In progress, pt. V

This is it for this painting. It's as resolved as it's going to be and I need to move on to other things. I've gone through highs, lows and a near meltdown with it near the end, but things seem to have worked out ok.

While it has been interesting documenting the development of this piece with each major change, the limitations of photography as a means of reproducing images of artwork became even more clear to me than in the past. Each time I looked through the camera's viewfinder or screen and back to the painting, I saw different works. Part of that might be the limits of my camera and lighting in the studio, as well as the camera's interpretation of certain colors. Some of the variations in color are nearly indistinguishable in the photograph, but in person they are much more easily detected.

I had as close to a perfect studio day yesterday as I could have. Besides, completing this painting, I was also able to begin work on some ideas that have been brewing for some time. As I told someone recently, by the time I've nearly finished on piece or body of work, my brain has already been working on other ideas. Whatever I'm working on is already in the past.

Update: This painting is now titled, Lagoon

R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (Video)

ainting continues on the large piece I've been posting photos of. Of course, there are times in the process where one would like to take a razor to what is being worked on, but one stops, takes a deep breath, looks at it, and goes home for the night.

"Losing My Religion", one of my favorite R.E.M. songs and videos, seemed an apt replacement for the razor...and a bit less destructive...

Who owns what?

I haven' t found the source for this, but there's some good 'owning' going on here. Click on the image for a larger, readable version.

in progress, pt. IV

I'm beginning to like the painting again.

In progress, pt. III

I had one of those, "Why haven't I done this before now?" moments today. In the photo above, a big table is missing. It would have been on the right side of the photo, perpendicular to the painting wall. I dismantled it today in an effort to make my space a bit more practical for the current project. The table, while useful, isn't always used and thus becomes one more surface for things to accumulate on. Taking the table apart was a breeze since it's just a large door blank that sits atop two pairs of leg stands. There are two good things about having done this a) I now get an unobstructed view of the painting if I happen to be sitting on the couch and b) I opened up the area and gave myself some breathing room.

The physical and psychological difference created by taking the table away made this session a lot easier to deal with. Doing this brought up something that I struggle with a lot: adapting to changes in order to make my time in the studio more efficient and just simply easier. I often just keep working and don't think too much about how even a slight change to the studio environment might make things a bit better somehow. I've been feeling the need for a change and wasn't sure how to act on it until today when I walked into the studio and saw that I really needed to get that table out of the way, for now, at least. What I hadn't considered previously is that I can always set it up again within a couple of minutes. I had to get out of my head thinking that it was going to be a chore and get on with switching from having a perceived problem to finding a solution.

Here's a couple of shots of today's progress:

Acquisition

Drum roll, please...

Plume, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 72"

(photo: Mark Brosseau)

I have some great news that about something that has been in the works for a while but now it's official: my painting, Plume (above), has been selected to be included in the art collection of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. Plume was was first exhibited at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery in 2007 for my third solo show, "When Is Now" and at WVU last fall as part of the traveling group show, "Concurrent", which is now at Bucknell University until March 31st.

Now, back to work...

In progress, pt. II

Made some progress today. Not as much as I would have liked, but it's moving along.

in progress

I've been working on a rather large (for me) canvas in the studio lately. It measures 6 1/2 feet x 11 1/2 feet and so far, things are going ok with it. These early stages are all about establishing a matrix that I can react against in later layers. I still don't know where it's going to wind up, but I'm at a point where things slow down a bit and I'll take more time evaluating what I want to do in the upcoming and final states.

Philly invades New York!

Two shows to look for if you're in Chelsea, but there's only a week left for one and two weeks for the other, so if you're in NYC soon, check them out:

Douglas Witmer

Ring The Bells Anew

Show ends March 27th

Blank Space Gallery

511 West 25th Street, Suite 204

Ny, NY 10001

blankspaceart.com

Kevin Finklea

Memories Are Uncertain Friends

Show ends April 3rd

Margaret Thatcher Projects

539 West 23rd Street, ground floor

New York, NY

thatcherprojects.com

Catching up a bit

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post and that's ok. I haven't been having a great relationship with words lately, so it's probably been for the best. Anyway, things are going on and this is some of what's been happening: Way back on February 19th, I visited Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA) to give a talk in conjunction with Concurrent. The day went really well, even with me under the fog of not having enough sleep the night before and being nervous about the talk.

I arrived around noon, met with Cinhad lunch with Dan Mills, one of the organizing curators of Concurrent and graduate assistant, Sarah McFalls, who hung the show and one of the students I did a studio visit with while there. The other visit I had was with Jason Sorensen, pictured below with some of his work. I also got to meet Craig Hill, who teaches painting at Bucknell.

After the studio visits, I had the chance to examine some works in Bucknell's art collection in the Collection Study Room. It was amazing to be able to look at an original Goya print with no glass, crowds, nor guards. I had about 10 minutes to collect my thoughts before giving the lecture. Despite being somewhat tired and slightly nervous, the talk went well. I'm my own worse critic when it comes to public speaking since I'm relatively new at it, but I've since heard that some of the students present at the lecture have begun looking to abstraction as a viable creative option. I guess I did better than I thought. My thanks to Cindy, Dan, Sarah, and everyone at Bucknell who made my visit a great one. A special thanks to Jim, the driver who got me back to Philly after I missed my train in Harrisburg.

"Shut up already...I'll look at your art!"

New York gallery owner and blogger, Edward Winkleman, will look at your art. Submittal form. This is kind of tongue-in-cheek, but there have been a lot of submissions from the U.S. and beyond...

