Earth's Heavenly Creature: The Yellow Dragon

Hi Everyone! Here is my contribution to Justine's moly. Just shipped off today...a bit late. I worked in watercolor, prismacolor and a bit of micron pigma ink.

I wanted to show the yellow dragon which is the heavenly creature of the element of Earth, but I wanted a mostly peaceful and restful image, since I think that our Earth really needs that, to heal. On the back of the drawn entry I included my own words as well as a saying that I learned from my children. It reads as follows:

Promise to the Earth

"Today I make a promise to the Earth,

And all life that it nourishes,

All growing things, all species of animals, and all races of people.

I promise to protect all life on our planet

to live in harmony with nature, and to share our resources justly,

so that all people can live in dignity, in good health and in peace."

Author Unknown.

Let me know what you all think!

lisarene

Hello good peoples. Here is a moly in progress. Celeste added the element of water to Balt's element of metal.

Vibrant, nice.

Hi peoples. I will be posting some moly updates tonight. The second round of molying is beginning to show up. Stay tuned.

Hi everyone. I am trying like a big dog to add to our blog. Like you my issue is time. But, when I sit down and start pushing my creative fingers and mind, I get on a roll. I received NG's moly. It's taking me a moment to transition from his cool use of textiles to my ideas. That's the fun of it. I'll post my progress as it takes off. I hope you all have someone else's moli by now. It's getting to be time to send them off once again. So, I just wanted to say hi.

Proposing our next exchange/mailing date

Hi Everyone,

I know we got off to a slow start and then many of us, maybe even all of us, sent our molys off past the Oct. 1st date. That's fine, but given this late start into Oct. I was wondering if we would all be in agreement with sending off our molys Nov. 30th (instead of Oct. 31st). I know it would help me since I sent my moly off late and therefore got a late start on Justine's.

Please respond as soon as you can so that we can all be on the same page.

Thanks! lisarene

Cherry Bomb's Moly

Here is Cherry Bomb's first entry. FIRE!

51timesBalt's Moly: METAL

Here is 51timesBalt's first entry in his moly. Amazing detail on his female figure.

jpechuzal's first entry

RAR! Loved that! Received jpechuzal's moly on Sat. morn. Excited to begin working in it. Really like the style and colors you used!

jpechuzal's sign-in page

Here's jpechuzal's sign-in page!

NG's Moly

Here is NG's first entry in his moly...amazingly detailed cut paper work!

FIRE BIRD

Here is the first entry in my moly_x_66: I started with FIRE. I will be sending her off to Azfemme later today. Azfemme will make the next entry addressing the element of EARTH.

Please Azfemme, I would love for you to do some of your wonderful pen and ink work...and please date, sign and comment/journal on the back side of your entry!

lisarene's sign-in page for Moly 66

Here is my sign-in page for my moly_x_66 sketchbook. Took much longer than I thought. Also, I decided not to leave space for the members of my group to sign-in here. I would love and much rather that each group member create their entry and then date, sign, and "journal" any thoughts that may lend insight to their entry on the back side of the entry.

What next????

September 27,2009

This is a classic Chinese image of the firebird that rides the summer sky. I used it to create my own firebird(see my last blog "fanning the flames")

It is almost October and I assume we are to send our book to the next person. Lisa, please send me the name and address the person I'm to send it to.

I have been disappointed at the lack of communication with others on this site. I hope next month will be more lively!

Fanning the flames

My Sign-in page still in progress...

O.k...Haven't posted anything in a while...still working on the sign-in page...working in ballpoint pen and trying to find a yellow and a white to create the spheres for earth and metal...not sure yet where I will have you all sign-in,  here or in another area...lots to consider still but I know it will all come together when it comes time to mail it off! I am almost done with my 4 page spread but not ready to share yet so hopefully this peek is fun for you all and would love to hear your comments!

Still here!

Wow! This looks great!  Love the sign-in page and the addition of the flower in 3D!  

You were wondering about the words...well I really appreciate how well you express your ideas on the blog and would suggest that you write any thoughts, words, poetry, reflection, research that is important to you ON THE BACK of your spread.  I personally am going to encourage each person who works in my book to do the same in my moly as it gets passed around.  I really love to know the words, thought process, sources of inspiration that occur with others when creating art.  So maybe that is a suggestion that will work for you?  What do you think?  

I am still working on my sign-in page and my 4-page spread and moving back and forth between the two...so not sure if I should post any more images yet.  Maybe I will...hmmmm...

As far as working in such a small format...It really appeals to me, because I tend to feel a greater sense of accomplishment when I can work small.  I get ideas and finish the work.  I feel disappointed if I start something and don't finish so small format is just right for me at this stage of my artistic growth.  

ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Yesterday I began composing and painting the element of FIRE. The mythical firebird spans the summer sky. The full moon has risen. The Chinese girl "tosses on her bamboo mat", waiting for her lover. I feel resistant about adding text or any other image to the deep red field of color. Is it enough for me to keep the text and poem in my head and trust that it is conveyed through what is already there?

