Doesn't this term seems more apropos than the term recycled or re-purposed?
After all, when we make changes in our lives, we don't/ won't/can't start from scratch (despite the free use of the terms "reborn" or "born again")…we re-build on what we have.
So it goes with materials used in the making of art-the stuff is there for us to build on-in the case of "found" objects, we have an huge start, both physically and in terms of the 'feel" of the object, already imbued with the fingerprints of the ages, the old handlers and/or makers of the object…these items have history, even though that history may be an anonymous one. We are not the first to handle/use/own them.
Extrapolating, I can say that we build our lives on the shoulders of others. Mistakes and corrections have been made for us by those who have been here before. Sometimes, we choose to ignore what has been learned and "done". Sometimes, we opt to reject this knowledge out of hand and so we should as one size does not fit all.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Skin
The latest from the world of the aging and sagging.
My skin, which once had a different sort of vitality, is changing. It seems to move less. Where once I had a smooth and active, if scratch-ridden surface, now things have calmed down to the point of being, well, deader. Sedate skin. Free from youthful blemishes, I miss some of that pimpling and other various activities, which I now see as a sign that things were moving.
Laying awake last night (after drinking too much coffee at dinner, which never used to keep me up) I thought about skin. If I was still writing, I'd like to tackle this topic in the form of a disturbing little story. Something about one's skin moving around the body-a bit of stranger's skin, perhaps, from a graft-or a tattoo that has a life of its own?
Worked on this ptg as just the bottom panel, then added the top…
My skin, which once had a different sort of vitality, is changing. It seems to move less. Where once I had a smooth and active, if scratch-ridden surface, now things have calmed down to the point of being, well, deader. Sedate skin. Free from youthful blemishes, I miss some of that pimpling and other various activities, which I now see as a sign that things were moving.
Laying awake last night (after drinking too much coffee at dinner, which never used to keep me up) I thought about skin. If I was still writing, I'd like to tackle this topic in the form of a disturbing little story. Something about one's skin moving around the body-a bit of stranger's skin, perhaps, from a graft-or a tattoo that has a life of its own?
Worked on this ptg as just the bottom panel, then added the top…
Friday, August 15, 2014
Rowed out
More than a bit stalled-a conversation I had yesterday with two ex-gallery owners/art dealers (of a Santa Fe stripe) has convinced me i should give up as an artist and become a…well, you might as well fill in the blank as I haven't a clue.
The image of working and working, then building a fire and throwing all the stuff into the flames has some appeal. Then truly I'd have an all-consuming audience-or at the least, an all-consuming performance.
The image of the souls who have passed on and are marching their way to heaven or hell passes through my mind-so many artists preceded me-all that work-and just how many do we know, remember, recognize?
In this is the key: we make stuff because we have to. If another is attracted by it, so it goes…this makes me think that the society that allows for art and artists needs to be revalued. If we were all treated like ordinary workers, perhaps this would be so much the better. Much like the westerner coming to Japan and seeing the now " Japanese masterpiece", the ukiyo-e print, used to repair shoji screens, we need a more humble approach to art and to the artist. At the very least in order to avoid the many disappointments inherent in the art-making biz. The war years in America yielded many artists working just for the sake of working and fine art was unknown as "fine" or as a pumped-up commodity.
Now, art (and the artists theta make it) is either gold or has no value whatsoever and is not worth seeing (since it is not marketable). Really?
HERE IS A FACSIMILE
of my most recent painting (photo unnecessary as this artist falls into the "not marketable" category).
The image of working and working, then building a fire and throwing all the stuff into the flames has some appeal. Then truly I'd have an all-consuming audience-or at the least, an all-consuming performance.
The image of the souls who have passed on and are marching their way to heaven or hell passes through my mind-so many artists preceded me-all that work-and just how many do we know, remember, recognize?
