Monday, December 07, 2009

Spirograph

Altered image n Photo by SnaggleTooth
.
.
Thrice altered on Puter, this everyday item I see on errand run reminds me of the Super Spirograph drawing set I had as a teen. Parts of it may still be lurking in ancient boxes from my youth here somewhere.
.
I remember not spending many hours of time on my spiro-images with the colored pencils. The part I always hated most was when the tacks came out after several turns of the gears around the guiding rings in different directions, which would always loosen them, because you had to lean a bit against it to get the teeth to mesh n turn the drawing rings.
.
Everytime the support-shaper pieces shifted a little bit, the perfection of the image would be ruined, with no way to fix it. Everytime this happened, I stopped in my drawing tracks n gave up on that pic.
..
Reading Robin's latest post with an inspirational quote reminded me of my never being satisfied in my artwork, never thinking them perfect, only thought acceptable for now due to the constraints of time. It is so true that an artist is never satisfied.
.
Time, the Earth, part of our Spiral Galaxy, the Milky Way, is due to reach a 26 thousand year cycle-mark in 2012 as noted by the ending of the ancient, Meso-American culture of the Maya's calender artwork. (I first heard of this through a university course, "Ancient Meso-American Art" in 1991.) Recently, in a free, crystal sales type, mystical services booket, ( Wisdom, New England Edition, Dec 2009) stumbled upon in my bank's ATM foyer, I discovered some articles that make me feel as tho I know more about the occassion now.
.
The alignment of our Sun's orbit in 2012 on the December Winter Solstice in relation to the Dark Rift of our galaxy, along with an orbital wobble of the Earth, makes this astronomical event possible. (I also studied Astronomy in college, which helps).
.
Being an artist, all of these subjects in conjunction, all interwining, n the fact I have inexplicably studied all of it, fascinates me.
I have approximately two-years to figure out what this stuff means to me.
.
This week I was also implored by a news teaser to read an article about NASA 's recent trouble with Mars gadgets n losing observed data recordings from "Spirit," which is stuck in a trench, n Com from the Orbiter Satellite is down, "Opportunity" is at least operating." (So far unable to locate original article I read) . The point to make on the NASA info is that our scientist's eyes inside our solar system are currently almost blind, due to limited NASA missions recently, n Hubble's location. Cited in the yet unfound article read Dec 5, if not for a European satellite, we would not know at all about an asteroid collision recently on Jupiter!
.
Many Media outlets, recently are taking full advantage of "Doomsday" liberties with the subject, injecting fear into the hearts of those easily swayed. The current movie "2012" is an example. After all, we all haven't seen enough disaster films to desensitize ourselves to catastrophic events yet.
.
btw- Happy Pearl Harbor Day
Hmmmm, ... Spirographs, imperfection, orbits, time, shifting, wobbles...
I sense a new artwork series coming on...
.
Original pic, Did you guess?

21 Comments:

At 8:09 AM, Blogger Lynn said...

I would have never guessed. Pretty cool, Snaggle.

 
At 9:28 AM, Blogger TALON said...

I used to love spirograph. It came with these very short pens in basic colors - blue, black, red, green - and I always wished there were more colors. This was just the basic model, though, so it wasn't frustrating.

I think so much of an artist's frustration comes from not matching what is in the mind's eye to what appears in whatever medium the artist is choosing to create with. Perfection is always a tricky goal, isn't it?

Yes, the hoopla over the Mayan's 2012 calendar ending is only just beginning. It is being perceived as a doomsday prophecy by a lot of people, but my understanding it is the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

 
At 10:21 AM, Blogger ... Paige said...

my lil sister had the spiro and i always thought she chased her tail too much.

i have mentioned the 2012 thang and the expected wobble but folks just think i'm being silly...i think it may throw us into an ice age (we have had them before) where in we become as a blue snow ball.

our destiny as a people is yet to unfold may we ride it out with dignity and hope

 
At 12:36 PM, Blogger Erica B said...

I would not have guessed that to be a light..

btw. this is MB in her newly updated new acct... my web album has taken over most of my space on google, so I have a new acct..

 
At 2:10 PM, Blogger Thomma Lyn said...

Ooh, you're bringing back memories. I loved my Spirograph when I was a kiddo! That's beautiful, Snaggle.