August 27

Here is my title page. I think those "lanterns" are much too close on the left, but I'm going to let it be. There's a space inside each circle for your names. Please leave the circle in upper left corner blank as I have some ideas for that one. As I said, I'm going with "tight and bright" this time. I do this when I'm feeling a little insecure! I'm even using acrylic gouache(VERY bright). Is anyone else having problems working in such a small space? It feels constraining for me, but I'm getting used to it. The Chinese Characters on either side of the girl mean "the five elements"..loosely translated, I'm sure!

The flower on the opposite page is a real Rose of Sharon I picked and pressed when I was in CT a few weeks ago. Please be gentle with it. It came from the tree behind my parents' memorial bench. I really tried to be neat, but spattered a little red paint on the edges of some of your pages. If the paper was dead white it would be easy to fix, but you'll either have to ignore or incorporate.

Seeing RED

August 25

finds me trying out various design options. Typically, I veer from loose and cartoony to

"tight and bright". Today tight and bright is winning. I have chosen FIRE for my first selection. In the cosmology of feng shui, the element of fire is associated with the color red and with summer. It's "heavenly creature" is the "Vermillion Bird". This "bird" symbolizes the placement of constellations in the summer sky. The Chinese like to write about nature and the seasons. I am including a few stanzas from a poem about summer

written no later than the 6th century B.C. by an anonymous poet. This is fun and very challenging trying to integrate it all. Not sure I'm succeeding! The image above, of the Vermillion Bird, will probably not be in the design, at least in this form.

Extension on Exchanging our Moly's

Hi Everyone!  I have already heard from jpechuzal and Azfemme that extending our work time in our own moly's for one more month would be very helpful.  I strongly agree!  So much has been going on and I think we all want to get off to a strong and proud start.  

If there aren't any objections from 51 times Balt, Cherry Bomb and NG I think we should go for the extension!

Also, I did already receive home mailing addresses from Azfemme, jpechuzal, and 51 times Balt.  I still need a couple more addresses from you...sent directly to my email of course...not to be posted here on the blog.

Please post your comment on this topic and please send your home address to my gmail address.

Thanks!  Lisa

Henry Fong

Fong's 5 Elements design is an inspiration

We have permission!

Hi Everyone!

So excited that we received permission from Henry Fong to use the 5 Elements graphic in our header.  I hope you are all as pleased as I am.  I have added a link to his site under "Beloved Links" at the lower right side of this page.  Thank you Henry Fong!

Hi Everyone. That is one cool elements logo. Lisa, thanks for launching this moly. This adventure is literally going to pleasantly force my hand to draw again. I am starting mine with metal. I too am looking forward to this group drawing. I feel like a moly virgin- nervous and willing :) Lisa the sketch that you posted is a cool start and thanks for sharing. Here we go!

New Header

Hi Everyone!

I am in the process of changing the header for our groups blog site. I found a really striking and beautiful image that illustrates The 5 Chinese Elements.  I did a little editing and posted it as you now see here.  I am still working with arrangement of wording and formatting and fonts so it may look a little awkward at the moment.  I will keep working on it.

Also decided to write to the person from where I obtained the image to ask for permission to use it on our blog.  His name is Henry Fong, a Feng Shui consultant.  Being an (aspiring) artist myself, I felt it important to ask permission and give credit to artist and/or owner of this piece. I think any of us would want the same artistic honor and respect.  I hope that we will be allowed to use it permanently. I am waiting for his response by email.

In any case, I would love to hear what you think about the new (as of this moment, temporary) header.

lisa rene

Progress on my sign-in page so far...

Here is a scan of my sign-in page as far as I got last night.  It's a start. 

Excited to be a part of this group!

1 COMMENTS:

lisa rene said...

Hi Everyone! I am so excited to be a part of this group! As you all know our theme is The Five Chinese Elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. This is the order of the elements that we will be using.

You may use any medium/media you like. You may start with any element and interpret that element any way you like. The next person in the rotation will work in your moly following the order of the elements listed above. For example, I am starting with Fire, the next person who works in my moly will continue with Earth, and the next person with Metal and so on.

Also, remember to create your sign-in page! From what I have seen, many sign-in pages include the group name, spaces for each member to sign-in, and an image. You may design yours any way you like.

Last, but not least, here is the order that we will use in sending our molys:

51 times Balt to Cherry Bombs
Cherry Bombs to jpechuzal
jpechuzal to NG
NG to lisa rene
lisa rene to Azfemme
Azfemme to 51 times Balt

Hope that all makes sense!

Welcome! & patience.

Hi all. Sorry that I took so long to set this up. I just beez that way sometimes. Ask anyone. Click on your name at the right and check to see that it leads you to the website you want people to go to. Let me know if you want the link changed. You can put your url in a comment to this post.

I will check back in on Tuesday when I am back at work. My internet is down at home.