"Earth’s distant orb appeared the smallest light that twinkles in the heaven; whilst round the chariot’s way innumerable systems rolled and countless spheres diffused an ever-varying glory. It was a sight of wonder: some were hornèd like the crescent moon; some shed a mild and silver beam like Hesperus o'er the western sea; some dashed athwart with trains of flame, like worlds to death and ruin driven; some shone like suns, and as the chariot passed, eclipsed all other light." From "Queen Mab" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1813)

Thursday 1 April 2010

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #10

As some of my art work has been inspired by the shrines that people assemble in their homes to their departed loved ones for the Day of the Dead Festival, I thought I would put some of it together in the form of a shrine and see what it all looked like. This is the result, I hope you like it.
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5 comments:

  1. Christine2 April 2010 at 22:48

    Space Cadet, here’s an idea.

    T-shirts.

    Cactus County T-shirts.

    My aunt and cousin called in to see us all today bringing Easter chocolate in several different forms, which is irrelevant. Tasty, but irrelevant. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a small lighter blue skull on it and apart from the teeth it looked very similar to one of your, er, creations. We chatted about it and I showed him your designs on here and he actually liked them….he’s two years younger than you so it must be an age thing. ( Sorry )

    Anyway, it got me thinking ( it’s a terrible habit I know) because I had already thought that maybe if you did a few paintings in a different colour-range instead of mostly orange it may appeal to a few more people at your next ( first ) exhibition. Orange is a strong colour to stick on the wall but it would work on a black t-shirt. Think Hallowe’en….which is actually not that far off the theme of some of your work if you think about it. The t-shirts don’t have to be black of-course, because I don’t mean for you to follow the Hallowe’en trend. Any colour will do, and the skulls could vary in colour instead of always being white.

    Asda sells very good quality short sleeve vests in multi packs of two or three, black or white, very cheaply so change to a fabric paint and start experimenting. You are married to the perfect lady to help you with this. You could even “borrow” some buttons for the eyes! Or how about sequins for a more girlie type? The possibilities are endless. I wouldn’t put one of your paintings on my wall ( sorry again ) but I WOULD wear one.

    Maybe.

    Love you always.
    x x

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  2. Christine2 April 2010 at 23:36

    another thought......sequins on a cactus design?

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  3. Space Cadet2 April 2010 at 23:55

    Thanks Auntie C, great minds think alike. The T-shirt thing is an idea I've already considered and may get some printed using my designs at some point but I’ll wait till I know if people like what I’m doing first. Also I’ve already done a number of paintings with different backgrounds to orange, in fact the first lot of pictures I did all had blue backgrounds. I’ve done few skulls in red and I tried one in copper the other week but that needs some more work. There are a lot of avenues I could go down with the whole Cactus County idea. I need to have a piece of written work to go with each painting as well, so I need to do more writing too. Ages ago I started sewing a fabric skull but haven’t got round to finishing that yet. Lots of ideas it’s just getting round to doing them all.

    I’m sure there aren’t many people who’d want to hang skull pictures, let alone my skull pictures, on their walls so don’t apologise. To be honest, although the intention is that I sell these pictures, I’m not a t all sure who would want them. Still, it’s not about what people may want right now, it’s about what I need to paint. Funny, I’ve never really gone for what’s popular, few people have heard of my favourite bands and they stopped making my favourite biscuits, sweet meal digestive creams, ages ago, so I’m resigned to doing something most people won’t like or even understand. I’ve just got to do it.

    Anyway, thanks for the ideas. Happy Easter. Gx

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  4. Christine3 April 2010 at 15:04

    I’m glad the t-shirt idea is being mooted about because I, for one, am looking forward to wearing a cactus and sequin one! Heck, I might even have a go myself.

    You could make one as well for Mrs Space Cadet and you could both wear them at your next sales pitch, then when someone asks you where to buy them just explain that there’s a waiting list. ( Or start on another one as soon as you get home. )

    Which leads me to another thought ( good grief, there must be something in the water round here at the moment )…have you ever tried selling any of your paintings, atheisticks, etc, on Ebay? Not being funny ( truly ) but people buy ANYTHING on there, even very old pieces of paper ( unless they get out-bid !! ) so you just never know your luck. There could very easily be some like-minded folk out there….maybe even folk from Cactus County. What have you got to lose ?

    Lots of love,
    "Auntie".

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  5. Unknown4 April 2010 at 13:50

    Wow - the shrine looks incredible - and I would definitely buy a Cactus County t-shirt!
    Happy Zombie Jesus Day :)
    Ben

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