In this is the key: we make stuff because we have to. If another is attracted by it, so it goes…this makes me think that the society that allows for art and artists needs to be revalued. If we were all treated like ordinary workers, perhaps this would be so much the better. Much like the westerner coming to Japan and seeing the now " Japanese masterpiece", the ukiyo-e print, used to repair shoji screens, we need a more humble approach to art and to the artist. At the very least in order to avoid the many disappointments inherent in the art-making biz. The war years in America yielded many artists working just for the sake of working and fine art was unknown as "fine" or as a pumped-up commodity.
Now, art (and the artists theta make it) is either gold or has no value whatsoever and is not worth seeing (since it is not marketable). Really?
HERE IS A FACSIMILE
of my most recent painting (photo unnecessary as this artist falls into the "not marketable" category).
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Remember Subliminal Advertising? And Force Feeding?
While google-trolling today, I used the word "Assemblage" to see so,me of the work that was out there.
If you click on any one image, you probably know that you get a black box with several other images (as well as the one you've chosen). When I clicked on one of the smaller images, it was preceded EVERY TIME by an image of an artwork -but just for a second or two. I did this several times and the same artwork preceded my selection each and every time. In this case, it was a steer made out of printed tin cans ("Pisupo lua afe" by a Michel or Michael Tuffery somewhere out of the South Pacific)…tried it several more times -more out of disbelief than anything else.
THEN I googled a different search topic/images- "Found Object Assemblage"-this time a page from an assemblage artist named Barbara Irwin out of Texas came up EACH and EVERY time, showing me (just for a second) artwork I did not ask to see- repeatedly.
My comment? This is a disgusting use of the internet, but I suppose, Ladies and gentlemen, that we should fasten our seat belts for a truly bumpy ride in the years to come.
How can one say "Shame on you, Google?", as if the corporation had any feelings or ethics? For that we'd have to go to Hobby Lobby to get any real (corporate) feeling. I guess I can't blame the artists wholly, but I would make a serious point of avoiding any further contact with them or their work, as I do not like to be force fed.
Got some extra cash? Maybe you can get your work pictured on Google's homepage-I'm sure all it takes is the right amount of moolah! Soon when we open our respective "private" blogs or email accounts, we'll be treated to such delights as new works by these by Michel Tuffery or Barbara Irwin.
If you click on any one image, you probably know that you get a black box with several other images (as well as the one you've chosen). When I clicked on one of the smaller images, it was preceded EVERY TIME by an image of an artwork -but just for a second or two. I did this several times and the same artwork preceded my selection each and every time. In this case, it was a steer made out of printed tin cans ("Pisupo lua afe" by a Michel or Michael Tuffery somewhere out of the South Pacific)…tried it several more times -more out of disbelief than anything else.
THEN I googled a different search topic/images- "Found Object Assemblage"-this time a page from an assemblage artist named Barbara Irwin out of Texas came up EACH and EVERY time, showing me (just for a second) artwork I did not ask to see- repeatedly.
My comment? This is a disgusting use of the internet, but I suppose, Ladies and gentlemen, that we should fasten our seat belts for a truly bumpy ride in the years to come.
How can one say "Shame on you, Google?", as if the corporation had any feelings or ethics? For that we'd have to go to Hobby Lobby to get any real (corporate) feeling. I guess I can't blame the artists wholly, but I would make a serious point of avoiding any further contact with them or their work, as I do not like to be force fed.
Got some extra cash? Maybe you can get your work pictured on Google's homepage-I'm sure all it takes is the right amount of moolah! Soon when we open our respective "private" blogs or email accounts, we'll be treated to such delights as new works by these by Michel Tuffery or Barbara Irwin.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
I'm one of those...
I dream about my work, especially about pieces/projects challenging me at the time of the dreaming. There's been a lot of dreaming lately, accelerated by the printmaking class
es I've been taking.
I'll take this as a good sign, whereas there was a time when I thought that making prints would never engage me in any way other than a superficial one. There are still aspects of the medium (such as making books and some of the "craftier" processes that go on-namely "magic" papers and pattern-making scissors, etc.) that I find without great merit. Maybe some of this feeling is because I am still so anchored in 3D work and, more recently, painting. I have pulled off (pardon the pun) some painterly prints of late which have left me more satisfied than other attempts.
