One year for work Wes travelled to every continent but Antartica. Our kids were small and climbed into his open suitcase as he packed. He returned with stories of people he met, foods he'd eaten, and moments of magic in far away places.
Wire Snake from Eritrea, artist unknown
He also brought home souvenirs like this snake. It reminded me of bracelets we made as kids from bits of telephone wire.
Snake, charcoal on canvas, 32”x52”
I gave myself a big canvas to draw on although the wire snake fits in my hand.
Around this time I was painting a series of fighting animals, and decided the one snake would be more interesting as two entangled. I found it impossible to keep the two forms distinct as I drew them, and in a moment of desperation, laid out mardi gras beads, blue for one snake and red for the other, as a way to keep them straight in my mind.
Snakes, acrylic, oil paint, porcelain, beads, and mirror on canvas, 32”x52”
Using the beads was freeing, and I found I could use them and other objects as I would paint: to describe volume, shape, and motion.
The Bounty Hunter, a 2010 film starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, featured the Snakes in a tattoo parlor/bar scene.
Some time later while making a series of hearts, I thought of the beading I had done on the Snakes.
I started with a charcoal drawing, then thought about how to emphasize the heart and it's energy.
The form got a vivid red outline, then I surrounded it with broken glass. The reflective but shattered glass set against the soft exposed forms of the heart seemed to touch on some of the complexities of this organ.
I spent days moving 1/8" shiny beads into place with a pin. The experience was satisfying and meditative. The painstaking nature of the work left me feeling connected to women who have worked looms with fiber or beads, crafted threads into fine work, or otherwise transformed ordinary objects into something greater.
charcoal, acrylic and oil paint, glass, beads, and pins on linen, 24”x21”
It was so satisfying to lay the last of the beads in place and step back to see a shimmering wall of gold.
Not long ago I got a glimpse of some incredible beadwork. The sheer amount of work involved in this piece left me dazzled: wonder and reflection in the mundane seat of domestic labor.
Liza Lou, Kitchen (detail), from Making Knowing: Craft in Art,1950–2019 at the Whitney Museum of American Art