First, thank you to Cody Schatzle for putting together this new website for me. I still have much to learn to do all the updating myself, but I know how to post a blog because of my Better Angels website (www.betterangels911.c0m). I plan to post here are least once a week. My posts will highlight new work as I finish it, list shows where I’m participating, and even spotlight other artists that inspire me. I’m still relatively new to Massachusetts and (sadly) can justifiably be accused of being a hermit since I moved here. But I am finally getting out and about more and meeting some of the wonderful artists in the Pioneer Valley. One of the reasons I moved here was to be surrounded by artists whose work inspires me to work harder – a luxury I had back in Boulder.
I have been very active since December getting my two ETSY shops in order (see the PRINTS page of this site). I’m quite happy with the beautiful and affordable prints I can now make of my paintings, and I hope business on ETSY grows to be an effective income stream to help support my art making. On ETSY, it’s all about getting found among the literally 400,000+ shops. I love how international it is! So far I’ve sent work to Australia and Europe. So PLEASE visit my shops when you have a chance, and BOOKMARK the links so you have them at the ready when it’s time for a gift or a treat. The cards I have on www.DawnSiebel.etsy.com are beautiful, make great gifts in sets, and are mini paintings in themselves.
After BETTER ANGELS absorbed all my time and attention for three+ years, getting back “into the groove” on work isn’t an immediately easy thing. Most artists I know will agree that work flows from working; that after showing up day after day and putting in the requisite face time, the work will one day grab you and lead you where it wants to go. I love that moment. That’s when things change and get interesting!
Until then and to get myself started, I did two things. One, I resurrected several projects that were begun pre-Better Angels and brought them to completion. (Lincoln School/First Grade and 9 Houses are examples of this.)
Second, I gave myself a “homework assignment” to take a 10-volume set of encyclopedias I’d bought at a garage sale years ago and make 10 sculptures. The rules were the books needed to be physically incorporated into each sculpture, and I would find a 2-page spread in each book with two listings I could use to define the book. Six of these books are finished, photographed and in the sculpture section of this website (Spider/Spinal Cord, Leonardo/Lepidoptera, Voice/Volcano, Fir/Fire, Moon/Mountains of the Moon, and Polar Regions).
Two are nearing completion and should be posted here soon after the glass components come back from the glass shop (Heart/Heat and Art/Artery). And now the final two are beginning to form: (Buckwheat/Buddha and Coma/Comet). I’m daydreaming about how to make a comet streak across the sky.
That’s it for this post! Have a wonderful week!
Leave a Reply