A Few of My Favorite Things

A Few of My Favorite Things
36" x 48"

My first invitational. I was excited and scared at the same time. No ideas, and then too many ideas. Would I rise to the challenge?? (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one!). Eventually, I got this idea and knew it was the right one!
This is actually me! Climbing a strenuous roof crack at Enchanted Rock State Park. Strenuous may be an understatement. I mean this one was REALLY HARD. I fell too many times to count. And I never would have made these moves without the help of my two spotters and the belayer on the other end of the rope. Each time I fell, the rope would catch me. I rested (and rested and rested), got back on at my high point, and then tried another move. Got it!! And then slipped out again, only to be caught again by the rope. That's what makes this such a beautiful metaphor for life. We all need support, it helps us get to where we are now. I am thankful for all the support that I have gotten through the years. And there is nothing like having children to make you appreciate all the things your parents did for you, so thanks mom and dad!
The theme of this show is EDGES. And though this lovely climb looks like such a beautiful edge, the irony is that climbers don't consider this climb an "edge climb". Ha, ha! It works for me though. And, maybe it explains why I like edges in my art. They make me feel secure. A nice edge, you can climb into and rest, or stand on securely. I did this piece in all batik (eh, sort of). It took about 7 or 8 layers of batik and dye to get to this point. Some of the top section I used bleach discharge in patches. Then I waxed the whole section, and etched in some more texture and dyed again. There were a number of mistakes, yet I persevered. For a total risk, I opted not to measure any of my dyes....now, THAT is scary!!!! I couldn't decide what to do with the sky, and that's when I decided to make this into a bit of a travel poster about my favorite crack climbs at Enchanted Rock. It is a wonderfully huge granite batholith in central Texas and only an hour and a half from Austin. Exfoliating flakes make these huge and wonderfully exposed boulders. There are hundreds, and hundreds of climbs, and I only had room for the names of a few here. I quilted the letters with white thread, and then went over them with white Tsukineko Inks. Look for it first at IQA: Long Beach.
And last, though this piece looks totally different from Vertigo, maybe now you can see why I associated climbing with overcoming fear.