 
At 4:22 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Lynn, Surprized you- Thanks.

Talon, You would't believe the pen collection I have these days... Makes me want to find those pieces again- I agree that what's pictured before you begin, is seldom the outcome, tho I manage alot of happy outcomes, spirogragh didnt co-operate well. Well, my research has shown it's a 26k era! Also, it's the Age of Aquarius-

Paige, yes, it can get boring going in circles!
We actually should be open to possibilities about 2012, because no one knows what it will mean! Nasa won't be helping much about the asteroid finding either- The starry sky night has been changing, too.

Blondie, It's nifty I got it to look like that, huh?
New ID, MB- so do you have a new blog to go with it?

ThommaLyn, Memories, drawing circles in our minds... thanks

 
At 5:35 AM, Blogger Jannie Funster said...

I miss my Spirograph. And my Shaker--Maker. And my Ootpick. And my panda.

When I googled ootpick a year or so back nothing came up which made me sad, like my little stuffed guy was a fiction like Snuffleupaghus. But he was real I tell ya. Real as rain on roses and beer in a bottle.

Oot-pick. Pronounced like oooot.

I thought your picture was of a flower, manipulated.

Art, is it ever done? Maybe the real joy is in the doing.

2012. I have no freaking clue, I may have moved to Jupiter by then.

As always, your humble servant in bloggitude.

Fannie Junster

 
At 1:52 PM, Blogger Sara said...

I love that photo and I never guessed.What a cool idea:~)

I loved that you talked about Spirit and Opportunity. I'm definitely not a science person, but the story of these two rover has totally captivated me.

They were expected to survive only a few months and have survived five years on Mars. Pretty amazing!

This new art series should be very interesting:~)

 
At 2:17 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

JanF, I'm thinking I have a whole "Super" set still in the orig box here somewhere, n can't dig it out! What's Ootpik? Sad he's not even on Google! I don't remember that one. Trying to think of the little furry, mimic-sound toys my kids had, can't remember the name of them! My brain is gone to lunch- At least "flower" is a reasonable guess- N while your servatuding, don't forget to bloguflect!

Sara, Welcome to ESR comments. Ya, I love the little Rovers n all they've done, n am depressed Spirit got stuck in a ditch- Sometimes I get too stuck in doing the art I know I can do, instead of beginning to find new subjects n techniques. Thanks for your visit.

 
At 8:37 AM, Blogger LL Cool Joe said...

I used to have hours of fun with Spirograph too. Does it still exist?

Do you remember making those models with pins and thread where you could create similar effects too?

 
At 3:09 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

LLcoolJ, I googled it n found out the newer version has a limited wheel size selection. Also there are tons of applets online, to put on web pages.
Amazon has a Deluxe collector set for 75 US bux! They have the string art sets for under $10 US. Yes I had a friend invent his own string art as gifts on black velveteen covered wood plaques, using nice nails n colored string.

 
At 6:06 PM, Blogger G. B. Miller said...

Nice segues for the entire post.

Ah the simple joys of youth, Spirograph....great way to drive yourself insane.

 
At 11:38 PM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

G, thanks, as you know, transitions are very important in essay work, tho this wasn't an essay, really-
Spiro-mania running wild- in circles!

 
At 1:59 PM, Blogger Blue Bunny said...

how possibly i missed this poste? my jannie keeping me hopping this seezin alreddy. i haz barly a minit to sits down.

but it iz funs a lot too.

 
At 2:19 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

BB, better to be busy than on unemployment, I guess. Thanks for hoppin thru, in circles

 
At 9:14 AM, Blogger Neo said...

I'm already in 2012, just waiting for the rest of you to catch up. ;)

 
At 5:08 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Neo, Ya, You've been way ahead now for awhile! It's sometimes weird not knowing when you actually posted...

 
At 1:35 AM, Blogger Neo said...

That's because I'm an illusion!

Come on you can keep up!

 
At 4:16 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Neo, I'm so time-challenged this week, it's nuts! The snow storm just messed me up good... in time to not be ready for Xmas.

 
At 2:41 AM, Blogger Neo said...

*bloop* #20 drive by!

 
At 2:50 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Neo, yep, I just said- 20? Luckily I still check down here every now n then! Wonder how long it got by me tho-

 

Post a Comment

<< Home