Interestingly, I noticed that I've no concept/desire to sell any of this work. Perhaps this will come with time when I feel a bit more sure of myself with the medium. Sadly, I've only used my press for about six or seven impressions….but I think when I'm not going to school 2X a week, this will change.
I titled this painting Napadora, a play on the name Pandora…
es I've been taking.
I'll take this as a good sign, whereas there was a time when I thought that making prints would never engage me in any way other than a superficial one. There are still aspects of the medium (such as making books and some of the "craftier" processes that go on-namely "magic" papers and pattern-making scissors, etc.) that I find without great merit. Maybe some of this feeling is because I am still so anchored in 3D work and, more recently, painting. I have pulled off (pardon the pun) some painterly prints of late which have left me more satisfied than other attempts.
Interestingly, I noticed that I've no concept/desire to sell any of this work. Perhaps this will come with time when I feel a bit more sure of myself with the medium. Sadly, I've only used my press for about six or seven impressions….but I think when I'm not going to school 2X a week, this will change.
I titled this painting Napadora, a play on the name Pandora…
Saturday, June 28, 2014
A minor note
Would I have remembered that today was the anniversary of the beginning of the "Great War", the "War to End All Wars", if not for the prompting of the media?
It's doubtful.
Thinking on the fact that many born recently have never even heard of this huge conflict and what it meant/means to us, many other (forgotten) conflicts come to mind.
Vietnam, the conflict fought during my "time", will be forgotten as will all that we fight for (?) presently. More football games but with more casualties and tears. And we keep marching, don't we?
It's doubtful.
Thinking on the fact that many born recently have never even heard of this huge conflict and what it meant/means to us, many other (forgotten) conflicts come to mind.
Vietnam, the conflict fought during my "time", will be forgotten as will all that we fight for (?) presently. More football games but with more casualties and tears. And we keep marching, don't we?
This must be a tough time- i'm thinking once again of getting a tattoo-specifically an alchemical symbol (can U guess which one?)…
Dreamed this week of getting a letter (yes, a real letter) from an old (pissed- off at moi) friend. This was composed of collaged photos, much like a visual ransom note…
Dreamed last night of seeing two running bears…wtf? After making sure the dogs were in the house, I gaped in wonder at the two big black bodies.
Feeling so goddamn alone, which I guess has been a mainstay in my life. but somehow this is so painful right now.
I read in Robt. Genn's letters this week that some people's creativity is possibly driven by anger-the fact that this could be me really threw me. Dunno if it's true, but that word-possibly-had the effect of stopping me mid-thought….and then waiting for the sharp cut of the gutting knife. OK, that bit of drama never came, but I still wonder about the effect of this thought of the genesis of my creative drive.
I'll post this here sculpture (can't remember the title) as it seems relevant to these written thoughts.
Dreamed this week of getting a letter (yes, a real letter) from an old (pissed- off at moi) friend. This was composed of collaged photos, much like a visual ransom note…
Dreamed last night of seeing two running bears…wtf? After making sure the dogs were in the house, I gaped in wonder at the two big black bodies.
Feeling so goddamn alone, which I guess has been a mainstay in my life. but somehow this is so painful right now.
I read in Robt. Genn's letters this week that some people's creativity is possibly driven by anger-the fact that this could be me really threw me. Dunno if it's true, but that word-possibly-had the effect of stopping me mid-thought….and then waiting for the sharp cut of the gutting knife. OK, that bit of drama never came, but I still wonder about the effect of this thought of the genesis of my creative drive.
I'll post this here sculpture (can't remember the title) as it seems relevant to these written thoughts.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Listen:
(channeling Kurt Vonnegut)This is part of what I've learned so far.
We are pilgrims, here to take a journey and to learn from the road. hopefully, we will keep enough tread on our feet to make the trip.
The art I make is made better when it is passed on, whether in trade, as gifts, or as the teaching of technique. I heard a guitar player this morning (he wrote a very catchy rock song in the 80's and now manages Phillip Glass) say that when he was young, it was about becoming a rock star. Now, after reaching his 60th birthday, it's about playing playing playing. I get it.
