March is going to be crazyyyyyyyyyy!

Yes, I actually typed in mulitple "y"s at the end of crazy but it's the only way I can describe it! As if my artist residency isn't enough, now I have a second artist talk that I will be doing in a college in Virginia at the end of March. I am excited about it, no doubt. I am rarely given the opportunity to speak about my work so it will be nice and great practice to do so. I better get a move on with the iphoto presentation, considering what angle I want to hit. I can either do a history of me and my work or I can focus on the last few years....hmm...

Yay for exposure!

Maryrdom

So, one of my friends was posting on his journal about martyrdom (in an amusing kind of way) the other day and it reminded me of the photos I posted here recently. No, I do not think of myself as a saint or a martyr. I was born and baptized a Catholic but don't really feel like I belong to it. In fact, I don't really have a strong belief in any religion, but I suppose aspects of Paganism might be the closest thing I can get my head around. Still, growing up in an Italian-Catholic house surrounded by many symbols, especially statues and photos has had an effect on me.

I get plagued with dreams of being judged by others all the time. I also become, at times, consumed with the question of what happens to us when we die and the concept of Heaven and Hell (again, not something I am convinced exists, but just an idea to be comforted by). I think I want to explore this in my work, even if it leads to nothing...

My aforementioned friend responded to this by saying "Make it a good heaven, one where healthy young ladies in steel brassieres come sweeping down on horseback to carry the deceased off to a celestial hall with feasting, quaffing, and wenching. It sounds much more fun than the pale milquetoast Methodist hymn-sing of Christianity."

Hmm..I just might do that!

He is so awesome :)

An Irish Poem I've discovered

The singer/songwriter Kate Rusby sang this poem on her album "Hourglass". Apparently, Sinead O'Connor also sang a version of this, among a few others. Personally, Kate's version is the most moving.

I AM STRETCHED ON YOUR GRAVE (17th century Irish poem, anonymous, translated)

I am stretched on your grave and I'll lie there forever
If your hands were in mine I'd be sure they would not sever
My apple tree my brightness, it's time we were together
For I smell of the earth and I'm worn by the weather


When my family think that I'm safe in my bed
From morn until night I am stretched at your head
Calling out to the earth with tears hot and wild
For the loss of the girl that I loved as a child


Do you remember the night O the night we were lost
In the shade of the blackthorn and the chill of the frost
Oh thanks be to Jesus we did what was right
And your maidenhead still is your pillar of light


The priests and the friars, they approach me with dread
For I love you still, my life and you're dead
I still will be your shelter through rain and through storm
And with you in your cold grave I cannot sleep warm

And with that:

wondering how....

I worry all the time. I have many things I need money for this year - my trip to England, materials to print my work, a costume I plan to have designed for a shoot and materials for me to bring to my residency.

I work 2 jobs as it is. The reality of not having the creative life is frustrating. I have ideas written in my journals but lack the time and money to bring any of them to fruition.I applied for NYFA's fellowship that I should hear about in May, I believe. $7000.........My grandmother always told me never to pray for money, so I won't. I pray that there are ways money will come to me without sacrificing any more of the precious time I have on off times.


I found this image on a website from year's ago and am wanting to find it on a disc somewhere in my studio. I know I saved a hi-res version of it and would like to rework it a little. Not sure what it means for me to be digitally combining myself with statues of saintly figures but I'll play with the idea for now.

As the end draws near

Of the year, that is. As I've posted before, this has certainly been a year of change. I feel like I've rode a train back and forth but every time I stopped and got out, I saw something different and interesting. I am hoping that next year is as interesting, if not more fulfilled. With my residency coming up in a few months, my trip to England in the Summer and hopefully some new contacts, I am excited to see what comes of these events.

As I dig deeper for more ideas for my work, I look to the Higher Powers for guidance. In the meantime, I want to wish all of my readers a joyful and prosperous 2010. Did we ever imagine that this year would come? I remember watching science fiction films as a child and thinking that by now, we will be driving, excuse me, flying cars of great speed, have robots for servants and do everything by voice-activation. I'm kind of liking that nature's roots and doing some things by hand is still inherent in many of us. That includes art-making.

Love to you all.

My book :)

Rabbitholes an...

and other works

By AnnMarie Tornabene

Book Preview

The faerie :)

Please go to my website, click on the faerie at the bottom of the homepage and reveal some new images. They may not be materpieces (or maybe they are?) but they are ideas that I wanted to record on film. Work will be added and subtracted as time goes on...

www.annmarietornabene.net