Advice For A Persistent Plight

“Most of all I want you to know that there is nothing to fear.  Fear is the only thing standing in your way.”

Struck by this deeply, sorely, achingly felt inscription on the back of an amazing holographic postcard from my especially sage sister —codename “Jem (The Outrageous)”— encountered last evening in an album from holidaze 2011. It resonates especially now, as I find myself lingering in moments of reflection and no small amount of shame / regret / defeatism / self-loathing for being my own worst enemy over a span of three (!) decades now, having erected —and fortified many, many times over— nearly all of my life’s most consequential, long-lasting roadblocks.

 

L.S.

 *Note that the subject (the lady, not me or the ermine) has chosen a black onyx string of beads much like one of my favorite, and few, necklaces,, found and purchased at a vintage store with my dearly departed grandmother Mims.

 

#nofear #justgetoveryourselfalready #obsessivecompulsiveproblems #wordsofwisdom #feelingsentimental #sistersknow #holographicart #leonardodavinci #ericashiresphotography

Fairies, skip hence: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Costume Designs

Yesterday’s solar eclipse is now long completed, and yet an eeriness lingers.  In acknowledgment of the mystical elements summoned forth (and any sprites or goblins released) I thought to share four of my six “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” conceptual character sketches unearthed from sophomore year of college at New York University's Gallatin School, spring semester 2002.  Submitted here from Act III, Scene 2 —on 15 in. x 18 in. watercolor paper + material swatch samples— in descending order is fairy queen Titania, trailed by her attendants Peasblossom, Mustardseed, and Cobweb (with some discoloration on the latter’s arm & cheek due to aged rubber cement as my then go-to glue before learning that it yellows over time, sadly):

“The Indomitable Miss Elsie Palmer”

10 in. x 20 in. mixed media collage on black mounted canvas incorporating visuals inspired by John Singer Sargent’s 17 year-old subject Elsie Mellen Palmer (1890), with acrylic tube paint highlights, Mod Podge sealant, and lattice criss-cross blue & gold washi tape edges

Fun fact:  The original life-sized oil portrait —which is at times called either “Young Lady in White” or “Girl in White”— now resides at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center where her uncompromising stare has guests dubbing Elsie the Mona Lisa of Colorado Springs.

#surrealart #analogcollage #modpodge #MissElsiePalmer #classicalartportraits #JohnSingerSargent #turnofthecenturypaintings #YoungLadyinWhite #GirlinWhite #ColoradoSpringsFineArtsCenter #playingwithscissors #fiercefemales

In Tribute to International Women's Month: NYU Costume Design for "Lust"

With March being denoted as a time to #celebratewomen (womyn/womxn) I’m belatedly posting a homework assignment measuring 11 in. x 14 in. from my costume design class at New York University 22 years ago —! I just figured it doesn’t get much more "" than an unapologetically, um, graphic interpretation of the female sex organ as balloon harem pant (with blue & black feathers, furry leotard, sheer “veined” cape, and of course accent jewels). The prompt was to illustrate one of the Seven Deadly Sins and I chose “Lust” —which on my part is admittedly not really promoting a sex positive world in the cringey direction I went, but whatever. (I have a feeling I just wanted to go bold.) At any rate, it’s almost April and because International Women's Month draws to a close at weekend’s end on Easter Sunday I thought I’d get this out instead on a #femalefriday, because, well, Jesus.  Preliminary sketches in final slides.