I have been drawing pretty much non-stop this week, but can't always get them posted - starting at 9 and ending at 9 (drawing, plus critiques) barely leaves me with enough energy to get to my Airbnb home and then basically fall into bed. I am loving it! Truly a marathon.
Second day, and I'm starting to feel like once again - I don't know what the f I'm doing. Parting through the volume of air to allow a form to emerge, attending to the spaces between forms. Maybe I'll get it later.
I was overcome by wanting to stay home and be in my studio in the days leading up to the Marathon. There is so much going on with getting ready to leave work that the thought of peeling off from that and going to New York felt like the worst kind of distraction. But then, I was walking up the stairs to the big painting studio and I sent a prayer of thanks - "Thank You for this, for reminding me who I am."
"Acknowledgement" 36"x36" Acrylic on wood
The 2015 Member Show is going up at Gallery 114, and I'm pleased to have 4 pieces in it. One of them is the one I've posted - "Acknowledgement." It is the first abstract painting that I have made that did not have an original reference in life, but was instead a direct, non-representational response to "joining the concussion club."
On my mind today is the new work I'm doing which is the biggest I've ever done in the studio - 60"x80". Biting my nails on this one. Using big watercolor paper, and just getting it square and on the wall is a challenge.
“L’une des plus belles villages” stems from bike riding in France last summer. After seeing all of the beautiful towns, I could not believe there was yet another. This is the response to these wonderful places. It is also a print that is featured at Gallery 114 this month - a prize for filling out our gallery survey! I hope you will visit and enter the drawing for it. 1100 SW Glisan, Portland, OR.
NYSS here I come! So excited. Supplies, paper all ordered, delivered, almost all gathered. I never know if I will be able to go back, but this is actually my third Drawing Marathon! Several people with whom I have formed relationships with over time will no longer be there, and this has given me pause. However, the first time I went I didn't know anyone either. So - I am excited to go for the Drawing Marathon, as well as to see my brother and his family. I recommend the Marathons. An awesome teacher, Graham Nickson, and the focus on the basics of drawing have been invaluable in my development as an artist. See nyss.com for the school's website. Worth browsing just in itself.
It is difficult to leave work at this time - I feel I need to be present to my program/people as this is it. I will be gone in January. I have such a strong draw to be deeply involved, to lean in rather than out at this time. Nonetheless, advice is to develop this other part of me so that I will have something in place when I am gone. Plus, I have a show in March and I can't leave it all until February!!
Out the Window/Summer Heat Acrylic on Canvas 40"x30"
I submitted to the Verum Ultimum Gallery show in Portland, "Abstract Catalyst." This one was waitlisted, the same one that was accepted in the Seattle show. It's interesting - I like all three paintings that I submitted very much but the one I find most interesting, the first one, doesn't get chosen. Isn't this the way it is? Nonetheless, I can't let it stop me from making the art that counts most to me. I'm hoping the waitlisted one will make it into the show - it was an international call though, and it is clear that it is far more competitive that a regional or even a national show. But - those are the thoughts that are circular, never ending! I'm happy that one of the pieces was noticed and made it to the final round.
Out the Window/Spring Acrylic on wood panel 18x24 The beginning of the "Out the Window" series Significant because the painting went straight to abstraction rather than starting representationally, which is my usual progression.
I haven't been sure what I wanted to do with this blog. As so often is the case, I feel like what I think about and write isn't worthy enough, etc. I'm just a little painter, not an "important" artist. There are blogs which offer lots of links and resources, which seems more important, and something more substantial to offer. I like to read those things, and gather in all those thoughts and ideas - but I'm not sure I want to be one of the someones who is best suited to collect and post that kind of material. What I really find useful is a place to write about the thoughts, feelings and observations I have about making art. Maybe that's narcissistic, but it does help me process, and, since that is the direction that seems to be happening, that's what I'm going to continue with....I have come to realize that I have to take the step of valuing what I do, no matter what that is. If I don't, it undermines not only my work, but other people's work too as they count on me. I am thinking specifically about my "regular" work at school....Part of leadership seems to be claiming one's own skills and abilities.
This is a wonderful interview with Fran O'Neill, one of my "most favoritist" artists and a wonderful teacher and mentor. I am the proud owner of one of her small works and I can only hope it influences me having it in the house! Enjoy: http://www.gorkysgranddaughter.com/2015/03/fran-oneill-march-2015.html
Another wonderful interview from an artist who is no longer here. http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2012/03/jules-olitski-talks-about-painting.html
"Summer Heat/Out the Window," was accepted into the Evergreen Association of Fine Art in Seattle. I took it up today, and saw it placed on the wall, which was exciting. It's really an honor to be accepted into this show. There were close to 300 2D pieces submitted, and 89 were accepted. The work is generally strong throughout, and the space in the Seattle Design Center is super. I will, unfortunately, miss the reception due to Spring Break plans. But all my Seattle peeps - please go see it!
It promises to be a big year. I'll be leaving my current work to focus on art. I'd love to keep my hand in with consulting about program development in non-profits, especially with organizational structure, volunteer management and intercultural competency. I've been involved in 4 different program startups, and it would be fun. However, my main deal is seeking for what my art says when looking for the small, the glimpses, the ways in which life speaks through mark making. So often it reflects the bigger questions, relationships and state of being of both the artist and for the world. It's like the story of the person who falls over the cliff and is hanging on desperately to the one branch that's there. She yells to God for help, and God yells back "let go of the branch!" Haven't had this feeling for a long time. Exhilarating? Terrifying? Both.