It would be nice (or maybe it'd be a blessing with sharp teeth) to be famous or sell a lot. But it's really (really!) not everything.
Guess I should shut up when people ask me about my art. My constant reply has been, "It's a blessing and a curse". I'm damn lucky and, yes, blessed. Thanks to whoever and/or whatever gave me this great gift.
I took a shot of two of my best friends below. You will notice that the left one is a bit shakier!
Saturday, May 31, 2014
alligraphic moi
Most suddenly, I find myself using a calligraphic pen-swashed and inked lines all over the place (well, mostly on the pages of one of my sketchbooks). It's really interesting and informative (that may not be quite the right word) to copy and draw gibberish just to make some pretty looking letters. I like the discipline of the drawing of these letters and the idea right in front of me, is an objective: drawing letters with a wrong and a right way of execution in real old-fashioned black and white.
Had a greg inspired day in the studio yesterday, with ideas flying around the room like wayward birds (I used to have those and bats that lost their way in my NJ studio-very difficult to catch, BTW).
I started a wheeled pc, either for the ZiPP gallery show or for a collector friend who is coming out in August. Have in mind also a 5 or 6-tiered tower of varying small arcs/rounds that will each hold a king inside, with orange slats making up the wall of each tier…
Pulled my first print off my new press-i like it quite a bit, but feel it's only a start…
Laura was down yesterday trying her hand at putting the dog heads I've designed to sell at shows together. This is not an easy place to start, involving small mailings and cutting tin with a metal shears. I hope that the learning curve does not get to her and also that she enjoys the work enough to continue. I could use some help with these, as i know they are an easy "seller".
Started a painting of a head that will incorporate two sets of teeth (these are literally nailed to the "canvas") and will hopefully go from there…lots of stuff started!
Here's a shot of the intaglio plate I just printed.
Had a greg inspired day in the studio yesterday, with ideas flying around the room like wayward birds (I used to have those and bats that lost their way in my NJ studio-very difficult to catch, BTW).
I started a wheeled pc, either for the ZiPP gallery show or for a collector friend who is coming out in August. Have in mind also a 5 or 6-tiered tower of varying small arcs/rounds that will each hold a king inside, with orange slats making up the wall of each tier…
Pulled my first print off my new press-i like it quite a bit, but feel it's only a start…
Laura was down yesterday trying her hand at putting the dog heads I've designed to sell at shows together. This is not an easy place to start, involving small mailings and cutting tin with a metal shears. I hope that the learning curve does not get to her and also that she enjoys the work enough to continue. I could use some help with these, as i know they are an easy "seller".
Started a painting of a head that will incorporate two sets of teeth (these are literally nailed to the "canvas") and will hopefully go from there…lots of stuff started!
Here's a shot of the intaglio plate I just printed.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Woo-woo
That's the word I recently heard to describe all the self-proclaimed shamans and mystics and astrologers and healers in this area (Santa Fe and surrounds).
I've always been an agnostic or skeptic or doubter or whatever you'd like to call it-you get the gist.
I'm not from the "show me" state, but I might as well have been. In no way could you ever label me gullible or even trusting. To win my trust, you have to prove yourself worthy of it.
But I consider myself open and available to all comers-I rarely turn anyone down with ill-regard unless
you demonstrate that you are just not worth my time, my trust or my money.
Here's the thing: I belong to the same class of people. Is not making art one of the oldest tricks in the world? Or should I say, a practice that has many, many doubters? I practice woo-woo all the time and really believe that using recycled (call it garbage if you will) materials subtracts even MORE credibility from an already questionable practice.
I'm someone who lives in a glass house, but this is not the reason I don't throw stones.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
Stay open, stay skeptical.
He (or she) who lives in a drafty house may be chilly at times, but the air they breathe will always be stimulating and , hopefully, unpolluted.
Just had to get on the soapbox this morning….
I've always been an agnostic or skeptic or doubter or whatever you'd like to call it-you get the gist.
