Filed under: Drawing, painting, Photography | Tags: art, Dinosaur Train, Groundhog Day, Toyota Matrix
Dear Town of Arlington, MA,
The next time that you decide not to declare a snow day, would you please also plow the roads?
Thank you.
So, today is NOT a snow day…but my son is home with me because our road was impossible for me to drive on. I got 25′ from the house, turned the car around (carefully), and headed back. BAH! So much for some sanity today. The only reason I can even write this is because he’s watching Dinosaur Train right now. Bad mommy!
I think that I just heard a plow go by. Maybe it’s not to late to go to school? Sigh. Maybe it’s not too late to trade in my little Toyota Matrix for a dog sled team? I’d even settle for a cat sled team today…ech…forget it.
[update: 3+ hours have gone by and the roads are still a mess…helllooooo???]
Luckily, yesterday was clear weather, so I managed to go down to the South End to check out what’s in the galleries now. Lucky me! I’m going to try to go more regularly…SO MUCH GOOD STUFF!
This GORGEOUS pencil drawing is by Sandra Allen at Carroll and Sons Gallery. I have seen her work online, and I think that I even featured her once before in an earlier post. Well…as is with most things, seeing the work in person was 1000 times better than seeing it on the internet. I was pretty much awestruck by how absolutely beautiful her work is. Look at that texture! Look at the amazing range of values! Once again, if you are in the Boston area….GO SEE THIS SHOW. NOW. (how do I convey a stern look and wagging finger?) The art gods have spoken.
Next:
These drawings are enormous, and they aren’t even her largest work, which is also flabbergasting.
Tree trunks! What a beautiful and simple subject! I really could have stared at them all day.
Here is the look of the gallery:
Carroll and Sons recently renovated their space. This room is unchanged (I think), but beyond the wall on the right are two new spaces. They used to have their office back there, so I’m not sure where the offices went! Anyway, the renovation looks great too. Don’t you love how the wood flooring is on the diagonal? I love that. That wasn’t part of the renovation, but I still love it.
Bromfield Gallery is showing the work of Kathleen Volp:
Kathleen Volp, White Madonna, 40″x35″
I wasn’t familiar with her work, even though I’d heard her name quite often. I liked the overall palette. All of the materials that she used had a strong character.
Kathleen Volp, I am My Father’s Daughter, 54″x54″
This one felt so “architectural”, and not just because of the Lincoln Logs…
Kathleen Volp, I am My Father’s Daughter (detail), 54″x54″
Yes, that’s a vintage box of painted pink Lincoln Logs! I found this piece to be poignant as some kind of communication with her father. I wonder if he’s seen it? I almost feel that the box of pink Lincoln Logs is enough of a piece itself. But the big 2D portion of the piece is pretty impressive as well.
Gallery Kayafas has photographs by Guillermo Srodek-Hart:
I LOVED these photos. The series is titled, “Interiors.” Each was a photo of an interior filled with objects…the inside of a little shop…the inside of a deli, etc. The colors and the images were mesmerizing. I am actually not often as interested in photography (see how ignorant I am?). THESE photographs, however, were amazing. Look at the color palette! This is another must see show. I wish that I had time to look at each photo one for an hour. Unfortunately, the meters in Boston are expensive and fiendishly monitored by the parking evildoers. It’s 12 minutes for one quarter. Sheesh! Also, after two hours, you have to move your car. By move your car, they don’t just mean move it to another spot right near the one you already have. OH NO. You have to move the car off of that ENTIRE BLOCK. (Fat chance!) But I digress…
Kingston Gallery is showing the work of Rose Olson:
Her series, Light Moves, works with translucent layers of paint washed over cradled plywood, with intermittent opaque bands of color. What I liked about these was that her work made you feel as if the pieces were being lit up by a colored light source or dichroic glass.
La Defense offices by UN Studio
Similar palette? I found that optical effect to be pretty interesting. I think that she also uses some interference paint.
