Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: Andrea Sherrill Evans, art, drawing, Heidi Hogden, Lego
Last Sunday, my friend and I went to the South End Open Studios. SO much fun! The nice thing about these open studios is that the majority of the artists are pretty impressive…AND you really do get to visit THEIR STUDIO!!! My tie for favorite snacks offered were either the crisp apples at Joel Janowitz’s studio (his work is also amazing), or the mini peanutbutter cups at a new gallery (whose name I cannot recall) in the Laconia Gallery building. I tried to appear as if I did not in fact want to snarf down the whole bowl of those things. That’s kind of frowned upon on a studio visit…
SO! I want to ramble on about two fabulous artists that were UBER impressive…and who can draw like CRAZY. The first artist is Heidi Hogden:
Heidi Hogden, Star Buck, 2011, graphite on paper, 48×35
This drawing is GORGEOUS. I mean…so beautiful. I was truly in awe at how amazing it is. Her work is just stunning. Please take a look at her link here. Much of her work is imagery from her Wisconsin home. Can I somehow emphasize enough how amazing I think her work is???? In my next life, I’m going to be her. Or Zooey Deschanel.
The second artist that I wanted to highlight also draws, but her work is typically silverpoint. Here is a piece by Andrea Sherrill Evans:
Andrea Sherrill Evans, Double Balaclava #2, 2007,
silverpoint and watercolor on prepared paper, 11×11
Her work is so…ethereal. The silverpoint makes the lines sooo delicate. These are an intimate size, and they definitely draw you in for a closer look. I love her interest in knitting, which appears in some of her work. I also think that her painting skills are lovely as well, as they work well together with the drawing. She was actually in her studio, and she was so friendly. I’m sure that she had good snacks too, but I don’t remember.
So, later today I’m having my FIRST session of my class, The Artist Professional Toolbox at Montserrat College. I’ll let you know how it goes. If I get any brilliant insights, I’ll be sure to pass them on. I might suggest that they have topics such as, “Grovelling 101”, or “Harrassment Laws in Massachusetts / The artist’s guide to approaching galleries”, or “‘My kid could do that!‘: Handling criticism constructively.” Crying is probably frowned upon, so I’ll try not to do that.
My own work ground to a halt this week. My husband is out of town, so I’m “single parenting” it this week. I also had an excessive number of errands to run. I did have time to do lots of Lego with my son. I’m pretty hopeless with Lego. I know…how is that possible? I’M AN ARCHITECT FORTHELOVEOFGOD. An example:
Okay. The “cool” ship/vehicle on the left is my husband’s. Clearly, he’s got this Lego thing down. Look at that La-Z-boy cockpit! The middle creation is my son’s. I love the multi-headed-person-mobile. Note the interesting lack of symmetry… I must nurture that lest he become too OCD like mommy. The sad little plane on the right is mine. Sigh. I have a tendency to make these squat little creations. My one bit of ingenuity was to stick the top of the ship on by actually attaching it to the top of the pilot’s head. Brilliant! I have no doubt that you will never see that being done by anyone who knows anything about Lego. Perhaps I should really be going to Lego school? I’ll go if they have good snacks.
Thanks be to Adria, my advisor extraordinaire! Yes, I met with her this morning in order to bemoan my angst-ridden existence as an artist. I wasn’t at the point that I needed to cut off an ear, mind you, but I felt defeated. (I decided to spare her my festering mom-angst complaints…) But THEN…she tells me that such despair is normal, and nothing to fret about. REALLY??? But, I’m so GOOD at fretting. I might say that it’s what I do best. But now… because I understand that struggle is NORMAL in the art world, I somehow feel better. Why is that??? I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m a moron and that it’s obvious that there is struggle in creation. Duh. Let me clarify: I think that there is a perception that renowned artists who are dead had lots of struggle in their life, but that any living artist worth her salt shouldn’t admit to struggle. She should appear matter-of-fact…as if the canvas/paper/clay WANTED to be that way. I remember someone in architecture school used to talk like that…”it wanted to be there/like that/bigger/smaller/etc.” I always thought that was a crafty way of turning what is a subjective statment into one that appears to be objective. My point is that no one likes to admit that they struggle. Right? This gives those of us who do struggle a migraine. Thoughts?
This weekend, I am planning on going to the South End Open Studios. Should be fun! I’ll report next week on my findings. I’ll also let you know who provided the best snacks.
