Real Life Spooky Thing
Last Summer at Art Camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a group of us intrepid artists headed out one evening to see the infamous Paulding Light. The Paulding light mysteriously appears and disappears at the end of a seven-mile path. You can drive to the beginning of the path but a barricade prevents you…
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Keeping Up with the Present
I haven’t had time to blog lately so I got to thinking ‘bout time. I spend a lot of time trying to be present. The mystics tell us there is no past and there is no future. There is only the present. However physicists say the present is a psychological illusion. All moments in time…
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Transformation Spiral
We did it! Thanks to the Visitor Center Art Camp (VCAC) and Team Spiral we made a giant walking spiral in Ewen, Michigan. The Transformation Spiral, an interconnected double-spiral measuring 75 feet by 75 feet, is designed for contemplation and guidance. Walking in, let go of anxieties, confusion and fear. Reaching the center ask questions…
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Earth Spiral – Land Art
White Rock Spiral, 60″ x 55″ by Julie JAO, 2019 I am about to set sail so to speak on an artist residency in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Visitor Center Artist Camp will be hosting me and eleven other artists for two weeks. I will be working on building tools to assist me…
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My Life is a Spiral
My Life is a Spiral. It will turn, turn, turn. My Day is a Circle. I will learn, learn, learn. And so it is. I did a few speed paintings last week. I challenged myself to do them on a smaller scale so that people can buy them and actually fit them in their house.…
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“Spider’s Web Diatom”
Spider’s Web Diatom, 16″ x 16″ Egg Tempera on Board by Julie JAO Searching for geometric patterns in nature, I found diatoms. This painting based on a “spiders-web” diatom is made with homemade egg tempera paint. Approximately twenty-five percent of earth’s oxygen comes from diatoms. So take four deeps breaths and thank diatoms for one…
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The Allure of the Grid
The Allure of the Grid The arcs are drawn. The grid develops. The first crossings of lines come as a surprise. The gentle sweeps of the compass rock back and forth. Everything fits together. The last lines glide into place. Breathe deeply, satisfied.
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How to Make a Circular Grid for Celtic Key Patterns
Digging around my Irish roots, I found Celtic Key Patterns. Celtic Key Patterns are described in my little Wooden Book as great space filling devices. Although I aspire to much more than filling space I decided to give key patterns a try. It’s not as easy as it looks. Ok, it doesn’t look easy. The…
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Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim
The Most Visited Exhibition in Guggenheim’s History. I saw it. I flew to NYC to see “Paintings for the Future by Hilma af Klint” at the Guggenheim. On Saturday, April 20, last weekend of the show I cruised past the line brandishing my membership card and got in a full thirty minutes before the museum…
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A Painter of Spirals
Back in February I posted a sketch of a 13-armed Fibonacci Spiral. That sketch was executed on canvas. That canvas hung around the studio for a few weeks before I snuck up on it with a palette of blues. I spread the paint (acrylic) around with a combination of gesture and tight control until I…
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