A slight retreat

 

It's been an interesting couple of days as I've managed to catch a head cold. Tested for Covid and it's not that, so that's a good thing. I also don't feel like I did when I had Covid earlier this year, also a good thing. Mostly congested, but not any other heavy symptoms. I went to the studio yesterday and today. I felt good enough to dabble on one of the new paintings I've been working on. Going in, I didn't want to really do much of anything considering how out of it I felt due to the lingering effects of a decongestant that I took last night. Felt a bit drowsy most of the day, but not bad enough to stay home. 

Anyway,  I wound up working on a painting that I mentioned the other day as one that has been a bit of a headache. I finally just painted out what I'd done and started again. This time, with a couple of  layers of big glyphs, one blue the other yellowish, then collaged some old stenciled images onto it that's on thin drafting paper. Love that stuff for adding layers of marks because like tracing paper, it's translucent. After, I added a couple of grids of light green glyphs. So far, it's ok. I'm trying to not be too judgemental about this painting-in-progress, but I'm also feeling like it needs to be moved to another, more interesting place form and color-wise. I have to wait until I get back into the studio tomorrow (hopefully) and see it with fresh eyes in order to plot next moves. 

I'm taking the day off from the studio today. I wish I'd have done so yesterday and took better care of myself. I had to cancel a meeting that was supposed to happen this morning after a night of not sleeping well and being just as congested as yesterday. I'm not sure what I'm going to do here at home today, but a couple of things have come to mind. It might be the day to go through my stuff that's sitting in the basement and see if there's anything I can get rid of or at least consolidate some of the stuff in boxes. 

TM

Just like that...

Studio view: 8.16.22

    Feeling a little off at the moment. A friend passed away suddenly earlier this week, heart attack, Sunday night/Monday morning. No details on exactly what happened. It's another of those things that reminds you of where you are in life and of your own mortality. None of us makes it out of here alive, an old joke that's crushingly true and takes on new meaning as you and those around you get older. In my life, I've only lost one other close friend almost ten years ago. It's such a strange feeling, the sudden loss of a presence, a laugh, a life full of stories and experiences. Just snapped out of existence. Death is a complicated thing to wrestle with for the living. There is no getting used to it. 

    

    I've been making small moves on the two paintings on the left side of the wall today. It's nice having enough space to get some distance from the work. I didn't have that at all in the old apartment studio and it makes a huge difference. I've had this kind of space before, but it's been so long since then, that it feels like a novelty. Earlier, I had to spend time on my laptop. I looked up every now and then and ran through possibilities for finishing them in my head. Once I finished up my committee obligations, I'd run through enough ideas to settle on at least a couple of approaches and got to work. I'm pretty sure I'm done with the outside two, but the middle one is still giving me problems. It would be nice to come to some resolution with it before we leave next week. Not going to rush anything. 

    

    Nice to not have to use the a/c in here today.

TM

A world unto itself

     There was a point today when I realized that I only left the actual space of the studio to go down the hall and use the restroom a couple of times. Stepping out into the hallway always feels like I'm going into another world. I'm so comfortable in this space and getting into a work groove that it feels like it's own world. I think the last time I felt this way was when I had the studio in Old City, which had a similar vibe to this one. Now that i've been making some work these past couple of weeks, the space feels more like my own world and even more so every day. 

   So far, I've finished one painting (a part of that can be seen in the photo above) and close to finishing a couple of other ones. There's a 48" x 36" painting on canvas that's tacked to the wall that I'd like to stretch soon. I thought that I already had an old set of stretchers ready to go, but the measurement is completely wrong, with one side being 54" long. So, now I have to buy a set of stretchers for it. Not the worse thing, but I thought I was saving myself some money. This is why it's important to make sure to have the correct measurements of anything. I assumed that I had the right sized stretcher frame already, but nope. I'm at a point of moving to finishing touches and adjustments and would like to do that with it stretched. 

    I have a ton of works on paper and I keep making more, just like everything else. I made a bunch of acrylic marker drawings on translucent drafting paper in preparation for using them as layers in new collage/drawings that I want to make. I really like layering the collage elements and drawing/painting in between layers. It works really well on panels because of the flat, rigid surface, but I also like working with it on paper. The only issue with the paper support is that it will curl and warp. I don't really mind that so much, since I can iron the paper once it's had a chance to dry. I also like the imperfections that come along with the paper curling. I'm after a feeling of the work having had a life already, anyway. I'm not precious with any of my surfaces. I want them to feel alive and breathing, not sterile. 

