Wordless Wednesday - Yasaka Shrine with Fortunes

Yasaka Shrine photograph © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

~ Jaime Lyerly

Wordless Wednesday - Toyko Panda

~ Jaime Lyerly

Out with the Old! Bringing in new energy by cleaning

I am feeling hyper, motivated and inspired to do the unthinkable - CLEAN and GET RID OF STUFF - Including ART SUPPLIES!

This feeling hardly ever comes. And when it does, it usually lasts only for a hour or two. Then I get overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes and I avoid it again for another year or so.

But all the energy in my life is telling me that it is time for a change.

I need to LET OUT THE OLD TO ACCEPT THE NEW!

There are so many examples and descriptions that I could go into for why this is resonating with me that I would end up spending the whole day writing blog posts about it. But there is cleaning, returning and organizing to do and I have to strike while the iron is hot. Iron...encaustic...painting...mmm...oh, distractions.. how I miss you already. No! Focus! Okay, one quick example.

In my Japanese class, we talked about traditional activities surrounding the New Year. (I am just going by memory here, so if I get it wrong, please forgive and correct me!) Each year has a specific animal sign (adapted from Chinese Zodiac), and a new deity that is welcomed into the home by cleaning every inch of it. Getting rid of old things, cleaning, writing New years' cards, and putting up decorations is necessary. The first three days of the new year, everyone has off (with one exception). New years' cards are sent to everyone you know and are delivered on New Years day by mailmen who are the only ones that work. New years eve at the Shinto shrine, the monks ring the gigantic bell 108 times to release the 108 sins or demons inside every person. More about Shinto New Year bell ringing here. Going to the Shinto temple for blessing is common within the first few days of the year. Bathing and cleansing are very important for the house and the body. To the left is a picture of Chris and my friend Joyce cleansing their hands and mouths before going into the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo during our Japan and China Study Tour. They even wear new clothes on New Years' day. It looks like an amazing tradition, and one that I am going to adopt and modify to fit my own life this year.

So back to what has been occupying me for the last few days - cleaning out the old. I am getting rid of all the clothes, items and even art stuff that no longer fits me. This includes lots of watercolor stuff, acrylic paintings and maybe even art books (although those are harder to part with). And as I get a notice from my health insurance company that starting January 2010, my health insurance per month will be raised to $295, I am thinking about the barter system. Maybe I need to trade some of my art supplies for other services? Maybe trade art for something more practical? Maybe trade of acrylic supplies for encaustic wax that I need to continue my projects for the new year? I am already making a trade with my friend Starry to help me regain my sewing skills, but we haven't worked out the details. I am looking for options in the new year, and I believe that this new energy will not do me harm. Anyone looking for a trade of art supplies? Email me and we can work out a deal!

I have spent too long on this post, but I am still energized to make room in my life for more abundance! So if you don't see my posts as often as I usually do, trust me, I am still here and working away on my art and life. I look forward to sharing more of my life and art with you in the new year!

Happy cleaning and Welcoming the New Year! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Wordless Wednesday - Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto at Night

~ Jaime Lyerly

Wordless Wednesday - Drop

~ Jaime Lyerly

Wordless Wednesday - Koi Fish

~ Jaime Lyerly

Unique Beeswax / Encaustic Sculptures by Jaime Lyerly

3-D encaustic sculptures, detail view, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

As I move on to new projects, I feel the need to show off some of my most recent work in May. I have been waiting to post this for a while, until I had a good way to tell the story. Here is the abbreviated version of how these sculptures came to be. Enjoy!

Encaustic/Beeswax and Mixed Media Sculptures by Jaime Lyerly, May 2009

Installation - set of five, set of three

Encaustic/Beeswax, yarn, wire and spotlight

Concept:
The concept behind these sculptures were to free encaustic from its role of surface design only. Usually, encaustic is applied to a rigid and porous surface which makes the wax unnecessary. I wanted these to need the beeswax to exist.

3-D encaustic sculptures, detail view, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

Process: In these sculptures, I built an open wire frame and wrapped very soft yarn around the wire intuitively. Then I dipped them repeatably in a large pan full of hot white and yellow beeswax. I hung them to dry and added more and more wax.

