21 September 2014

Elements of peace, Part I - In the studio

 

In honor of the International Day of Peace I have been putting together a modest installation of copper "peace leaves" that I will hang on my favorite olive tree at the rose garden later today: Elements of peace. It could just as easily have been called "The abc's of peace"there is a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet...words that seem necessary to promoting peace. Actually, more accurately, there are twenty-four leaves: "a" to "w" + the twenty-fourth leaf, which says "x y & z" and is meant to symbolize the viewer/reader's own words for peace.

It feels a little like a miracle that this project finally came together. When Fiona Dempster, who created A Letter a Week (ALaW), proposed "peace" as the theme alphabet for ALaW 2013, it had me experimenting with many ideas. One of them morphed into this box/sleeve project for ALaW 2014 instead, but the olive branch/leaf motif that I had wanted to use persisted...just in another vein. This excerpt from my introductory post for ALaW 2013 explains how I planned to use olive leaves as part of the design:

At the moment, I'm working on a plan to incorporate both alphabets into a single 26-box piece. Since each box's "sleeve" has two 7x7-cm faces, I'll feature capital letters on the tops, and create a separate lower-case alphabet for the bottoms. I'm experimenting with an olive branch motif as the basis for decorative letters—similar to the idea of those Renaissance initials surrounded by patterns of leaves, stems, flowers and such—and will create a variation for the lowercase letters.


My, how ideas can change! Maybe I will delve a bit more into the whole process at some point, but in the interest of getting up to the rose garden to carry through with the final incarnation of this project I will refrain for now. In the meantime, below is a selection of photos showing some of the materials, inspiration & steps toward the little copper leaves that have emerged from this search for a way to spread a little more peace in the world.

Some of the olive branches I collected from my favorite olive tree, then pressed

An experimental two-page spread from when I was considering a book (a bit of a hodgepodge!)

Various leaves attached to a random branch (copper, watercolored paper & vellum)

Some of the olive leaves I used as patterns + the copper wire words that I began making (I decided instead to use this concept for the title, which I will wrap around the trunk of the olive tree)

Practice-typing the words with my lovely Olivetti Lettera 22

The words typed on paper & the "blind"-typed words on the sheet of copper

A little of this, a little of that
The pressed olive leaves & the copper "Elements of peace" leaves







 

Today, most of all, I just wanted to send a wish for peace
to all of you. I will post some photos of the leaves hanging
from the olive tree some time during the coming week....

Buona domenica!


 


8 comments:

  1. Lisa,
    When I look at your posts, I often wonder how do you find your inspiration ? So many projects and different tools ! What an appropriate choice; olive leaves for a peace message !
    Looking for to see the next pictures !
    Grazie,
    Céline

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    1. Hello Céline ~ how nice to hear from you! My sources of inspiration are many. Often what ends up becoming the final "solution" has evolved through the process itself, i.e. is often very different from the tiny "seed" that I first started with, and comes about simply by sitting at the studio table working quietly. Sometimes it's a difficulty with material or technique - or lack of time! - that inspires new directions.
      Also, as I mentioned a few posts ago, many of my ideas come from chopping onions! (Meaning while I am doing other things...)
      I will explain more about how these little peace leaves came about when I post photos from the rose garden.
      Thanks for your interest!
      - Lisa

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  2. I love your copper peace leaves. You are so creative!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for having a look - and for taking a moment to leave a comment on the leaves, Candy. I appreciate it : )
      - Lisa

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  3. Wow! Really enjoyed getting a look into your thought process for this project. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the final installation.

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    1. Hi Julie ~ I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed hearing about "Elements of peace"... I am putting together some photos from the rose garden and a more detailed explanation of how it all came to be, and should have everything posted before the end of the week. Thanks for stopping by for the preview!
      - Lisa

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  4. Lisa I love your leaves and I love how peace has woven itself into your work; a thread, a metallic echo, throughout. What a beautiful tribute to peace. I love as ever to watch where you start, then where you head next, and where you finally end up - truly fascinating and a joy to behold. Thanks for sharing, go well.

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    1. Thank you for your lovely comments on the peace leaves/words, Fiona - not to mention for your inspiration to more carefully consider the theme of peace through ALaW last year. (I do still hope to somehow put together a piece based on this "abecedary" of peace that also observes the ALaW guidelines!) It has been most satisfying to run with the many ideas and see where they led - and I'm quite excited about the now-"installed" leaves. More on them shortly...
      - Lisa

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Thank you for joining in on the dialogue; I appreciate your comments!
{Sorry about enabling word recognition, but I'm hoping it will alleviate the spam.}

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