This was one of those smaller works where I used scrap wood to build the stretcher and scrap fabric as canvas to make a tiny gem of a painting. I hate to waste anything.
Once the clothing scraps were attached, I realized that it had an hourglass shape that you see on the seams or threading of balls, like a baseball or basketball. That was enough to seed some creative thinking but not quite enough to come up with a full artistic direction.
In my box of random objects, I had a piece of orange mesh from a potato sack that I already utilized as a template for spray painting. I kept it because I have been wanting to do something that utilized the transparency of the mesh. I have been wanting to allow the fabric and object to be more identifiable in my art. I have a habit of dumping so much paint on the works that the fabric and objects become completely covered and unidentifiable.
I liked the idea of using a scrap section of yarn and weaving through the mesh to give a very rudimentary heart pulse graphic that would imply energy.
I realized that the mesh needed something more to fasten it to the canvas, so I taped the middle of it off and layered paint on it. That worked to attach the mesh but, as sometimes is the case with water-based paints, the color dried to a toothpaste green. Ick. Fortunately, I smeared gold acrylic over that section which gave it a sort of colorful fish scale look.
When I stared at the unfinished work, I began to see the stylized silhouette of an athlete jumping. When I combined that with the mesh It came to me that I could add a volleyball player, midair, preparing to spike the ball. Hence the title of the piece.
