Time to Order
September 1, 2010 by Janice · Leave a Comment
Oil Pigments, Brush and Rags, Janice Cartier, September 2010
I’m out of medium. Right in the middle of squishy paint. No problem, except my favorite medium comes from the art store in Santa Fe. Sure I can order it. Or I could find something else here…or online..but you know what that means don’t you?
Yep, getting sucked into the art supply vortex…don’t make me open a catalog or look at the offerings on line , or , gasp… actually walk into the store…
You might not see me for a while.
Unless I put blinders on,
Or think one thing, just one thing,
Or someone attaches a rope around my waist to pull me out,
It could take awhile..
Because honestly, if the door to Cartier’s and the door to Sennelier’s were right next to each other…I would be lost forever…or at least a week…and don’t get me started on paper. They all have the power to do it…
Deep breath…
I just need more medium.
That stuff that makes the paint flow like butter, or dry matte like a lovely candle wax, or wash just like water…dry quicker or slower, but I think I might need some more white, and some sepia…and maybe some…violet… and some pastel paper…and how is my Rhodia Pad supply? or a new Moleskine would be nice…
See?
Somebody go get the rope…
And reel me in.
I love the stuff of my work…pencils and paper and paints and oooh.. did you see this… or what can I do with that…that’s what happens when I go in in person…and no catalog on line or at my desk is opened and shut without something or many things catching my eye…
Sigh…
And another breath..
I just need to get more medium…
Chin up, shoulders back…
Go quickly…
Like sirens I tell you…
Calling me to the rocks…
What’s your mad passion with the stuff of your work? Does it get to you?
Nuance
August 30, 2010 by Janice · 2 Comments
Pencil, Rhodia Pad Paper, Janice Cartier, August 2010
Nuance is an important part of a sketch. Gentle whispers are as important as a roar. And nuance in notes made, and thoughts captured, are things that series and stories ride upon.
This is a simple sheet in a small pad, but the lines and words are touchstones that hold me in thrall.
These are the origins in original art.
And for the life of me, I am absolutely goose bumped and giddy when I see this kind of ”ephemera” if it is ever exhibited with the formal works of art made by an artist. It’s a primary document. And primal in its nature.
Because this is the art at its heart.
The minute an idea about what could be is given space.
There’s an elemental elegance to it.
The fineness of pure…
spirit unfettered.
What follows then,
Is effort.
Imperfect human effort
To make it not only take flight, but to soar.
Or swim,
Or just come to life.
To give it form.
I spent some time reviewing some of these yesterday instead of sketching new ones.
I stopped myself in my own tracks.
That’s the thing about knowing your why.
Knowing your why you do what you do…
Finding those whispers that fairly shout that this is the beauty you want to share
this is that moment of sheer breathlessness that holds you when you see it..
Knowing the why
Is what sustains you in those clumsy human efforts
At flight…
Or swimming..
Or even writing.
There’s a thing at the heart of it.
The rest..
Is best efforts to get to it.
That good thing that we all are after.
It’s Organizing Monday and I am after remembering the origins in original art and why I do it. I am thinking, it will make my efforts, if not less clumsy, at least a little more sure. And that makes me smile and think upon the beauty of it all.
How’s your Monday going?
Feeling the Quiet
August 27, 2010 by Janice · 2 Comments
Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Janice Cartier, August 2010
I woke this morning feeling the quiet . The same quiet as before the storm. A preternatural quiet. The light changes, the air feels different. The birds get quiet.
If there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that the body stores your memories, I can vouchsafe that it does.
Incredibly, I felt it the minute my eyes opened…sacred ground…you’re tramping on sacred ground again…I tend to get quiet. The images play before me. The tears come easily.
I’m torn.
Wanting to be in two places, no three at once. There, here, and where I will be.
The only thing I’ve found for that, is to just be present.
Just show up. And be wherever I am as I am.
And today I am quiet.
Last year I wrote about color and how it seemed to be quiet for the day.
Today and this weekend… I just want to listen as birds sing.
They were first back out after the storm subsided…and the broken trees offered up fragrant sap…as we climbed over them..
I like to balance the grief with that.
And yes, I think we’ll need a Naughty Beverage, a toast to friends who surround us and one to my dear and much loved ghosts…
Color Canvas
August 25, 2010 by Janice · Leave a Comment
Oils, Gessoed Canvas, Janice Cartier, August 2010
Layers. These are the earliest tints of color that will go under several more. Like weathered clapboard walls and one doorway on St. Mary and Sophie Wright Place, across from the Half Moon Bar. I’ve never wanted that building painted. It is a work of art.
I seem to want patinated, tempered paint, as much as I want brand new. I want the paint to become, not just arrive ready made.
