Cut and Paste and Color
July 1, 2009 by Janice · 4 Comments
”En train de” is a very useful phrase of French . “Je suis en train de” and add whatever it is you are in the middle of doing. Je suis en train de collage et colour aujourd’hui.
Yes. I am cutting up a few bits of that lovely graph paper inside the orange Rhodia sketch pad and a little bit of my newspaper and pasting them on my cards… and adding color on after that.
And look at the calendar. Oops. It is The very first day of July.
Hm.
Double hm.
45 or so IS a larger number than I thought.
However, I think these are going to be just fine. They just need a wee bit more time.
So everyone, Je suis en train de fun …and still smiling…because I know that you are too.
And that’s just fine.
Now pass me the scissors. And I ‘ll get right to it. Hm. Do I need a bit of jazz or would Lady Gaga spur me on? My, my, my, postcard face…
See, I am telling you , I need a break. LOL
How’s it going for you all?
Almost Time For Colour
June 26, 2009 by Janice · 10 Comments
“I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.”~ Joan Miro
Are we there yet? I have just a few postcards left to draw of that 45 or so. And as I drew them yesterday, while I was enjoying just pencil line. Other questions asked themselves. Like is it nearly time? Nearly time for cutting and some pasting on. Or is it time for color yet. Huh, is it time ?
Like an an adolescent dog wanting to go out, color nipped its nose under my hand and wagged it’s eager tail.
As I was enjoying just the line yesterday, and noting all the shapes, texture waved it’s hand at me and said, “What are you going to do about me? Figured out this surface yet? How much are you going to play?”
And as I was enjoying just flat forms and simple contour line, value poked its 3 D head up and said,”Hey I have to be in there too! At least the hint of me.”
Yes, It got a little noisy. A little ” me too, me too.”
I simply logged each request and continued on. Simple lines, simple shapes calling out for rhythms, calling out for rhymes, calling out for color…
…and yes it is almost time.
I have to say, our ad hoc mail art group had an interesting behind the scenes discussion this week. It’s a diverse group, artists and “non-artists”. All incredibly clever and brilliant in their own fields. And I am so very proud to say, it couldn’t be a more generous group, helping each other over roadblocks, cheering each other on. And frankly, talking about color, each person is a crayon with a gorgeous color all their own. This artist is smiling because that is a lovely sight to see.
So It’s Friday. And yes, I just called my friends crayons. LOL So it may be almost time for color, but it is definitely time for that Naughty Margarita. Phew! What a week!
How about you? Did you have a good one? And should we ask, if you WERE going to be a crayon, what color would it be? Oh yes, we have to ask that don’t you think?
Keep It Simple Silly
June 24, 2009 by Janice · 2 Comments
Imagination is a double edged sword. It can bring us so many delightful possibilities… and yes… it can bring us SO MANY delightful possibilities.
With 45 or so postcards to hand make, SO MANY needs to be not so many possibilities at this point. These are to be mailed out in July. Yes. If the calendar was not enough to remind me, some of the ones to me from other artists have already started to arrive. Tick Tock.
I need to keep it simple.
So I’ve started with simple bones. Quick pencil gestures on the bumpity bump 300 pound watercolor paper based on the post photo still lifes here. These are “post cards”. I’ve done half of those so far. Time to finish the rest.
And it is funny to do them, to see what appears on the page as structure. The lines, the shapes, the rhythms. The repetition and its variations. A friend viewed all the photos rapidly and made this remark, “It was like looking at a book. I don’t know exactly what the theme was, but the images kept me intrigued. I kept looking.”
Well, that made me smile.
So as I draw and look myself, I am curious about that intrigue. The larger works can have more time, they can be more complex. Right now simple bones, pencil lines are the only clues I have . What holds me to these forms enough to want to play, to search, to make? What is it that I MUST say, what keeps calling out to me?
Dunno exactly.
But then that’s my job. To ask just those kinds of questions. To open up some space. To imagine, and scribble, add some color, maybe some collage… to make ideas real, something you can touch.
Besides, I have always enjoyed a good mystery.
So I am off to make more lines. Simple ones, bare bones. They’re saying something to me. But I am going to have to lean in a bit, right now, it’s just a whisper.
How about you? Do you love to play with intrigue? Do you go after captivation?
