Art Expectations Day 123
Miss Havisham is “taking exercise” walking around the moldy bride-cake on the long table. The room is as dark and dismal as before. Nothing has changed.
Pip tells her of his good fortune and that he is leaving for London tomorrow. He wishes to say good-bye to her. In a way, he’s just trying to thank her for the fortune, assuming she’s the one who gave it to him. She makes no acknowledgement that she is the benefactor. But she seems to know a lot about the the details of Pip’s fortune and future. Mainly that Pip has to always keep his name “Pip”.
He kneels, kisses her hand and has a vision of her as his fairy godmother. (More like evil stepmom!)
I did a collage with two kinds of wings, fairy wings and bird wings. Pip will be leaving soon for London, flying away from all he’s known!
Art Expectations Day 120
Pip and Pumblechook eat, drink and “get merry.” Pumblechook offers Pip the best cuts of meat. They both become flushed in the face, Pip “steeped in wine”. Pumblechook talks to the chicken in the dish which they are devouring, saying that the fledgling had no idea what was in store for him. (Hmmm… he’s talking about the chicken, right? Or maybe about Pip!)
Art Expectations Day 112
Welcome 2013! Looking back at my 2012 goals, I think I did pretty good. I can’t find my list of goals that I made out in Jan 2012 (maybe one should have been to be better organized!), but I remember most of them.
1) have a bigger web presence, start a blog and get my work online
CHECK! Done! In fact I now have two blogs: this one and another one that showcases samples of my graphic design and illustration work. That one is simply:
http://julieflandorfer.com/
2) work more (a.k.a. MAKE MORE MONEY) Sure, I want World Peace, but reality is I have two children, one who will be driving very soon (YIKES!) and will need a car and most importantly, auto insurance. College follows very quickly for him and four years later for my daughter.
CHECK! I started freelancing again in September. While it’s not the most stable job, I have been doing it for 20 years (this June) and it provides extra income, although no benefits or retirement and a big portion of what I make goes to Uncle Sam.
3) add more items to my etsy store - I did that and have made 94 sales. I plan to do even better with that this year!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/JulieFlando
4) go visit my childhood friend, Sumaya, in North Carolina
CHECK! We went in June and it was great to see her and meet her children.
I probably had a few other 2012 resolutions, but I can’t remember them, so obviously I did not accomplish those goals! I think I did pretty good anyway. I kept this blog going! Speaking of which…
Day 112, Page 122
Biddy tries to explain the situation to Mrs Joe who seems oblivious to what is going on. Joe and Biddy start carrying on about Pip’s good fortune, which should make Pip happy, but he starts to feel more and more gloomy. (Maybe he feels guilty about how he has treated Joe and Biddy?)
He walks to the open kitchen door, and stares up at the night sky. Humble stars shine on his plain, rustic life and surroundings. He announces that when he gets his fancy new duds from the tailor uptown, he will leave them at Pumblechook’s house. “It will be very disagreeable to be stared at by all the people here.”
Happy New Year to everyone! What are my goals for 2013? Well, one is to POST more often, going further into the wonderful world of Pip and his Great Expectations. (POSTING more often means I CREATE more often and that’s a good thing!)
Art Expectations Day 111
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all! It’s been a quiet few days and so I have had a little free time. (VERY little!)
Page 111: Jaggers tells Pip he has no objections to Pip telling someone in town about his new fortunes (and his plans to become a gentleman). I assume Pip plans to tell Miss Havisham. (Pretty sure she’s the one behind all of this!)
Back inside, Pip sits by the fire with his family and Biddy. Joe tells everyone what he and Pip have just learned from Jaggers. “Pip’s a gentleman of fortune.” Biddy congratulates him but he detects a touch of sadness. Not sure if Mrs Joe even has a clue about what is going on. (She’d be mad if she knew Joe turned down that money Jaggers offered!)
I’m sure in the next few pages Pip will start his new journey to London and there will be some excitement!
Art Expectations Day 102
Pip discovers that Orlick has a crush on Biddy. He is not happy about that and tries to intervene. It seems he doesn’t want anyone else to like her, even though he has already confessed his love of Estella. He is confused by these emotions. Why does he care what happens to Biddy? She tells Pip that Orlick’s feelings for her should make no difference to him. But they do.
I did this very quick sketch on another board book panel that I painted black. Remember as a kid when you would color very hardly on construction paper, then paint it black all over on top? After the paint dried, you’d scratch designs into the black, revealing the bits of color underneath. That was always so cool and created a nice, surprising effect every time. Well, this is similar to that childhood art technique. I used the end of a paperclip to scratch in Estella, trying to make it unpleasant looking. Then tried to paint Biddy in pretty, sweet, innocent colors on top of pure, white rose sketches. This got me thinking, I bet Estella isn’t really so bad. Or maybe she is also a puppet of Miss Havisham and her choices in life are limited too, as Pip’s are. Who knows her back story… what tragedies she’s encountered. I am sure some of this will unfold as the story goes on.