And I am keeping those raw edges.
This is cotton, not the usual fine linen that I prefer. So the surface is a little rougher. The gesso is light so the paint catches, and clings. Not smooth at all, unless the brush is totally saturated. I prefer gliding with brush and buttery paint. But this, this is presenting itself, insisting. And my hands are saying, okay. We’ll do it that way..
for now.
Let’s just see what you have to show me.
What lesson you want me to learn.
Before I have my way.
Hm…coarseness to refined?
Like an idea, finely honed…
We’ll just let you lead,
for now.
In all your roughness and your heavy weave.
But look out
I have some tickles and some buttery strokes that are appearing in my mind
and I will have them before we’re done.
Not sure who’s the boss today,
But who cares?
Choosing form, or form choosing you?
Either way, it’s a possible win.
How’s your Wednesday going?
Squishy
August 23, 2010 by Janice · Leave a Comment
Derwent Sketch Pencils. Water, 80lb Paper
This is squishy. Even though it is dry as a bone, it still says squishy. Like tracks left , a fossil footprint or an insect captured in amber. Evidence of a moment preserved in time.
I like squishy.
Not feeling it this morning though. Not yet.
I did not draw yesterday. None of those random, mind free sketches that I normally do. I blame The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the stacks of notes on my desk that I put into their respective places to be transferred in time to some consumable form.
And that not drawing, even those bits of “something or nothing”, makes a difference.
Like a missed workout, or breakfast.
We can get by fine once in awhile, but meh…
Something’s not quite right.
Not feeling the squish this morning.
Now, what to do?
Do I take some time this morning after the tea kicks in and sketch?
Do I just go on as if some silly little sketches don’t matter?
Or should I read just one more chapter of that Swedish book?
Or perhaps clean up some of those notes?
What do we do when we are not exactly feeling it?
Hm.
Sip.
What to do…?
What kind of name is Blomkvist anyway? Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue does it? He’s just about to get out of prison.
Eyes black book full of notes to be input. One of many such books.
And that stack of semi-dry canvas ready for next layer of paint.
Sip.
It’s Organizing Monday and this is one of those days when I think 105F daily has finely caught up with me. There is a definite lack of squish.
I think we have a dog day of summer going on…
Clearly antidotes are needed.
Sigh.
There’s always that number one rule….
Show up?
Do one thing?
Then another?
Yes, that one.
Well, there is that.
Hmph.
I wonder if I strapped on metaphorical snow shoes and took a Swedish name for the day…would that transport me into the zone.. is it this easy to lose momentum? One missed sketch session and the heat?
What do you do when you are not exactly feeling it?
Games Begin Gesso
August 20, 2010 by Janice · 3 Comments
Canvas, Gesso, New York Times, Janice Cartier, August 2010
“Monsters”. Right there. You can read it for yourself. Right next to the fresh blank canvas and the splats of gesso on the newsprint. Which again in the play that is random, cracks me up.
I rarely see blank canvas or blank pages as monsters, but I thought this was funny… in that universal karmic sense of funny.
Because there is a moment of possible freaking our own selves out when we look at a stack of blank materials. That moment just before…
the next one when excitement takes over.
If you ever get caught in that too much thinking about results moment,
Those blank stacks can become just that.
Monsters.
Hesitation monsters.
The artist smiles.
Got an easy antidote for that.
They are called first marks.
And we’ll be making them without much thought at all.
And choosing color purely on a whim..
And on all pre-painting I have done,
Are all the thinking that I need.
Hand me a brush,
Squishy paint trumps monsters any day.
The games begin.
Going to get messy
The artist says with a smile.
See you at five for about a gazillion Naughty Margaritas, yes?
Bergdorf Gesso
August 18, 2010 by Janice · 1 Comment
Canvas, Gesso, New York Times, Janice Cartier, August 2010
Maybe it’s just me, but I love this accidental composition of high fashion and menial studio work. Applying gesso to canvas is a pretty mundane studio task. Although, it squishes just fine and is rather zen to do. I enjoy it.
But I am enjoying this unexpected juxtaposition even more. Random enters the studio as a friend again, when the newspaper I put under this little piece happens to be a rather chi-chi ad for Bergdorf-Goodman in black and white. Well greys actually.
And I can’t stop looking at it and thinking ..hm…there’s an assemblage there and surely something I can make of it. Something about intentional and unintentional design.
I can’t help but see more blocks and other textures in a continuance of some thought that I really don’t have words for yet, just images.
So we will set this one aside.
Leave it apart from the stack of gesso primed small canvases that will become ground for squishy paint.
But..hm...gesso squares and ink…
Yes, there’s squishiness to be had there too I think.
