'Day of the Dead' is the theme of my new print. You may ask, well...How did I get here? (obscure Talking Heads reference) Ok, anyway, this is a little glimpse into my thought process (this time around anyway) So first off, I saw that Joan Jett is playing Sunfest in West Palm Beach this year (Can I get a HELL YEAH) and she happens to be playing on Cinco de Mayo... Now again, for those who don't know, Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite holidays and I make sure to celebrate it every year... The reason for this is, I used to work in a Mexican Restaurant (for a really long time) and of course, ever since that experience, I feel like I am Mexican at heart. Perfectly normal. Ok, moving on - so this got me thinking about other Mexican holidays, culture and traditions, which led to the 'Day of the Dead' holiday... After doing the research this is what I found out. Day of the Dead is celebrated around the world and in many cultures. The holiday focuses on family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration takes place on November 1–2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day & All Soul's Day. The bright colors used in the images all have unique meanings. I chose the colors based on what I found about those meanings. Orange represents the sun, while the reds represent the blood of life and green can mean creation on earth all around you. The more I searched, the more apparent it was to me that I had to create this artwork...
Since deciding to participate in The Delray Affair and setting the goals of all these new paintings/prints each week, my creative mind has expanded expediently and I now realize that creativity only comes & goes in cycles if that's the kind of limiting mindset I am in...
I realize that is a big statement, but fuck it! I'm up to big things....
My hope in writing about this is to share with you the beauty of celebration in this holiday and what it stands for. Below are a series of photo's of my screen printing process, I hope you dig it.
Photo #1 setting up the screen, vinyl cut on plotter,
taping off the rest of the screen so ink doesn't leak through
Photo #2 lining up screen and locking into position for multiple prints
Photo #3 & 4 Screen printed on canvas sheets,
hanging on the line drying.
Photo #5 final piece -
"Day of the Dead" 11"x14" Acrylic on Canvas
And don't forget to come up and support Joan at Sunfest....
http://lineup.sunfest.com/band/joan-jett-the-blackhearts
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