Trying On Texture
June 12, 2009 by Janice · 6 Comments
Two beautiful full sheets of 300 pound D’arches watercolor paper have now been cut up into 50- 4″ x 6″ postcards for our mail art project. See, they are stacked up over on the left in the photo. Cutting up, shifting plans… seems to be part of the process these days. I have some smooth pre-made cards in ivory that I wanted to use. I like smooth. And I love the feeling the pencils are making on the velvet smooth Somerset paper in the drawings I have been doing lately. But I only have 20 of the pre-cut cards. I need 45 or so….
So we go into the stock of luxurious french papers and get the scissors out.
These are going through the mail. They have to be a bit sturdy. Ocean crossings, mountain climbing, and sorting bins will all get a nip at them…so we’ll send the luxe paper out.
Of course there goes the smooth I was planning on.
Hm… Well I have been using printmaking paper for watercolor… surely I can use watercolor paper for drawing. Those nooks and crannies that soak up rich washes and hug them tight, what will they do to a bit of color pencil and graphite?
Time to try some texture on, see what happens… And will I need to use some wash to deepen color.. and if I do… what happens if our dear postal persons get it wet?
Ahhh, then someone will get a bit of wabi sabi, a perfect imperfection.
Well, I did have those leftover strips of the D’Arches from the cutting apart I did yesterday. Long narrow bits I could play with.Test things out, see what comes of it. So that’s what I did. Just played a bit. Pencil does fine on watercolor paper really, but you’re usually just mapping contours out, not going for light and shade, or nuance. It’s just map making, guidelines, like that. Hm, will it work for playing with greys? Give me what I want ?
Not smooth, but I think we can work out some nuance there with a bit of coaxing.
Now what about the color I was going to use? I have been playing with color pencil in the drawings I have been doing. And the photo still lifes these cards are based on, well those are smooth, pixel smooth..Let’s see….hm…rough.. bumpity, bumpity, bump, bump…but the color shows well enough….
Bumpity bump to the appearance of smooth, a little more coaxing needed there.
Now what about those washes, am I going to play with splashes here and there? Or use collage ? Well, dunno yet, but it looks like it could be fun..I have a little sponge, I could drip color on, or wipe it smoothly across the paper, tint it where I wanted, or of course use my sable brush…is that blue dying to jump out of the pan and onto that card?
These are little spaces.. but they are lovely places to breathe.. and dream and try things on…Yes, we’ll go with this fine French paper, bumps and all. It has the muscle and the fineness to play with possibilities. And playing with possibilities is what we’re after after all.
I have chosen the what of what I am doing. It’s the how I am working on now. And it is all kinds of fun. Just as much don’t know, as ooh ooh got it!…I like that.
How about you? Got your what to do in mind yet? We can bounce ideas off in the comments if you like. Or tell us if you’ve got it, your what to do.
As for cutting apart and shifting plans….I’ll be cutting apart some limes later, but I doubt I’ll shift my plans for Naughty Margaritas this afternoon, hope you grab one for yourself. It’s Friday and that’s one texture that will feel just fine and very, very smooth.
Have a great weekend.
Still Life Structures
June 3, 2009 by Janice · 5 Comments
We have a snail mail art project just beginning . I have something like 45 postcards to send out to artists and non artists from all over the world. Yep. That’s a lot. Here’s my idea for what I am going to do:
Since this started on Twitter, thanks to @Art_News, and these are part of the Across the Tracks Blues Series that I am developing now, I am using these post still life photos. See up there, in the little slide show.
What does that mean?
It means that I will take the basic lines found in them and do 45 drawings from that. Like some of the thumbnails, you’ve seen me show here. That’s all.
And get it? They will truly be “post ” cards. (Artist just realized that and is cracking her self up, well she hasn’t had coffee yet so give her a break.)
Will I leave it at that?
No. Across the Tracks Blues is about innovation and integration. And I am making that up as I go along so nope. I’ll play. And I am very excited about that. So they will become little paintings/drawings. Maybe collages. Dunno yet. But it’s important to make a decision about what part of me I am going to send.
For me, it’s a sense of self, a sense of place, and a sense of time. I get to play right in those in between spaces that I like so much. I couldn’t be happier if I were strapping on my boots and heading out to some barrier island. Hm, well not quite the same, but same in a different way.