I'm not from the "show me" state, but I might as well have been. In no way could you ever label me gullible or even trusting. To win my trust, you have to prove yourself worthy of it.
But I consider myself open and available to all comers-I rarely turn anyone down with ill-regard unless
you demonstrate that you are just not worth my time, my trust or my money.
Here's the thing: I belong to the same class of people. Is not making art one of the oldest tricks in the world? Or should I say, a practice that has many, many doubters? I practice woo-woo all the time and really believe that using recycled (call it garbage if you will) materials subtracts even MORE credibility from an already questionable practice.
I'm someone who lives in a glass house, but this is not the reason I don't throw stones.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
Stay open, stay skeptical.
He (or she) who lives in a drafty house may be chilly at times, but the air they breathe will always be stimulating and , hopefully, unpolluted.
Just had to get on the soapbox this morning….
Saturday, May 24, 2014
May 24th
I know-it's Bob Dylan's birthday.
But also my Dad's and also my parent's anniversary.
They'd have been married 66 years-jeezus-if they were alive.Dad made it to 90 and Mom to 89. Both long-lived and bothhad a fairly good death, if there is such a thing.
Today I remember their wedding, (which I did not attend) and, oddly enough, thinkof my grandfather, Poppy (as he was known to me)…I imagine him smoking at the wedding and wonder about his thoughts. I wonder just what he thought of my Dad-or for that matter, his daughter…
A practical man, who could do anything, fix anything and (as I believe) always wanted to be a farmer and till the land to make his living. He was a baker among other things. I have a terrific photo of him, braced against the side of a barn and (seemingly) racing his bicycle. He was wounded in the Great War-a sapper on the front lines in (?) Belgium or France.
I always thought my Dad could fix anything, but I now know that he could and did not. He sure as hell made a good show of it…I think only his insecurity let him down and he second-guessed himself and left certain problems untouched.
One of these problems he left untouched was his shyness. He (seemingly) never questioned it and it saddled him AND my Mom. As a result, my parents as a couple rarely mixed with others and even family parties could present a problem.
I said to someone the other day that I'd grown up very shy. There was disbelief in their eyes.
Guess you could say I've come a long way since I used to hide behind they house when I heard a stranger approach down the street….now I have a hard time shutting up.
This is a ramble, but that's just what i meant it to be….
I'll attach my latest, which is a re-do/re-working of a sculpture-i think this one finally "works"
for me…Bill
But also my Dad's and also my parent's anniversary.
They'd have been married 66 years-jeezus-if they were alive.Dad made it to 90 and Mom to 89. Both long-lived and bothhad a fairly good death, if there is such a thing.
Today I remember their wedding, (which I did not attend) and, oddly enough, thinkof my grandfather, Poppy (as he was known to me)…I imagine him smoking at the wedding and wonder about his thoughts. I wonder just what he thought of my Dad-or for that matter, his daughter…
A practical man, who could do anything, fix anything and (as I believe) always wanted to be a farmer and till the land to make his living. He was a baker among other things. I have a terrific photo of him, braced against the side of a barn and (seemingly) racing his bicycle. He was wounded in the Great War-a sapper on the front lines in (?) Belgium or France.
I always thought my Dad could fix anything, but I now know that he could and did not. He sure as hell made a good show of it…I think only his insecurity let him down and he second-guessed himself and left certain problems untouched.
One of these problems he left untouched was his shyness. He (seemingly) never questioned it and it saddled him AND my Mom. As a result, my parents as a couple rarely mixed with others and even family parties could present a problem.
I said to someone the other day that I'd grown up very shy. There was disbelief in their eyes.
Guess you could say I've come a long way since I used to hide behind they house when I heard a stranger approach down the street….now I have a hard time shutting up.
This is a ramble, but that's just what i meant it to be….
I'll attach my latest, which is a re-do/re-working of a sculpture-i think this one finally "works"
for me…Bill
Friday, May 9, 2014
Layering
Considering I'm about to go and move my new (to me) heavy etching press (with the help of some well-paid movers), the word of the day is layering.
