Snail Mail Art Stamps and Margaritas
May 29, 2009 by Janice · 3 Comments
We have a small group of really cool people who are doing a snail mail art postcard project with me. Today’s the deadline to confirm by emailing me the physical address you want the group to use for you. You can see some of the crazy brave players in the comments here. They are my new favorite people in the world. And it’s actually easy and fun. The post office is going to do half your work.
See. Look in the photo. These are stamped postcards I’ve gotten from all over the world. Finland is pretty cool. Subtle . And Russian is very bold. Tokyo likes lots of variety and little extra non postal stamps too. It’s a thing they do. The starfish is from Grand Isle, the only inhabited barrier Island off of the coast of Louisiana. They don’t take up that much space, but it is really beautiful space.
Anyway, if you’re going to do this project here’s step one:
Confirm by sending me the where we are going to send you our art. Privacy will be respected. This is a closed group of friendly respectful people with the same concerns that you have so not to worry.
And you could start picking out your stamps. What will you choose? What will your stamps look like. You can see them online you know. We’ll need international ones to get our art across an ocean, or several regular ones will do.
What else could I do?
You could also get your refrigerator door ready for the show you’re going to have there as these start coming to you in July. Or plan just which shelf to display them on. Dust off your mail box, make sure the hinges work, or the slot is not nailed shut on your door. Or probably just get your head around the concept that people are going to send you a little bit of fun in the mail in exchange for you sending them some.
Easy.
Not too much.
And no pressure.
Now here’s where the margaritas come in. It’s Friday. I’ve had a full week and I have to go round up all of these addresses. And we have new margarita glasses for the patio…so I am slicing up some limes. Naughty is scheduled around five this afternoon.. hm… maybe sooner.
One more thing.
What if you aren’t in this group? How did you miss it? Well it’s limited to about a dozen. We may have a couple of slots. If you want in and I don’t know it yet, ask me. Either in the comments or through the contact page. Easy peasy.
Now … I must go herd some kittens… the artist smiles and wiggles… she is very very excited about this. How about you? Did you have a good week? Do you like getting snail mail?
Snail Mail And Twitter
May 27, 2009 by Janice · 53 Comments
Timing is everything. I am so excited. Our friend random has just popped up with a wonderful opportunity to play. Just when I am improvising with the torn up drawing pieces. Playing around with abstract compositions, wetlands and a song… here comes opportunity in the form of a tweet.
Late last week and over the weekend @Art_News asked if anyone would be interested in being part of a mail art project. The answer is yes. At least 30 of us would love to do this.
What do we have to do? What the heck is mail art? Who are these people? Why is this so cool?
Sheesh you’re nosy this morning. Have a cup of coffee. Chill. I’ll tell you.
Here’s what we have to do: Make a piece of original art on a blank postcard, or on anything that is the same size as that and mailable through the post office. Put a real stamp on it and mail one to each person on the participants list. Yes, to their actual in real life address.
Who are they? What will you send? And wait, free art? Seriously?
I don’t know. I am thinking. Yes, free art. And seriously.
And they are people who will show up and join in that’s who. One of my first rules is show up. That knocks a surprisingly large bunch of people out right off the bat. So already I am liking these strangers and fellow twitterers. And they are going to send me an original piece of their work in exchange for me sending each one of them a piece of mine. So we’ll all get complete sets of the about 30 people who made the commitment.
That’s 30 pieces of original art mailed to strangers by July 1.
Now why this is so cool. I now will have the opportunity to do a limited series in this Across the Tracks Series that will also have an event attached to it. And it will be scattered almost to the wind…. now anyone who can’t get the irony/analogy there…well… we should talk.
And the second cool thing is I get to show you how Jacob Lawrence did his Migration series. 60 paintings done to look like a cohesive print series, but stand on their own too. I am so psyched. Yep. Labradoodle wiggling psyched. AND whoever gets these gets a part of history. And a collectible that no one else will have. No one.
Free. Or at least in exchange for something of theirs.
Happy dance.