(Are you wondering what the weird shape is on the board? I believe this was from a kid’s book about snow or penguins. I thought the snow window was fitting underneath Estella’s name.)
Art Expectations Day 100!
Finally, Day 100! I need to post more frequently or this is going to take me forever! I am on page 109 and this is what’s going on:
Biddy tells Pip that if he wants to be a gentleman to gain Estella over, then she is not worth gaining over. (Estella has insulted Pip by calling him common and by treating him poorly.) Pip agrees, “It may be all quite true, but I admire her dreadfully.” Pip throws a little pitty-party, crying and pulling his hair. How old is he now, anyway??? I’m guessing he’s an early teenager, maybe 14 or 15. Biddy comforts him and tells him that she is glad he has confided in her and she will tell no one. Pip hugs and kisses her saying he’ll always tell her everything. Awww, poor Biddy, she’s just a friend to him, nothing more.
I created this on another panel of the board book Altered Book. I worked right on top of the white Gesso primer, doodling and writing. In the center is a dandy fellow holding a blacksmithing tool with the word “Biddy” going up in smoke. See you SOON, I hope!
Art Expectations Day 99
Pip blabbing to Biddy, Page 108
Sitting on the bank of the river, Pip confesses more of his true feelings to Biddy about his life in the forge. He asks Biddy if he’d have been good enough for her? She replies, ” Yes, I am not over-particular.” This is a stab at him because he is unintentionally hurting her feelings by implying that she is not good enough for him. He doesn’t see this because he is so smitten with Estella. He admits to Biddy that he wants to be a gentleman FOR Estella.
I created this black and white sketch also on a board book page. (It is attached to the previous day’s art on a board book. So I guess I am making another Altered Book piece of art!) The silver charm in his right eye has LOVE carved into it. He’s blinded by love and can’t see how Biddy feels for him or how he’s hurting her. I don’t feel so sorry for Pip any more!
My next piece will be on DAY 100!
Art Expectations 89
Estella Studies Abroad
I created this silhouette in Illustrator and used an old ship engraving as the background. Gave it all a sepia look.
Page 98: Mrs Joe starts to calm down so Pip heads upstairs to change clothes for his half-holiday up-town. (YEAH!) When he comes back down, he finds Joe and Orlick sweeping up and sharing a pot of beer from the Jolly Bargemen. All is fine with the world.
Pip finds himself in front of Miss Havisham’s home, debating whether to ring the bell or flee. He rings, but the gate is not answered by Estella, but by Sarah Pocket. Miss H tells him that he had better not expect anything. He doesn’t (except to see Estella). But alas, she is abroad, studying to become a lady. Miss H asks Pip if he feels that he has lost her.
Where is Estella studying? Maybe France. Hope Pip finds her!
Art Expectations Day 87
Day 87
Pip asks Joe for a half-holiday (half day off). He plans to go up-town to visit Estella and Miss Havisham. Orlick, the journeyman (blacksmithing assistant), also asks for a half-holiday, saying that Joe should not choose favorites. (He feels threatened by Pip if you ask me.) Orlick loses his temper, scaring Pip by pretending to stab Pip with a red-hot bar right out of the furnace. Joe tells him to “cool down” before he’ll give them his answer about the holiday.
Joe’s decision? A half-holiday for everyone! (Mrs Joe overhears and is not happy!)
For this piece, I cut out a page of an old board book for children. I coated it with white acrylic to start with, but left some of the original book showing. (It’s a circus scene.) I painted half of the word “holiday” right under a flap. Then added a very quickly drawn Estella, complete with red eyes. Painted Miss Havisham’s house on the outside of the flap, an anvil on the inside with the word “Bye!” (Pip might be saying good-bye to his blacksmithing days… trading them in for days up-town with more refined folk. Can’t wait to see what happens when Pip shows up at Miss H’s house!
Art Expectations Day 84
Pip sees the beautiful Estella in the countryside around the marshes
Day 84 Page 93 of Great Expectations
Pip teaches Joe everything he learns from Biddy, Mr Wopsle and Mr Wopsle’s great-aunt. Not because he is truly concerned about Joe’s education, but because he is ashamed of Joe’s commonness. He doesn’t want Joe to appear ignorant in the eyes of Estella and Miss Havisham. So Pip schools Joe down at the battery in the marshes by the river. (Not sure why he doesn’t do it at home. It could be because Mrs Joe would not like Joe becoming smarter than herself!) It’s nice here, though, on the river in the marshes. Pip sees Estella and Miss H in everything beautiful that he looks upon here… the green lush marshes, blue calm river and the sails on the water. Peaceful, beautiful and quiet. He wonders, aloud, if he should pay a visit to Miss H and Estella.
Below also is a little something I did recently for my father’s birthday. It’s a collage containing some old Sears Roebuck catalog paper, ransom-like letters cut out of magazines and an old pickup truck that I painted in black acrylic and colored in Photoshop. I love that front tire!
My name is Julie and I'm reading Great Expectations one page a day and also creating one little work of art (30 minutes or less) a day relating to what I read. Thanks for looking and reading. Leave a comment to let me know what you think!
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