A concept new to me. One that I've not trusted in the past-I was and am inclined to think that the more you put on, the better your chances of coming out smelling like a rose.
Perhaps I confused the issue and, because I liked art that showed layers i thought that this must be too easy. Sorry- that was not very clear, but I'm not ask very clear about this whole layering thing.
BUT, all that being absolutely mangled, yers truly has started to think more in terms of layers and layering. This is pretty important in printmaking-they seem to refer to different layers as "drops".
Wrapping my brain around the idea that I'll be putting one pc of paper through a press many times is a real challenge. Sure, it can be a problem but quite exciting as well.
I will tell you that so far, most of my layered print work has NOT come out smelling like roses.
A concept new to me. One that I've not trusted in the past-I was and am inclined to think that the more you put on, the better your chances of coming out smelling like a rose.
Perhaps I confused the issue and, because I liked art that showed layers i thought that this must be too easy. Sorry- that was not very clear, but I'm not ask very clear about this whole layering thing.
BUT, all that being absolutely mangled, yers truly has started to think more in terms of layers and layering. This is pretty important in printmaking-they seem to refer to different layers as "drops".
Wrapping my brain around the idea that I'll be putting one pc of paper through a press many times is a real challenge. Sure, it can be a problem but quite exciting as well.
I will tell you that so far, most of my layered print work has NOT come out smelling like roses.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Happy?
That was the title for some old PIL album…
"The way to achieve happiness is to try for perfection that is impossible to achieve, and spend the rest of your life trying to achieve it." (Winston Churchill)
Since my last post was about the futility of trying to make important art (no, I never did publish or finish it), i'm gonna try and be a bit more cheery this time around. The above quote seism to suffice for my life efforts, but I could modify it as I am no perfectionist-or maybe my idea of perfection (at least when it comes to making art) does not match anything I've ever heard or read. Oh god, you say, here comes another boring rant on the artists' thoughts. Nope.
Despite all my complaining, there is one thing I can't argue with: the drive that keeps me going, that keeps me making new stuff, is a unique gift that I need to be thankful for on a daily basis.
Lately, I've been burning rubber making lots & lots of prints in the Community College workshop.
You'd be seeing them here if I could only get some photos (read, if i would only take some photos)…
I've signed up for another class to replace the one about to end ( I'm already having withdrawal pains about this) and this week hope to get a little used etching press delivered to the studio. Not that little, As i've hired folks to move this lil' monster….
Painting is going well and no one is more surprised about this than me. I'm finding that i do not debate whether or not to change a painting that has some good elements to it-this has been fatal to my painted work in the past…I kind of get stuck on a "nice" part of the thing , which turns into an anchor of sorts and makes me sacrifice that whole to leave the beloved part intact. No more. It was a painful process to jump in and paint over, modify or scrape out at first, but the rewards here have been good. The rewards being that the challenge remains. The end product? Well, be it good or bad I get to reap the good part of the process and all the learning and all the effort that entails.
Sculpture has been taking a back seat lately and i feel as if some of the 3D working has been a bit trite.
I do not feel "rutted"about this as there has been so much other stimulation in the painting and printmaking.
and there is still a constant flow of new ideas, brimming over in the old brain.
Who needs a bucket list-I hope to be able to pass some of these ideas on before I croak.
And I really feel - even beyond becoming a teacher- I can still inspire folks around me to make more different better art.
Yet another "blessing".
"The way to achieve happiness is to try for perfection that is impossible to achieve, and spend the rest of your life trying to achieve it." (Winston Churchill)
Since my last post was about the futility of trying to make important art (no, I never did publish or finish it), i'm gonna try and be a bit more cheery this time around. The above quote seism to suffice for my life efforts, but I could modify it as I am no perfectionist-or maybe my idea of perfection (at least when it comes to making art) does not match anything I've ever heard or read. Oh god, you say, here comes another boring rant on the artists' thoughts. Nope.
Despite all my complaining, there is one thing I can't argue with: the drive that keeps me going, that keeps me making new stuff, is a unique gift that I need to be thankful for on a daily basis.