Howard Yezerski Gallery has the work of Barbara Grad:
This series is titled, “Lost Horizons.” While these paintings are abstract, the collage-like areas of stripes made me think of fields of grain, or bodies of water. The piece above was one of my favorites. This may not be the correct analysis of the work, but I feel that they have a “quilt-like” quality to them. Sort of like Gee’s Bend on hallucinogens.
No? Or maybe I just need to get out of the house and get some fresh air? Oh wait…I forgot that we’re still in the middle of a BLIZZARD. Did that useless groundhog see its shadow??? Perhaps it was just the lights from the news cameras that created the fraudulent shadow.
Right now, my stir crazy child is upside-down on the couch screaming and laughing maniacally. No, he’s not 30. He’s 5. I think that this post will have to end early as I can barely keep my sanity, never mind form a complete sentence. I was supposed to create a “marketing plan” for my class tomorrow. Oh well! I keep having to look up what a marketing plan IS. At least I have identified my main challenge to getting any work done: being a parent of a crazy child who is acts as if he just ate the frosting section of the grocery store.
I can’t wait for Easter.
I may have to build myself an igloo today just to get some peace and quiet. Or maybe I’ll just lie down outside for 10 minutes and get buried under a foot of snow? Maybe if I wrap my puffy robe around my head, instead of my body, this will muffle the sound of preschool insanity emanating from my slightly unstable, yet loveable, child?
Maybe not…
Filed under: Drawing, painting, printmaking | Tags: Arlington Center, art, Dinosaur, Lego, Mixed media, monotype, printmaking, sculpture
No, that’s not what I saw on the scale this morning! I mean: do you know that I’ve done 200 posts on this blog? No joke! Sometimes I scroll back to early posts just to see what’s been happening over the past couple of years. Hmmm. Not as much as one might hope for. No one has offered me a solo NYC show yet. Can you believe it? WHAT’S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE???? Clearly, I am the only one who basks in my artistic brilliance. (ummm…I’m kidding) I may have to shut off the “comments” feature with this post…the beauty of the internet is that I can’t see anyone rolling their eyes right now…
Perhaps instead of revealing my true struggles on this blog, I should create a faux online persona of artistic brilliance. I could create faux galleries that represent me and who gush over my faux creations. I could also imply that although I’m almost 40, I have no gray hairs and look like Zoey Deschanel.
None of this would be true, of course. My sham persona would soon be discovered. So, I’ve had to rely on the truth on this blog, and it’s often not so pretty, or exciting. Perhaps you’re relieved to know that your life isn’t so wrapped up in drivel and nonsense as mine? Perhaps you’re relieved to know that I keep a messy house, with Lego bits and dust bunnies brazenly staring me down every morning as I walk to the kitchen? Yes, I’ve heard of a mop, a broom, AND a vacuum. I just don’t choose to use them very often. Maybe if I think of housework as some kind of domestic performance art, I might get slightly more interested…
This week, I went to the Arlington Center for the Arts to see a show they have of faculty artwork. I’ve taken a drawing class there with a teacher who is funny and talented. Here is the work that she submitted:
Connie Thibaut, Memento Mori, Mixed Media
This looks to be a “trace monotype.” Can you see how amazing her drawings are? She tends to do surrealist subjects. I thought that this was really lovely. Look at the doll/person’s hand in the upper right! Beautiful. I couldn’t find a website for her. CONNIE, YOU NEED A WEBSITE. EVEN IF IT IS A FAKE PERSONA. I know. Some people have standards, and don’t feel like revealing their ineptitude online. Go figure. Next:
A. Kristina Goransson, Collection III & Collection IV, Felted & Dyed Wool
Isn’t that beautiful? These are two, separate works of art, but they do look so amazing together, don’t they? Her website is here. Check it out. All of these pieces are felted wool. SO interesting! I love how delicate they are. I wish that I knew her, as I’d ask her if I could touch one of them…(the inner preschooler in me.) Next:
Gloria Calderon-Saenz, Rivers and Nests #4, Acrylic on wood
Isn’t that gorgeous? It looks like she paints the surface of the wood, then carves it to create the image. I loved this. Check out her website here. She has another one:
Gloria Calderon-Saenz, Open Nests, Acrylic on wood
I love how graphic these are. The texture is also gorgeous, but you can’t see that from the photo. If you’re in the area, you should stop by this show in Arlington. The gallery is small, but these works (and others) are really worth it.
