More Notes From The Ancestors

I've been missing the drawings from The Notes to the Ancestors and just finished making another one....these are quiet pieces, my way of making a connection with our collective history. I am keenly aware of all the knowledge that falls away, the memories and the wisdom that is eclipsed over time. What would the many generations of our ancestors say to us, if we only had the means to communicate?

Notes From The Ancestors no.16

Notes from the Ancestors no.16 detail

My husband and I have a major  show together at the Main Gallery at the University that will open in May and we are both creating work based on a daily practice. This is a big experiment for us to work this way. We each have different processes (he is a printmaker), but we are both working in the same format, so that there is some consistency. We are trying to keep the idea of the practice itself, and the daily ritual of it, foremost in our minds, so that we are not trying to make "art" per se. There is a fine line in the intention, but a definite distinction. The pressure is off and we concentrate on our daily process and we'll see what comes of it. Each of us makes two pieces, one in a four inch circle and one on a 4" square, both in the center of a 10x10" piece Rives paper. We just began on January 1st, so we are only a little bit into this practice. I will wait a bit before sharing any of the pieces, but wanted to let you know what I'm up to in the studio these days. It is an interesting process and we both find that the dailiness of it gives us a clear focus. 

In the meantime, our winter here in southeastern South Dakota keeps us guessing, day by day. Yesterday we had a lovely sunny day with the temperature climbing to 63 degrees. Most of the day today was lovely and warm and I began to doubt the forecast of afternoon snow, but sure enough....it's a winter afternoon with intermittent snow coming down. Craziness!