Lately, I've been burning rubber making lots & lots of prints in the Community College workshop.
You'd be seeing them here if I could only get some photos (read, if i would only take some photos)…
I've signed up for another class to replace the one about to end ( I'm already having withdrawal pains about this) and this week hope to get a little used etching press delivered to the studio. Not that little, As i've hired folks to move this lil' monster….
Painting is going well and no one is more surprised about this than me. I'm finding that i do not debate whether or not to change a painting that has some good elements to it-this has been fatal to my painted work in the past…I kind of get stuck on a "nice" part of the thing , which turns into an anchor of sorts and makes me sacrifice that whole to leave the beloved part intact. No more. It was a painful process to jump in and paint over, modify or scrape out at first, but the rewards here have been good. The rewards being that the challenge remains. The end product? Well, be it good or bad I get to reap the good part of the process and all the learning and all the effort that entails.
Sculpture has been taking a back seat lately and i feel as if some of the 3D working has been a bit trite.
I do not feel "rutted"about this as there has been so much other stimulation in the painting and printmaking.
and there is still a constant flow of new ideas, brimming over in the old brain.
Who needs a bucket list-I hope to be able to pass some of these ideas on before I croak.
And I really feel - even beyond becoming a teacher- I can still inspire folks around me to make more different better art.
Yet another "blessing".
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Doubt
How often does doubt come for a visit?
Doubt came in today and has not yet left. Ok, ok, so we are talking about a matter of an hour or so. Maybe it's just the contrast: I've been riding pretty high lately on some of my recent (so-called) successes in the printmaking area. I conjured up some older images of my work on Google today and it gave me pause-what was I thinking?
And, worse than that, where am I going? I've no great plans to head off in a new direction (at least with my sculpture)…
This makes me wonder all the more if success is definable as those with the greatest degree of self-assuredness and bravado, aka the biggest cojones. Today, EVERYONE's work looks better than mine: deeper, smarter, cooler, etc.
Is this necessity-a "dues-paying" required by all artists? Like living in a garret and starving (of course, I've done both!). Or is this why everyone else's' work is crap-or so we jealous folks see it-to bolster our own crummy work?
I'll try and pass this off as a mood and not such a good one at that.
It's a good thing-I'm going for a hike- no art working for me today.
Doubt came in today and has not yet left. Ok, ok, so we are talking about a matter of an hour or so. Maybe it's just the contrast: I've been riding pretty high lately on some of my recent (so-called) successes in the printmaking area. I conjured up some older images of my work on Google today and it gave me pause-what was I thinking?
And, worse than that, where am I going? I've no great plans to head off in a new direction (at least with my sculpture)…
This makes me wonder all the more if success is definable as those with the greatest degree of self-assuredness and bravado, aka the biggest cojones. Today, EVERYONE's work looks better than mine: deeper, smarter, cooler, etc.
Is this necessity-a "dues-paying" required by all artists? Like living in a garret and starving (of course, I've done both!). Or is this why everyone else's' work is crap-or so we jealous folks see it-to bolster our own crummy work?
I'll try and pass this off as a mood and not such a good one at that.
It's a good thing-I'm going for a hike- no art working for me today.
Friday, February 14, 2014
monoprint workshop
This class I've taken at the SF Community College is eating up all my spare time. For the money, I can't think of a greater bargain: a weekly 5 hour class with 3 days of open studio available-that totals about 20 hours of working time…
I'm pulling about 5-10 prints a week (wasting print paper, which ain't cheap, just like I always threatened I'd do!).
Exhausted from thinking in such a different mode-my studio is presently gathering lots of dust. If anyone from back home should ask me if the move out here has changed my work, now I can give them a hearty "Yup!", as I'm still thrilled with the new painting and even that excitement has been superseded by this class in mono print…
I do have to take some snaps of the above mentioned-I'm so far behind in taking shots of my work…if I ever needed help in the studio, that's the one place I'd ask for it.