This week, my son’s artistic brilliance was to create this:
Do you know what that is? THAT’S THE STATUE OF LIBERTY! I thought that was pretty cool. Maybe he’ll be a sculptor when he grows up? Take a look at this:
Maybe I should suggest that he NOT become a sculptor? Isn’t that kind of deranged looking? This is the kind of stuff that I’m constantly tripping over around here. Creepy. You’d think that I’d clean up more often just so that this kind of stuff wasn’t glaring at me all day. I know…get the broom…yadda yadda yadda.
Well, it’s lunchtime. Time to go forage for something to eat…perhaps a rice crispy treat or two? (or three?).
If I sandwich two of them together with peanut butter, does that make them more nutritious? Discuss.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, Damien Hirst, drawing, Ikea, John Kerry, Pencil, playdoh, portrait
So, I survived a trip to Ikea this week with my 5 yr old son. I think that because he found an enormous stuffed leopard to carry around with him and call, “Lepy”, he was reasonably accommodating. Yes, I am not beyond bribery, and yes…at least it was on sale…
He looks sort of sweet, right? Trust me…he came to our house bearing the filth of being dragged around Ikea. Now we have a UN of filth in our house…our domestic filth intermingling with this international/Swedish filth. Maybe I should be Secretary of State instead of John Kerry, based upon my diplomatic prowess in successfully bringing my 5 yr old through Ikea? Maybe if we bought everyone in Syria a “Lepy”, things would be better? Hmm…perhaps not. I’d better stick to being a domestic goddess, or demigod, rather, and leave the real problems in life to those more capable…
Case in point: this is the latest playdoh project that my son and I made:
Wouldn’t Martha Stewart be proud?
We decided that making a multicolor patty was clearly the best use of playdoh. Forget those fancy moulds and cookie cutters…PSHAW! (not MOLD…mind you, I’m not THAT bad of a housekeeper) Can’t you see Damien Hirst doing something like this??? No?
Is it not the sculptural equivalent of THIS?:
Damien Hirst, Beautiful revolving sphincter, oops brown painting, 2003
No?
Do I need to get out of suburbia more often?
Probably. Maybe we do have mold, and the spores are starting to affect my brain…
So, I finally got a chance to update my website with new artwork. YES! So, I’m going to do a little self promotion now…you’d better grab that double espresso…
Elizabeth Kostojohn, Are You Still There? #1, 2012, 15″x20″, Graphite on mylar
This series is titled, Are You Still There?, and it’s about the struggle to communicate in our significant relationships. (Everything is fine, Honeeeeeey!!! xoxoxo)
Elizabeth Kostojohn, Are You Still There? #2, 2012, 15″x20″, Graphite on mylar
Next:
Elizabeth Kostojohn, Are You Still There? #3, 2012, 15″x20″, Graphite on mylar
Next:
Elizabeth Kostojohn, Are You Still There? #4, 2012, 15″x20″, Graphite on mylar
Next:
Elizabeth Kostojohn, Are You Still There? #5, 2012, 15″x20″, Graphite on mylar
What do you think?
Do you know what I think?
I think that it’s going to be next to impossible to get people to volunteer to model for me…that’s what. Actually, my son wants me to draw him. Seeing as he typically refuses to have his picture taken, resulting in multitudes of photos of the side of his head, I’m surprised to hear that he wants me to draw a picture of him. Perhaps he only means a drawing of the side of his head? Hmm. Example:
Classic. Even less subtle:
Okay…okay…I can take a hint. Sheesh. I’m sure that Durer never had this problem…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, housewife, John Wilson, playground, Stop & Shop
Well, winter has arrived in New England. Joy.
