After Dark

I recently had an ebru exhibit in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, Oregon.



I was invited to participate in a monthly event at OMSI called "After Dark". After Dark is a different theme each month and for the month of November the featured theme was DIY. So I gathered my supplies together and set up an exhibit that taught museum goers how to marble paper for art, scrapbook, collage, and even bookmarks.



I brought an old school overhead projector with me and projected my ebru tray on to a screen so people could see what I was doing without crowding.


Plus it looks really cool.

I brought a couple extra trays with me and set them up for the museum patrons to learn and play on.



My exhibit was set up in the planetarium wing of the museum so there was star lights and a full moon glowing over head as people learned how to make monoprints of galactic color swirls on water.



I also set up an art display of my ebru for people to see what can de done with the medium. When I found out I was going to be in the planetarium I put together a collection of weird abstract ebru pieces for the display. Some where quite appropriately cosmic.


A galaxy far far away.

All and all it was a ton of fun, and I look forward to using the projector much more down the line.

Peace & Love,
-Danny

Bom Shiva!

My latest embellished ebru project is focused on the Hindu deity Lord Shiva.

I have been working on this project for a few months now. Here are some of the process shots.

Hand painting the Sri Shiva screen on the floor while Chelsea Rose paints her tribute to Lakshmi.


Double layer ebru prints ready to be screen printed on.

Some know him as the Destroyer, and others know him as the Transformer. But Shiva spends most of his existence as the sage does, perched high in the mountains in a deep meditation.


original handmade two layer acrylic ebru (turkish paper marbling) mono-print embellished with Sri Shiva screen print on cotton paper. 19" x 24"

Shiva represents truth, wisdom, and humility.

Sitting in the lotus position with hands resting is the traditional gesture of meditation. The trident seen in his right hand represents the trinity of creation, protection, and destruction. While the drum in the left hand is said to be the source of the first sound from which all of creation resonated. Two more of his hands are reaching above his head with the index fingers touching the thumbs in the gesture of the Vitarka Mudra, a seal of knowledge and enlightenment.


The ultimate in self control, Shiva is the Lord of the Yogis.

Shiva is always seen with a cobra wrapped around his neck, showing his mastery over fear and death. The snake is wrapped around his neck three times symbolizing control over mind, body, and ego.

Shiva also has three lines of ash on his forehead which represent the mastery over the three stages of existence, birth, life, and death, and through the mastery of seeing beyond the illusions of this existence, the universe is cleansed of the impurity of desire through Shiva's third eye.

The third eye peering out of his forehead emits a cleansing flame from which the pure is reborn. No evil can escape the flame of the fully opened third eye of shiva.

In the top of his hair lies the goddess Ganga, from which the river Gangas flows down Shivas dreadlocks to the earth, where it purifies the people, as a statement of selfless compassion. Shiva is also associated with the waning moon which is a symbol of healing.


original handmade two layer acrylic ebru (turkish paper marbling) mono-print embellished with Sri Shiva screen print on cotton paper. 19" x 24"

Om Shiva Shankara Hari Hari Ganga! Bom Shiva!

~Other News
• on the topic of transformation, I recently used some ebru in the cover art for the new Bone And All podcast featuring Chelsea Rose's spoken word poetry, CHAOS CREATURE. Listen>>>

Chelsea Rose leads an exploration through consciousness and evolution.

• Also, later this month I will be doing an Ebru demo at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) as part of the monthly "OMSI After Dark" event. If you live in the Portland, OR. area, this is your chance to learn more about ebru first hand. See you there!

Peace & Love,
-Danny

Double Exposure

I have been working on a bunch of new pieces lately.

combing the acrylic paint across the size.

The pieces I have been working on are double layered mono-prints. So every piece of paper gets put through the whole ebru process twice.


and it looks twice as cool.

The plus side of double the work comes from overlaying the patterns, which brings a lot of new life to the pieces. The hues vary as the two layers interact and define new details to delight in.


kinda like double exposed film.

In other news,
I am also working on a new embellished ebru piece. It will combine an original Sri Shiva screen print design with double layered ebru.

Also, we at Lucid Optic Lab have been working hard on making some art pendants. We made a few pendants out of select embellished ebru pieces of mine, as well as a few original ebru pendants check out what we have in stock here.

Until next time.

