Carrasco Studio

Journey to Far Cathay

 

Journey to Far Cathay (maybe)                                         ©Jennifer M. Carrasco 2008

 

I painted this on a panel for a door to a little girl's bedroom.  Of course I made up a story for it.

The princess is sailing for Far Cathay to be married to a barbarian prince.  Hence the pensive attitude. 

She is accompanied by her duenna, the old crow in the bow, and an unreliable crew of flighty birds.  She may never arrive in Cathay. 

Who knows, the sailor birds may lose their compass and sail to Tasmania. Or drop off the edge of the world.

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 9/17/09  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission.

Night Spirit

Last week I read a wonderful tribute to marriage and art on Connie and Randy Coita's website, Studio Abbellire,  http://studioabbellire.com/blog/?p=444,  as well as a stunning post of her latest project, a trompe l'oeil Luna moth on a lichen covered panel. Connie is a gifted painter, and her husband Randy is a fine painter as well.

Randy writes that like the Luna Moth,  we artists often start our lives at night and work until dawn. Yeah, I know, it takes a very understanding partner and no other obligations (i.e. kids) to do this very often, or at all.  It's a very uneasy balance with doing art and doing the mother, wife and worker bee at the same time. I've been there, and like many women, I felt I was pulled in too many directions to be good at any role.

But, if your life has evolved into a situation where you can work into the night, it is the most peaceful and focused time to do it.  No meals to prepare, no bank accounts to balance, no kids to soccer.  Like the actual Luna moth I encountered on our screen door one humid night in Georgia, you have time and space just to be.....to  fan out your creative wings and make beauty. For an artist, it's the gift of a quiet time to create in your mind , on a canvas, or to connect the lights of  fireflies in the night.

I have loved the Luna moth since I was a little girl and my mother gave me "Girl of the Limberlost" to read by Gene Porter. Mr. Porter wrote of many lovely things, but the Luna was a repeated icon in his book.  If there is ever a tender, evanescent testimony to the beauty of the natural world, it is this exquisite moth. 

My painted image of the Luna is from a chinoiserie room I did for a client.  Here's a wall of that room.  Like Waldo, the moth is hiding with a lot of flora and fauna. Can you find her?

And thanks, Connie and Randy, for sharing your vision of "a little night music."

Greeting Cards from (my) Far Cathay

 

Emery-Burton has just put out lines of my greeting cards.  These are samples of  everyday cards, and they can come with messages or without. 

I wrote the messages but they are pretty Hallmark-y, since Emery Burton cautioned me not to make the messages "too weird".  (Like, "Wish you were here with me in this bamboo grove so  we could shoot this pheasant, cook it on a spit, drink lots of wine and have sex later.") 

So, if you want to send something snappy and personal, I recommend getting the inside blank.

The images are from a whole room I painted in chinoiserie, a style developed in Europe by artisans to meet the demands of 18th century aristocrats who wanted images of exotic China on the walls of their chateaus.  The images are on canvas, and I pieced together the sections for the little room (about 10 by 20, with lots of corners and woodwork) for delightful (and delighted, if I say so myself) clients.

 

The company is in the process of putting up a new website, so I'm not on it yet, but if you are interested you can contact Emery Burton for retail outlets and wholesale orders by calling Emery Burton at (206) 329-4321, (206) 782-7069, or (206o0 329-4321.  Also, you can bring up Emery-Burton, Fine Cards and Gifts, online, and e-mail them.  I have 12 images in the set.