Yes, that’s FOUR DEGREES! I know…those of you above the arctic circle are laughing. Let me describe for you the layers of clothes that I must wear INDOORS: undershirt, then fleece long underwear top, then wool long underwear top, then a fleece jacket, and then my mint green fuzzy robe on top. Oh, I know…my outfit is “suburban housewife AWESOME”. I’m not taking a picture of it, though. I don’t want it to go viral and waste my fifteen minutes of fame on being the latest “Domestic Loser a.k.a. The Mint Green Marshmallow Mommy” on Reddit.
The big highlight of this week was my trip to the Danforth Museum. I LOVE that museum. They currently have a show of the works of John Wilson. Let me just tell you…his drawings/paintings/lithographs were STUNNING. I mean, drop dead stunning. Look at the lithograph of a baby held in a man’s lap:
John Wilson, Child with Father, 1968, lithograph
Okay, so my photo had an awful glare…this is from the Boston Globe:
John Wilson, Child with Father, 1968, lithograph
Isn’t that so beautiful??? His works were MESMERIZING. The density and the sensitivity with which he drew was really breathtaking. I honestly feel that I could look at that print for days. Look at the baby’s face! Look at the hands of baby and father interlocked! Am I the only one out there who is in awe of this??? IT’S AMAZING. More:
John Wilson, Self Portrait #4, 1997, ink
Again, sorry for the annoying glare. I am astounded by this drawing. Is he not so masterful at describing form??? If you are in the Boston area…you really MUST see this show. It’s open until March 24. I’m going to go often, so I may see you there. (You’ll recognize me as the rumpled housewife in the mint green robe.) More:
John Wilson, Roz #15, 1972, black pastel on paper
This is an enormous drawing. It’s so dramatic, and his lines are so gorgeous. Martha Richardson Fine Art here in Boston has quite a few of his works (and they own the drawing above). PLEASE check out their website here. His work captured many views of his world…both personal and societal. Some images are of injustice and despair, while others exude the palpable love that he had for the subject. I know that sounds sappy, but his work is so full of quiet emotion. I loved this show. I’ll have to go back many more times before it closes.
It made me think of the quiet emotion in my life…like, how I hate grocery shopping, plastic bags, and Stop & Shop. You know…really poignant stuff. This was the highlight of my grocery shopping week:
Work of Unknown Artist at Whole Foods in Woburn, MA
Okay. Don’t laugh, but I love this. WHO DID THIS???? It was up (stapled, actually) on the wall in the seating area of my local Whole Foods. IT MADE ME ACTUALLY LOVE THE GROCERY STORE…MOMENTARILY… Seriously, though…don’t you love this??? It’s a construction paper collage with marker. SO BRILLIANT. I didn’t see a price, so I assume that it’s not for sale. Too bad. Actually, because it was at Whole Foods, I know that I wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway. Hmph. (for those of you that don’t know…Whole Foods has the nickname “Whole Paycheck” because purchasing a single tomato requires a home equity loan.)
Speaking of crafty brilliance, here’s something that I made this week that I’m sooo proud of:
No, not the crumbs on the floor…the PAPER SPIDER! My five year old son asked me to make him a Mesothelae out of paper. What’s that, you may ask? Oh, just an enormous, prehistoric spider. I initially balked at his request, as he handed me several sheets of 8 1/2″ x 11″ printer paper. BUT LOOK! Didn’t I do a good job??? Do you think that I should give up pursuing art and just make prehistoric paper things? Hmm. Maybe. Maybe if I brought it to the Paper Source, I could get a “real” job. I’d probably have to get rid of the mint green robe though, so forget it.
Daddy has been out of town this week, so Mommy has had to come up with many fun thing to do in order for her to keep her sanity:
1. Turtle Bread
2. Lego subway station
3. Old school wooden playground.
This is an awesome playground that has an ENORMOUS, vintage wooden climbing structure. They are a dying breed typically replaced by the safe (a.k.a. boring) modern ones made of plastic. Pshaw. LOOK:
Isn’t that GREAT? Sigh. A true sign of getting old is reminiscing about playground equipment. Perhaps instead of moping about my age, I’ll celebrate my Gen X status by eating a fruit roll up whilst I watch reruns of Voltron and crimp my hair.
