out of the loop and a figment of an art collection

hello.



it's been quite awhile. i haven't been here and i've barely been around internetland... hello hello... let's see. what occupied my time these last few weeks? getting ready for renegade for one... which i have to say was pretty invigorating and fun ! [although truth be told i was only there on sat]. in my quick walk around there were some amazing vedors .[i'll try to point out a couple favs in the coming weeks]. sharing a booth with mati and being next door to jen and katrina was the best. see more of our booth....

otherwise - there's been the whole end of the semester grade-a-thon, the frantic attempt to get holiday cards out, a bit of decorating... some habit forming, and general panic in the studio as i try to get another show off the ground !

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but in other news.... i prayed at the alter of post-impressionist painting the other day at the de young's part 2 of selections from the musee d'orsay. these are paintings that generally don't leave france - but since the orsay is being renovated - they let them out. yes there are the whoppingly famous images - renoir's dance in the country, van gough's bedroom, or the STARRY NIGHT, monet's -check, seraut's - check [one that really looked like a pre-cursor to roy lichtenstein], a really lovely john singer sargeant [god i love how he paints fabric.]

and i really really forgot how good Edouard Vuillard was/is. way ahead of his time for sure... looking at these historic paintings it really struck me how connected paintings are to one another. how one student in a university somewhere struggling to figure out how to make a "plain" field of paint interesting with texture, or squinting to make a painting read from multiple vantage points, is in DIRECT conversation with these masters.

the other thing that really hit home... when you walk through an art show of any kind, any scope... you know that moment - where you spy something across the room and every fiber in your being reacts. where you stop. approach - maybe it's quick because you want to get there fast to see it, or maybe it's slow so that you can soak in every moment of the walk there... but you see it. and it sees you. and you want to take it home. sure - you've appreciated the technique of the surrounding works, perhaps you've even unconsciously sighed in wonder, or thought - wow - that is a great painting. but THIS - this is the one. this is the one you want to slip off the wall and steal. or if you have the money pay for. this is the one you want to live with forever - look at everyday in your home...



for me that happened with this maurice denis piece. why? [this image doesn't do it justice at all] this painting is small - i could have easily slipped it into my purse - but it packed a punch as i turned into the room. the vibrancy of the colors is amazing. i talk to my students about the power of complementary colors and this is a perfect example. the red and the green and the orange and teal hum against one another - the slight hint of outline - of white - peeking through - acts like a beautiful reminder of the artist's hand. it holds that act of drawing - to me it enhances the "innocence" of the piece. the sheer weirdness of the organic shapes that make up the landscape seem in perfect proportion to me. the slightly layered effect of quicker dry paint allowing hints of different shades and values though adds to the drama of the paint itself. but it's that figure... the lone cute but also somehow incredibly sad girl that almost disappears into that sea of red that does it for me. shoulders slumped, arms at her sides, feet melding into the ground....

in looking at the rest of denis' work - nothing else moved me the way this painting did. there were some great [and very strange] moments, but this painting... this was the ONE. 

coming home i started to wonder - what would it be like to be able to collect images from any artist - any period - any price - and put them together in a collection. an imaginary collection - the best of the bests for me. what would this look like? would people agree with my taste? why or why not? would i divide them into rooms? what i'd hang i my living room, my kitchen, my bedroom. what would your collection look like? how would they compare?

[i may just have to continue w/ this imaginary collection of mine. we'll see, huh?]

if anyone is curious about the massive orsay collection i recommend this book [thanks mom!].

see you soon. i'm going to try and catch up with everyone out there this week....

newness + ira glass

so... saturday night "newness" opened. i'm so thrilled to be in the company of heather smith jones and jen garrido . plus it's always a joy to work with susan and art stream studios . i made 10 new pieces for the show. looking back now - i think i've been really busy in the art department this year !


Newness, shiny, tangle, holding, reflection, needle, white

These were the “guidelines” in the making of these paintings.

Tangle / holding / newness :: I turned to my Japanese crochet books – because doilies are tangled and because you hold them. Plus if you make them you get a chance to create something new. I see diagrams in these crochet books as road maps – they are so clearly delineated. I love that you don’t need to read a language in order to understand them. If you understand the mark making then you can decipher them bit by bit.



Newness :: I chose to use the doilies that represented Winter and Spring in the books [they illustrate doilies for the 4 seasons]. Winter for the new year and Spring for new beginnings.

Reflection :: Using Duralar, I drew the diagrams for the doilies on one side and then methodically painted the dots and areas in on the other side. Depending on the results I use either side as the front. The act of painting these reflected the act of crocheting doilies. Stitch by stitch – dot by dot. In both actions there is an exploration of time, of ideas, via a physical activity. Each stitch and each dot is a marker of time – and the accumulation of these small gestures – the repetition of them begins to reflect on work ethic, work that never gets done, time spent…. How do very small gestures communicate and accumulate to generate a larger picture – or affect change in some way?




Shiny/ white :: In many of these paintings I used shiny pigment – silver, gold, and interference paint. I also sometimes used silken threads which are shinier than regular thread. I also used a color and mixed it with whites to create various tints. I also left a lot of white space….

Needle :: this was perhaps the easiest parameter to achieve. In almost all my work I incorporate some aspect of thread – embroidery or stitching – as well as the making of needle holes/marks. These works are no exception. To highlight certain areas, to mimic the act of crochet, and to illuminate the act of process I have embroidered over areas of these pieces. Pulling the work from 2D into 3D and reinforcing the notion of the original intent of the diagrams

you can see all the images from the show here in this pictobrowser [click out of your reader for the slideshow]. all the work is available in artstream's shop . [all the work is framed, by the way].

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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last night i was lucky lucky lucky enough [thanks to victoria from sf girl by the bay for snagging tix] to see ira glass [from this american life ] interviewed by dave eggers .

he is just as smart and funny in person as he is on the radio. anyone who is that inspired and honest about what they do is simply put amazing. [oh the AESTHETICS of radio? yes yes. the AESTHETICS of anything? i'm so there. let's talk aesthetics all day shall we?]. plus he can quote buffy the vampire slayer [ah back when i could still watch TV]...

there is nothing like being able to see someone inspiring like that. it's just so motivating. i wanted to change the world. change how i make things, change what i photograph, change how i blog, change i interact with people - all for better aesthetics.... and a greater good too.

the above photo was from last night - and i posted it on habit . this month they have asked the contributors from 2010 to participate .... i've been trying to keep up the habit with some success see here .

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p/s - did anyone make it to the aqua art fair in miami? i had some work in fouladi projects room.