WCAGA DRAW 4 DAYS (Day #7): Drawing marathon finale with artist talks and the synthesis begins!

TIME AND STORY TELLING. This image of mine drawn in ballpoint pen on xerox paper of a photo of a Cretaceous outcrop in Montana's badlands in the Two Medicine Formation and manipulated in Photoshop represents different kinds of stories over TIME. (Story 1) The rock face itself is 75-million years old with preserved horizontal and vertical burrows made by an invertebrate in a fluvial soil in close proximity to dinosaurs. (Story 2) The "alien" figure is derived from Australian Aboriginal rock art in northwest Australia. Named Wandjina, he is a creation god. The Aboriginal culture goes back more than 20,000 years ago. (Story 3) Starting in 1988, I began documenting my dreams through paintings. Some of the first dream images were of snakes. The snake's rich symbolic value extend across multiple cultures, including the Australian Aboriginal culture. (Story 4) This summer (2014) was dubbed "Cretaceous Summer" by my paleontologist husband, Tony Martin, who took this photo of with the centimeter scale in it to measure the invertebrate burrows in Montana, where he was doing research and I assisted him. (Story 5) I was curious about what new story might emerge if I started layering stories over one another. How do we measure TIME? Earth Time? Psychological Time? Research Time? Draw 4 Days Time? (photo by Tony Martin (aka Chiboogamoo) and art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for fulfillment....conclusion to events like "Draw 4 Days" that are meaningfully rich! Hallelujah for climax and denouement of WCAGA's drawing marathon! 

TA DA! ARTIST TALK TIME. Barbara Rehg began the "Draw 4 Days" artist talk at the Further Polycontemporary on Saturday, August 23, 2014, with an explanation of how WCAGA began hosting drawing marathons that grew into this larger week long event. Jes Gordon (to Barbara's right) is Spreecasting the event. (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Oh the artist talks were interesting, deep, and personal, each exploring what drawing means or meant to them during this week of intensive art making. The audience, who arrived at the Further Polycontemporary at 2:00, engaged the artists with challenging and rewarding questions pushing us past our 4:00 end time. How wonderful to connect, exchange ideas, and travel along the continuum of defining what art is and more specifically what drawing is...!

SERENDIPITY AND FREEDOM. Maggie Bethel invoked the words freedom and serendipity in the explanation of her work. DRAWING, I found from these discussions, has a wide berth to be almost any mark an artist makes! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Since authenticity is such a basic concept for me as an artist who makes art to be whole and healthy, I dug deep into myself to see what I wanted to convey to my fellow WCAGA members and our guests about my work resulting from the drawing marathon. What would my "artist talk" be comprised of?

During the 4 days, I had told "the story" behind the images I was making repeatedly to interested and sympathetic listeners. On Saturday, I felt the urge to tell my story in a different way, a way that would be fun for me yet still engaging for the audience. 

So...I decided to use an InterPlay form called "DT3"--which translates into Dance-Talk three times. The idea is that the words emerge from the body through the dance. DT3 is improvisational, and it is what it is, and I did what I did, my finale to "Draw 4 Days." I did get kudos from one audience member who said my talk got points for being the most dramatic!

POST DT3. Thanks to WCAGA member Anita Stewart for videoing my DT3 and taking this photo. I felt too uncomfortable with the video to post it. I will need more time for reflection and synthesis before knowing if my DT3 performance should be on the internet! (photo by Anita Stewart)

DRAW 4 DAYS MARATHONERS (Linda Hudgins, Helen DeRamus, and Jes Gordon not pictured). Yes! I requested a group photo before we began taking down our work, leaving, and going our separate ways for the present. What a group of warm and amazing CREATIVES! (photo by WCAGA member Helen DeRamus' husband)

THE FEMININE. This cloaked woman has been present in my image making for about 5 years now. She emerged as I began teaching women from Middle Eastern countries who wore a variety of head coverings and clothed their entire bodies but faces and hands. I took the liberty to have my feminine figure go barefoot! She represents mystery, the unknown, maternal nurturing, and the willingness to proceed, to move forward without answers, being curious. Putting her on top of a Cretaceous outcrop...well just seeing what story might emerge! (art by Hallelujah Truth)

SYNTHESIS OVER TIME. Process. Art. The Art Maker. Time. Stories. Fellow artists. Viewers. Words. How to bring them together? What product to generate? Great questions! One thing I am sure of is that BEING part of a COMMUNITY of ARTISTS is a joyful productive way to proceed exploring these questions. I am not alone. And neither are you! (photo by Tony Martin and art by Hallelujah Truth)

That's Coffee With Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me about finales, synthesis, and time! What dance might you do to speak your art?

FINALE. The images come down! (photo and art by Hallelujah Truth)