I know. Not cool. Sooo not cool.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, Dinosaur, drawing, Paleontology, parenting
So, I recently brought my son to a dinosaur exhibit at the Boston World Trade Center.
Total. Parental. Hell.
I imagined that there would be oh…50 or so of these large scale dinosaurs to look at. Great.
There were actually more like 15, which only filled 1/5 of the expo hall space. What was in the rest of the space, you may ask? Well…the rest of the space was devoted to:
1. A store where your children could obsess over dinosaur paraphernalia,
2. A dino bouncy house, for which you had to stand in ANOTHER a mile long line to BUY tickets for (because the tickets that you bought to get into it didn’t count), and
3. A dino mini-golf area, where you also needed to stand in the four hour line to BUY more tickets.
It was a total dino-scam. Do NOT go. Luckily, my son didn’t want to do the bouncy house or mini golf. He did want a mini paleontologist kit, though. I thought it sounded harmless enough…you dig out bones from a block of something. Cool, right?
Oh…SO unbelievably NOT cool. SO MUCH FILTH. There was dust EVERYWHERE… thick, reddish plaster dust EVERYWHERE. There was so much dust that I thought my son and I would develop black lung and/or a nasty rash. I am the worst housekeeper ever, but even I was in a filth panic. Me! Parents…do NOT buy this gift in the winter. This is an OUTDOOR gift. Actually, you may want to just forget it altogether.
DO NOT BUY THIS, EVER.
Yes, my son did work on it from 11:30 am – 3:30pm , with a brief break for lunch…but still. It was NOT worth it. I suggest that you be the slacker parent and neither take your kid to the dino-scam exhibit, nor buy this educational toy.
Consider yourself warned. So there.
I had high hopes of going to see some art this week, but it didn’t happen. I did install a cabinet door myself, though! Only 17 more to go! Woo hoo!
Here is a recent concern of mine that I’d like your feedback on:
My son can sometimes be a happy normal kid, and draw stuff like this:
These are aliens, I think.
Or, he can be kind of high strung, and draw things like this (on the other side):
(I erased the background scribbles from the other side for clarity)
Do you think that I should be concerned? Who was this for??? Me? What was I not supposed to touch? Wha? Thoughts?
This drawing, and other instances, sometimes make me feel unwanted. Example:
This lego ship is apparently using the couch. I guess I’ll just go sit on the floor with the red plaster dust and be sure not to touch anything. Is he trying to tell me something?
Don’t mind me…I just work here…
Just so that you don’t feel totally gypped from seeing any art, I’ve found this cool artist online:
Original Drawing of [Expedia City Breaks:Paris], 2012, pen on kentboard, h.42×w.29.7cm., Ogilvy & Mather collection
Kind of crazy, right? Look at this detail:
Detail of Original Drawing of [Expedia City Breaks:Paris], 2012, pen on kentboard, h.42×w.29.7cm., Ogilvy & Mather collection
ISN”T THAT SO COOL???? He/she draws these incredible images with tons of doodle-esque characters! AMAZING!!! Isn’t that incredible??? Talk about skill. I would like it more if he/she would not choose these famous images, but instead drew images from his own life. What do you think? Comments? Isn’t he/she SUPER TALENTED????? Check out the website here. Also, if anyone can clarify if Sagati is male or female, I’d appreciate it. (ありがとう)
Wish me luck avoiding the flu epidemic here!!! I’m going to go now and order a haz-mat suit online. I hope that I can wear it on top of my snuggie!!!
