Too bad for you if you don’t know Cindy Zimmerman. Her taxonomy would go Artist, Philosopher Queen, Creator of Worlds (also of our Hurdy Gurdy logo), Communal Glue. She makes beauty and truth out of images and words and symbols and plywood and the muck of life most of us walk away from in a hurry. I want to be her when I grow up.
I met Cindy in Kansas on hiatus from California, but she’s an Okie in her bones. She’s back in Cali now teaching and working and thinking. Cindy’s the sort of friend that says thank you after you describe the turmoil in your mind because she recognizes it for the sign of respect that it is. Once when I lost my way, she told me to just write and write and worry about the polish later, so I did and I got my mojo back.
Cindy’s letting us share a piece from her recent work on Joan of Arc, a series of comic panels playing off of, among other things, the Vigilles de Charles VII à neuf psaumes et neuf leçons (1493, edited 1724), a chronicle of the Hundred Years War, by Martial d”Auvergne, a French poet. We’ll let her explain the approach:
This artwork attempts merely to add to the cacophony of Joan’s acknowledged voices, including Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, which urged a simple peasant girl to enter the realm of men and make war.
The artist inserts quotations from her own head voices, heard when contemplating these images of Joan, and invites the viewer to add his or her own voices to the discussion.
You can learn more about Cindy Zimmerman at her site.
2 Responses to “Art for Life’s Sake”
Lydia Velarde
Thank you for a great blog post. I took a book arts course from Cindy last year. We all fell in love with her. She not only taught me book arts but inspired me, encouraged me and opened doors I might not have walked though if it hadn’t met her.
Linda Christy
Cindy is a true spirit of Light, even though she’d probably deny it. Her soul is one that was born to express that Light to spread it over all things. As an artist, that’s what she’s always done! She’s a special human and I love her dearly and hope many more will be the recipient of her spark!