Peace & Love,
Danny

A Date To Remember

Earlier this year I was participating in the Portland SE Art Walk. While there I had plenty of time to hang out with the other artist around me. As a group we noticed that a bunch of us created mandala and yantra art. Which lead us to decide to do a group project involving mandalas. We ended up deciding on creating a mandala wall calendar for next year.

We came up with a 12 month wall calendar featuring art from five different artist, Joanne Licardo, Roger Long, Mark Marasco, Danny Rodriguez, and Nobuaki Suzuki.

combining the work of several independent artist with the wisdom of traditional symbolism and sacred geometry we mindfully created a calendar to enhance the quality of the lives it touches through its presence.

The 2012 wall calendar we made is titled "Mandalas & Yantras, sacred geometry art". It is 8"x 8" with a saddle stitch binding, and was printed and bound in Portland, Oregon by the artist.



I made a three layer ebru sri yantra that is featured in January. Plus I made a two layer ebru agni yantra, it is the third mandala down on the right.

Calendars are a helpful tool. They are great for planning and logging birthdays. Honestly I wouldn't remember half the events I partake in without one.

Plus this one comes with a full year supply of Mandalas and Yantras to look at and meditate on.

We marked the days with U.S. and Christian holidays and observances as well as Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Rastafarian, and Celtic traditions. It really was fascinating to learn all the different holidays and see how they related with each other. It will surely be interesting to be aware of the holidays as they come to pass. I will see how many new traditions I will obtain over the next year.

The calendar is currently available through a presale in my etsy shop. If you order a calendar during the presale you get 25% off the regular cost. This means the early bird saves five bucks by getting a calendar for $15 instead of $20. The presale ends october 5th, 2011.

To celebrate the release of the calendar we are having a mandala art show on October 6th at Urban Grind in Portland, OR.


We have invited many other artist to show off their mandalas and yantras in the show as well as including all the pieces featured in the calendar. There will be a wide variety of mediums in the show including ebru, acrylic painting, oil painting, sand painting, pen and ink, and digital art. Plus during the opening will be the last chance to get the wall calendar at the discounted rate.

Grab your copy of Mandalas & Yantras 2012 calendar, then grab a couple more for gifts!

Peace & Love,
Danny

Grow With The Flow

I am making a lot of abstract ebru lately.


original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on cotton paper.

I made this piece by using a combination of traditional ebru technique and traditional suminagashi technique. I love the colors in this piece, and the perspective really draws me in. I am also spotting tons of hidden faces throughout. I bet this piece would do great in a creative space.


original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on cotton paper.

With a much looser design and a minimal color palette this gel-git ebru is all about balance and simplicity.


original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on kozo paper.

A tarakli ebru full of blues and purples. This piece is like a deep river, calm, yet full of flowing movement.

I have been on a bit of a blue kick lately. All the blue is quite refreshing during the heat of summer. You can check out more of my work here.

I have also finished another buddha screen print piece.

original handmade acrylic ebru (Turkish paper marbling) mono-print on kozo paper with 3 color buddha screen print. 12.5"x19".

the ebru in this piece has a ripple effect to it know as the spanish wave. Its a cool effect that is created by altering the printing portion of the ebru process.

I am very busy creating so there will be plenty more to share next time. Until then.

Peace & Love,
Danny

Busy, Busy, Busy - Art Vending

Summer is almost past, but the momentum of the season is still going strong. I am finding myself running all over town to prepare for showing or selling my art, and then running all over town yet again to show and or sell. It has been a very busy summer. It has been a very fruitful summer too, so it is busy in a good way.

This last week was Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta Street, which happens every last thursday of every month so long as the weather is not to wet. This August we had tons of sun, so I set up a booth with my partner, artist Chelsea Rose. When we work together we call ourselves Lucid Optic Lab.

the Lucid Optic Lab sidewalk booth set up at August's Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta Street in Portland, Oregon.

We arrived on Alberta Street around noon and set up a sidewalk friendly booth display. On the curbside of the sidewalk I displayed my ebru and embellished ebru, plus a few screen print shirts and some tie dye. I displayed art on both sides of my wall so everyone could see something no matter what side of the street they were on. On the opposite side of the 10' sidewalk Chelsea Rose displayed her acrylic faery art and body painting photography.

