S p a c e

Morning studio corner

I didn't accomplish much of anything in the studio today. Nothing at all, actually, aside from watching some art-related videos and, later, more entertainment based YouTube videos. There were a few things besides art that I could have tackled, but I was completely unmotivated. I had ideas of working on some drawings and leaving the unfinished painting alone for the day, give myself some time away from it so I can perhaps return to it soon and get to a place of stopping work on it. I ascribe to the notion that paintings are never "finished"-that you simply stop working on them. (I'm paraphrasing the quote attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci). 

Since before Christmas until now, I've been on a very loose studio schedule. That is, I've taken more days off than on. I started back in ernest last week, worked Tuesday and yesterday and did nothing today. Once I stopped work on the one 36 x 36 inch painting yesterday, I spent some time just looking at the other one (40 x 40 inches), trying to figure out how to deal with the feathering that had happened along the taped edges of a shape in the composition. The area I'm thinking about needs some attention, but I haven't quite figured out how to deal with it. So it sits, for now. I didn't even look at it today, which is probably a good thing. 

Part of what's causing my non-motivation these days is the ongoing feeling of not having the  studio space I feel I need right now. I don't have enough floor space and have too much work that needs to be stored. If I were to take on a storage space for most of the work, that would help a little, but I still feel that it wouldn't be enough. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I filled out an online form to get onto the Bok Building's waitlist for spaces, but honestly, I think that those spaces, when one is even available, will be beyond my budget. I have to do something to move towards a solution, so we'll see what happens. I'm also in another phase of downsizing the amount of personal items that I no longer need to keep with me there, like clothes that I no longer wear and linens I have no use for. Most of the things I have that I can get rid of are small things that aren't going to make a big overall difference, but I need to look at everything and determine if I need to be holding onto it.

I think the work space issue is getting to me and causing a lot of the uneasiness I'm feeling about working there. I'm feeling a limitation on the scale of the work that I'm able to make comfortably these days. On the flipside, there is always the problem of art storage and, quite frankly, I make a LOT of work. I need to make less work, or sell more. Beyond that, I need to look a lot more critically at the studio space and do my best to maximize it.

TM

A quiet day

Studio 1.19.22 :: Morning studio light

I had a rather "quiet" day in the studio. Normally, I'd have been listening to podcasts and music throughout the day, but not today for some reason. In the morning, I had a video interview with Craig Sterling, the director of the Art Bank Program of the U.S. Department of State . Craig purchased a piece last year ("Star 69", a work on paper from 2012) and by the beginning of February, it'll be part of a new exhibition of works in the collection. I'm really honored and proud to have one of my works included in the State Department's collection. As soon as things ease up with Covid and they allow visitors into the building again, we'll go down to see the show. In the meantime, Craig said that he'd send me some photos of the show once it's installed. The interview I had with him is going to be featured in a kiosk for visitors so they can learn more about who I am and the work that I make. As usual, as soon as the interview was over, I thought of things that I wanted to say and ways of saying some things differently than I did. 

Once the interview was over, I set about getting to work on a couple of new paintings that I've been working on for the past week or so. I mentioned in my last post that I'm nearing the ending point for these two and after today, I did finish one of them. The other is going to take a little more time. There's an issue of some feathering along the edges of a large area that was taped off. Some of the paint managed to leak under the tape in a few places, causing the edges to have fuzzy-looking edges. I stared at the painting a lot today, going over various scenarios of how I may be able to solve the issue, but nothing stood out as a likely solution, so I tabled it until tomorrow. I'm taking things a little slow these days, trying to not rush myself into finishing something. It's nice to give myself a little space to take my time with some of my creative work. Last year was about getting a lot of things done at the same time and right now, I don't have that pressure. I'm going to let myself go a little slower and let things develop at a much slower pace. At least that's the idea.

TM

 

Re-engaged

Detail: work on paper, 2022

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, I was having trouble even being in the studio. I forced myself to go because I needed to at least be in there. I'd taken some time off from working regularly over the holidays to just have some time with family and to try and decompress a bit. Last year, while incredibly fruitful was also really intense in a way that it hadn't been in a long time. By December, I needed to slow down, take everything in and recalibrate. It was time to let go a little, reflect and begin to slowly start to move forward again. 

I always preach that artists need to take time away from directly making art and care for other aspects of their lives. Being able to balance things out a little can help a lot. This year, in spite of it being one of the best I've ever had creatively and professionally, found me questioning my role as an artist and more specifically, my work as of late. The biggest thing to haunt me was "What now?" How do I move forward after having such an intense year of artmaking? The answer is to just start somewhere and see where that takes me. I've done just that in the form of two new paintings, one 36" x 36" panel and a 40" x 40" canvas. 

I'm starting to get somewhere. The pieces aren't quite at a place where I can stop working on them, but maybe in a couple more studio sessions. I'm finding myself kind of dissatisfied with how I'm painting. I need to change some things up, but I'm not sure what those are just yet. I'm really wanting to work on some pieces that don't rely on the glyphs, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what that looks like. The only way I'll be able to figure that out is to make more drawings. I need to carve out some time to just draw and make marks without expectations of making something "good". I've been making some collages that have drawing as a component, but what I'm thinking about are just drawings existing on their own without imposing preconceived ideas about what they should include.

TM