TM

It's all connected

 

    I'm pretty much settled into the new studio. It took almost two weeks to figure out where things were going to live and how to configure the spaces I'll use for painting, but I feel like I've gotten it to where I need it, which is a huge relief. I finally feel like this is my art home, now. There's going to be all sorts of minor adjustments in terms of how I use things, how I move paints and other materials around as I start painting. Actually, I've already begun working on a couple of things, slowly regaining my feeling for painting after being away from it for at least three months. 

    Prepping for the move was a LOT of work, between sorting the paintings and materials, while also organizing (and purging) personal belongings, all of my mental energy was dialed up to eleven almost every day, leaving me drained by bed time. A lot of what I experienced was high emotional energy being expended, as well. Going through years of personal belongings and trying to figure out what I needed and what needed to go was really taxing and the process is on-going. What I've kept so far is in the basement and I'm sure I'll go through and get rid of more. Same here in the studio. I've already purged a lot of old work, but I need to get rid of more. The totality of my painting rack is filled with old work. Before I moved, I thought I had done a pretty good job of purging, but that seems to have been only the beginning. 

    Julia offered me the futon that's in the middle room of the house, so that's the next thing to come in. I'm looking forward to having it here, because studio naps are very much in need! It'll be nice to be able to take a break and catch up on a little sleep in the middle of the day or early evening, like I used to when I had the Old City studio years ago. 

    I'm still figuring out different aspects of my new life routines. I joined a gym over a week ago and have yet to go. I need to work that into my schedule. I need to take my own advice that I gave in a reply to a post on Instagram: "Artists need to remember that they are whole people in addition to making art and need to attend to self care in order to continue being creative. Art is life, life is art. It's all connected."

TM

Another ending and beginning

 

    I said goodbye to the apartment that’s been my home then studio for the past fourteen years today. With Sofia’s help this morning, I moved the last of my belongings and the cats over to the house. I got the cats situated in the third floor guest room and then set off back to the apartment to clear out the rest of the things that were trash and being donated to whomever wanted what I put out on the curb, mainly a mirror and really nice table. I wish I could have found a home for the table, but I’ve had too much to deal with these past few months. I’m sure someone has already claimed it. 

    It’s going to take a while to process that I’m finally not living nor working there any more. I haven’t had a chance to really stop and think about what the ending of this chapter in my life means. Fourteen years is a long time and a lot did happen in this space. Like most of life, there were ups and downs, but overall, I enjoyed my time there. I think my deepest memories come from the lives of the cats who lived there with me and Eva. They’ve been the most consistent presence through everything that happened there. I pretty much mark my time there by the cats, more than anything else. 

    I went up to the property management office BMG (Bay Management Group) to turn the apartment keys in today and no one was in the office. This was around 4:30pm, they close at 5 and no one was there! I was livid! I called the office number that was answered by someone taking and routing calls for the office, explained the situation and he offered to call one of the people who work there that was on a site somewhere, which he did and the best the person could suggest was to mail the keys to the office. I’m not doing that because I want to hand the keys over to someone who works there. I was assured that I wouldn’t be penalized (which I shouldn’t since this is their problem). I’m just going to take them up in the morning. I’ll call first to make sure someone is in the office and to expect me.
So far, Banjo, Cooper and Sage are hanging out in the third floor guest room, getting acclimated to being in a new space. I feel so bad for them since they were so used to the old space, but I’m sure they’ll feel better as time goes on. I do feel bad that they have to stay in the one room for now, until we can move them downstairs into Sofia’s middle room and then slowly introduce them to the other cats. It’s going to be a challenge with seven cats living here, but we’ll find a way to make it work. 
My Instagram account was hacked last week. So fucking annoying! I’m not going to go into the whole scenario here because I’m really tired of thinking and talking about it. I lost access to my main art account and have attempted to get it back, but I haven’t heard anything from Facebook/Meta as to what’s going to happen next, yet. I started a new art account, but I’m really not into posting anything right now. I think the hack took the wind out of my sails regarding social media. I don’t feel the same cautious enthusiasm I’ve had in the past about it being a good tool for my art business. I lost access not only to the account itself, but all of the people I followed and who followed me. Over the years, I amassed a following of over 5,300! It took a long time to get to that point and now, that’s all but gone. If I return to posting on the regular again, I feel like it might not take as long to regain a significant following. Maybe, who knows?
As I said above, my enthusiasm for using IG and other social media sites has diminished a lot more than it has over the past few years from this one incident. This could be a good thing, as it’s making me re-evaluate how I engage with people digitally. One thought has been to revive my art blog and post there much more often than I have. I started doing that a little earlier this year, but IG pulled me right back in. I also don’t know how much people will relate to the longer form writing that I do there. It very well could be  a better way to get my thoughts out there without the constant scrolling that happens on social media. I don’t know what will work, honestly. I have a little bit of a reputation and following IG and really could/should leverage that. I seem to also be gaining a lot of followers on LinkedIn now for some reason. I don’t post there nearly as often as on IG, but my LI following has exploded recently. I don’t know what to make of this. I should make a new post there soon to keep eyes on the page. 

