I have always loved looking at artists' and scientists' diaries, journals, letters, notes and similar ephemera. I've also always loved the "behind-the-scenes" glimpses of the working life of these folks--the grainy photos of artists' studios, the chaise in the garden, random companion animals, the porch swing, the kitchen table loaded with bread crusts and drawings, the glinting glassware in a laboratory, the pensive profile posed alongside the tools of the trade and half-done projects. In a way, I'm offering something similar with this blog. I hope to make it the kind of document I've always loved, one that gives an insight into the processes, concerns and practicalities of the working artist. (When I say "working artist," I mean anyone who does their art in a committed way, whatever that means to them. I mean anyone who doesn't give up on their art. I am doing my art full time these days, but that's not the only way of being a working artist.) So, here are some of my favorite things, for you! The Studio I do my work in various locations, depending on the project, but there are two main areas I use these days. Here is a typical scene from my collage and visual poetry area:  As you see, I have included a random companion animal. This is Jet, trying to influence my tool use for the day. Note the tub of ModPodge. Thanks for the recommendation, everyone! What you can't see is the TV. I actually prefer to make collages and visual poems on the sofa at a small wheeled table. The always inspirational Lynda Barry suggests working on drawings and collages while watching TV, and in fact R. has been doing that for years with smaller oil paintings too. I can't really do that with the paintings I'm working on now, as you'll soon see. But this way, I can have my Farscape and eat it too, as it were--at least some of the time. Here is where I do my painting:  There's a chaise, but we haven't got a garden. Note the taboret, named Leif (as in, "Leif's a taboret!" Say it aloud. No? No Isherwood fans? Oh well.) The taboret was scavenged and hybridized from the base of an industrial office chair. We do stuff like that around here.Here's another view, including WIPs--Works in Progress:  You'll see more of the large one in another post. There's a history with it, but more than that, you'll be able to follow some of the stages of its progression in future posts. Currently you see the initial phases of the new turn toward Monkey Cup pitcher plants as pictorial sources. I paint in larger scale these days, but you see a smaller work on the easel as well. I have at least two paintings going at any given time, largely so as not to waste paint and lose momentum once one piece gets too wet to work on. I hope you will join me in other posts as I share some of the processes and problems of creating the big painting on the wall! |
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