spilling red

and the cold tightened it's fist

STRANGE FRUIT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcCm_ySBslk

Informed by the poem/song STRANGE FRUIT(see link above)

15' long,sand,oil paint,string,wool,felt

Detail

Strange Fruit

By Billie Holiday and Abel Meeropol (1937)

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

A MESSAGE FROM A STUDENT OF MINE REGARDING MY SAND ART

I have always admired Native Americans for their use of the land and their artistic abilities. While growing up we  lived in West Texas, there was this sand painting we had that always brought joy to my heart. It was earthwork, they took their surroundings and told a story with their craft while installing their heritage to be seen by the world. The Navajo word for sand painting means: iikaah "the place where the gods come and go." The art of sand painting and the ceremonies they conduct are done by the Navajo medicine men. Used ceremonial for healing of a disease or illness. Symmetry is to be accurate, the more symmetry the painting has the more healing power it has. Sand painting is seen as toxic if not destroyed after the ceremony. The painting is to be used to absorb the illness or disease and then returned to the earth within 12 hours of the performed ceremony. The history of sand painting is handed down by word and not written down to pass along for future generations. Pueblos were the first to create sand paintings and then spread to the Navajo, Apache and many more tribes. The four directions are depicted by a color, cornmeal, crushed flowers, charcoal and pollen were among many things to create the painting. Professor Harmon's work seems to be an art mixed with healing which uses techniques to create a sacred art piece with important content.. Everyone's view of fine art is different but to me this is more than fine art, this is a craft taken to from the earth and returned to the earth for healing.Professor Harmon's art embraces these attributes.

"through the black", informed by the book, girl in pieces, by Kathleen Glasgow. 7'x5',mixed,sand,string,wool,paint on raw canvas

a worrying silence,10'x7',mixed on canvas