Filed under: Drawing, travel | Tags: art, artist, Baking, Christmas, Gingerbread, Joseph Carroll, Salve Regina University
Why are the holidays always so exhausting? I feel as if I’m at mile 20 of a marathon. (Can I say that even if I don’t exercise / dislike sweating?) Hmm. Perhaps not. I guess that my main stress is that my endless holiday errands are preventing me from getting any work done (I mean drawings, not housework). Take, for example, yesterday…I had to mail a big package off to my nephews. I took the gifts to UPS to see how much they would charge to send them. $20 minimum to ship (as they weren’t packed yet) and an extra $14 if I wanted them to pack it. WHAT???? That’s SO expensive! So, I planned to pack it myself. I asked them how much a cardboard box was. They said $10. WHAT???? Are you on crack? For a piece of CARDBOARD???? Disgruntled, I walked out with my gifts. So, I decided to go to Staples to get my packing supplies…$4 for a box (more sane) and $7 for packing peanuts (eco-friendly-corn-based, mind you, I could have had them for breakfast with some milk…). THEN, I take my self-packed box over to the post office…and it turns out to be $25 to send it parcel post with signature required.
The moral of the story: I should have just paid UPS $35 to send it. I hardly saved any money, and I spent LOTS of time running around like an angry housewife (which I am).
I tried to get into the holiday spirit this week by making a gingerbread house FROM SCRATCH with my son. It started off okay:
Everything was fine…until the pastry bag.
I’ve decided that several things are tools of the devil:
1. pastry bags
2. tinsel
3. packing tape that splits every time you try to peel it off the roll
Notice how they are all holiday related…it’s those three things have made my holiday season MUCH more distressing than is needed. Anyhoo…the pasty bag. The first time that you fill it…it’s sort of ok. Yes, I managed to drop some icing, and YES, there was icing oozing out of the top of the bag as I was squeezing it…but those challenges pale in comparison to this: refilling the bag. HOW ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH IS ONE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT???? Peeling apart the squished sides of the bag in order to attempt to shove in goopy icing, which is simultaneously falling off of the spatula, was a joke. There was icing everywhere. It was: a. in my hair, b. on the dishwasher, c. on the floor, d. on the UPPER kitchen cabinets, and e. partially on the gingerbread. Mommy was trying not to have an aneurism. Luckily, the house turned out fine:
Not bad, right? Notice how the trees in front had no frosting. Forget it. I’d had it by then. Notice also the odd lump of gingerbread in front of the left tree. My son made that. Apparently, it’s a ball. It sort of looks like a present from a large rabbit, but I decided not to tell him that. From reading all of my parenting books, I think that would have been “detrimental to his self esteem”. Needless to say, I’m not eating that thing.
In a fit of desperation, I drove to Newport, Rhode Island on Wednesday. That’s almost a two-hour drive EACH WAY. Why, would I do such an inane thing when I’m so busy, you ask? Because I had to SOMEHOW shoehorn in some “ME” time. I drove there to see a drawing show. Yes, “LocatingPLACE”, curated by Joseph Carroll, was at Salve Regina University. This show is only open until Dec. 19, so HURRY.
I have some images from the show. Generally, I loved the work. Some of it I had seen before, but that didn’t bother me one bit. Here are some of the highlights:
2012, Graphite on paper, 30″ x 40″
Okay. THAT is just plain brilliant. This is an aerial view of the “Mall of America”…drawn in graphite. This is a spectacular drawing. I love how it looks like some kind of Beaux Arts rendering of an ancient Roman ruin…except that it’s a MALL. So soooo brilliant. I even love the title, which is the link to the view. PLEASE look at his website here. This was just a gorgeous drawing that I could have stared at ALL DAY. (I only allowed myself 45 minutes in the gallery, however…I’m on a short leash here).
Next:
Carly Glovinski, Area 8, 2011, ink, graphite, colored pencil on paper, 11″ x 14″
Just look at that for a minute…it looks like an abstract work, almost like a small weaving, right? Well, it’s not. It’s an interpretation of a PHONE BOOK. I love this. How beautiful is that??? She’s brilliant. She has a series of these, and they are sooo fascinating. Glovinski captures so much with this drawing: abstraction…modernity…obsolescence…memory…humanity…
I bask in her artistic brilliance.