Now, what if you weren’t there on the tweet line or what if you aren’t an artist? How could you be some kind of part of this?
Well, first of all would you want to? If you would, let me know in the comments or email me. We could do an ad hoc group. That’s means we could do our own little mail exchange. What if you aren’t an artist? No problem. I happen to love postcards and cool stamps. I’ll bet other people do too.
Anyway, if it interests you, let me know in the comments or email me. You would have to send your address by this Friday. And you would have to send the actual mail art/ postcards to those who say, ” Hey yes, I want to do this too.” by July 1, 2009.
And yes, you would get a piece of my work in the mail, for the exchange.
I must be absolutely crazy…what am I thinking.. free art to anyone who wants to play? Janice… really? I must have gotten plenty of rest this weekend.
We’ll blame it on @Art _News.
What about it? Are you willing to show up? Does this tickle your fancy? Is this a way for me to get a photo from Todd, or a Scottish postcard from Joanna? Some “Swim”mingly wonderful mail from Chicago? A cartoon from Friar?
You bet.
Improvisation And Structure
May 22, 2009 by Janice · 8 Comments
Drawings are invaluable. They are thought made visible. Artists use them a lot. For that matter, so do any visual thinkers. Scribbles are cool. If you don’t like drawings then this post is not for you. Go ‘way. What, still there? Okay, I warned you.
In the what to do next on the torn up drawing question, I decided to keep it simple. As simple as it could be for something kind of complex. It’s an organic process. That can mean complex, but simple too. See? Paradox, our friend, has taken up residence on the studio sofa. Keeps asking for snacks.
Well, here’s how simple happened for me. I had 16 pieces from the original drawing, right? Now I could have endlessly played with them, but we’re on a mission here and I really don’t have endless in mind. So I put them in groups of 4. Why 4? Two reasons. One, it’s a solid building number. And two, jazz is based on 4’s. Yep. And the song for this piece comes from the immortal and superfine mind of Duke Ellington via Wynton Marsalis. Who am I to argue? So 4.
I taped the groups of four together in blocks with scotch tape. Fancy, huh? I would have used linen tape, but I am fresh out and besides these are temporary extra hands just to keep the edges abutted. So yes, scotch tape is just fine for now.
BTW, never let materials hold you back. Find something that will do what you need and get to work.
So we now have four of the original 16 pieces in a nice little block of 4. What next? You look at them. Be with them for at least a minute. Kind of see what you have in front of you. Breathe. Wait a minute. Look a bit more. Breathe. Okay. Now you just respond with your pencils.
The object is to make them come together, unify them as a whole. Work them into a whole stand alone drawing. Remember these are randomly grouped. The original is a stand of trees on some private land in the wetlands. Now they are just points and lines and planes. The idea is to play them as such. Improvise in my response as intuitively as I can. After that first bit of looking, you are trying not to think too much. It’s just the doing. A rhythm develops and the path appears.
Follow it. Whatever it is follow it.
But just for awhile.
Then stop.
Too much is too much so stop.
Besides, I wanted to leave some room again. I have three more blocks of four to go. So this piece and the three other blocks of 4 I did , all have some space for more interaction.
Structure and improvisation. That’s the simple part. Ask an open ended question. Set up some limits and play. It’s skilled play. But like anything else, the more you practice, the better it gets. And these are coming right along. Some surprises are putting in an appearance. Like getting little gifts from deep inside you. Now how can that be anything but good?
Yes. Scribbles are cool.
Now , if you’re still here, scooch paradox off the sofa and open the fridge. We need a pitcher of Naughty Margaritas. And my favorite neighborhood parade is this weekend. Yes, coming right along just fine.
How about you? Do you like to be fully scripted and follow the notes? Or do you set up structure and improvisation?
Just a Mark?
May 20, 2009 by Janice · 5 Comments
It’s time to make something with the torn apart drawing so I went looking for what exactly that is. Looking is half the fun. Looking, if you keep your eyes open, yields lots of opportunity for discovery in sometimes unexpected places. That’s why you’re seeing two photos today.
