Untitled “Semi Relief” | In progress | Images Copyright © 2011 LV Ruiz ♥Ineffable3
Doing some feathering. I hadn’t planned on doing any…but it’s happening. Carvings tend to take on a life of their own, and with that life comes personality…and opinions. So yea, my Hawk wanted defined feathers, so I was more than kind enough to oblige him.
More progress shots coming sooooooon.
Hawking. Yes friends, new madness has begun.
My mother kept every little scrap of paper I ever drew on. I found this gem the other day while rummaging through the pages of one of her many Bibles. Apparently when I was three years old I dictated a card to her. From the looks of the handwriting, I dictated it to her directly and she wrote it, lol. Randomly finding things like this makes me happy. Little hellos from the other side :)
3 bits of concept sketches for next painting. There will be a few really cool focal points in this one, so I’m pretty amped to get started. Once the idea is finalized (yea, fat chance) and all the images are layed out properly, I can then begin the transfer to wood. There will also be a nice little story to tell about this piece upon it’s completion. You shall enjoy :)
On another note - I’m SO happy to be out of the Ochun haze. I think my eyes were bleeding yellow and gold for a solid 2 months. I mean, Jeez Louise! Getting back to the gloomier side of life makes me feel alot more comfortable.
La Caridad De Ochun • Details | Retablo | Image Copyright © 2011 LV Ruiz ♥Ineffable3
Semi relief on 7x10 Birch panel, with hand cut & hand painted frame.
This piece was definitely a challenge, and I must say, I’m pretty proud of myself. Of course I see little areas here and there that could have been tweaked, but that’s just the nature of the game.
I presented this to a good friend of mine who was being crowned Ochun, on Sunday July 3, 2011. We all gathered in this house…somewhere in Brooklyn. A little cowrie-eyed Eleggua head greeted us at the foot of the entrance way. Our heads were all covered, we dressed in white. It was hot and humid…and loud. They drummed and sang for hours for each of the Orishas. The house’s Godfather cleaned a few of us, and the spirits took many (my count was at around 15 heads) Never in my life have I been part of such beautiful madness. It was so effin’ intense.
I’m so happy I painted for Ochun and was able to experience the things I did. She will mark one of many more Retablos to come.
*Sorry for the watermark! Folk tend to reblog an artists work and not give credit.*
(Detail shots of this painting will be re-uploaded with crisp pictures once I can steal my photographer friend again)
Saints, Birds, and Beyond…
Apparently my soul is sold or something. And I’m not even gonna get into the fact that there was a little boy who was NOT my son making noises in my room last night…
So yea, in an attempt to not piss off my dead neighbors across the street, cuz they’ve been stopping by a little too much lately, I’m gonna do a few more of these saint jammies (along with sage-ing the shit outta this place, AGAIN). Oh lord…
The collection I’ve been slowly building has a great deal to do with personal spirituality as well as cultural, paying homage to those who have passed on, and of course…birds. Who knows when all of this will be completed. Free time is becoming less and less, but I’m sure when all is said and done, there will be a pretty beautiful collection to view. My goal is to have a nice combo of reliefs and drawings, along with my usual woodwork.
I hope you all stick around for the ride - it should be an interesting one :)
La Caridad De Ochun | In progress | Image Copyright © 2011 LV Ruiz ♥Ineffable3
Oooh u can’t see much… teasing u all pleases me so! Final piece will be posted after July 3rd (Ochun drumming?) - Stay tuned!
white peacock feathers and listening to this.
A Practice Block & Work Book
Feeling a little under the weather today. I managed to reinfect myself with a cold yesterday afternoon, and I’ve been feeling shitty ever since. Sigh…
Anyhoo, in an attempt to lift my funk and get out of my head a little, I took out this little bass block and did a few sloppy cuts. It did it’s job - I’m funkless for now.
Oh yea, say HI to Work Book, I’ve had him for a while now and he’s kinda become my new best bud. Most of the artwork I’ve done since Revelation of Acia has been plotted down in there. Lots of test run sketches, doodles and workings. There’s nothing really worth showing, but I thought I’d give the little bugger a shout out anyways :)
…umm, if you havent already noticed, I talk about my sketchbooks as if they were people. I’m kooky like that.
La Caridad De Ochun | In progress | Image Copyright © 2011 LV Ruiz ♥Ineffable3
I can take pictures of my artwork with *fancy* phone camera filters toooo (that was dripping with sarcasm) But yea, its a nice guise since I don’t want you to get the full effect of the piece yet…plus I fear of otherworldly repercussions for showing this too early. Eep!
Jerusalem Rosary | Details | Images Copyright © 2011 LV Ruiz ♥Ineffable3
Here are a few detail shots of the final piece. Full view here: Jerusalem Rosary
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(final images re-shot by the very awesome & photo handy Lata Dyal - Thanks Lata!)
Jerusalem Rosary | Image Copyright © 2011 LV Ruiz ♥Ineffable3
(Momma. Years can pass, but my right hand will never forget the lines of your face.
Love you always, Meli)
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On May 9th, 2010 my Mother, Sonia lost a 4 1/2 year battle with Ovarian Cancer. It was eight days after the birth of my son (her first Grandchild), but even more sadly, it was Mother’s Day.
Now, I could get into how devastating this all was, but I won’t. The fact of the matter is, at some point, life is going to deal you a rough hand, and you’ll have to decide on spot how you’re going to handle it. Are you going give up and fold? Or are you going to flip that miserable situation the bird and fight your way through? I don’t know about you, but I’m always up for a good psychological fight.
I had to make peace with my mother’s passing very early on. I had a newborn to take care of, and I couldn’t just press the pause button on life to go run off and be a mental case. Umm, No. My world doesn’t work that way. I focused my attention where it needed to be, and whenever there was a free moment, I did a little artwork. A little goes a long way after a while. A “little” can heal a mind/heart without you even realizing it. I’m proud of the little’s I’ve done. They were meaningful, and they kept my mind busy during those times that minds could very easily have wandered.
Thank you wood. Thank you hands (for finally working properly). Thank you momma for always sending me hello birds. Thank you background music. Thank you La Sirene from above, and the one from Brooklyn.
Bird (re)progressions as of yesterday. Pardon my brush stroke eff ups…Eh, screw it - they’ll be too tiny to notice anyway ;P
This is my Influence Map.
An artist friend posted his recently, and it got me thinking - this is a really great idea! I have this nasty little tendency of forgetting the very things that inspire and encourage me to create. Weird, huh? Well, I’m sure that having this file handy will help a lot in the future. Yay :)