Last Thursday is a fun event, we get to hang out with friends, artist, crafters, and musicians all day while we sell our art. Then when the evening sets in and the air cools a bit, the officials close the street and the people flood in. The costumes, stilts, fire bending, and drum circles are impossible to miss. When the streets close we rearrange the booth to bring in flow from the street. Offering a safe haven to appreciate our arts.

the Lucid Optic Lab booth at June's Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta in Portland, Oregon.


the Lucid Optic Lab booth at July's Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta in Portland, Oregon.

Lucid Optic Lab is also out selling art at the Portland Saturday Market every Saturday too. Its a fun outdoor arts and craft market that features all local artist who make and sell their handmade work.

Lucid Optic Lab booth at Portland Saturday Market 8-27-11

A weird place indeed, this last saturday we were frequented by random happenings all day. One of the oddest things that stands out is when a very much alive Jimi Hendrix proclaimed his interst in my art and insisted he get his picture taken with me.

Jimi Hendrix is alive and well, and hanging out at the Portland Saturday Market. Jimi was a fan of my ebru art, and he was quite persistent in insisting that he got a picture taken with me.

An exited Jimi Hendrix was quite persistent about the photo. "Over here in front of your art", he said as he rushed me to the front of my wall."Let me see the peace sign", he said "No, up higher like this!" Unfortunately the camera operator, who was a random market goer, cropped out the peace sign in the photo, however he managed to get a shot of Jimi showing me the proper way to do a peace sign.

There is not much summer left, but there is still plenty of fairs, artwalks, and markets to show and sell some art at. See you in the streets.

Peace and Love,
Danny

Abstract Expressions and the Buddha

One of my favorite things about ebru, is the mediums ability to capture abstract visual representation of fluid movement. I think this recent piece of mine is a good example of that.

original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on kozo paper. 8.5"x11" by Danny

Another name given to ebru is water painting. This is partly due to the fluid effect, but is mostly due to the fact that ebru is actually made by floating paint on top of a fluid referred to as size. Size is the name given to water that has a thickening agent, like carrageenan, added to it.

Using the right technique of pushing and pulling the paint across the size creates lines that lead the eye from one point to the next, visually suggesting movement.

original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on cotton paper. 8"x10" by Danny

I love getting swept up in the movement of the abstract ebru pieces. I find them to be a great way to add life to a room.

I have also been working on embellished ebru pieces featuring a three color screen print of Buddha.

"Abhaya Buddha Ebru", original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print with three color Buddha screen print on cotton paper. 12"x18" by Danny

This is a very positive piece to have around the house or place of work, and will surely bring light into where ever it finds a home.

Every ebru piece I use I make by hand in my home studio. I also make all screen prints by hand too. Not only do I build the frames and stretch screen mesh crossed them, I also hand paint the print design onto the screen/screens. Then I do all the screen printing myself.

thats all for now.

Peace & Love,
-danny

Danny Ebru enters the Blogosphere - Fearless

And so it has begun...

How shall we get acquainted?
Lets start out with showcasing a current project in the works:

My current embellished ebru piece featuring the Abhaya Mudra Buddha:

"Fearless Ebru", original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on kozo paper with 3 color buddha screen print. 12.5"x19" by Danny (more to come in varying print colors and ebru designs)

The Abhaya mudra is the gesture of the raised right hand with the palm facing outward. Abhaya in sanskrit means fearlessness, and the gesture symbolizes peace, protection, and the dispelling of fear. the Abhaya mudra is very important in Buddhism, it is said that when the Buddha came out of meditation after reaching enlightenment he stood and displayed the Abhaya mudra as a gesture of the absence of fear. The Abhaya mudra is great for warding off fear.

The left hand of the Buddha is portraying the Varada mudra. It also known as the boon granting gesture, symbolizing charity, patience, and compassion. the Varada mudra aids in breaking the delusion of pride.

The combination of the two mudras is also referred to as Segan Semui-in, or in japan its Yogan Semui-in. With both the Abhaya and Varada mudras the Segan Semui-in represents transformation and success.

All and all the "Fearless Ebru" is a very positive piece to have around the house or place of work, and will surely bring light into where ever it finds a home.

In other news, version one of dannyebru.com has gone live.
check out the official Danny Ebru website

More to come shortly.

Peace n Love
-Danny