Go Quixotically - Mixed Media Snake
Into the Wild with BAA for Boulder Arts Week
A Couple of Announcements:
The Virtual New Moon Vision Board Gathering is this Sunday!
What: Craft a Vision Board to Manifest in the magick of the New Moon Eclipse in Aries with a cozy collective of creative souls. No experience necessary. It’s Free to Drop in.
When: March 30th 8-10pm MTN.
New Projects are rippling over on Patreon. Drop into the water magick this month by becoming a Patron:
Khindness - Secret Content $3.33 / month will receive a Lady of Lake Water Ritual, access to hundreds of posts, and the monthly update
Khindling - Magickal Mail $5.55 / month will receive a limited edition Sapphire Sticker with original watercolor art by yours truly.
Khaleidoscope - Zine Club $15.15 / month will receive T H R I F T W I T C H vol XI Water Rippling Zine in a fresh larger format, filled with art, magic, and inspiration.
Art in the WILD First Friday and Art Fair
When: April 4th 4:00-8:00 PM,
Where: 2810 Wilderness Place Suite C. Boulder, CO 80301
What: BAA Boulder Arts Week First Friday Fair where I will be selling art and hand made gifts and zines alongside the opening of Boulder Art Associations Spring Show "In the Wild."
A Decade for Snake
The transformative symbolism of Snake captivates me. For the last five years snake has slithered into my life over and over again. At the beginning of the 2020's I had the honor to aspect as Snake for a New Year, New Decade ceremony and ritual. Since this powerful activation, Snake has been with me, teaching me the ways of transformation and alchemy. After my son was born I began working with the Dream Arc Oracle through Gene Keys, and my first guardian has also been the Snake.
So far this decade has seen some of the grandest transformations of my life, with the arrival of my first child and the intensity of the global pandemic. During a Full Moon ritual the understanding that this magic will follow me through all of 2020's settled into me, the shedding of skin is not a lightning quick epiphany, but a mystical unfurling that spirals in its own time.
Wild Things for Into the Wild
In honor of the first show for the Boulder Arts Association's (BAA) new home in the Wilderness Place Art Studios the theme for the spring show is Into the Wild. Every member show for the BAA includes an 8x8 grid, where every artist is invited to a create a piece in their own style on the same theme. This years theme is Wild Things, a fairly open and expansive theme. After much pondering I settled on the idea that I would make a Snake for my 8x8 contribution.
I began with some simple sketches. I like to sketch in crayon to keep the process light-hearted, seeking to capture a color scheme or composition rather than creating another piece of fine art in my sketchbook. Once I had options I shared them with a few friends. I was surprised that every single person I asked said the same thing about the sketches. The top right was the favorite, with the color scheme in the bottom left a close second. With a unanimous vote the decision was easy and I began the actual art making process.
The body of the snake is made of collaged gelli-prints, a form of acrylic monoprinting, that I tore into smaller pieces along with tissue paper. I have a box with hundreds of gelli-prints from dozens of projects that have been waiting for their moment to shine. I am working on using the beautiful ephemera I have collected and generated, rather than hoarding it away for the perfect special project. I love how vibrant and dynamic the snake looks.
The Naming of a Painting
Naming art can be a tricky business. I decided early on that all of my BAA 8x8 paintings would share a naming scheme to simplify the process. I cannot recall why now, but the first 8x8 I painted, for the theme of Sheep (in honor of the acronym BAA), I titled Go Gently. Following that for the theme of Bees, I titled Go Brightly, and so on and so on with the last being Go Joyously for flowers. The obvious title for my Snake 8x8 would have been Go Wildly, but I didn't like how blunt that name felt, and it didn't capture the essence of the art. After some pondering and considering of synonyms for Wild I settled on Go Quixotically, after the wild romantic and fool Don Quixote.
Snakes are briefly blinded by the shedding of their skin, so with great trust and hope in the process they grow and transform. To be quixotic is to take a similar leap of faith, to step into the wild unknown, even when the odds of success seem utterly impossible, with the unshakeable belief that the plan will work out. That is what this Snake has come to represent for me.
I hope you will come see me and this piece of art at the First Friday Fair on April 4th or the official Art Opening on April 8th.
Art in the WILD First Friday
BAA Boulder Arts Week First Friday Fair
April 4th 4:00-8:00 PM,
2810 Wilderness Place Suite C.
I will be selling art and hand made gifts and art alongside the opening of Boulder Art Associations Spring Show "In the Wild." I have two paintings in the show. A snake-inspired 8x8 for the community painting grid, and a new Poet Priestess from my Poets of Agency series.
In the Wild/ Wild Things Art Opening
Part of Boulder Arts Week! Tuesday, April 8, 6-8:00 PM
Award ceremony & celebration.
Meet the artists!
Check out our wildly wonderful art & enjoy some treats in celebration of our latest BAA member exhibit!
BAA Community Studio at Wilderness Art Studios 2810 Wilderness Place, Suite C (Drive to the back, 3rd/center door entrance. Knock if locked!) DIRECTIONS
Thank you for Reading and Supporting INVOKED
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Humming with SAPPHIRE
HAIL SAPPHIRE, noble, holy, celestial, shining! Shine your ray of royal blue light upon me so that I may speak through the grace and poise of my highest self. Shine your ray of cornflower blue so that I may connect with the cosmic intelligence of the stars. Shine your delicate blue light of the waters around me to fill me with peace and serenity. So mote it be. Hail and Welcome!