mystery solved!

Last night, I found out that my studio-mate, Carol, fixed the door leading out to the fire escape. "No hubby needed", as she said...

sooner than later

I'm pretty much done with the work for the Art Alliance exhibition. I spent the whole day in the studio running on not-quite- enough sleep and had to take a nap at one point. I got up after about 40 minutes and continued working on the smaller pieces on panel that I had going.

I noticed an interesting thing while working on this series, which is that because of the timeline I had, I started work on the largest paintings and worked down in size instead of the other way around. Now, those small paintings might wind up being the starting point for larger paintings I have in mind to do down the road into the fall and winter.

I really thought that I'd be taking it down to the wire, but that's not going to be the case, it seems. If I really need to change something, there's some time to do so without feeling too much of a time crunch.

Now appearing on Stellargirl...

My long-time friend and fellow blogger, Roz, aka Stellargirl has started a new feature on her blog called, 'Get To Know My Blogroll'. She sent me a great series of questions and asked if I'd want nto be a part of the project. Of course I did and sent the answers back to her last night after work. Check it out here. Thanks for the feature, Roz!

I picked up the cards for the upcoming show at the Art Alliance on Friday. Having promotional materials for a show always puts into perspective what I have left to finish. There's a couple of weeks to go and a few things to complete. I'm aiming to be done with everything at least a week before delivery...if not, then the night before will have to do...

Missed signs

On Monday, I had one of those mornings where I took a couple of wrong turns and landed in that magical land of 'where the hell am I?'. I swear, I was painting and things were going ok for a bit but, mysteriously, I wound up with Mess On Canvas. The funny thing is, I could feel things beginning to veer out of control about a half-hour into the session. The adventurer in me took over and urged, C'mon! Don't bother looking at it! Just keep going with it and see what happens!

Once in a while, I have to learn to ignore that voice, haha!

It's ok, I'm used to traversing this terrain. If I'm lucky, I'll go in today and will find some small thing to grab onto and turn the 'mess' into something I want to show.

leveling out

Blue Blur I

Been playing around with some out of focus photographs lately. Don't know where it might lead, but so far it's an interesting experiment.

I feel like I'm back on track in the studio. What helped, I think, was the pressure-release valve of a friend's house-warming party this weekend. I hadn't realized that it had been almost two months since I'd last spent any real time with some friends and acquaintances. Between seeing them and indulging in a nicely spiked punch, life seemed sudenly better all of a sudden *heh*

That's a long-winded way of saying that I'm over the hump. This morning's session went very well and with none of the 'what the fuck is happening?' of last week. These cycles come and go, but the work always gets done somehow.

My new art reading is Pictures Of Nothing, by the late Kirk Varnedoe. It's a collection of Varnedoe's last six lectures given at the National Gallery of Art, the last of which was delivered just three months before his death in 2003. From what I've read about the book so far, it's looking to be an interesting read and argument for abstract art. In we go...

The door fairy

Went to the studio the next day after the door fell off and it was fixed! I don't have a clue as to who did it. The guy I lease my space from didn't do it, since he was away and didn't return until Thursday. It's possible that my studio-mate's husband might have done it or one of the guys who works downstairs.

It's a mystery I don't mind having unsolved...

blockage

Quite honestly, it's been a bitch moving ahead with the new work. Seriously, nothing has felt like it's clicking. There's just too much going on right now that I have to concentrate on. I don't really have a choice except to see everything through. I thought the day trip to New York yesterday would loosen things up in my head, but that didn't really happen. The day itself was good and the time with E. was great, but as I went through the morning after a much-needed rest I found that I felt worse than before. I was feeling depressed, edgy and a bit deflated. I felt like my creative tap had been shut off and the excitement I usually feel was nowhere to be found.

I had to dig a little deeper and the only way to get to that point was to just paint. I had to get myself over the mental hump by throwing myself into the work. That's what I resolved to do while walking to the studio during the afternoon downpour this afternoon. I got there and painted for a few hours. I managed to get somewhere with a couple of larger paintings, though they still have a ways to go, which is fine. As I worked, I found myself moving into a much better place, mentally. It was still a struggle, but at least I have a path towards something now...

New sidebar-'music in the studio'

I've added a new sidebar called 'music in the studio', just below 'art and artists'. It's self-explanatory and new links will be added as I go along.

Serra, pt. II

Video walkthrough of Richard Serra's sculptures Torqued Torus Inversion (2006) and Sequence (2006), on display at MoMA as part of the exhibition Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years. The exhibition is on view through September 10, 2007.

