Creating...INSIDE the Box!

The glorious box with all its layers, collage, assemblage, interactive and symbolic possibilities is once again firmly rooted in my creative thoughts. It has become my way of taking a snap shot...of transforming common everyday objects into magical expressions of self...of using the things I can find, touch, create and see to tell the story of what you cannot see: my ideas, my memories, my fantasies and my dreams.

This box is part of a trilogy I am currently working on. I call this one Yesterday and soon it will be followed by Today and Tomorrow.

RedeSIGNED - May 15, 2009

Well, the show was a big success and a really fun upcycling experience to be a part of! The artwork spanned so many different styles and ideas about signage. I think more than one artist (myself included) would consider the sign as a medium that we will pull from over and over again in the future. Check out some of the press about the week long event @http://madnessofart.com/2009/05/14/signs-of-the-green-times/ and http://blog.bfgcom.com/?p=1751.

A quick shot of the crowd at the reception on Friday.

Me, in front of my work, enjoying the event and the wine! ;-p

"Analogy"

38" x 38"

Mixed Media

Created by Gina Caraviello

(All Rights Reserved)

I was the only artist to insert the sign in a canvas and use as text in this way. Why did I do this? The "DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION" sign spoke to me in many ways. First, I wanted to express how signs protect people. Then, I started thinking...what personally protects me? The squares (or boxes/layers), the shell, the glove, the key, the words -- all things that protect. Then the piece kind of took a different (more personal) turn with me wondering if that protection was blocking me creatively or NOT blocking me. I also thought about how I have to compartmentalize my creativity, sometimes even my feelings, until later. Sometimes, I think I block things to protect myself from emotional conflicts, sometimes it is just self-preservation...protecting from my past, so I don't make future mistakes. So, the actual part from the sign that has the editing symbol for delete over it (albeit another glorious spiral of sorts...) is wanting you to see that in the end I'm saying, "Do Block," but it isn't necessarily a negative thing.

Or at least, I think so.

RedeSIGN this?

I've signed-up (HA!) with New Moon of Savannah (a local social experiment group of sorts) and have been very busy working on my redesign of the above G-DOT road sign otherwise destined for the trash. For some reason, "DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION" were the words that spoke to me back at the end of March when I went to go make my pick and I'm almost done trying to figure-out why...

Stop back by on the 16th of March, when I get to reveal my redeSIGN to the world...right after the week long opening event.

InSPIRALation...

I am so grateful that I live near the Coast! I truly cannot imagine living any place where I was land-locked...with no possibilities of a quick trip to the shore. I love that at a moments notice, I can soak-up the glorious sun, feel the sand between my toes, be surrounded by the wonder of the ocean and see such beauty in all its details. It feeds my very soul.

Most visits, I can barely finish taking-in one sight, before catching a glimpse of something else I just have to capture forever with my camera. The lighting right before dusk is incredible, magical and completely illuminating too! And so it was yesterday when me and the FAM made our way to the breakers for a little spiral guided scavenger hunt of sorts.

It was a truly magical moment that left me inspired and wanting to share...

Encapsulated...

For me, feeling nervous or anxious is a completely interior emotion. I may feel it on the inside, but I don't let it show on the outside...it's encapsulated if you will. So, I worked on a quick sketch of me in perfect harmony for this week's IMT prompt and then manipulated it in Photoshop until I felt it visualized how I might personally show distress or uneasiness of mind.

Her story in words...

Her words held her deepest wishes, her fears, her joys, but most importantly...her story.

Su if you are reading this, know that this piece did not start out being about you, but somehow ended up that way. Or maybe more to the point, it ended up as a reflection of mine and your written thoughts and visual symbols all layered together to create this final (at least I think I'm done?) image. Putting yourself, your craft, your words OUT THERE for all the world to see, takes a lot of courage and personal strength. I admire that in you and enjoy it when I can recognize that in myself too. Maybe that is how our lives...our stories...will be forever intertwined?

Does the gray really matter?

I don't know, maybe it's all the rainy days I've been experiencing lately that really inspired me, but when the IMT prompt came up this week as opposites...I didn't even blink an eye before heading directly to my studio to create this piece. Good or evil, right or wrong, conservative or liberal, sinner or saint, black or white -- seems we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on the opposites in our lives, when all there really seems to be is gray matter to me. So, I painted this environment on my canvas that (hopefully) captures value opposites, but also exposes the wonder...the little swirling goodness...the colorful gray matter...that ends up being the more interesting stuff in between the opposition.