mini 49

Miniature #49 - July 9 - 16, 2012, 5.75 x 5.75 in, mixed media on panel

Mini 49 - and the mini project is nearing the finish line (sadness). When I updated my main site (www.klacsmann.weebly.com), I realized that the theme and composition of this mini are similar to mini 1, but this one includes an (awesome, if I do say so myself) bird, and the city is much better drawn.  I also feel like I've developed a more individualized (if unusual) palette. I keep coming back to this aqua, chartruse, light red (that's right, it's light red, not pink) and gray combo.  I find it intriguingly hideous somehow.  I also prefer the square format to a rectangle now. Despite my claim (when was it - oh, mini 6!) that panel is kind of a pain to prepare in a week, and maybe I just wouldn't do that anymore (ha ha), I think I've streamlined (or just accepted) the panel preparation process. Mini 49 is also nicely varnished, a skill I've honed over the course of the project.  Things that haven't changed - I was getting a little frustrated as I was adding the finishing touches that the light in the studio seemed to be fluctuating - wait, that change in studio lighting, that would be sunrise - oops (in my defense, the studio at the CAC residency has opalescent stained glass.)

My residency is going well and, as promised, I've been working on a statement outlining my next project.  In the meantime, it seems tiny creatures like tiny paintings too! (Yup, that's a panel being prepared background :) ).  

49 complete and only one more to go

mini 48

Miniature #48 - July 2 - 8, 2012, 3 x 1 x 2 in, paper and acetate 

For mini 48, I was inspired, in part, by bankers boxes.  (Now there's a phrase one doesn't hear too often).  I'm head to New York state to do an artist residency and am extremely excited about the project I have planned (will post more about that soon).  This past week was spent cleaning and packing the studio (and packing and packing).   

Contents: skull (plastic), heart, raven,
jar o'bugs, unicorn, and lots of books
If only I'd been born a few centuries earlier,
I could have been an excellent alchemist.

I've been trying to organize
my materials better - proof!

While packing and cleaning weren't exactly the highlights of my week, putting the boxes together was fun, and I though that they would be even more fun if they were neon, miniature and had stained glass (naturally). This mini is more of a prototype - I want to refine the shape and placement of the folds and raise the level of craft, but its a start.

48 down and only 2 to go

You do know that you will be taking me.

O wait - there's a bug - nevermind.

mini 47

Miniature #47 - June 25 - July 1, 2012, 2.5 x 3 in, block print on paper

I used up my "emergency week," the one "by" built into the project, a couple of weeks ago.  I was traveling, the project is nearing completion, and it would have been inconvenient to post (can we guess where this is going...) So this week, I had a real emergency - I'm fine, and so is Sunny, but there was an unexpected situation that required immediate attention and time/energy/$ (also known as an emergency - 'Doh!') I started working on the mini later than I would have liked, and, naturally, decided the piece needed not one, not two, but three, tiny, labor-intensive blocks.  

Reflecting on the project, I feel it's been a good thing because it's helped me try new techniques and hold on to my studio practice. It's proven to me that I can always make something, but lately, I've been asking myself if I'm I making the work that I most want to make?  What would happen if for the next project, I adjusted my life to fit my art instead of the other way around?  (I've also been thinking that the tiny press deserves its own side project.)  So, to make a long story short, I decided to go for it and made all three blocks. 

Why cathedrals?  I'm sort of a Cathedral groupie, and last week I saw the Chagall window in Reims Cathedral. Seeing it, I feel like even if something were to happen to it (forbid) or lots of people look at it for only a second, the world is a more beautiful place because it exists and Chagall's a great artist because his work makes the world a better place. (Can we tell that I'm a huge fan?)

here's a candid shot of me scoping out Ackermann's work
 Thanks for the picture Tammy! (taken with permission)  

Why three?  I was also really inspired by a studio visit with Franz Ackermann. I hate to name drop, but I want to give credit where credit is due, and his work and studio were awesome, and he was also an incredibly gracious host. I got to see amazing work, hear one of the best explanations I've ever heard of the use of neon paint, and ... there was coffee!  Seeing his process, I was inspired to take the photos, even if I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for yet. I ended up taking all these pictures of industrial and artistic repetition.

I've been thinking about it, and I think I'm looking at industrial/mechanical reproduction vs. repetition as a form of devotion because, to me, the only difference is spiritual; so, maybe contrasting the two is a way of trying to find the soul (as in, one can't see it, but can miss it when it's gone). So I made two blocks and hand printed them (which is ironic because it's already a process half-way between the reproducible and unique.)  As I was printing, I kept hearing in my mind one of my favorite lines "a feint within a feint within a feint" (and yes, I did just prove, beyond a doubt, that I'm a big sci-fi nerd).  Three is such a pleasing number (as in tricolon or tricolon crescendo), so in the wee hours of the morning, I added the third, super-tiny block.