The sculptures started off as a set of three and moved to five. The pieces hang from the same yarn from which they are made. The wire and yarn need the wax now to exist, for without the wax they could not be the same.

3-D encaustic sculptures, installation view, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

The spot light that is cast from the ceiling creates pockets of shadow inside each piece and illuminates it. It casts shadows on the ground, which dance as the pieces move and spin. The light also heats the pieces which makes the beeswax smell stronger and threatens to destroy the piece.

3-D encaustic sculptures, cast shadows view, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

3-D encaustic sculptures, detail view, © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

These sculptures are so much fun to make that I want to make a hundred of them to fill a gallery. I have been thinking and planning for encaustic sculptures that destroy themselves and ones which are created from the melted wreckage.

Until then, Happy Art Making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Encaustic Painting Workshop by Jaime Lyerly at Escondido Municipal Gallery - July 25, 2009

Making encaustic medium, July 2009

So the last three days, I have been making encaustic medium in preparation for my upcoming "Basic Encaustic Workshop by Jaime Lyerly" which is at the Escondido Municipal Gallery in Escondido, California. The workshop is on Saturday, July 25, 2009 from 12 pm - 3 pm. The price is $75 ($65 for members of EAP). This price includes all supplies, which is a steal! I paid twice that amount for my basic encaustic workshop. See this post for more examples of my more traditional encaustic paintings.

Here is my description of what you will learn and do:
Encaustic painting is an ancient technique of molten beeswax, damar resin, and pigment applied to a surface and fused using heat. Learn the basic techniques of encaustic painting in this workshop. We will cover history, materials, substrates, tools and safety. We will explore layering, collage, incising and transfers. Plenty of time for hands-on experimentation. Bring your own collage elements and get ready to try this "hot" way of painting.

If you are anywhere near Escondido, please come to my workshop! The space is limited to 10 people and you must preregister by Saturday, July 18. Check out the Escondido Municipal Gallery Workshop page for more details and to register. I have plenty of knowledge to share and love to introduce people to the magic of encaustic painting.

Why don't you come join me and bring some friends? Let's spend that Saturday flinging hot wax around and making art!

Happy Art-making! ~Jaime Lyerly

San Diego Women's Art Caucus Member Show at 8Teen Art Center - July 5 - July 18

My son, Xen, relaxing with a soda and a book with
my "Forbidden Fruit Series" behind him at 8Teen

Our last minute blog post to San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Members worked! We have a show and we want you to come see it!

Thanks to all the San Diego WCA members who came today to drop off and hang your work. You made my job easy and the show looks great. See, I told you we could do it!

Here is a sneak preview of the Women's Caucus for Art Member Show held at 8Teen Art and Culture Center from July 5 - July 18, 2009. The photographs do not do these works justice, so you must stop by to see them in person.

Opening reception is from 3 - 6 pm on July 5, 2009. The show will be up until July 18, 2009 and there will be a closing reception on that date (times unknown).

Paintings by Ellen Benfatti and (bottom) Laura Jean Thompson

Paintings/Collage left to right by Jaime Lyerly, Midge Hyde, and Laura Jean Thompson

Paintings by Ellen Benfatti

Paintings left to right by Jen Bottoms and Midge Hyde

Encaustic collage/Paintings "Forbidden Fruit Series" by Jaime Lyerly
(click link to learn more about the "Forbidden Fruit Series")

Encaustic collage/Painting - detail "Forbidden Fruit Series" by Jaime Lyerly

I hope this has whet your appetite and you will come have a look!

Your Turn:
Like what you see and you are a women artist in San Diego? Why don't you join us! The San Diego Women's Caucus for Art accepts membership applications all year round. With my help, the WCA is getting connected on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Please check us out on any of these sites to see what we are up to. WCA members are active in their communities and want to share with you. You can even sign up at an event. There are member shows, opportunities to network and an annual retreat to Julian in November where you can learn art techniques and get away from it all.

