Born

I don't think I posted the beginning to end of this cycle! I believe I promised it in the summer, and never followed through. I apologize for the huge oversight. But at least we can get to know Wes' work again before I post a new feature on the blog for this project, it's a little something I'm going to call "Turning the Tables" which will be featured artist interviews. In the future the format of these interviews may morph a bit, but Wes and Elbee's interviews will be in written form, just to kick things off. Look for that coming to this blog very very soon!

In the meantime, I have the whole of Cycle 1 for you here, so you can see how it changed throughout the year. This is actually my personal favorite piece so far, and it was the first. I like the energy of this mandala and I think the two of us worked really well together. It was the basis for expanding the project, and I'm really happy that the collaboration happened at all. Wes and I actually met on myspace,  and we kept up a correspondence through email after I later abandoned it for facebook. I have since met Wes in person several times, co-exhibited with him in Virginia, and he actually helped me move into my Baltimore apartment. He carried all the heavy stuff, but beyond that, he really is one of the coolest people I have ever met. I am honored to have shared the creation of this first piece with him...

Shana R. Goetsch to Wes Way
Milwaukee, WI to Harrisonburg, VA

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch 

Harrisonburg, VA to Milwaukee, WI

Shana R. Goetsch to Wes Way
Milwaukee, WI to Harrisonburg, VA

Wes Way and Shana R. Goetsch 

Mandala completed in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Remember to stay tuned for the new, "Turning the Tables" interview feature!

Constructing the Universe

Finally, FINALLY I have finished the piece I worked on with Wes Way (incidentally, one of the first two mandalas in this project) Y'all. That was a tough one for me, personally. All of this outside construction that I've had to do on these things....sheesh. I wouldn't say that building is my strong suit, it takes me a lot longer than normal.

Okay, conception to birth, right here, plus the end shots are Cycle 1 Round 4:

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch 

Harrisonburg, VA to Milwaukee, WI

 Shana R. Goetsch to Wes Way
Milwaukee, WI to Harrisonburg, VA

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch

Harrisonburg, VA to Milwaukee, WI

 Shana R. Goetsch and Wes Way
Mandala completed in Baltimore, MD

It's Finished!

This one from Wes...

I am going to force myself to finish my end of the fourth round next week...and then I will give you the conception to death of this first cycle of mandalas. Stay tuned...

Stuck Together For a Moment

Cycle 1, Round 3 (continued):

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch

Harrisonburg, Va to Milwaukee, WI


This is Wes' piece, all stuck together, however briefly (it came to me cut-up, and stacked in a package).
Okay, now I am taking this apart again.

Deconstructing the Circle

Wes Way has obliterated the circle. And I am so happy and excited about it. He cut the mandala up into sections, and also added onto each of the pieces with different approaches and medias. I see collage, pen, garbage twist ties and construction paper. I also see WORDS on this mandala...

"We find out who we are by digging through the wreckage of what we thought we would be"

That is so perfect, and it looks like I will, in fact, be "Constructing the Universe". So I'm glad D. just sent me that guide on the topic a few days ago. (whew!) I look forward to assembling this, and will take another photo, and make another post about it when I do. Until then, here is what I received. Wes has a bag full of tricky little tricks...

Cycle 1, Round 3:

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch

Harrisonburg, VA to Milwaukee, WI

For my mandala, I sent Wes a variation on the symbol he used the last round. I just duplicated it...many times, and painted a different pattern in the center. After that, I tried to uncrinkle the piece by ironing it, and then I juiced up the color a tinge. The ironing aspect, was so that the crinkly paint pattern would only remain on one side of the mandala, since I left the other side blank, for Wes. I also thought seriously about how it could be hung up, eventually. I'm thinking a tree branch and loops, so that it hangs like a tapestry. Here's what I did...

Cycle 1, Round 3

Shana R. Goetsch to Wes Way
Milwaukee, WI to Harrisonburg, VA

STAY TUNED FOR THE (RE)CONSTRUCTION OF THE UNIVERSE!

Flocking Together

For lack of a better term, I think Wes and I are the two biggest tree-huggers of the bunch. Natural, why yes we are! Wes has ascribed a particular symbol to this first piece. It's Big Drum in the Sky Religiony. What I like about this most, is the texture showing through with the brushstrokes. The piece that I worked on for Wes this round is slightly changed, color-wise, just a bit more muted than it was before. Then I added some strips of paper (4) that represent each of the elements, earth, air, water and fire.

Cycle 1, Round 2:

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch
(Harrisonburg, Va to Milwaukee, WI)

Shana R. Goetsch to Wes Way
(Milwaukee, WI to Harrisonburg, VA)

Given and Received

I must admit, I am extremely excited to start doing this. And I will be just as soon as I officially post this. Here are the products of the very first mandala swap! We both used the color orange, and I started with acrylics. The mandala I sent was on un-primed, brown, loosely woven linen, and Wes has started with watercolor on pre-primed, cloth-backed, canvas-grained paper.

Cycle 1, Round 1:

Shana R. Goetsch to Wes Way
(Milwaukee, WI to Harrisonburg, VA)

Wes Way to Shana R. Goetsch
(Harrisonburg, VA to Milwaukee, WI)