Every time I have a show, I have to absorb all this work into the limited space available in my studio. Ack!
So busy with the holidays, and now just settling back in and work will start again on Monday. Arghh.
Am thinking once again about doing a year of art school. As a non-degreed artist, I have the urge towards the pressure-cooker of the academic learning environment and seeing lots of visual ideas from other artists. It could be really fun and a useful thing. I would be looking to push my art and to paint better. Yet, the whole lingoistic, conceptual yada yada of how art is talked about and taught (or so I hear) leaves me cold; I don't want to talk like that or think like that. I want to hold to painting and drawing as deep disciplines in themselves. No emperor's new clothes for me.
Given that, here is an interesting thought from an article I am reading: http://hyperallergic.com/172190/penny-arcade-on-the-professionalization-of-performance-art/
PA: a lot of stuff in the galleries falls into two or three elements. This is not the most experimental period I’ve ever lived in, where there’s a lot of innovation going on. There’s a lot of technological use and a lot of emperor’s new clothes stuff going on in the art world....
But the market has invaded so deeply that people are afraid to follow their own hearts. They’re very conscious of what the market will bear or what trends are “in.” You hear it in the way people talk, using buzzwords — “gender” and “social practice.” It’s kind of funny.
Amazingness! Gallery 114, a cooperative artist's gallery of which I am a member, got a write up as one of the 10 best galleries in the Pearl! All of us are soooooo thrilled! And, wow!, they had a link to my website. This is very cool. You can see this at: http://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/oregon/articles/the-10-best-art-galleries-in-portland-s-trendy-pearl-district-/?utm_source=emails&utm_medium=external&utm_campaign=021214oregonart
Tuesday is my go-in-to-work-late day. Even though my show is up and my rigorous painting-while-working-schedule is not the practical necessity that it was, I am keeping the schedule. First things first. I do so much better in every way when I paint in the morning - or sometime in the day although when it is in the morning, then I get that wind beneath my wings for the whole day. So this morning, a first use of a beautiful watercolor notebook from the Sennelier shop in Paris, and an attempt at using the little brush made with the feather of a becasse. I think this is a bird from the sandpiper family. Back to the little drawings, the ones that are just there, aperçu in the day.
Maybe I'm recovering from the opening. So tired, worn out and depleted I couldn't really take it all in. It was a very fun, packed party. Now I can sort through everything and learn from all of it. For one, I kept saying to myself as I worked on my ipad, drew my cats, painted in my backyard, took mysterious photos in France - I need to be working on my show. I Really Need to Be Working on My Show. When I got back from my trip I was working on what my husband calls my "Loire Triptych" and I felt like I was working on my show. When I painted my 36x48 canvas of the garden outside my studio, it was the biggest painting I had ever made outside of a class. I told myself it was dumb to experiment so close to the show, and that I wouldn't have time to finish it anyway. But I felt like I was working on my show. But everything before that ....out the the window.
When all was said and done, the show was forming while I was busy saying "I need to plan my show!," all the while I was saying, "That can't possibly go in!" The show was happening while I was off to the side trying to figure it all out. Like life. The future is in us, already formed and forming, our direction already present in our lives (and studios). Can I remember that, please?
Andrea Rosselle's work, "Death of Water," is a must see. Installed in the Gallery 114 enclosed space, the Pozzi Room, she has hung infant gowns embroidered with the primary viruses and bacterias that have contaminated water along with the appliques of the primary bodies of water that they have affected. Attached to the gowns are tags with the mortality rate of death from these contaminants, as per the World Health Organization's latest count, linking them with the infant mortality rate. Outside the room there is another gown hanging from a virus that is not water born - ebola. It is so poignant and beautifully stated. Please - go. Gallery 114, 1100 NW Glisan, Portland, Oregon. The opening is November 6th, with the reception from 6-9. My work is also there - I am showing acrylic and iPad paintings from 2014.
Installation day for "Aperçu" at G114! So amazing to see my work going up - had really no idea it it would all work, focused as I was not on theme but on what caught me eye - glimpses, quick impressions, insights. Thanks to my family and gallery colleagues, it is shaping up super well. Especially excited about my ipad drawings and showing them both via print and also via my ipad. Woot woot!
Typical, right? It's the day of installation and I'm overwhelmed and there's things that still need to be done. I'm overwhelmed – I think it's like giving birth. Instead of muscle contractions, I have waves of anxiety and mental anguish. Not that giving birth is free of mental anguish. But – onward and upward! Hope to you all at the opening of "Aperçu" on November 6th at Gallery 114!
Thanks and kudos to Christopher Roberts and to Kenny Saylor for helping get this site started months ago, and then to Alfonso Lopez for helping solve the bugs that were keeping it from going live. A small matter of pointing the domain (hosted by another company) to this space. I didn't know what "pointing" was, why it wasn't linking (an old grid - what's a grid??) and creating a CNAME and an A-record. Learning curve, for sure, and satisfaction in getting the answers to the questions that technology is so good at raising!
For any of you into bikes (and bike fitting) check out the website for Alfonso Lopez at http://www.velopez.com/. Witness a software engineer giving up big bucks to follow his dream. And if you are a bike fitter, know that Alfonso has developed an app that is incredibly useful in your line of work.