Next:
Nancy Murphy Spicer, Biking in Berlin 12, Biking in Berlin 13, Biking in Berlin 15,
2010, Flashe, gouache, collage on guidebook page, 8.25″ x 5.75″
This is a beautiful series created from painted/collaged guidebook pages. Each one is so beautiful and delicate. What you can’t see here, is that some of the colored forms appear to be not just collaged ONTO the paper behind, but they are actually SPLICED in. So lovely. These feel so architectural to me. I think it’s because of the splicing. Look at this lovely way that the exhibition was hung as well:
Nancy Murphy Spicer, Biking in Berlin 28, Biking in Berlin 44, Biking in Berlin 66, Biking in Berlin 79,
2010, Flashe, gouache, collage on guidebook page, 8.25″ x 5.75″
Don’t you love that? I thought that was really brilliant and compelling.
Next:
Andrea Sherrill Evans, Marker #2, 2012, Silverpoint and acrylic on prepared paper, 29 1/2″ x 33″]
This was gorgeous. Not only have I seen her work before, but I actually met her once! Her studio is in the South End, and I was lucky enough to stumble upon it. I love the mix of delicate marks with the splotch of paint. Her work is really delicate and beautiful. I’m sure that she’s getting tired of hearing the word “ethereal”, but too bad. Her work is stunning and ethereal.
Next:
Raphael Griswold, Assignments (46 drawings from the series),
2008 and ongoing, Mixed media on paper, 9.75″ x 9.75″
There were several of these drawings laid out on a table. Each one was colorful and with an amazing mix of media. I love his sense of color and how he uses the disparate materials to create different textures or qualities. He sometimes washed ink or watercolor over a resistant crayon or oil pastel texture, creating really beautiful effects. I love that these are small and not fussy…with a great variety of color and marks. His subject matter seemed to be the built environment in nature. I wish that I could have seen more of them…beautiful!
Speaking of beautiful drawings (prepare yourself for a typical annoying segue…), check out the latest from my son:
LOOK HOW CUTE!!! Those are space aliens. I like how geometric they are. I also like that he’s starting to write by himself. Look at their legs especially…aren’t they great??? I wish that I could get him to stop drawing on the back of each drawing…this is another one:
Apparently, this is a mommy alien and her baby. No, I didn’t reverse the image…my son just wrote “mommy” completely backwards. Should I be concerned? Hmm. Is it dyslexia when someone turns an entire word backwards? Hmm. It may be several years before I give him my car keys.
I’m off to go dream about drawings and distress about dyslexia whilst I grouch my way over to Stop & Shop.
Stay sane…
(I’ll try and do the same.)
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., painting, travel | Tags: art, berkshires
Yes, we’re bracing ourselves for hurricane Sandy. She’s a-comin’, and no one is looking forward to her arrival. How have I prepared? Umm…I bought a couple of cans of soup? It turns out there are no more D batteries for sale in the entire state. Considering that my 4 yr old son LOVES to play with our ONLY flashlight, we may be in for some lighting “challenges” here when we lose power. I’m also thinking of the general domestic challenge to be locked in the house all day with my 4 yr old. I may have to be like Odysseus and lash myself to the bannister outside the house just to get some “me” time in the midst of this “epic” storm. Did I mention that my son also has a raging cold? Ah yes…there’s a storm of viruses swirling around in the house from his hacking and sneezing. Blech. I can practically FEEL my white blood cells reeling from the onslaught of germs. I think that if there ever is “germ warfare” against our country, it will be the parents and teachers of preschoolers that have a chance of survival from our “special forces” immune system. My throat does feel scratchy. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m getting sick, or if it’s because I just ate a gross quantity of Trader Joe’s “pirate’s booty.” (puffed corn blobs covered with powdered white cheddar….YUMMY!) But I digress…actually, I haven’t really even gotten started yet. Sigh.
ANYHOO, this weekend…my husband and I took our yearly pilgrimage to the Berkshires to the Lodge where we were married. I love going there…it’s so laid back and idyllic. Did I mention that my mother watched my son for the weekend? Yes, we were kid-free for 48 hrs. Did I also mention that my son decided to sleep in until 8am this morning? His normal time to wake up is 5:30. WHY does he sleep in ONLY for Grandma??? But I digress, again.