"Shut Up Already...I'll Look at Your Art!"

The Rules (roughly):

• Artists will submit one digital image to "Shut up already. I'll look at your art"
• Mr. Winkleman and guests will view the image for no less than 10 sec.
• Mr. Winkleman and guests will be monitored by a volunteer as they view the work to assure full compliance with the rules.
• Mr. Winkleman, his guests and the Monitor will sign a certificate of viewing stating the image has been viewed
• Mr. Winkleman and his guests will have no obligation to provide representation to any of the artists, make any comment about, or critique any of the images.
• Once an image is viewed by Mr. Winkleman and his guests the artist cannot complain that their work is not being considered by a professional gallery for one year from the date of viewing, Mr. Winkleman and his guests will be absolved of any further obligation to take complaints by artists that their work is not being considered by a professional gallery seriously for one year from the date of viewing,
• As Mr. Winkleman and his guests view the images, they will be available on the internet to be viewed.

Julie Mehretu: Workday

A short portion of the latest season of Art:21 with Julie Mehretu in the studio.

There's a longer interview with Julie Mehretu in the video below:

creative intervention

This short talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, she outlines some interesting ideas on the nature of creativity and inspiration.
(via: Art Vent)

Along the lines of this video, here's a quote by Chuck Close that I found:

“Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and go to work.”

Hitler learns that the director's job at MOCA went to Jeffrey Deitch

I just found this, so if you've already seen it too many times, don't rake me over the coals. I just had to share because it's just too funny to pass up.

Here's an article referencing what the video is about, in case you were wondering: Los Angeles MOCA Set to Name Jeffrey Deitch Director, Shake Up Art World

Neutra Face

Things have been a bit too serious around here lately, so here's something to lighten it up a little. This video, Neutra Face, is a pretty funny homage to a typeface inspired by Lady GaGa's Poker Face. Thanks to Ruth Kalinka for the original post.

the slow move

I haven't been too inspired to post here lately, but the thaw is coming. My mind has been pulled in several directions over the past few months and I'm just now beginning to get a hold of things.

Things are taking form in the studio: paper, panels, paint, collage, a bit of this, a bit of that. It's happening slowly but surely.

This fall/winter has been a little rough: bike accident back in October, computer crash/loss of information, finance issues (who doesn't have those, not counting the CEO's of certain companies we've helped finance. That's all I'll say about that here...) and a general lack of focus in the studio for a while. Of course, it all has not been bad: I did Open Studios in October and sold a small painting, I gave a talk at West Virginia University, met some great people there and saw some paintings of mine that I hadn't seen in almost a year.

With that said, I'm moving on with some new work. In a way, I feel like I'm in a pitch-black room, feeling my way around for a switch. It's getting done and how it turns out is anyone's guess, but that's how it usually is, actually. My studio schedule has been pretty scattered for the past few months but things are coming together.

And now for something completely different:

This is going to be my new bike, hopefully. It's not ready yet and I haven't tried it out. My old bike was not exactly totaled after the accident, but there are too many things wrong with it to make fixing it worth the headache. Lucky for me, my parents-in-law super great. They are so cool that they sent money over from Australia so I could get another bike when Eva told them what happened.

I'm going with a single speed because I've wanted one for a long time and I love their simplicity. They can be works of art in and of themselves. Here's more about the one I'm getting: Swobo Bikes

Olafur Eliasson on TED.com

In a jam-packed 10 minutes, Olafur Eliasson talks about his work and his explorations of color, light, and space.

back

The computer issue is settled for now. I picked up my machine from the shop last week and, so far, things are going well. The main lesson learned is to back up, back up, back up everything and right away. I can't afford to wait, let lots of important data build up only to disappear into the ether with a hard drive crash again. I became complacent before and can't let that happen again. I lost nine months of photographs, along with updates to my artist statement amongst other things. Luckily, some of the photos do exist in smaller resolution online, but I do have them. The good in all of this is that the computer crashing did not impact my paintings and other works.

New work is brewing in the studio again. It's coming along in fits and starts, but it's happening at least.

round 2

I've been hit with the second computer failure this year, resulting in the loss of a lot of unsaved files, including 10 months worth of photographs, some of which I was hoping to have printed in the upcoming months. The hard drive is shot and I'll have to replace the computer itself, as well. The hard drive was under warranty, at least.

I hope I don't have a repeat of this scenario since I should have the lesson of backing up everything, all of the time, stamped into my brain. I got lazy about backing up my data and am paying for it. Don't be lazy about backing up your files.

So, in the meantime, I'm just doing small tasks on my wife's computer like checking email and updating here and there, but its going to be some time before I'm back with my own. On the upside, I'm going to bed a little earlier...

"I think maybe it’s time to stop, or more reasonably, curtail somewhat, state investment in the past — in a bunch of dead guys (and they are mostly guys, and mostly dead, when we look at opera halls) — and invest in our future. Take that money, that $14 million from the city, for example, let some of those palaces, ring cycles and temples close — forgo some of those $32M operas — and fund music and art in our schools. Support ongoing creativity in the arts, and not the ongoing glorification and rehashing of the work of those dead guys. Not that works of the past aren’t inspirational, important and relevant to future creativity — plenty of dead people’s work is endlessly inspiring — but funding for arts in schools has been cut to zero in many places. Maybe the balance and perspective has to be redressed and restored just a little."

That's one of my favorite parts of a recent blog post from David Byrne on arts funding.