This year's WCA retreat is going to be super fun! I am teaching a workshop on Encaustic Painting; and there are two other workshops by local artists. I believe that Cynthia Gott's Inner Archetype Workshop has been replaced by Ellen Benfatti who will be giving a Reiki workshop. Judith Burnett will be giving a workshop on Portrait Painting in Oil. Space is limited and the deadline is rapidly approaching (August 15, 2009 for full payment) - so if you want to get in on the fun, email to Retreat Coordinator Jen Bottoms today!

Hope you can make it to one of our events.

Happy Art Making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Wordless Wednesday - Shinto Torii Gate and "Shrine Virgins"

~Jaime Lyerly

Musings and My Obsession with Japan

I have been brooding over where to start with the blog posts of my study tour to China and Japan. My partner, Chris Miner, has been doing a great job writing about the trip from his point of view.

He has been diligently resizing photos, photographing and scanning mementos and taking text from his journals. He has been blogging about each day and you can see in his blog, the Raw Materials of Music Making, that he has been trying to capture the long and complicated days with pictures and words.

What have I been doing? Not a whole lot!

I definitely feel like I'm having a harder time adjusting back to my normal life. It just seems so boring compared to two weeks of exploring new places. My mind has been processing all that I experienced and how it is going to change my life. I am feeling restless in my normal routine and am ready to shake it up again. But how?

Our sensei planted a seed in my head while we were in Hangzhou, China. She said something along the line of "You should do the exchange program for a semester or year. Take the whole family." She then pointed out the China Academy of Art which nestled into green trees, just down the street from the beautiful West Lake. She said something about how both the schools that SDSU had an exchange program with for art majors in China and Japan were excellent and that I would learn a lot. It would definitely be an experience.

I fell in love Hangzhou, China and could see myself studying there: riding my bike around the West Lake, and learning how to sculpt in traditional ways that my university has forgotten how to teach. The language would be a barrier, but it is so inexpensive there, I could afford to live. The idea of study abroad in China buzzed in my head as we left Shanghai. And then I went to Japan.

Japan is much more Americanized and super modern compared to China. Since we didn't have Miranda (our tour guide), sensei was to be our guide. This led to a whole different experience of Japan than in China. Sensei did not gather the group by yelling out "S.D.S.U!" like Miranda did. She would just take off and we had to follow her. Most of the trip was spent making sure that sensei was close by, and counting people. She had a tendency to want to leave people instead of waiting for them. It would be comical if most of the group spoke Japanese. But since most of us knew no or little Japanese, we would be very lost without sensei.

Sensei at Meiji Shrine (Shinto)

Long story short, this lack of a tour guide telling us information and a comfy tour bus to ride in led to us having to integrate with the culture more. I had to pay attention while I rode the bus or train to make sure I got off in time. I listened and recognized names, especially in Tokyo - Shinjuku, Harajuku, Ueno, Yoyogi, Ginza and Shibuya. I not only knew where they were on a map, but also how to get to them by train and what was there when you got there. I yearned to be able to read the signs that were around me, and to say more than just "Arigato" to others.

Add to this my absolute fascination with the native religion of Japan - Shinto. The first night in Kyoto we came across a Shinto shrine at night and it was luminous and mysterious. I won't go to far into Shinto now because I am going to devote an entire post to it soon. It is more than love with Japan now. It is almost an obsession to find out more about this magical place.

Sensei's talks with me about studying in Japan became more real as I imagined myself studying the traditional arts and their relationship to the native religion of Shinto. There are many more details that I would need to work out and to consider before a decision is made.

So the next blog posts about my trip will be focused specifically on the parts of Japan and China that moved me. Just the images that are blazed into my brain and the art ideas that have sprung from that. I may add some pictures of experiences that were just fun and unique, such as "Geisha Hunting." Hopefully you will understand why I am now obsessed with Japan.

Until then, Happy Art-Making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

China and Japan - Chris Style

Chris in Tienanmen Square, May 2009
photo by Jaime Lyerly

For anyone who is not aware, my partner, experimental musician Chris Miner, has his own blog where he writes about the process of his music and other experiences. We have a different niche of blog readers, but it is wonderful when they can cross-pollinate.