TM

New horizons

 

    A huge change is coming. I've been spending the past few weeks organizing, packing and purging in anticipation of moving to a new studio space next week. Honestly, I can't wait. I've spent the past few years working out of the apartment and the time has finally come to expand beyond this space. While necessity made me make the most of my circumstances, there was only so long that I could flourish here. I began the studio search and didn't think that I'd be able to find anything that was within my budget and large enough. I lucked out on both fronts and found a new studio in one of the best arts buildings in the city-the Crane Building in Kensington. 

    I looked at several spaces prior to visiting the Crane to see a space there that someone was moving out of. The space costs the same as my current studio and is larger than other spaces I looked at, so the choice was pretty clear. Not only that, but I'll be right next to Rebecca Rutstein's studio and Arden is right on the second floor. There are a number of other artists that I know who are in the building, as well, including two former art professors of mine. I had a loft storage area and painting rack built in the studio already. I'll go in Tuesday to have my orientation, get keys and the lay of the land. I know the building, but not as a tenant, so there's a few new things to learn. 

    I'm moving on Friday and having a moving company deal with everything. I've been trying to downsize some of my belongings and purge artwork that didn't need to be around any more. It's been about 10 yeas since I did the most recent purge and with the passage of time, I've been able to see some of the work in a different light. It was much easier to let go of older works this time than before. It's been a very cathartic and needed experience. I still have a ton of work to move and that's a bit annoying, but at least I have space to put it all without having to rent an outside storage unit. 

TM

    

    

    

Processing...

Detail of a new painting in progress-August, 2020

It's been about two and-a-half months since I became a "full-time" artist. Even though I've worked my entire teen and adult life (my first job was at age 13, working as a bagger at a neighborhood grocery store), I've always considered myself a full-time artist, in spite of having day jobs. Art was (and is) always at the forefront of my being; it's been one of the few constants in my life and really keeps me going. I could never picture myself doing anything else with my life and now I have the opportunity to explore and expand my life and practice without giving over so much of my time and life energy to a day job. 

I touched on this a bit in today's virtual conversation that I had with Sandra Felemovicious. The interview was part of her "Tap Into Your Creativity" artist interview series on Instagram Live. The short version is that before the pandemic and lockdown, I was involved in a couple of art projects: one with a group show at Towson University and the other a mural through Philadelphia's Mural Arts program. During the pandemic, I completed a print series with master printer, Alexis Nutini. So, there were all of these opportunities that required a lot of time that I knew I wouldn't have if I continued working at Artist & Craftsman, so I gave my two weeks notice. 

It's been a little surreal, in a way, being able to fully concentrate on my artwork and related projects exclusively. The transition period is still going on, even if it felt that there wasn't much of one. Every day is different within the overall structure of daily events. There were no heavenly choirs singing the day after I left the job, just the knowledge that I had a lot of work ahead of me. There was no time to reflect because I had to get to work right away on a few things. I'm just now beginning to have some comprehension about what my life is now. It feels like both a natural state of being and completely alien at the same time. Still processing.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

One of the things I've been trying to figure out is how to have a larger studio space with the need to make larger paintings again. Both Bridgette and ParisTexas LA have requested larger works for clients. The least expensive way to do that was to clear out the front room of the apartment. So, last week, Julia helped me empty out and move three dressers to the curb, along with my bed. Opening up that space was the best thing I've done in a long time here. The only tasks left are to find floor coverings to protect the wood and to cover the wall I'll be using to paint on with plastic and wood railings to hang paintings from as I work on them. 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

I'm in an extremely fortunate position, particularly since we're in the midst of a pandemic, but I also know that this is the time for it to happen. As Sandra pointed out in today's conversation, I've worked my entire life to get to this point. And it's true. While things have turned out somewhat differently from what I imagined when I was younger, I've had steady opportunities that I was able to take advantage of and worked my way to where I am now. I don't know what's going to happen next, but all I know is that I need to keep going and keep painting. 

