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| charcoal and pencil, 3.5 x 4.5,"10 - 25 minute poses |
This week's theme could be: Dwell in the House of Possibility - but don't forget to open the front door. I have been trying my best to manage time/space for artness sake, but last week, I didn't do as well as I would have liked. (Sometimes, I feel like I'm trying to tetris two lives into a single timeline - I have my 'normal life,' where I go to work and school, talk to friends and family, go to the post office and the grocery store, etc., and then my 'art life,' where I make art, listen to music and read books). So this Sunday, I was exhausted but I got up early because, after last week, I put "DRAWING" on my calendar in all caps. I wanted to be prepared - to have all my supplies ready and take care of a few things around the house...but I got distracted. I looked up and realized I'd have to leave in 10 minutes to make it to drawing on time, and I didn't have anything ready. I was tempted to bag it and think "well, I'm going to live here a long time, I'll go next week..." but, then I thought of this week's theme, and my next thought was along the lines of "I did not move 1000 miles cross country to do laundry in a more Northerly location." I decided that all the preparation in the world wouldn't mean anything if I couldn't walk out my front door, so I went (and the laundry survived just fine in my absence ;)). I brought the sketchbook I always carry around in my bag and a selection of materials (and scraps of materials) that happened to be close to the front door. I had a great time, got to interact with other artists, and made a few little drawings. It was my first time working with a live model on the mini-scale, and there are some things I need to work on next time (composing to the bottom of the corrugation that I cut off, not the outer edge - oops), but overall, thumbs up - working small is more comfortable to me after the 'Power in Precision Project," (and, bonus, it means I don't have to carry around a drawing board so I can put it all in my bag when I'm done and go have coffee...haha).
I also made a doll. I've made artwork about dolls before and had work in the show "Be A Doll" in 2009 at Estel Gallery in Nashville (a little jewel of a gallery that is now, sadly, closed). I feel like a bunch of factors are converging to point me back in that direction now. I got to listen to a panel at SECAC: "Two for One: Doppelgängers, Alter-Egos, Mirror Images, and Other Duples in Western Art: 1850–2000," which I loved, and one scholar in particular - Nathan Timpano, talked about an Egon Schiele self portrait as a puppet. I like Schiele's work and had never thought of this piece as a puppet before. Between the panel, the Quay Brother's exhibition, a discussion with a Vermont friend about Peter Schumann and the magical Bread and Puppet, a visit to the Quai Branly collection this summer (masks, masks, masks!), and thoughts of Venice (always thoughts of Venice on a back burner in my mind somewhere). I've been wanting to make dolls/puppets/automatons/masks and have been thinking about the differences between them. (I'm going to have to keep thinking/arting about that one...)
Then Monday and Tuesday, I had some unexpected "time-off" due to the super-storm. My feline assistant and I weathered the storm and are doing fine. My thoughts go out to those impacted by the storm :(. I feel like, in the face of such disaster, art shouldn't matter (theorist Theodore Adorno might agree), but then, I was at home, and maybe I was scared, so arting was the best distraction, and I made this drawing.Not only is there weekly figure drawing within walking distance from my new location, but there's a (locally owned!) art store too, so when I decided that the letters in the background needed to be orange, not black, I was able to go get orange ink and make this piece, start to finish, during the days of the storm.
Conclusion - Possibility really can be site specific...
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| "Lost in the Forest of Words," ink and color pencil, 18 x 24" |
