Planet moves backwards. Hijinks ensue.
“The Sun and Saturn Conjoined” by Heather Keith Freeman
18″x24″, acrylic on masonite
Regardless of one’s personal view of astrology – ancient science or souped-up quackery – I often feel drawn to its compellingly nuanced language for describing personality and the rhythm of life. With the language of astrology you can take something as complex as a person whose ambition is repeatedly stunted by perfectionism and a need for control, and sum it up in the phrase “Sun and Saturn conjunct.” I even did a painting, years ago, based on the concept (pictured at right), which is one with which many people strongly identify, regardless of whether the sun was actually conjunct with Saturn at the time of their birth.
Aaaaanyway, right now is that astrological event, occurring for a few weeks at a time, three times a year, known as “Mercury retrograde,” namely that period where, thanks to our relative trajectories around the sun, Mercury appears to be moving backwards in the night sky. Astrologically speaking, this is a time when communication and travel get snarled up like nobody’s business, and is generally not considered a good time to start new projects or to cut corners. Rather, it is a good time to go back over things, tie up loose ends, make those final adjustments that you didn’t even know you needed until some time gave you fresh perspective.
All that is an absurdly beat-round-the-bush way of saying that I’m not going to have any new art for you this week. I’m this close to done on a whole bunch of stuff. One painting got signed, sprayed, and scanned before I realized I’d managed to forget to paint in one of the subjects’ nipples! Another which you have seen, NOT YOURS II, did get posted, but I then realized I needed to entirely re-do the text, as it was the wrong scale for the piece. Still a third is on ice until I get the proper patience level for finishing up some rather tedious text work. And a fourth is knocking at my brain, begging me to get it out while the inspiration is fresh.
So, uh, yeah. No new stuff just yet. Blame it on Mercury retrograde if you will.
Date: August 11, 2011