Chris has been so great as to start sharing his experience on our study tour to China and Japan. Since I have been holding out on you and not sharing my experiences, I now offer you China and Japan - Chris Style!

Promise to share some of my own experiences soon.

Update 6/22/09: Chris is doing a great job on his blog of showing a visual summary of our experiences. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, it is worth it!

Until then, happy art-making! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Back from China and Japan! Now what?

Dragon Well Green Spring Tea from the Tea Plantation in Hangzhou, China
photo by Jaime Lyerly, May 2009

Back home from our long, exhausting and exhilarating study tour to China and Japan. It was a wonderful experience to say the least. It was the first time in over a year that I was completely taking in visual and auditory information instead of producing art work and ideas. Only during the last few days of the trip did I start to get ideas of ways to incorporate what I was seeing and experiencing into visual art. More about these ideas to come in later blog posts.

I had no access to a computer or even a phone most of the time while we were way. For someone who is on the computer hours and hours a day - this was a huge change! I learned I can live without the computer, Facebook, Twitter and all that jazz. But coming back....yikes! Lots to catch up on. I also feel like I neglected all my duties as an artist and blogger, so I will try to get connected again.

Coming back from such a huge, life-altering trip I am having a hard time dealing with the reality of my normal work and mom schedule (luckily no college classes for a month). Two of our four cats hissed and growled at us when we came home. I missed my kitties so bad when I was on the trip because they are such a part of daily life. Coming home to have them mad at me was hard. Also, two days after I got off a plane after 24 hours with very little sleep, I had to go to work at my clerical job and later that night a middle school band concert to watch/listen to my 12-year-old son Xenneth play the baritone. This does not sound like much, but add it to a pile of bills, correspondence and a messy house and you have quite a lot to deal with. How does my body deal with this stress? It gets sick - which is where I am at now.

So please bear with me as connect back to the real world again. The only thing from our trip that has easily integrated with my normal routine is the drinking of green tea. The picture above is from the Tea Plantation in Hangzhou, China where they teach you about the qualities, customs and benefits of green tea. This is spring tea, which is picked the first week in April when it is most fresh. The tea is mild but invigorating, and I love it. The only big purchase I made in China was the tea. Therefore, I have been enjoying pots of green tea each day since I returned home.

Sorry to give you such little information, but I am still figuring out how best to blog about my experiences. I did keep a travel journal for each country and wrote about my experiences daily. I did not do any art while I was there. This is mainly because we were in a group setting and running non-stop all day. The time it takes to sketch never seemed to fit into the agenda. While I am disappointed about that part, I do feel that my travel journals and photographs will provide me lots of inspiration for years to come.

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishing on my trip. It was great! Looking forward to sharing my stories and pictures as soon as I recuperate.

To your health and fantastic journey! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Encaustic Painting Series - "Forbidden Fruit"

"Forbidden Fruit" series 1 - Installation view

For all you artists who have been enduring my rambling about things other than art, thank you! I am happy to share with you my new series of encaustic paintings. The photographs of the piece could be better, and I am still working out exactly how I want to install them. However, I think they are ready for your viewing pleasure. I would love to know your opinions on these.

First - The skinny on the "Forbidden Fruit" series -

Technique: 16 6x6x2 inch artist boards. Self-portrait ink jet photographs printed on rice paper. The photos are layered with encaustic medium. The medium is manipulated with tools and heat.
Concept: "Forbidden Fruit" explores the idea of Eve and "original sin." With one bite of the fruit, Eve brings knowledge but also pain and suffering. The fruit that has caused all the problems is now gagged into the mouths of all women. This gagging is my main interest.

Now to the piece:
Forbidden Fruit - by Jaime Lyerly. April 2009. Installation view above, and details of individual pieces below.

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 1

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 2

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 3

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 4

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 5

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 6

Forbidden Fruit series 1- Detail 7

Forbidden Fruit series 1 - Detail 8

Your Turn: Please share your thoughts with me about this series. Do they affect you? How about the installation? Anything else you want to say?

Happy Art Making! ~ Jaime