Thanksgiving. I'll try out some exercises and revisit techniques so as to guide myself into the next vision. I know I'm pretty interested in continuing squares within squares and I think I'd like to get my sewing machine out again so we shall see out in the unknowable!
Looks like so many will have a white Thanksgiving....so pretty to see the dusting of first snow. Pablo and I will have dinner alone and youngest son will come over on Saturday for his turkey dinner.(he has a remote on "black Friday"as it goes with his job... he is a disc jockey and the holiday sales are ON)) We have had sunshine and the awful winds and fire down south. I lived in LA for six years and we were caught in one of those awful fires years ago... packing the car, the thick smoke and seeing flames on nearby hills. We were lucky and spared but it was an awful experience. I have a site in my sidebar favorites The Big Picture and the photos of this year's fire are heartbreaking.

12 comments:

  1. Oh this is just beautiful, MaryAnn! You do the most amazing blues - consistently I'm taken by the blues in your work. I'm excited to see what your play creates. Also - I cannot see your Oasis series you mention on the side bar. I will have to try from home in case my work network prevents this. I see the word Oasis on the side, but nothing to click and nothing appears.
    I am a tea lover, too!
    Karen

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  2. Your piece is absolutely beautiful and so is your samovar! I've had a vintage one on my wish list for ever so long. I think they are incredibly romantic.

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  3. Lovely work, always! Enjoy your exploratory play and have a happy Thanksgiving!

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  4. this is a very lovely piece - it was good to see this whole series in your sidebar - it gave a sense of the fullness of all of them together - your samovar to just epic!

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  5. Love that samovar. Beautiful. Your last piece in the series is complex and beautiful. I looked at the whole series (left a comment on yr previous post). It is fabulous. Well, have a cosy Thanksgiving dinner together. Here just 4 of us, My bro, my son, my mom and me. Often, I have been alone on Thanksg so that is nice. Except now I have to cook. The fires are scary, glad you have been spared. Cant wait to see what happens with your "play" time. Have fun, blessings, Suki

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  6. That's certainly classier than my method of putting a tea bag in a mug of cold water and then sticking it in the microwave....

    We've just gotten our first dusting of stove where I live, as well. I've been complaining about the cold, so it's important to have a reminder of the people losing their homes in Southern California....

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  7. Just curious, when you say "photo collage" is this a photo via transfer process or an actual photo collaged on the support? I myself have never been able to successfully do a photo transfer. It is frustrating as i like the way they look.

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  8. Karen, I do like blue, all shades! I hope you got to see the oasis series altogether.
    My play time has created a massive mess but it has been fun..no rules, no expectations.

    Willow, We share the romance of the samovar and both enjoy tea! There is a funky, exotic tea house here call Chaikhana Tea Culture and it is dark and filled with Asian antiques, they serve black, green and white teas...a really wonderful experience.

    Marja-leena, Thank you for stopping by...a nice surprise!

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  9. Jeane, Thank you. The slideshow was a long time taking effort for me but I'm learning to stay with it and prove this puppy can learn new tricks!

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  10. Suki,When I say photo colloage I mean just about everything. The only poloroid image transfer was the doorway in "Inside the Walls" and I had it enlarged at a copy center on matt paper. The rest in this series are either from my box of saved scrap images or photos I've taken myself. I have had plenty of trouble with image transfers...not an easy method.
    Four for Thanksgiving...sounds wonderful! Plenty of pies and turkey for sure...I love cranberry sauce. Happy Day!

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  11. YogaforCynics, I have been promising myself to do a series on the beauty of snowflakes but it will need to be from picture books and memory...enjoy your new snow and warm tea!

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  12. Just bought some joint compound to try out. There is an award awaiting you on my blog. Scroll down a couple of posts to find.

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