New studio/POST 2015

1241 Carpenter Street is the new address for my attempting alchemy.

My studio is now located at 1241 Carpenter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147, #200. Come by and visit on Oct. 3rd or 4th during the first weekend of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours and while you're here, stop by the studios of several other artists in the building, in addition to guest artists. I will have a selection of new and older works, plus possibly some new works in progress. Visit my POST artist page here: Tim McFarlane: POST

My building is also a stop on the Philadelphia Open Studio Trolley Tours, so if you or someone you know is interested in a guided tour of artist's studios that weekend, find more information here: http://philaopenstudios.org/post/guided-tours

If the trolley tours aren't your thing, and you aren't driving, my studio has plenty of public transportation options nearby, including the Broad Street Subway (Ellsworth/Federal stop), nearby bus routes including the 64 (east and west on Washington Ave.), 4 (north/south on Broad Street), 23 on 12th St. (south) and 11th St. (north).

Moving the studio, pt. 1

For the past month, all I've been packing, packing, culling, packing, culling doing more packing and generally being overwhelmed with the amount of work that I have with me. That, and the fact that the new studio will be much smaller than my present one. Although I've gotten rid of some old work that I really didn't need to keep around any more, it feels like I've barely made a dent. It feels like I have way too much work with me.

I knew that this move was going to cause me to have to make some changes and adjust to a new reality and it's already happening. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my relationship to the amount of work that I make. I can't help myself most of the time, because, well, this is what I do. However,  seeing how much work I've made over the past thirteen years that I'll be moving puts things into perspective a bit. It seems like I need to slow down with the quantity of work that I make and find a way to sell more.

Change...

The time has come. After 13 good years here in Old City, I will be relocating my studio during the first week of August. Another entity in the building is expanding and I can't compete on price in that area, so I'm going. My landlord was nice enough to give me 8 months notice back in March (my lease officially ends at the end of December). I started looking around almost as soon as I found out. I just found a new work space yesterday. It's smaller than my present space and will require some very creative storage solutions because of the amount of work that I have with me. One upside is that my new studio will be only 2 blocks from my apartment, so that's a good thing. I've wanted to have a space really close to where I live for a while now, and thankfully my timing was really good. 

So, of course there are the expected mix of emotions: some sadness for having to leave such a good space that has been instrumental in helping me make some of my best work, so far. On the other hand, this move is a chance to shake things up a bit and make room for new things to happen. I feel like I was more ready for this to happen than I previously thought. I mean, the writing was on the wall, with all of the new construction of high-end condos going on at 3rd & Market, not even a half block away, I was going to have to move sooner or later. Thankfully, several things fell into place, including my landlord's generous notice and some funds becoming available to make relocating easier than it could have been. 

I'm still unsure about how I'm going to deal with the size of the space that I'm moving into, but I'm going to have to make it work. I've looked around a bit at a variety of potential studio spaces and having to re-enter the studio rental market after 13 years was a little tough in terms of how far my present budget will go. However, the convenience of being this close to home is a huge plus for me. The storage issue, however, is going to present some challenges. I'm working out something with my new landlord which is going to ease the problem, but I know that I'm gong to have to cull some much older work in order to make this new situation work without having to look at another monthly bill for storage on top of rent. I'm working on that issue and already have some potential solutions. Tomorrow, I'm going to begin the process of looking at everything that I have in the studio and determining what I want and what I should keep of the pre-2000 paintings. Then, I have to determine exactly what to do with works that are the weak links. I'm sure that I'll be destroying some things that I know I don't need to have around any more, as I have in the past. Culling artwork every so often is a good practice and it has helped me a lot in years gone by. It's time to get moving on to the next phase of my art life. 

On the studio wall 4.30.15

On the studio wall-new painting

20 x 16 inches,  acrylic on panel

Endings = Beginnings

A couple of years ago, I felt like I was on the verge of having to move my studio because of renovations going on in the building. The renovations were going to be starting right as my lease was going to be up. Luckily, I was able to keep the space. However, this year will see a big change because I found out this week that my lease won't be renewed at the end of the year. The short version is one of simple economics (as usual): someone else in the building is expanding their business, there's no more space and there's no way that I can match or beat what they will be willing and able to pay.