I was looking. And I discovered.
A friend asked me on Monday. “Okay, you’ve torn apart the drawing, now what? What do you do now?”
“Well, it really doesn’t matter what I do as long as I do something,” I replied. Ultimately true, but in this case, I am asking particular questions. So I am putting some limits on the next step.
I know, paradox is staring us right in the face there, huh?
The whole thing is to open up possibilities, expand options, explore, right? Yes, it is. Then why am I talking about limits? Because limited choice also expands creativity. Yes, paradox. Our friend.
So what was I thinking about in terms of limits? Good question. Well, I have the torn up drawing for one. And I have those structure and dynamics thumbnails from photo still lifes that I do. I wanted to use them together somehow. And since it is archive week for me, I had THE BOOK out. Archive week ? The book where we artists document our work. Needs regular maintenance. Ugh. Necessary, but ugh.
Anyway, as I was shooting the photo this morning, I got the first shot of what I had assembled. It’s a working out loud thing for me. And I shot a few more. As I shuffled and rearranged a bit ( all intuitive ) looking for the dynamic that pleased me, I noticed something.
Look in the second photo. See any recurring thing? And by thing, I mean obvious black shiny Waterman fountain pen shape. Now look at the thumbnails… see it there too? Yep. And then look at the lower right hand corner of the Pine Island painting that is on the cover of THE BOOK…see the glossy black stick in that piece. It is pretty much the only time I have ever used black in a prominent place in a prominent painting. I remember painting it. Being drawn to it and reaching for something I never ever did. Black, out of the tube color. I remember making it shine.
It has stayed with me. Been brought forward without me realizing it. I have used it in composing the photos. It stood out in the thumbnails and believe me in those torn up bits of drawings it’s there too.
So what?
Something in repetition can be used as rhythm, that’s what. And something that keeps tapping you on the shoulders, well maybe you should take a look. Remember this series is based on a song. It’s also about where I have been, where I am , and where I am going.
So in the next step this mark is coming forward. There’s part of the puzzle. Now about that texture question, and the composition one, and the do I use all of these in one piece or make several…
Hm, I said I was looking.
Sheesh. If this was easy, anyone could do it. Seriously. And THE BOOK is staring at me.
The artist nods, “Yes, I’ll need more coffee for all that.”
Yes. That’s what it is like in Private Studio. And I am excited. I know, I know, it’s just a mark, but it is already opening up all kinds of ways to go.
How about you? Still exploring? Still shaking things up a bit? How’s your week going?
The Hamptons In Flip Flops and Kevin Bacon
May 18, 2009 by Janice · 6 Comments
It’s time to haul out the address books. Yes, if you missed last Monday’s post you will know I have a challenge. And by post I mean, oh man can I say this out loud in public. I put my heart and fears and foibles right out there and asked for help. And by challenge I mean, getting what I really want. So yes, exactly time to haul out the address books. Offline and on.
It’s time to play Kevin Bacon.
You know the game don’t you? The idea is that it is a small world.That we are separated by fewer degrees than you would think. And we are. This step is a key step in any successful thing I have every done.
Because one of the most valuable things you can ever have in life is a good little address book.
Ask any successful person. Go on, I’ll wait…
( the aritst makes another cup of tea)
Oh you’re back?
They agreed didn’t they?
My dream galleries ( what I want) and I are separated by fewer people than I think. So the address books come out, my noggin goes to work making connections and possible maybe’s in all directions. Before I am finished I will have combed them for every possible friend/acquaintance/colleague in common that we have.
Look up there at the photo. I had to laugh again at the things I pick for those photo still lifes. The choices are totally random and visual, but I trust them more and more. Because for each one of those pictures and stories in the photo, there is a phone number and address in the little books beside them that puts me right into the heart of each one of them.
“The Hamptons in Flip Flops”? – Sue, Dee Dee and Howard ; The Preakness?- Ned and Randy; The Daniel Boulud restaurant story ?( in between the two)- Ti and Ella and Carter. “But those aren’t galleries”, you say?
