Cord sewn onto #6.

More cords to sew onto #6.

#1-6 finished; #7 a blank slate

Six of the Stormy Weather paintings are finished. #7 was not going well, so I covered it with paint leftover from the others. Now I have a clean slate to express the underlying meaning of this series. I intend to refer to sketches from my Monday night life-drawing sessions. Painting stormy weather is a handy way to express bipolar disorder, but I think I am ready to use a human form to address it more clearly.

Found cord sewn to Stormy Weather #6

Cord found on Clover Valley Road

The cord that I found last summer while riding my bike, is now sewn to the sky of Stormy Weather #6.

Still working through my ideas here…and thinking of how this project has been influenced along the way.

A few months ago while walking with my friend, Peggy, I shared my Straddle the Turtle story. It never occurred to me to question why those turtles were crossing the road, but Peggy told me they were trying to lay their eggs. Now, this coming spring, I will know ~ ~ ~ and I will be so careful ~ ~ ~

Straddle the Turtle in color

My “distraction” has turned into something more…  Today I began the work of cleaning up the design a bit from the holiday card. Here’s the story:  The tale of Straddle the Turtle

Straddle the Turtle design

I removed Stormy Weather #6 from its stretcher bars in order to paint around the sides (should have done this from the beginning). But now that it’s free and laying on the floor, I’m getting ideas about attaching wires and other found objects (shapes) to add to the chaos. Nothing is glued or sewn on yet…just playing around for now…

Just delivered “Labyrinth Star Turtle” to The Peoria Art Guild for their 2009 “8×8″ fundraiser.

Labyrinth Star Turtle

Back of Labyrinth Star Turtle

8 x 8 ” aluminum foil cake pan covered with printed fabric (a copy of one of my labyrinth paintings) and a found metal star.

The Live Strong (”a race I can win”) bike by Greg Earle for the Whitewater Arts Alliance annual public art fundraiser: www.whitewaterarts.org. A gift to Scott Iott - a send-off for his journey to the Kona Ironman: scottjoe.blogspot.com.

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©2009 "Straddle the Turtle"

I have been distracted from my Stormy Weather paintings by my “Straddle the Turtle” story. More on this when time allows…

From the Stormy Weather paintings

When he visited my studio, I told him this one had become about his bipolar disorder. He looked at it intently for a few moments and told me in so many words that I’m pretty close - the social isolation, the mental chaos with the relief of occasional calm peeking through - getting there…

My brother took this photo after our chat about what these are really about - the bipolar disorder of some in my family.

Stormy Weather