The good part of this is that my landlord has given me an eight month notice (my lease is up at the end of December) and I can leave beforehand with no consequences. So there's time to save a little and hopefully find a suitable work space option.

When my landlord texted me last week wanting to set up a meeting, having to leave the space was on the list of possible topics in my mind. I've been mentally preparing myself for this for the past 13 years, so it's not such a shock. I'm surprised that I was able to stay in Old City this long, considering the gentrification that took hold before I even moved my studio there.

Anyway, endings make for beginnings, and I have no choice but to embrace this change, so may as well get to it...

Studio 4.01.15

Detail-work in progress on panel

Detail-work on paper

Call, response, dialogue

Untitled Still no. 4

Untitled Still no. 4

New photography

Untitled Still no. 3

On a new photography kick lately. I'm trying out some ideas and concepts that have been brewing for a while. It's been a while since I've used my regular digital camera extensively (as opposed to my phone camera), but the things that I've learned from earlier self-portrait projects are still there and making it easier to jump into this new adventure. A few more shots are below...

Untitled Still no. 1

GC (back)

GC (grasp)

Studio visit with Sharon Butler

(photo: Sharon Butler)

Sharon Butler of Two Coats of Paint paid a visit to my studio last week, along with her class of 

second-year MFA students from PAFA...

Embracing the obvious

Sometimes, what I think of as the easy or obvious solution is actually the best solution. Earlier tonight, I reached a point with a work on paper where I was just shy of a resolution. I took a break, went back to it and still couldn't satisfy myself with the results. Walked away again, came back to it and started tinkering with it more. I needed a decisive mark or series of marks to finish the piece off. The image making techniques that I'd used for the majority of the piece were not going to work for the final layer. I finally stopped avoiding the "obvious" and got on with finishing the piece with the "easy" solution...and it worked.

It was a relief because I'd spent so much time trying to find a way around the obvious solution that I think that I gave myself a dull, throbbing headache in the process.

That's all (for now...)

I don't know if I've mentioned it on this blog, but this summer I had a studio intern for the first time. Her name is Caitlin and she's a student at Moore College of Art entering her senior year. I was approached by a friend of Caitlin's who asked if I would be interested in having a studio intern. I wasn't sure at first because I'd never had an intern in the past and didn't know what I'd have them do. However, once I thought about it a bit, I realized that I did have a project, which was beginning the process of cataloging the works in my studio, starting with the works on paper.

Today was Caitlin's final day as my studio intern. I'm a little bummed, but also very grateful for the wonderful job that she did this summer. At last count, we'd gotten to #1099. Most of the work was accomplished, but there's still a bunch left to be photographed and given inventory numbers.

Having Caitlin's help this summer was invaluable because she was instrumental in getting me to become much more organized with my work. Organizing and documenting the work in the studio had been on my mind for a while and having Caitlin there moved the process from idea to full-on reality in a very short time. I'm very good at procrastination and I would not be even close to where I am now without her help. Thanks, Caitlin!!

My studio as it appeared yesterday (8.05.14) before a studio visit with Bridgette Mayer to show her my new works. 

New roads

On the studio wall, an as yet untitled new painting, acrylic on panel, 48 x 48 inches. 

I've been developing some new work on paper and smaller panels for the past few months and am at a point where I'm scaling things up a bit. I'm returning to some themes that I started with back in 2010, namely the use of the stencils that appeared in several works on paper and panels from that year. I made a lot of works where I attempted to incorporate the stencil patterns with other imagery-geometric and loose linear forms-with varying results. I chose to put that work aside for a while and continued my focus on the work that would make up 'Presence', my solo exhibition at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery in 2013. 

I finished a few other paintings that will be in an upcoming (August-December, 2014) show at the Four Seasons Hotel here in Philadelphia in the spring of this year. Since then, I've refocused my efforts on making works that incorporate some of the stencil patterns and are monochormoatic. I've wanted to move towards a monochromatic palette for a number of years, but didn't quite feel comfortable with it, but now seems to be the time to dive in. I've had some silver acrylic paint sitting in my studio for a couple of years and wasn't comfortable using it with my color work. I think that when I started experimenting with the silver (plus black and white), I began to see ways that silver could be an asset to the work.

So, I'm off on a new road. I don't know how long it will be, but I'm just going to try and enjoy the ride.