No, but I am putting the pictures of those galleries in front of me. Funny thing, the same thing is happening.
It’s Organizing Monday and this is fun.
How about you? Do you keep your address books in the picture?
Deconstruction and Possibilities
May 15, 2009 by Janice · 9 Comments
Take one perfectly fine graphite drawing on very fine printmaking paper and tear it into 16 pieces. What do you have? A ruined drawing? A loss of all your hard work? Tossed income down the drain? No. Not even for a second.
You have equities.
All 16 pieces carry the character of the original forward, share the flavor of the intent and the consistency of your skill. You now have multiple ways to use them. Multiple ways to innovate.
Sit with that a minute. I am.
No don’t worry with the math on the combinations. The math isn’t the point. And besides my brain has not had enough coffee to deal with that this morning, but there are so many ways and combinations to use them now. I have to play with them a bit. When you deconstruct in process, you are not limiting yourself, you are providing options. Opening doors. Tweaking everything a bit. To get to another place. You are also finding those equities. Those things you’ve earned or been gifted with. Solid kinds of things.
Solid kinds of things that are a part of you.
In Private Studio there are such things as equities and economies. I am not talking money, but I am talking riches. Destroying a whole drawing cost me inventory short term. It could be finished whole and sold. Make a handsome textured piece, very fine lines and shades of grey. Be very luxurious.
Keep me right where I was.
But things have changed and I changed with them. Not essentially changed as in you would not recognize me, but irrevocably changed. And that whole drawing is not as relevant to what is now more truthful, and more importantly, what is probably now richer and harder earned and interesting.
I don’t want to settle for just getting by.
I never want to be that person who is stuck in past glories or safe habits. There’s too much discovery to be had. There’s too much relevance to explore. So equities are treasured. Kept safe, protected, nurtured. And when it is time to use them. Well, use them we should.
Because equities provide more riches when you invest them well.
Remember the 3 key points? 1)Befriend random 2) Experiment 3) the constant becomes you. So I tore up a drawing. It’s paper and pencil and some of me. But now that equity is ripe with possibilities.
Can I deliver?
Ahh, that part. That part right there? That’s the thing that will keep some people from making that first tear in the paper.
It’s just paper and pencil and you. Trust it. It’s got you this far hasn’t it? Give it a chance to wow you all over again. Yes, that’s what it is like in Private Studio.
And hey, we’re kicking it later at the Dragon Room for some Naughty margaritas, right? We’ve earned it , and besides I owe you all a round. Thank you for your incredible, amazing moral support and words on Monday and all this week. We’re doing it. We are so doing it. The artist smiles, then gets back to work…have a great weekend.
Ladders On The Right Wall
May 11, 2009 by Janice · 37 Comments
Time to adjust some ladders today. Make sure they are on the right wall. I have some big tasks I have been putting off and now I think I know why. I think they were misplaced. Why misplaced? Because I was afraid.
Resistance is a funny thing. I was rocking along recently when I had one of those moments of clarity. By clarity I mean, whoa, is that what is wrong? How did I not see that before? Toss in a groan and some forehead slaps and yes, you’ve got the picture.
What is it called? Insight?
I need a new partner in my work. A new rep. It’s not that I have not been looking. I have, but not exactly where I should. It’s easy to get that wrong. Because I was looking wrong I think. I had even worked with an art business consultant. Did all the right things, submitted all the right materials. No matches. Well, not really.
It’s a lot like dating. Too much like dating.
Ack, and yuck, and nice sometimes, but ack and yuck and why can’t they be more like…wait a minute…Then it hit me. Why can’t they be more like the galleries that I love. The ones I feel a shiver and a breath of ahhh when I walk into them. A feeling of ooh this feels so right. I know who I want to date, I know who I would like to match. Why am I not campaigning, courting them? Hmph, that’s where the afraid came in and the resistance to all the others.
See misplaced ladders.
