abounding art

Richard Tuttle Originally uploaded by dressform.

the class and i went to sfmoma yesterday for our field trip to see the richard tuttle show. as with the bechtle show i was amazed at seeing such a breadth of work from one maker. overall i think the show was overhung - by then end of it many of us were cross-eyed and a bit tired of looking and looking and looking.... however, i (and apparently "we" from the discussion in class today) did a lot of contemplating due to the show. i did really fall in love with the unstretched canvas pieces, the wire drawings, the white on white paper to wall pieces, and several of the drawings (these seemed like a daily ritual which was nice). i liked how dumb and wacky some of the assemblage things were - how things were obviously homemade and not perfect and yet still carefully considered (i am thinking that this is of more and more importance). in the end what was really inspirational was the fact that there just WAS so much. i'm not sure if being prolific is a good trait per se - but in this case it works for me. maybe it's because even though i didn't like it all, it did all seem honest (don't ask how i come to this conclusion. i'm relying on gut). it seemed liked a consistent investigation even though the road twisted and turned from one spot to the next. he seems to be serious about what he's making and yet able to maintain and express a sense of humor (! yay).... so while i will never rank tuttle with my all time favorites and standbys - i am thankful to have looked and been provoked to think.

in fact, i have been mulling over the idea of a daily ritual. spawned by the sheer number of drawings of tuttle's that were on display. why? one * because studio time is just so limited and lacking at the moment, two * because i'm human and rituals and routines seem nice, three * because i want a way to work quickly. some of what i do seems so slow.... stitch after stitch, layer after layer of watercolor.... i want something that has some set boundaries, and can be quick. almost like an exercise - a warm up - a playtime....

my idea? a daily drawing with thread. one color for a week. on smallish sized paper (around 8.5 x 11) but not any paper in particular. so white, yellow, lined, sketch, old, new.... are all ok. they can be mixed media - or just thread.... so 52 colors of thread... (good thing i just got almost 50 on ebay, huh?).... and they should take 30 minutes or hopefully LESS! i'm not going to start this, though, until after berkeley summer school - i want to look forward to it, and i actually want to prepare! (weird, how do you prepare for a quick thing, i know, but somehow this makes sense) there are going to be bad ones, good ones, silly ones, tragic ones.... i think this will be good for moi!



shameless bit of self-promotion....yay! more bags are available at abby-normal go see... or send your wealthy friends! (hee hee)


and one last thing.... thanks to all the new folks (and the regulars {wendy!}) who have been commenting here (often making my day!), inviting me to things on flickr, emailing me from my other website, etc. bits and bytes personified - the internet can and does foster a community!! i am totally sucked into reading even MORE blogs (i'm wondering if the laptop is melding into my lap - if i am slowing giving in and becoming some cyborg creature - if i was dropped in the middle of the desert with no computer would i cry or celebrate?? maybe both??). there are more links i need to add to the left - but i'll end with this.... please visit port2port if you have a chance. i am eagerly waiting to "chat" more with mav but i'll say this... she and arc are sharing snippets of life across coasts - it's a performance piece and a friendship and they've welcomed us to come along....