'Family Protectors/Protections' original artwork by Marie Lamb
Note: deer mask on figure, deer is the protector of family and family relations
Showing posts with label semiotics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label semiotics. Show all posts
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Family Protectors/Protections (artwork)
'Family Protectors/Protections' original artwork by Marie Lamb
Note: deer mask on figure, deer is the protector of family and family relations
Friday, November 09, 2007
Childbirth (artwork)
This drawing was actually done on the night of November 2nd. I had been in 'pre-labor' since Halloween night, with the contractions coming and going. This was done between the last spell of pre-labor and (what was to be) the real labor that started in just after midnight (morning of November 3rd). So, just to make it clear, this drawing was made before Esme was born, while she was still inside me.
Original drawing 'Childbirth' by Marie Lamb
Since I know these drawings are VERY hard to tell anything apart in - I've included an 'emphasized' version with some digital color added. Although, it might not help much. The area I made in lightest blue surprised me (happily, to tears) that night, too - as it looks like a baby head-down in the womb of the woman (darker blue).
digitally enhanced to show some of the figures
The bird to the right was a 'hummingbird' like creature and the bird to the left is like a mask or costume, giving some aspects of the bird to the lady inside. There is also a fish to the left of the 'baby' figure, which is symbolic to me because I often described Esme's movements in me like a fish flopping, and in some cultures I studied in my anthropology courses fish (and rabbits, btw) are symbols of fertility and children.
Again, these are my drawings that begin with an uncontrolled set of random lines, drawn to a rhythym (my grandmother's song, now Esme's lullaby) on the paper and then slowly filled in over the course of a few hours until every line is used.
Original drawing 'Childbirth' by Marie Lamb
Since I know these drawings are VERY hard to tell anything apart in - I've included an 'emphasized' version with some digital color added. Although, it might not help much. The area I made in lightest blue surprised me (happily, to tears) that night, too - as it looks like a baby head-down in the womb of the woman (darker blue).
digitally enhanced to show some of the figures
The bird to the right was a 'hummingbird' like creature and the bird to the left is like a mask or costume, giving some aspects of the bird to the lady inside. There is also a fish to the left of the 'baby' figure, which is symbolic to me because I often described Esme's movements in me like a fish flopping, and in some cultures I studied in my anthropology courses fish (and rabbits, btw) are symbols of fertility and children.
Again, these are my drawings that begin with an uncontrolled set of random lines, drawn to a rhythym (my grandmother's song, now Esme's lullaby) on the paper and then slowly filled in over the course of a few hours until every line is used.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Fish Dreams
I've always had 'fish dreams' - where the fish are dying, or the water is running out etc... and I can't do anything about it. They always upset me, and in college I had a good friend finally analyze them (she later got a PhD in psychology). She suggested the fish were my hopes for the future - and that the dreams were a sign I was feeling a loss of control and inability to protect those hopes from outside forces. Eriu hit that nail on the head, in my opinion.
I don't get the fish dreams as much anymore, but I still look hard at them when they do appear. I'll always remember a beautiful fish dream, the first where they weren't in danger, and didn't die - and that was after I had made my decision to come here with Mark. Tanks covering an entire room, full of beautiful goldfish, and he was standing there talking to my stepfather. Neither of them knew each other yet, and that dream made a very powerful image. Someday, I'd like to put that image into a painting.
Last night I dreamt Mark and I were moving fish from one tank to another - but the second tank had carnivorous fish in it, and they wouldn't be safe there. We were talking about setting up a third tank (we have been, in real life, as well - it's on the porch), but it wasn't set up yet and we already had four fish that really did need to come out of the first tank. I ended up putting them in a small jar while we kept talking about what would be a better place for them. Again though, they didn't die - they were just in a holding area, waiting to see what we would do with them.
'Expansion of the Universe' (birth of a child)
artwork Oct 21, 2007 11 pm
I hadn't done one of my random-line drawings in a while now, and last night seemed like the time. Some of you might find the above drawing a little explicit - but hopefully not, as the symbols are pretty obscure and hard to distinguish from one another in general. To me it's explicit - but in a good way. It talks about our baby being born soon, and about the growth, life and responsibility coming from that event.
I don't get the fish dreams as much anymore, but I still look hard at them when they do appear. I'll always remember a beautiful fish dream, the first where they weren't in danger, and didn't die - and that was after I had made my decision to come here with Mark. Tanks covering an entire room, full of beautiful goldfish, and he was standing there talking to my stepfather. Neither of them knew each other yet, and that dream made a very powerful image. Someday, I'd like to put that image into a painting.