The afraid part. Yes, that’s still there. Seriously, this has huge rejection potential written all over it. Huge.
Huge.
Yep, it’s huge alright.
Do I have a ladder tall enough to get me over that?
Thinking about that. If I let that fear of rejection stop me, isn’t it me who’s taking myself out of the game? I have some galleries that I would fall all over myself to be a part of, way beyond my reach I think. Most of them are more abstract contemporary than I have been known for, but I get that feeling whenever I walk in. Yes that shiver of recognition. And a couple of them have been tracking me for quite some time. How the hell do I woo them when I am in transition myself?
See too much like dating.
It’s Organizing Monday and I think I need your help. Any tips? Seriously the tension in my neck and shoulders on this is really ridiculous. Any ideas?
Gulp. Am I really hitting publish on this? Yep. Definitely need your help on this one.
Playing At The Edges
May 8, 2009 by Janice · 10 Comments
Pardon me while I indulge in looking at just the marks in the photos. Sigh. I know, they are subtle, barely a hint of color. It’s Private Studio, judgement is reserved.
I am playing at the edges. Where one thing becomes another. Pick a point and a line can grow there. Make another line and suddenly you have planes in the picture. Coax the planes along with subtlety, you can delay which thing or things will really come forward, just for a while. Let it evolve. Eventually the THING becomes apparent. But it is letting go and letting it come to you sometimes, NOT forcing it. Getting out of your own way. That is essential play.
Skill is a huge part of it, but so is intuition.
Funny thing about intuition, the closer you are to logging those 10,000 hours of skilled practice, the more intuition kicks in in ways you really like. These drawings are letting me hone an idea. The drawings themselves will stand alone as part of a series, but they can foster a series of limited edition lithographs, or spawn new paintings, or be torn or cut and used for another piece. It’s all about an open mind. Exploration. But the points and the lines and the planes and the play are essential to the 10,000 hours log.
And they are essential to me.
What happens at “leisure” with an artist is certain idiosyncratic marks keep cropping up. I’ve discussed this with other artists. We all have them. They are as innate as your left handedness or your preference for some song. There is something about those particular marks that is, well, almost inescapable. The thing about those marks is to go with them. Not in a stuck in a rut way, but in an oh what are you telling me now way. It’s important to listen and watch for them, coax them. See where they take you.
So the marks will lead me again today. It’s like that in Private Studio. I’ll just sharpen the pencils, pick a point and jump in. Log some quality hours. I really like what I am seeing.
Of course it is thirsty work. The artist smiles. Yep. it’s Friday. Naughty? Sure. Meet you at the Dragon Room for margaritas later.
How about you? Did you have a good week with your work? Are you exploring?
A Word About Studio
May 6, 2009 by Janice · 10 Comments
This is my studio today. Yep. That’s a ziploc bag. Ziploc and its contents went to the ballet with me this weekend. Although I did not pull it out ( chose the camera instead) I could have easily done so. Today, I have a black canvas pencil bag courtesy of one of my pencil makers, a tin of very nice color pencils. A sharpener, an eraser, the Exacto. The little orange Rhodia pad . And four freshly torn to size extravagant pieces of Italian watermarked paper. All I need is a flat surface and some time. That’s it.
That’s it.
No questions, no doubts, no will I or won’t I. Just the things to get it done. And my friend, excitement. I get to take the little ink sketches inside the Rhodia pad to fruition. Do proper drawings of them. Still explorations, still play like I do not know what I am doing. But proper drawings with a bit of color.
I get to play with line and shape and form.
For me this is pure wonder. If I let myself go, if I listen. I’ll be capturing the thing I’m meant to capture. Simple? Well no. But let’s pretend for a minute that it is. This is another one of those get out of your own way things. Which is also why I wanted to show you how little it takes to make a studio just that, a studio.
I have a dream studio in my mind. In that one everything has a place and there’s an ease of working in the clean part, in the messy part and in the office part. It has great beautiful windows. There’s room for visitors on open studio days. A comfy sofa for them ( and for napping). It has a fridge. And oh why not, probably a massage table to keep me relaxed. It also has a fabulous view and it is located somewhere lovely to live and work.
