Ballerina Nina

The beginnings of my second portrait of the sweetly beautiful Nina Petrochko. Nina sat for a couple of hours today in my studio, and will sit for me again next week. This is a full length portrait - I ended up putting three pieces of paper together. Nina changed into the whimsical costume pictured here, and came in carrying a bowl full of orange papaya and green lime slices - she was a carnival of color!!! Nina spoke of her upcoming internship making tutus for the Moscow Ballet in the Berkshires, her trip to Prague last fall, and her Ayurvedic diet. So many interesting avenues...

I have my work cut out for me, though, with this big drawing! As usual, stay tuned...

The Green Maiden

A new item in my etsy shop! I revised my Christmas card design to carve this reduction linoleum print edition of twenty gift card/prints. Alotta fun!

Here's an excerpt from my description about the print on my shop:

You've heard of The Green Man? Well, this is my feminine version of that mythological character - I call her The Green Maiden. Like her male counterpart, she heralds the return of spring and rebirth of the earth at the time of the vernal equinox. The Green Maiden is a limited edition handpulled relief print. The image was created using a time consuming reduction print process - just one plate was used to create all the colors. I carved what was going to be white first, then rolled the plate with yellow ink and printed the 20 prints. Then I carved what was going to be yellow, and rolled the plate with the next color, orange, and printed the 20 prints, and so on, progressivly carving and printing, using 5 colors in all, ending with the deep indigo blue that you see in the tree trunks. Because these prints are handpulled, there will be variations in texture and tone that make each one uniquely beautiful!

A little background from Wickepedia on The Green Man:

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance," representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

OK, after all that grren talk, I'm heading out the door into the white landscape and heading to my studio to start a new portrait!

Lisbeth Miller's Magnificent Mandalas

let us spray...

the artist at work

aren't they incredible?

detail

one of Lisbeth's designs on a long sleeved tee shirt

I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon sorting through a large bag full of my daughter Lisbeth's paper snowflakes. I ironed and spray painted several of them black, then mounted them on archival colored paper and put them in square black frames to sell on my etsy shop. We have sold shirts silk screened with Lisbeth's snowflakes in the past, and they have been very popular. (I'm not sure if I can sell these on etsy because I had a local commercial silk-screener print them for me...I'm looking into that...)

Lisbeth is working towards financial independence, and I've intended for some time to create other products using her delightful designs. Lisbeth has cut thousands of these snowflakes, or mandalas, over the years, and like true snowflakes, no two are alike. They are remarkable - intricate and sophisticated - and she cuts cleanly and beautifully despite a significant hand tremor (caused by one of her anti-epileptic meds). Lisbeth uses no pattern or pre-drawn plan - she simply traces around a plate on paper, folds the circle, and starts cutting free form. That's when the magic begins. She's amazing!

As I stated in a past post, Lisbeth refers to the snowflakes as "brains" and she tells about all the objects and creatures that she sees in the designs - deer antlers, women's high heels, birds, frogs, spiders, babies, people holding hands, etc. Lisbeth's prolific production of "brain snowflakes" is poignant given that she has a traumatic brain injury and uncontrolled seizures, and clusters of seizures just happen to be known as "flurries." It's as if with each perfect snowflake and design, Lis is showing us her beautiful brain.

Oh, What Cards...

...those two cats are!!

Whatever I'm doing, they're in on it. One day I actually put Sal, the black and white one, in a jury-rigged sort of front pack. I took a wide winter scarf and wrapped him to my chest because he would not leave me alone! He was happy there for about 5 minutes!
Silly.

So these are a few cards that are in my etsy shop. The Two Cats card is designed by my daughter, Lisbeth! Yesterday I had a nice e-mail from an etsy and blog team called KaHolly, telling me that one of my cards was featured on their blog. KaHolly is named for two sisters - gotta love that! You can see their post here! Thankyou again, ladies!

I'm finishing up a reduction print in my studio today for a new card design, and getting ready to frame some of Lisbeth's cut paper designs for the etsy shop. They are stunning! Stay tuned...

Colorful Nina Petrochko

Martha Miller
Nina's Grand Day, 2006

mixed media on Rives BFK, 29" x 41"

Next in line in my portrait series, artist/sculptor/performance artist/fashion maverick, Nina Petrochko. I did this portrait of Nina in the spring of 2006 when we were at MECA together. Nina will be sitting for me again this Friday. I just love Nina's exciting color combinations!

Photograph's all courtesy of Nina's Facebook album.

A Day of Love

I spent the weekend at my sister Deborah's in Barrington, Rhode Island. She hosted a wonderful Valentine's brunch for our family. My mom, who has Alzheimer's, also lives in Barrington in an assisted living program. Mom's memory is very compromised - she truly lives in the moment - but she still knows us. Don't ask her to tell you our names, but she knows us. Whenever I am with my mom now, I always give her a shoulder and head massage. This is as much for me as it is for her, and she loves it.

It's amazing the difference 150 miles can make. RI has bare ground and spring birds...ah....a welcome reprieve from The Maine Winter. And I even saw this pair of swans on Valentine's Day, swimming along in Barrington Bay. They mate for life, so what a perfect sighting for the Day of Love!

And I heard this bird song yesterday morning - a sound so beautiful and fresh - can you tell me what kind of bird this is??

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have a loving and lovely weekend, everyone!