It’s a chance for me to explore.
The bulk of my cards are going to the original artists’ group that signed up on Twitter. A dozen of them though are going out to a special group of people that are doing an ad hoc exchange with me. Some of them are not artists, but all of them are creative and willing to explore too. So I am clearing space on my refrigerator door for when everything starts coming in in July. ..Or maybe that shelf over my desk…or that wall I look at all the time…
It’s going to be fun. And the stamps will be cool and I get to strap those metaphorical boots on and spread the moments of discovery around.
Now that IS fun.
And don’t you love to play with your work?
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?
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.
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?
Shades of Grey, Part 2
May 1, 2009 by Janice · 4 Comments
Private Studio does a wonderful thing. It gives you permission. That permission should always come with a fistful of sharpened pencils and some paper in my opinion. I’m showing you three photos of some of the drawing I did this week. This is me relaxed. Following a concept. Letting go. The large drawing underneath the orange Rhodia pad is ready to cut up. The sketches in the pad have new brothers and sisters, some I’ll show you here. In the second and third photos below you’ll see the storyboard looking set, and then below that in the final photo one of the drawings that I have been after all along I think and its origin drawing from an older sketchbook.
These are private sketches rarely shown. They are working drawings. They are the birth of the Across the Tracks Blues Series along with the assemblages I showed you last Friday. And they only took a few minutes each for me to do them. But I had to live them first. That, that took a while longer.
But that is where their essence comes from, yes? Without the living part, there would be no story. No need for expression. No, this is what it is like for me, can you see it too?
You will tire of me saying this eventually or perhaps you will begin to know it, that art is a living breathing thing…not objects apart. The result of process, the goal, is to produce an object usually, but the essence , the experience of it, that is somewhere in between that object and it’s observer. Just like for the artist it is between the artist and the object created. Between again. Those spaces between.
Those are the wetlands.
So its energy we’re after. Hm, ever look at art as energy?
It is. And it is very very much just that in a drawing. Stripped down to shades of grey, some black , some white, it is pure energy, and motion. Rhythms that set up resonance. Like music.
And this series has its own song. I promised you the song didn’t I? Well, it’s a loosening song. One that let’s me feel at home, supported and it lets the shades of grey, of centered energy just come out. So here’s Wynton Marsalis Live at Lincoln Center
What on earth could I possibly be after with some lines, some shades of grey and a song? The artist smiles because she only knows that she is after it, not what it will look like exactly… but then that is half the fun in Private Studio.
Remember? 1) Befriend random. 2) Experiment 3) The constant becomes you.
So take a look, enjoy the song and have a great weekend. Yes, there should be a beverage don’t you think or some Derby Naughty to get up to?
What about you? Do you go back in and play with your work? Does it have a song?
Welcome to Private Studio
April 24, 2009 by Janice · 10 Comments
As promised on Wednesday, here’s a peek at what happened after I cut up the painting.The 16 little cut up paintings became 3 assemblages for the Across the Tracks Blues Experiment Series. Look closely and you can find the pieces of painted Thai paper in the three Somerset paper assemblages below. What you’re looking at is raw material. Usually this is kept private until the “finished “form of it, whatever it is, is judged ready for public consumption, or exhibition. These are intuitive, unplanned, uninhibited, UNJUDGED marks and washes on paper. This is play. Better, this is play without expectations. This is me setting up some restrictions, some challenges, some questions….and letting go. There’s music that goes with the experiment. Music that brought this on. We’ll go into that next week. And while we’re at it, that part about suspending judgement? That, above all is the most important thing about Private Studio…and the hardest. That’s the part where you have to just have faith that the meaning will be found. That integration will come, and that your muse, and your heart are on the same team. So take a look, make comments, I welcome that… we’re just in the middle of this…and so far I am just as puzzled as I am excited. Just as uneasy as I am reassured. Just as much wanting to go back as to go forward. Yep. That means we’re on the right track. So welcome to Private Studio. It’s a place where maps are cut up, reassembled, tossed or made more deeply whole …it’s where we listen to our internal music and hope it doesn’t come up short.
Been there lately with your work?
And now, I really think we all get big pitchers of Naughty Margaritas. Make mine a Prickly Pear one. It’s Friday and it is not easy being naked in public…
