About Jude–her Art, her Astrology, her Name

Updated/edited June 20, 2020; jc.

Update Nov 2, 2013: Finally managing to update this entry and remove old links no longer live, etc. Art blogs still active are Secret Moon Art and Dreamyfish Art, both at blogspot dot com.

Now here’s the rest of this rather ancient explanation of my art, my astrology (which peeks under the hood of Politics), and my name:

Update Sept 4, 2008: here’s a link to a September Artist of the Month interview I’ve done at the Wandering Educators site with more art stuff and personal info:

http://www.wanderingeducators.com/artisans/artisan-month/september-artist-month-jude-cowell.html

~:~ original Page starts here:

A Self Explanation of and by Jude Cowell

Lifelong artist, descended from weavers, quilters, embroiderers, and tatters (lace-makers) on both sides of my family (I have natal Pallas in Taurus in 9th house = patterning ability and I’m from Athens, GA), I’ve always enjoyed perpetrating several art forms from Fabric Art (including felt collage), wire/beads/vintage jewelry “candle bowers” which I created based on the nests of bower birds and which combined my love of vintage jewelry, candles-with-mirrors to increase light, and stones (must have a little magpie in me–I like shiny beads) to paper collage, Painting – both oil and acrylics.

Yet pencil drawing remains my first love. My first memory of drawing: age 2 1/2 when pencils kept popping out from my fat little fingers. But I persisted.

One of my deepest admirations art-wise is reserved for those who successfully manipulate Watercolors–how on earth do you do that ??  😉

Note: the wire/metal art I can no longer do after 6 years of sensitizing my system, and I caution anyone due to the absorption of metals into your system: I do not recommend working with wire, but do miss the sculptural quality of ‘spinning’ shapes with it…wish I could!

In 1995/96, when inspirational Neptune conjoined my Mercury/Mars conjunction in the natal 5th house of Creativity (and Mercury/Mars gives manual dexterity), I nabbed my first-ever drafting table with magnifying lens/lamp and began drawing full time–usually on black paper as I had done long ago in school art classes.

Black paper gives a certain spiritual quality, I think, and describes Neptune’s influence perfectly. It also gives me a feeling of sculptural work as I build up layers from black to lighter colors or white.

Actually, art classes were good all through my school years–back when creative classes weren’t dissed by politicians–and my favorite junior high/high school Art Teacher was Dr. Robert Nix of the University of Georgia–yet I did not attend UGA, for I was accepted into the Fashion Illustration, Layout, and Design courses at Atlanta College of Art at the High Museum–it was ‘School of Art’ then because academic courses had to be taken at Emory University. Fashion illustrator Bill Johnson was my instructor. But alas, classes at Emory were way expensive and so I fell short of my art degree.

However, I suspect you can see the Fashion influence in many of my drawings but an Emory influence? None at all! Here’s an early example of a fanciful figure study, Eugenie with Mirror:

Now I’m a fan of Children’s Art in a big way–see Secret Moon Art for some of those, including Pattillo Armadillo, a character I created for a children’s book, the dummy book for which was considered for publication by Little, Brown in New York. Similar to entering Atlanta School/College of art based on my portfolio, Pattillo was invited North based on a Little, Brown Art Director’s viewing of his portfolio at an SCBWI Conference in Atlanta.

But Pattillo didn’t make their List that year, yet I still dream of  ‘doing something’ with him one day, and later on I’ll publish a pic or two of Pattillo for you here–he’s quite a charming little fellow…you should meet him, if you haven’t.

Meanwhile, Astrology was an early (age 12) interest which I left behind because my church said, stay away from it–but then one day in 1996, I picked up an Astrology book a friend had loaned my daughter, and immediately found myself becoming a ‘reluctant astrologer’ against my wishes. Yet there are no accidents, are there? Synchronicity abounds!

Soon my lifelong interest in Politics (that “organized system of hatreds”) directed my astrological studies toward Mundane Astrology, or more specifically, Political Astrology, as evidenced on this blog and on Stars Over Washington  which I’ve published continually since October 15, 2005. SO’W will soon be 15 years old! (6.20.20)

So why “Jude” and why “Cowell”? Because of a personal name asteroid, Cowell (an alternate spelling of my birth name), plus, there’s a personal asteroid, Judith. (Yes, I am a ‘Judith’.) So what else could I be?

Oh–and it’s pronounced Coh’ wull, not ‘cow’ as in moo-cow, or Simon!

Well, I hope this helps explain ‘the mystery’ that is yours truly with my Neptune-Pluto midpoint rising when I was born and the ‘mystical air’ that such a midpoint bestows!

Jude

Links:

Dreamyfish Art – botanical fish portraits in visionary settings;

Secret Moon Art – Children’s, Fairy, Moon/Cosmic, botanical illustrations, plus, fanciful figure studies.

Two Hours You’ll Never Get Back – societal concerns, Art, Astrology, Politics, food, diet, and family stuff.

And naturally you’re cordially invited to browse 24/7 in my Jude Cowell Art Portfolio at:

Fine Art America

jc

Raleigh, NC USA

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