E and I went to see the exhibition for the second time yesterday ((first time was here)) and are still buzzing about the work. One thing that came up in conversation about the work is the difference in effect it would have if the pieces on the 2nd floor (Band 2006, Torqued Torus Inversion 2006 and Sequence 2006) were located in an outdoor setting. One of the major effects of walking thorugh the works is that of directional disorientation.

The tops and bottoms of the steel panels curve inward and out, while you follow seemingly endless curves along the horizonal plane which can cause you to feel like you might lose balance when you look up. We figured that if there were open sky above instead of MoMa's ceiling, the sensation of being unbalanced would be enhanced, perhaps. That these large works are indoors and in a cavernous space, they feel even more imposing and threatening due to the enclosed space. If they were ourside, I think the sense of expansiveness and open space outside of the sculptues could make them a little less imposing if there is enough distance away from them. Maybe. It doesn't really matter since the power of Serra's large works seem to translate well outdoors and in.

art:21 new season

The new season of art21 on pbs is discussed on Tyler Green's blog (with Todd Gibson sitting in).

Art21 blog

ooops!

Engrossed

Nothing ends off a short, before-work studio session like a door falling off it's hinges. Not just any door, but the right side of a double door that opens out to the fire escape. Luckily, I was closing up shop and had a good grip on it. If I wasn't holding it, my day, and possibly some unfortunate pedestrian four floors below, just might have been a touch above shitty.

The funny thing is, the same thing happened last week but I was able to at least temporarily fix things by replacing some old screws with new ones. The problem as I saw it this morning, was that the wall side of the hinge is attached to metal, but beneath the metal is concrete, which is loose from the first screw holes that were in it.

So I have to leave the door propped up against the inside of the frame and left side door with rope tied around it and the other door's handle. At least I have a window to open right next to it that can be opened to let air in. Now, all I need is for it not to rain over the next few days until things are fixed. I'd best get some plastic handy just in case...

workable day

Big City Sky

Wow, what a difference a day makes. The cooler temperatures this afternoon made my time in the studio sweat-free for the first time in weeks. It made assembling and stretching two large canvases that much easier. I thought I was going to have some trouble keeping the corners square because the tongue and groove construction on almost all of the sets of stretchers weren't as tight as they could have been.

Seeing how much the actual stretchers skewed into trapezoidal shapes when I handled them made my heart sink because I knew the trouble I was going to have during the actual stretching process. However, the addition of cross braces seemed to keep everything in it's place, which made my day after spending four hours cutting wood, drilling, screwing, stretching and stapling.
......
I was in center city this afternoon and took a little time to stop by the Works on Paper Gallery to see the Amze Emmons show. Emmon's works depict desolate looking, spare cityscapes with more than a hint of human inhabitants, but with no trace of a figure anywhere. Instead, there are bits of a broken society strewn with debris and make shift living quarters throughout Emmon's image.

Bits of trash blowing the wind right next to near-empty grocery store shelves half-encircled by concrete traffic barriers as seen in Eating Position Papers in an unidentifiable, seemingly outdoor space was one piece that especially pulled my in. The sense of isolation and desolation is palpable in these pieces, but that's off-set by the opposing cheerful and almost garish candy-colored pinks, greens and oranges sprinkled throughout Emmons works.

This seems suggestive of the isolation of individuals living desperately day-to-day and immersed in the technicolor dreamland of television and the internet as an escape. That's my semi-academic take, anyway. On a more aesthetic level, Emmons makes great use of space and strategically spare use of color, making the bleak cityscapes in his worlds burst with life where there seems to not be any.

photo published online

One of my photos was published on the Schmaps Philadelphia Guide. Scroll down to 'Washington Square' to see my photo of the park that was taken this past winter. Clicking the photo takes you to it's Flickr page.

the hot art days of August

Oh, yeah, the dog days are amongst us and it's gonna get worse. So find a pool, jump in the ocean, or park yourself under the nearest air-conditioner 'cause it's not going anywhere any time soon...


South 17th, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 50"

In other news, busy is the word of the...well, my life, it seems. The photo above shows the commissioned painting mentioned here installed in the lobby of the Lofts at Logan View, located at 17th and Callowhill Sts.
The project includes works by myself and four other artists from the Bridgette Mayer Gallery: Allen Bently, Clark Gibson, Rebecca Rutstein, and Dierdre Murphy.

Click here to see images of the works installed.


Work continues on new paintings for the show at the Art Alliance this fall. I've completed a couple of smaller pieces and one large painting, but there's still a lot of work to be done. The next few weeks will be reserved for the other large works I have planned.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm getting married during all of this, too? Yep, first week of September. I'm working to get most of the work completed by then, but realistically, I'll be painting until a couple of days before I have to deliver the works. It just works out that way.

No worries, life is good...

gone fishin'...sort of...

Playing hooky from the studio today. It's just too damed hot...