Seeing a new therapist for my back/sciatic issues and so far so good. Still in pain (I expect no instant cure-all here), but I like the tack she is taking: that i should get to know and read my own damn body and start intuiting cures/care, etc. Meanwhile, it's business as usual in Santa Fe-they really do have the most interesting forms of medicine and curative arts out here...
I'm pulling about 5-10 prints a week (wasting print paper, which ain't cheap, just like I always threatened I'd do!).
Exhausted from thinking in such a different mode-my studio is presently gathering lots of dust. If anyone from back home should ask me if the move out here has changed my work, now I can give them a hearty "Yup!", as I'm still thrilled with the new painting and even that excitement has been superseded by this class in mono print…
I do have to take some snaps of the above mentioned-I'm so far behind in taking shots of my work…if I ever needed help in the studio, that's the one place I'd ask for it.
Seeing a new therapist for my back/sciatic issues and so far so good. Still in pain (I expect no instant cure-all here), but I like the tack she is taking: that i should get to know and read my own damn body and start intuiting cures/care, etc. Meanwhile, it's business as usual in Santa Fe-they really do have the most interesting forms of medicine and curative arts out here...
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Ozmandias Calling
I wonder about living in a foreign country -the idea behind the film "The Passenger" has always intrigued me-where one needs no excuses, simply disappearing from one place (down the rabbit hole) and reappear as a completely different soul in another.
The thought occurred to me when I was in Egypt-but in a romanticized version: ala Paul Bowles in Morocco. It's so easy to dream. The truth of the matter would be a bit harder, as I know I could change myself to a degree and leave a lot behind, but the artist would still be with me as would my love. In short, I'll need to do this in the next lifetime. Shucks.
But traveling back (in memory) is not the worst thing. In some mountain-top town in Sumatra, listening to the Muezzin's call, I can still see the gigantic moth flitting around the aura of one of the few street-lamps. Looking up and walking was a true challenge as the cobblestones were so irregular and there was always the threat of knocking over a charcoal burner and inspiring the wrath of one of the locals. One of my other favorite memories was coming down some gangplank or other to a Thai island (Phi-phi?) and slipping and falling into the water-how or why this was memorable I can't say. But somehow it's filed with the good stuff.
Adventure.
Wouldn't it be great to momentarily put on another life like a change of clothing?
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Rocks
When I was a kid, I delighted in turning over big rocks-I'm sure this was to the dismay of all the little critters living under them-just to see what I could see. It was always a surprise and this kept me amused for most of my childhood.
Driving along this morning, I realized that I still have fun doing that. The rocks have become the avenues I explore in my work. And the amount and kind of rocks available are only limited by my imagination and ambition.
It's an apt metaphor, implying no need for a huge intellect or any advanced training. Just the will to do it-and as I've stated so many times before, it's something I'm bound to do: a blessing and a curse (although here yours truly is playing down the negative).
Also this morning, I thought that my recent activity with paint and "canvas" might just click this time: that I might just be on to a new way to act and think about the two dimensional that has escaped me most of my life. This would be a real gift. I've been chasing the concept of painting forever-and not once have I felt that I "connected" with the act.
What's different? I don't know-and since I'm going to be thinking in two dimensions for some time now (This past week, I signed up for a Monoprint class at the local community college), I won't "look a gift horse in the mouth".
I made this elephant….
Driving along this morning, I realized that I still have fun doing that. The rocks have become the avenues I explore in my work. And the amount and kind of rocks available are only limited by my imagination and ambition.
It's an apt metaphor, implying no need for a huge intellect or any advanced training. Just the will to do it-and as I've stated so many times before, it's something I'm bound to do: a blessing and a curse (although here yours truly is playing down the negative).
Also this morning, I thought that my recent activity with paint and "canvas" might just click this time: that I might just be on to a new way to act and think about the two dimensional that has escaped me most of my life. This would be a real gift. I've been chasing the concept of painting forever-and not once have I felt that I "connected" with the act.
What's different? I don't know-and since I'm going to be thinking in two dimensions for some time now (This past week, I signed up for a Monoprint class at the local community college), I won't "look a gift horse in the mouth".
I made this elephant….
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