Can we guess which is my favorite?

approximately 1 x 5/8 in (Awwww)

mini 46 and CAC

Miniature #46 - June 18 - 24, 2012, ? in, drawing and collage on paper

This week's mini is either late or early, depending how you look at it.  Travel has been shaking up the tone of life-as-usual for me lately. (It feels like working with a full palette when I'm usually more of a gray+ kind of person).  

Some good news - I've been awarded a residency at the Contemporary Artists Center!  The timing couldn't be better (some of my multi-color-coded calendar planning and list-making coming to a good end :))  I'm looking forward to having some time and space to focus on completing the Power in Precision Project (minis), reflect, and get a jump start on the next long term project, which I'm thinking will be an art experiment in life-improvement through time/space management (no catchy title there yet).  
My mission for the residency is site-specific.  Lately, I've been questioning how to make paintings that engage viewers in a sincere way without being saccharine.  I want to try adapting the studio environment to activate all my senses and see whether/how that affects the work.  The studios at CAC are in a re-purposed neo-Gothic church, so there will be stained glass for visual engagement.  I usually listen to music or the radio while I work, but for the residency, I'm going to aim for all non-verbal sonitory input (I'm thinking 'Music for Airports,' but I haven't totally decided yet, and, as a side note, I can use this opportunity to work on not starting sentences with "I heard on the radio..." at least for a little while).  For smell (which will have to cover taste as well, since eating in the studio is a no-no), I've narrowed it down to one of these taste-related smells: cinnamon, clove, vanilla or peppermint.  Touch will be a fluffy mat (which will be a nice change from the floor).  The goal is to try to reach a sort of "flow-state" and see whether/how that comes through in the work (I know it sounds kind of weird when stated that way, but...)

 interacting with art in its natural habitat

46 complete and 4 more to go.        

update of mini 45

Friend Carol's photo of Miniature #45

My picture of Miniature #45

On the one hand, this indicates that it may be time to add "learn to take better pictures" to my to do list; on the other hand, I feel grateful to have such gracious and skilled friends - thank you Carol and Mary Anne!  I actually like the "impressionistic" quality of a lot of the action shots I've been taking with the mini camera, but archival documentation...hmmm, maybe not.  I guess the important thing with any tool is to ask of it only things which are within its capability to do.  On that note - I got a new, neon yellow pencil today (its intended purpose is as an erasable highlighter - genius!) Can't wait to break it out for mini 46.  

Innenwelt

Aussenwelt

mini 45

Miniature #45 - June 4 - 10, 2012, 3.5 x 2.5 in. pencil on paper board 

Mini 45 is a mini on the go (it's my friend Tammy checking the pictures on her camera while we sat in a park for a couple of minutes because we were kind of lost.  Looking at the very low resolution photos I took this week, you can understand why it's an absolutely awesome thing that Tammy has been taking pictures.)  I was unsure whether I'd be able to make and post a mini this week and thought I may have to bail out to the "emergency week of no mini" built into the project.  I'm glad that I could 'make it work,' (though I sense that I'll be re-photographing).

On a side note - they have these awesome little candies called "minis" here - I'm not in love with the taste, but they make very luggage-friendly mementos.

45 down and only 5 more to go...

mini 44

Miniature #44 - May 28 - June 3, 2012, 5 x 5," mixed media on panel

a view of the lovely neon yellow edges 

It's been a busy week here in Tinyland.  I worked on a new layering technique with mini 43 using opaque and clear gessos as alternating isolating coats.  I'm not sure about the results - I think I need to give it some more thought and try again.  What I'm most excited about with mini 43 is the varnish layer (which, ironically, the better it is, the less visible to the viewer.)  Having the varnish layer turn out well on several pieces in a row now has made me incredibly happy. I think it's because I always want to be learning and improving, not just changing and rearranging content, and this seems to reaffirm my faith in the ever-present possibility of gaining more technical skills through practice (personally, I think Dr. Suzuki is partly to blame for this).

I also finished a couple (!) of full-scale works.  The first is the panel I was so excited about starting after mini 38.  The irony with this one is that it took me longer to prepare the panel than to paint the image (about 10 days and 7 days, respectively).  In the spirit of improving through practice though, I think that I learned a few things, and, hopefully, the preparation will go more smoothly next time.  I also finished (and named) the Gothic work I wrote about a few weeks ago.  I was nervous, but decided to go for it and put a final gloss varnish on it (and it turned out well - inspiration from the minis in action!) I actually finished this one so quickly, that I had to "take it away from myself," so that won't be tempted to meddle with it.

I've been referring to this one as "Neon" for now, 24 x 24," mixed media on panel, 2012
Is it me, or do I look a little like Michelangelo's David here?

Tempus Fugit, 20 x 40," mixed media on canvas, 2012