Last night I dreamt Mark and I were moving fish from one tank to another - but the second tank had carnivorous fish in it, and they wouldn't be safe there. We were talking about setting up a third tank (we have been, in real life, as well - it's on the porch), but it wasn't set up yet and we already had four fish that really did need to come out of the first tank. I ended up putting them in a small jar while we kept talking about what would be a better place for them. Again though, they didn't die - they were just in a holding area, waiting to see what we would do with them.
artwork Oct 21, 2007 11 pm
I hadn't done one of my random-line drawings in a while now, and last night seemed like the time. Some of you might find the above drawing a little explicit - but hopefully not, as the symbols are pretty obscure and hard to distinguish from one another in general. To me it's explicit - but in a good way. It talks about our baby being born soon, and about the growth, life and responsibility coming from that event.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Resolution and/or Cooperation
A logograph: (or logogram) is a single grapheme(written symbol) which represents a word or a morpheme (a meaningful unit of language).
An ideograph: (or ideogram) is a graphic symbol that represents an idea, rather than a group of letters arranged according to the phonemes of a spoken language, as is done in alphabetic languages.
from Wikipedia
02/16/2007 @ noon
Description: These are two very different 'unseen' or 'spirit' forces - yet they are meshing some of their properties into a stream coming out between them (from one's 'paw') There is a sense of overcoming something and yielding prosperity (the flower(s) in the end of the stream).
States of the Protect and Vulnerable 'shields'
Although not particularily about 'protection', this drawing shows several states of the protection shield. This symbol shows up in almost every drawing I make. An empty black circle (or void) is the 'vulnerable' or opposite of protected. This symbol's state (protected/not-protected) is used to both show where certain figures are strong, and where they are weak. It is also often applied to one figure from another by some sort of touch or flow - trying to share protection or wish it upon others.
Positions most prevalent: knees, heels, heart/spine area, foreheads, stomach(womb) area. A shield upon the hand means 'protector' instead of protected. The young usually have voids upon their heels - but there is usually someone in close proximity that balances with a protection shield.
An ideograph: (or ideogram) is a graphic symbol that represents an idea, rather than a group of letters arranged according to the phonemes of a spoken language, as is done in alphabetic languages.
from Wikipedia
Description: These are two very different 'unseen' or 'spirit' forces - yet they are meshing some of their properties into a stream coming out between them (from one's 'paw') There is a sense of overcoming something and yielding prosperity (the flower(s) in the end of the stream).
Although not particularily about 'protection', this drawing shows several states of the protection shield. This symbol shows up in almost every drawing I make. An empty black circle (or void) is the 'vulnerable' or opposite of protected. This symbol's state (protected/not-protected) is used to both show where certain figures are strong, and where they are weak. It is also often applied to one figure from another by some sort of touch or flow - trying to share protection or wish it upon others.
Positions most prevalent: knees, heels, heart/spine area, foreheads, stomach(womb) area. A shield upon the hand means 'protector' instead of protected. The young usually have voids upon their heels - but there is usually someone in close proximity that balances with a protection shield.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Making Medicine
symbol for 'medicine'
a small jar/container with two leaves
The figure on the right is 'making medicine' to promote healing. The bowl with the two leaves is the medicine, which comes from a song in the breath of the figure (which has 'far-seeing' attached to it's eyes, and is wearing a protect-life shield). The actual bowl is then connected to an idea of the medicine entering the other figure and promoting 'growth/good things' in the leaves.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Dream Bag Weaving, old and new
The weaving for the dream bag is continuing along. Here it is compared with the old (and well-used) dream bag, that usually resides under my pillow, so as to lie just under my ear as I sleep.
So, what is in a dream bag? It would be different for every person. I put in special items that I feel are important. My items are symbols representing links to certain people, qualities and structures that are either important to who I am, or to what I am seeking to dream about. Some items stay in the bag for years, while others come in and out depending on the topics most important to me at the current time.
I think dreams are important, especially 'strong' dreams. When I have those 'pay attention - you're here IN this dream and things are happening around you in real-time' lucid-type dreams, I do pay attention - and see what they might be telling me. Sometimes I get an idea of what is important, or wrong, or needing attention in my waking life - that I have been forgetting or trying to avoid. I view the whole dream experience as a subconscious experiment - another way of gathering and sorting information with my subconscious. (For those of you who have read a little bit about my ink art - you will see this connection in their purpose, as well.) The dreams are rich in symbolism and often 'wacky' in their structure -- but usually upon waking I have a 'Oh Wow' moment - where I understand what my brain was saying and what I need to do with this information while I am awake.
So, do I really think this bag, or the things inside it, makes a difference? In other words, why do this? I think, at the very least, it helps make a focus point, putting things together in my mind just before I sleep that carry over, psychologically, into the 'dream world' of my subconscious. I have a very visual mind, as well, so making a visual symbol with attached meanings helps me personally, to carry over, better than simply thinking 'I want to dream about X.'
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