And so it goes in small tasks and menial matters..
In full frame, the model stares and big bold black letters exclaim the name of the store. They almost demand a response in black and white and greys.
Who am I to deny them?
Surprise,
Discovery,
If you’re open to it.
Sometimes I just listen.
And look.
At where the squishiness leads.
Mistake? Could be.
But we’ll do it,
Then we’ll know.
How’s your Wednesday shaping up?
Shadow Self
August 16, 2010 by Janice · Leave a Comment
Pencil, 80lb Paper, Janice Cartier, August 2010
So Sunday afternoon sketching netted some surprising captures. Freely sketching with an empty mind, shapes and shadings came out in an uninterrupted flow. They also came with unexpected titles: ” Ghosts and remnants deep inside”, “our shadow selves want squishy paint” ( which is my personal favorite), “siren song at night”, “sounds”, “whispers and lovers”, “gently, softly on the edge,”( another favorite) and on and on like that.
The sketches look like nothing.
And a whole lot of something.
Some of them are pretty insistent.
Ideas of paint, and swoosh and squiggle followed quickly on their tails.
One begs for assemblage.
Another asks how softly can you paint power?
Another asks me to explore a night scape as if asea among unfamiliar markers. Moonlit and welcoming though, as if all time has waited just for me to be just there.
And one is fairly empty, yet replete.
Sigh.
Scribbles on a page.
Worlds and worlds to paint.
Captured.
Emptying out is as important as taking in.
It’s like finding
Pathways…
Very close to heart.
It’s Organizing Monday and once again…my hands seem to be in charge. We’ll just let them lead by doing as they please. Sometimes it’s like that in Private Studio. We just get out of the way and listen.
How’s your Monday going?
Color Blocks
August 13, 2010 by Janice · 1 Comment
Sennelier Soft Pastels, Sennelier Pastel Paper, Somerset paper, Janice Cartier, August 2010
“Certain things are remnants and certain things are things I actually see everyday. “
Certain conversations make all the difference in the world to what we are doing. The color blocks you see are simple play from this week. An exercise in random. But I was talking with a trusted art friend on Monday afternoon and I casually used that phrase above in mentioning the color block groupings. She made me stop so she could write it down.
Brilliant.
They look like buildings.
Organic buildings?
We also talked a lot about sustaining intrigue, and how that really is our job after all as artists, creatives, teachers, writers… And that made me think…differently, just a bit.
Because it’s a funny thing when you put words to an idea.
Especially unguarded off the cuff words to another studio artist.
There’s a moment, a brink, a pause as the words sink in
And you realize…
you’ve actually arrived at a different place…
And all that came before was leading you right here.
Now that,
To me…
Is intriguing.
And I see the work now..as chapters in a mystery unfolding.
I couldn’t be more pleased or excited to not know…
to just do…
And then I’ll know.
Oh, I love this scribbles work.
I really do.
Process… in private studio.
Thank you Jeanie.
Now…it’s Friday…and I have a feeling that the only way to beat the heat is to head to the Dragon Room for a Naughty Margarita. Any takers?
Black and White and Color
August 11, 2010 by Janice · Leave a Comment
Derwent Sketching Pencils, Water, Sennelier 140lb Aquarelle Paper, Janice Cartier, August 2010
Sennelier Pastels, Somerset Paper, Janice Cartier, August 2010
Black and white and color. Play. But more…inquiry. Sustained intrigue, as a dear friend of mine phrased it on Monday. That’s what we artists do after all. Set up safe space to sustain intrigue and then jump in.
So here are my small blocks of shells, going through a couple of paces. A couple of ways in. Sheer instinct …and practice. There’s just one more thing I want to do before I paint them for real. A tonal color restriction..just to test some sandy colors..to see how close I want to real..or if..a pure dance of color chords will be what I am after.
Because the painting will go fast.
I want no barriers of thinking, or time,
or questions in my mind.
I want to be alone with line and color
And fascination.
No questions except
This or that?
Here or there?
Stop or go?
Just breathing
And doing
So just one more page of play…
Um…no.
My hands just told me NO.
“Get out the scissors. Cut the canvas up.
And move everything aside…
go in not completely knowing…
and come out the other side.
Then you’ll know. ”
“No more inquiry?”
“Nope. ”
“No more prep?”
“No.
The answers are all primed.”
Well.
Sometimes the artist is the last to know…
I guess I’ll go get my scissors.
Vacation created all this space.. and the hands have taken over.
Not quite like the assistant I imagined hiring someday…more like a pushy partner.
“Well, snip snip…let’s get going.”
“Sheesh.. okay already..I’m coming. ”
How’s your Wednesday?