I don’t have that one yet.
I have this one. And it is absolutely fine for what I am going to do today. The drawings will be exquisite to do. I could do the drawings at Starbucks if I wanted to walk over a few blocks. I could do the drawings wherever I have a clean flat surface and failing that I can put a piece of foam core under them and voila, flat surface, ready to go. Put the whole of it in a custom plastic bag I make for location work (shipping tape and plastic from the hardware store) and even the rain that threatens today would not be too much of a problem if I wanted a barrista to make my coffee.
Here’s the thing about studios. Never ever let studio or lack of whatever it is you think they are, keep you from your real work. Do not think for a second that you have to have the latest, the best, the most proper place or your muse will not work with you. That is pure, pardon me, bollocks.
Find a way. Just do the work. That’s studio.
It’ll be the same when I DO have my dream one. Because the work itself drives the studio, not the other way around. Make that connection and we are golden. Never use lack of studio as an excuse. That would be silly. Dog ate my homework kind of silly.
Hm, that massage table though.. hah.. that’s a new one for my wish list…and going into the notebook..artist is smiling at the thought.
Now, I have some paper waiting. And yes there will be music.
How about you? How flexible are you in where and how you can actually work?
Memo To Hollywood
May 4, 2009 by Janice · 10 Comments
See those people in the photo? They are having too much fun. They are at Cannes, more importantly they are at the Hôtel du Caprice. It’s a place that caters to whims. Name it, you’ve got it. Not to mention it has the most gorgeous sky, sea and the best thread count on earth. How do I know this? Why am I agitated? Because that terrace is mine.
Well, in my mind it is mine.
I once had a very close call to actually being there. Alas, it was not to be. And by alas, I mean “WTF do you mean we are not going? How dare they cut us from the trip.” There was flouncing too. And some very immature pouting. What can I say? I really was looking forward to it.
Anyway, in my mind when I think of some happy places this is one. My imagined terrace on the Mediterranean. Sigh. People who take you places and bring you things. Possible peel me a grape opportunities. And here they are in the Magazine section of the New York Times. On my terrace. Hmph. Where legends are made. Myths abound.
Well sure. The myths are half of it. No, actually the myths are a huge part of it. Oh, the films are done, that work is finished, packaged and ready for the spin. The stories, the insider parties, the who did that silly thing that time at the Ritz. Or who is in bed with whom on a deal. Look who just arrived. Did they fall in love on set? We thrive on stories surrounding the works of art. In Cannes the art is film. But it is also the art of story.
For an artist, it may seem superfluous, the myth. But it isn’t. Art is always created in a context. And story can follow it, increase the cachet. Doesn’t change the quality of the art, just creates another dimension to that call and response I am always mentioning. For collectors art works become trophies at some point, touchstones and talisman. They are for the artists as well, just get a glimpse of any artist’s private collection of their own work. These are about moments. States of being. Context and story.
This week ( Yes it’s an Organizing Monday) I am beyond excited to be delving into the drawings again. Cutting up, rearranging, deconstructing and constructing again. Playing as if I had no idea what comes next. Making the truest marks I can for my context and story. I may even haul out some Lemoncello in honor of my “near miss” terrace. Create my own retreat with a view of these Texas pecan trees. Because the place we are in, in this very moment, is exactly the place we are supposed to be. It has it’s own shape and form. And I would hate to miss it. So I am eagerly sharpening my pencils, looking forward to making some beautiful lines and I may even add some color. We”ll see.
We create our own stories. If we are lucky they resonate both within ourselves and to the observer, who actually becomes a participant. A lot to ask of some paper and some lines? Well, this may not be Cannes, but we can give it a try. Hm. I wonder if I could train that cat to fluff up my pillows?
How about you? What kind of story does your work tell about you? And what kind of art do you like in your home? Any favorites?
And yes, Memo To Hollywood: have a great time on my terrace. Just saying.