Confusion... and Wonder

        Tomorrow is Natick Artists Open Studios (if you’re in the greater Boston area, come by and see me this weekend!) and I have been hard at work preparing and setting up.  This evening is going to involve a lot of folding and packaging note cards.  In addition to replenishing the usual designs, I’ve also put together two new packets for this show: a set of 8 door designs from The Extraordinary Book of Doors, and the set of 4 magical cities.  So I don’t have the time or attention today to give you a big detailed introduction to some new and interesting artist I’ve discovered.  Instead I simply give you this very cool piece by Xiang Silou.  My big detailed introduction to Xiang and his work is here.  I didn’t have room to post this piece then, and it’s very different from the work for which he’s best known.  It really tickles me!
        I don’t know whether the title, “Confusion,” loses a little in translation.  I think this piece expresses a confusion that’s more like puzzlement, or a surprised bewilderment.  The birds look like they just don’t know what to make of the fish cloud.  The fish, on the other hand, seem utterly unconcerned about anything.  I guess they do this all the time!

[Picture:  Confusion 1, wood block print by Xiang Silou (Image from Frames Gallery).]

Tomorrow and Sunday I’ll be hanging out downstairs in the Morse Library in Natick, carving a block, and chatting with anyone who comes by.  (And allow me just to mention that we always have a fabulous spread of nibbles down there with us!)