March | 2013 | Chiarina Loggia

March 26, 2013
by chiaink 13 Comments

Tuesday Tales – Waiting For The Butterfly

Fragile

This weekend I ran a half marathon. It was my sixth. The course was relatively easy and, despite the cold and rain, I had hoped to run a personal best. Sadly it turned out to be my personal worst, not time wise but in terms of disappointed expectations. I had struggled with diminished energy and achy muscles throughout the race and when I saw the clock at the finish line I was completely demoralized. Overcome with fatigue and a sudden urge to cry I found myself struggling to breathe. Fortunately oxygen from the paramedics on hand and the care of my close buddies recharged me and restored my equilibrium in short order.

This event did leave me wondering why I push myself so hard to achieve, whether it’s with running or, more commonly, with my art. Why do I give myself difficult challenges and why am I so hard on myself? How could a difference of five minutes in a two-hour race matter so much? Why do I continually place my work under the scrutiny and opinions of jurors? I think the hard truth is that I believe I have the capacity and possibility for great things and shouldn’t waste these. I’m not the type to think I could do better but never try. I have the confidence to try and risk failing. Yet at the core I also have a fragility and timidity that I battle, even though I know it is a part of me I must accept. I think we all have this duality of strength and fragility at the core of our beings. It is a balancing act we all play out. Sometimes we chase our dreams most fiercely and that it good. And sometimes it feels right to simply sit and let the butterfly land on us. I think I may try that for a while.

Fragile, an 8″x10″ monoprint, is offered this week at $250.

March 19, 2013
by chiaink 8 Comments

Tuesday Tales – December Dream

December Dream, 3

The wind danced in the firs, throwing their undulating shadows over the new fallen snow, as the moon beamed its song across the sky. But it was the cold touch of the windowsill beneath her hand that drew her attention, bringing her out of her reverie. With the waning of the year the moment was here at long last. As her fingers hesitated over the button at her waist, she felt his eyes on her, waiting, anticipating. Shivers of heat warmed her flesh as she looked up and slowly followed the cool light towards the shadowed contours on the bed.

December Dream is an image dear to my heart. It is based on the first self portrait I ever made, titled December, described here. I reworked and enlarged the image to create a new series of prints, this time using a photograph of the December print as my image rather than the original photograph. The full series of prints can be seen here. This image is one for which I felt a story needed to be told, hence the drabble above. A drabble is a short work of fiction told in exactle one hundred words. As with haiku poetry, it challenges my ability to say a lot with few words. While it is a work of fiction, the autobiographical references are there, as are the emotional resonances that, combined with the imagery, create an enigmatic interplay between dream and reality.

December Dream, 3, a photopolymer gravure monoprint measuring 12″x16″, is offered this week at $750, unframed, or $900 framed.

What do you think, dear Reader? Does the drabble fit the image well? Have you ever tried your hand at writing one? Please post or link, I would love to read some.

March 12, 2013
by chiaink 4 Comments

Tuesday Tales – The Magic Around The Corner

Birthday Cake

A few years ago I wrote a post about my daughter turning of age, calling it Time The Beckoning Thief. This past Sunday we celebrated her birthday again and I couldn’t help but take note of the changes in our lives that time has brought. We are both with new partners and in new homes. She is about to graduate from university and take on the challenges of this new stage in her life. My work has continued to evolve and be a source of tremendous joy and growth. But the most significant change for me has been the realization that magic can truly be just around the corner, for I have experienced it. Back then I was awash in memories and longings. Now I am filled with life’s possibilities and certainties, for I have experienced joys and adventures only hitherto dreamt of and I face the future with the knowledge that life will still surprise and amaze me.

And sometimes what amazes me is the constancy of certain things, like the bond between mother and daughter. Despite the changes in our lives, our love and need for each other remains steadfast. I am so proud of my daughter. She is an inspiration in ways too numerous to express. And she continues to be my muse. The image of her below is one of my favorites, for how it captures the contrast of strength and fragility, youth and wisedom that so characterises her. I have printed it several times in different ways, including one in which she is painted blue! The title, Sandro’s Dream, refers to the resemblance of her face here to Sandro Botticelli’s Venus in his Birth of Venus.

Sandro’s Dream, 2

Birth of Venus, detail, by Sandro Botticelli

Sandro’s Dream, 2, detail

For this print I textured her face with tiny crackles to resemble an old frescoe. I did this to allude even further to her Italian heritage. The scenery on either side of her places her firmly in the present, on the beautiful island home we share.

Sandro’s Dream, 2, a photopolymer gravure etching measuring 16″x12″, is offered this week at a special price of $500 unframed.

March 5, 2013
by chiaink 6 Comments

Tuesday Tales – Water, Water Everywhere

Cascade I

Cascade II

Water, Water Everywhere

Water—it rains down on the earth, seeking every nook and crevice, cleansing and bringing forth life.

Water—it surrounds these hard lands we live on with vast oceans of sustenance for our souls.

Water—it separates our world into islands of diversity, while providing passage to wonderment and discovery.

Water—it brims within us, bursting forth through effort and emotion, to be borne away by cycling winds.

These two monotypes were created for a show entitled Water. They represent the flowing, circling life force that water gives our world. The second one ‘flows’ from the ghost imagery of the first, which also contains ghost imagery of a previous print.

They are offered this week at $150 each, unframed, or together for $250.

What are your thoughts on water?