So, my recent drawing is a self-portrait:
That’s it still on the board…closer:
Note the look of thoughtful and mild angst…I tried to be “realistic.” Actually, if I had truly wanted to be realistic, I would have put some crud on my shirt that my four-year old somehow got on me at breakfast time. I’m going to do another self-portrait. We’ll see what happens.
I have no brilliant artwork from my son. He does say the funniest things, though. Yesterday, at the dinner table, he told me that he was “weary and tired.” Such drama. At least he can express himself, and not automatically resort to a fatique-fueled meltdown. Why can’t we harness the energy of preschoolers for our energy shortages? I’m sure that a single classroom of them could power all of Vegas for a day. Or, if you throw in some cookies and chocolate milk…you can power it for an entire WEEK.
But I digress, as per usual.
I’ll end this post with the amazing work of someone who can draw like crazy!
Please watch this video HERE of him completing this drawing. Pretty amazing, right??? I notice that a little hand didn’t come over and put down some little conglomeration of Lego. Hmm. He must have different working conditions from me. I assume that he’s drawing from a computer image, but if that’s the view out his window…then his working conditions are RADICALLY different than mine. (I’m not complaining…just an observation, mind you…obviously, his studio must “want” to be that way…)
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., travel | Tags: architecture, cape cod, rest stops
I have no artwork to show you, as we were at the Cape last week. Sooo…lovely. I love escaping from my own house and routines. Yes, we still had to do the dishes, cooking, and laundry while we were there…BUT we didn’t have to WORK! (even though I love my work)
We went to the beach! We went for a walk! AND, I ate numerous fried clams and soft serve ice creams. I think that I gained ten pounds there…so I’m feeling a bit squishy as a result.
One fabulous thing that I got to do was go to the Provincetown Art Association (PAAM) for 20 WHOLE MINUTES, but hey…better than nothing! (note the air of grouchy domestic angst)
It’s a lovely building designed by Machado Silvetti. Check it out:
Apparently, there was a lot of flak from locals who wanted the building to look like an old house, even though the NEW building WASN’T an old house. This gives many architects migraines, including me. I understand that people are more comfortable with a plastic McMansion (which is bad), than a contemporary eyesore (which is also bad). BUT…if you hire talented people, you can get contemporary, contextual AND beautiful. Sometimes, though…I don’t totally begrudge fake-traditional. Take the rest stops on the Mass Pike:
It looks like residential architecture, not commercial. Maybe that’s ok in this instance, as people are travelling and would prefer to be led to believe that they’re eating at someone’s “house”, and not in a “food court”??? Those dormer windows though…there isn’t anything up there. I tried to find an example of good, contemporary rest stop design…but I couldn’t find anything.
This is a reststop in Georgia. No, not our Georgia…the other one. It’s by J. Mayer H. architects in Germany. Now, I’m NOT suggesting that this would have been good for the Mass Pike…but they’ve definitely not made their reststop into a McMansion. Here’s a little airport that they did:
Now, THAT…I think is lovely. We’d never do that in the US. Sad.
ANYHOO…what a ridiculous tangent! I was going to talk about the Robert Motherwell show at the PAAM, but instead I got onto REST STOPS???? What’s wrong with me?
Just so you know…the Motherwell show was lovely. He has a series of ink drawings which are meant to embody the power and force of the sea. They were really amazing.
If you can get to the show…I’d recommend it. It’s open until Sept. 30. I may be inspired to thow some paint around as a result. Looking at the state of our kitchen cabinets, though… what I should actually be doing is picking up a brush and painting those instead. Maybe they need some splashy black blotches on them? No? Could go with the splashy dirt blotches? Eww…so gross.
Just kidding! (nervous laughter)
I should probably go on some kind of diet now to lose my fried clam pudge. Maybe I’ll start by only eating stuff that we grow in our garden??? Example:
This is our carrot. I’m going to look like Heidi Klum in a week if I stick to this diet!
Actually, the odds are not good that I will either:
a. stick to a diet
b. look like Heidi Klum…EVER.
The bottom of her FOOT is probably nicer than mine. Actually, everyone within a 1/2 mile radius is likely to have more pampered feet than I have. Hmph. At least I don’t wear those shoes with the toes. Perhaps, I should, though….
slightly wonky 