Various versions of a theme...

I am currently working on an assemblage piece with the theme of "By Definition", dealing with thoughts and issues surrounding womanhood, life, death, aging...It's been a joy to be working on this piece over the last three weeks, after coming through a very hectic time at my new job, coordinating classes for the Schack Art Center in Everett, Washington.

I am using encaustic with paper mache torsos and dried rose buds, a "found" vintage trunk shelf, wire, quail eggs and other found objects. It has been a fascinating journey, and the piece "shape-shifts" every day. The mechanics of putting this piece together have been a real challenge! At one point, I was hanging shellac-dipped quail eggs from tree branches in my back yard, tending to the their "drying" process like any good mother hen might do.

I am hoping to finish this in time to enter into the National Collage Society's online juried show. What's next? Attaching the other two remaining torsos, and arranging the "veil"...it will be a two-person job for this task!

The development of an idea...

Above: Original idea

Progression of an idea. This encaustic painting is about the "primordial and spiritual" experience of being female. The handwritten quote "underneath" the wax is an excerpt from "The Thunder, Perfect Mind", taken from the Nag Hammadi Library (The Gnostic Society Library). Fascinating reading, by the way.

The quote starts out with "I was sent forth from the power..." According to expert Elaine Pagels, it was "...spoken in the voice of a feminine divine power."

(Blogger isn't allowing me to arrange the photos in order of progression, but you get the idea.)