A fascination with symbology and script

"I believe in the language of symbols, because they carry the power to

transcend barriers, allowing us to travel beyond the barriers of culture, intellectual dogma, and ultimately personal identity." ... Juan Rosenfeldt

Mesopotamian incantation bowl

"Where there is a symbol, there is creation" ...

Stephane Mallarme to Jules Haret .. 1891

 

this appears to be a middle eastern 

chart of the cycles of the moon

I'm drawn to cultural symbols and script that

seem mysterious, in that they are unfathomable to me,

yet steeped in another culture's traditions, spirituality, 

lineage, and daily life . . books, paper, stone, wood.

Persian sale purchase document from the 1800's

Yin/Yang

Small folding manuscript in northern 

Thai script (British Musem)

Ironwood shaman's calendar

Pasir Dayak

The labryinthe at Chartres

Moroccan calligraphy, 19th century

A Sino-Arabic calligraphy panel by

Yusuf Chen Junhui

(translation: "praise be to God)

The oldest known inscriptions of a family tree
thought to show the names of emperors from the Chang Dynasty

from Sri Threads website

Nanso Satomi haken den by Kyokutein Bakin (1890),
one out of 98 volumes from his long novel, Yomihan 

Inscriptions on stone drums (Eastern Zhou Dynasty, China, 5th century BC)




Postage stamps as contemporary cultural identification symbols . . .

Using "asemic" (without semantic meaning) symbology in art . . 

Antoni Tapies

Two encaustic paintings from my Semiotics Series . . the symbols

are meant to be a mystery (asemic) and were chosen for 

the aesthetics of their graphic qualities.

Janna Gougeon 14 x 14 encaustic

Janna Gougeon, 12 x 12 encaustic

When I was young I wanted to be an archeologist, but that didn't seem very "practical". Then I discovered that there was something called sociology. That also didn't seem practical, as I didn't want to teach. So I chose to get a degree in psychology. Now, as an artist and spiritual seeker, my eye is drawn to visual symbols. In my fascination with the ancient (archeology), sociology (cultures), psychology (personal creation), I seem to have combined them all.

I COLLECT . . .

. . in my studio . .

working vintage typewriter . . 20's, 30's, 40's?

bird's nest with stones and one robin's egg

old books (taken apart), papers, envelopes

 papers and photo

my grandmother on the left . .

in the pile is my father's confirmation certificate

my grandmother's typing book . .

 old papers, evelopes & hard copy 
calculator print out (a list of numbers)

I used some of these typewritter

keyboard numbers in an encaustic collage that I made

some time ago . . below . .

the school's date stamped on the my grandmother's 

touch typing manuel . . . nearly 100 yrs ago

fodder for collage . .

old box with this wonderful dot pattern

. . it held old keypunch cards

old wire office basket . .

old stamps & stamp holder . .

from my aunt & uncle's accounting business

. . probably 50 yrs old

 I put circles in my paintings, and I am drawn to spheres.

I have collected many kinds through the

years. The more history the better . . 

 the following images are some

of the spheres of in my studio.

a spring from a train holds a metal sphere

on my desk

old croquet balls

on my desk . . a brass "gadget" . . 

holding an "eight" ball . . 

book ends that have brass spirals
mounted to wood

solid glass ball
held by an iron votive candle holder
with a roman numeral clock face decoration

old iron post finial

one of my vintage bocce balls . .
I sometimes use candle holders
to display balls/spheres


Many years . . collect and collect . .
 different colors of vintage papers are a favorite . . the old type 
. . the vintage graphics and decorations . .
symbols, diagrams, charts, lists of numbers
have all "called" to me through the years.
I know there was a part of me that meant to use
them in art someday, probably collage.
Who knows where they will turn up!

Journal explorations . . following my "inner" prompts

I decided to explore composition in the pages of a journal, adhering vintage book pages, Chinese newspaper, and old phone book pages to the journal pages, then going back and forth with acrylic and rubber stamps (homemade & retail). As I was working on these, I came across this in Ian Robert's book, Creative Authenticity (the following quotes are from  this book and a chapter titled "Follow Something Along")

"If we are to say something authentic, we need to stick 
to an idea for a while. We need to gnaw at it,
mine it, obsess over it." . . "Most of us
would do well, if we are interested and
serious about an art form, to settle into 
that thing and follow it along. And then 
find a few core ideas to express in that art form" . .


As I have been searching to find my authentic creative voice with my art, I spend a lot of time looking at others' art. First it was Tumblr and now Pinterest.
Because you can divide art into categories, I discovered that my pinterest board titled,
"symbols, script, numerals" had many more postings than even my board titled, "circles, spheres, dots, spots". As I appreciate and am drawn to so many different art forms, the amount of images I had pinned to "symbols and script", combined with Roberts' suggestion, told me that this was something I should explore. 


. . "You can get a lot of mileage out of
an idea that is deeply your own. You
can mine it like a vein of gold. You
can rework it." . .

. . "Working ideas along or in series
also means that you're not starting
from scratch each morning,
wondering what you'll be doing next" . .

. . "The game plan is in place.
The current piece fits into the whole." . .

. . . Eventually the inspiration may run it's course.
But when you do find something that holds you,
that you can obsess over, put your attenion there." . .

. . "In the same way, we can abandon ideas that 
aren't calling so loudly." . .

. . "Get your energy flowing where
your interest is most intense." . .

(two page comp)

My favorite and most recent page . .

more space.

The journal cover . . translation of 

"je suis moi" = "I am me"

As I progressed, it became more and more apparent to  me, that I also gravitate to a grid composition. So I will continue to just "follow the prompts" of what "wants" to be there. And I find myself becoming braver and braver in putting fewer elements on the page (pinterest board . . art with space).

AND . . I sold the painting in my last post!