Doesn’t that look peaceful and dreamy? I love the Berkshires.
One of the decadent things about going to the Berkshires is going to Mass MOCA. This is a large contemporary art museum in a renovated complex of factory buildings. I have to say, I really loved quite a bit of what I saw there on this visit. I’ve got photos of the highlights to share with you. The current exhibition is focused on Canadian contemporary art.
Bloodie is Born, and Born Again, 2009
Angel Trumpet Flower of Death, 2008
Wow. I LOVED these paintings. They are ink and gouache on paper, and they are GORGEOUS. I know that the imagery is disturbing, but I thought that her work was stunning. They have the look of historic book illustrations, but the scenes are bizarre. Her minimal use of color in the predominantly B&W paintings was amazing. I’m a big fan. (Hint. Hint. Just in case any of you have started your holiday shopping early!)
Joking, of course.
Etienne Zack, Silent Frames, 2011, Oil on Linen
This painting was over 8’x12′ in size. It was stunning. I really could have looked at it all day. I love the scene, the color palette, the space she creates, the odd moonlit feeling of it…so gorgeous. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but she also had elements like the wood posts with transparent reddish ghosts of the forms nearby, which almost made the image look like a manipulated photograph in a way. So incredibly brilliant.
Clay slab, 2007, watercolor on paper
Paper #2, 2007, watercolor on paper.
Yes, read that again. Those are WATERCOLORS… and they are BIG. Each one is around 3’x4′. I especially love “Clay Slab.” It’s gorgeous. You can almost feel the cold, wetness of the clay, right? These were outrageously stunning. His technical skill was also mind boggling. I love the limited palette and hyper-real quality. I’m telling you…GO. SEE. THIS. SHOW. NOW. Next:
Chris Millar, 370H55V, 2011, mixed media
This was fantastic. Here is a detail:
Chris Millar, 370H55V, 2011, mixed media (detail)
This was outrageous and amazing. I used to have a fascination with miniature things, and this sculpture was the EPITOME of the kind of miniscule things that I used to love. Here, though, it’s a freestanding agglomeration of childhood curiosities and total excess. I LOVED it. It’s hard for me to know what to say, but it seriously held both nostalgia and joy for me…as if I was stepping into some forgotten recess of my childhood. It’s made so much more perfect with that galaxy background that he created. Sheer genius. Here is another of his works:
Chris Millar, Uncharted Galvanized Hut, 2008, acrylic on canvas
This was also amazing. Again, I loved the density of it. The other thing was that it had almost a 3D/embossed look to it, where different elements were raised and layered upon other elements. It was almost like a painting decoupage. This artist just oozes brilliance.
Uncharted 4 (2011), Uncharted 2 (2011-12), Uncharted 1 (2011-12)
Uncharted 5 (2011-12), Uncharted 3 (2011-12), Uncharted 6 (2011-12)
All are acrylic on panel
Okay. I love her work. It’s SO architectural, but not stuffy or static. I’ve seen her works before at the DeCordova Museum, but this work is even better (IMHO). I love the collage-feel, the layering, and the enormous depth and dimensionality that she creates. These crazy constructs float in a field of color, like some kind of vignettes of part of a building or part of an experience. Gorgeous.
I included this photo just so that you can get a sense of the scale of some of the rooms at Mass MOCA. This room is enormous. See that blurry thing floating halfway up the wall at the end? This is what it is:
Hmm. No comment.
I must admit, I have been to Mass Moca many times, but there has only been one time when I truly loved what an artist did with that huge space. Ann Hamilton is an installation artist whose work was titled, Corpus. Here is the exhibition catalog. She truly made the space into a work of art. She had several tall reams of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper up at the rafters in different locations. Then, a robot/machine would move along some tracks to a stack of paper, pick up the top paper with suction, then drive back over to a random point on the tracks and then with a “puff” sound…drop the paper to the ground. The entire floor was covered with the paper, and random pieces would be falling intermittently around you. In addition, she had a grid of megaphone shaped speakers which would descend in unison to the floor, then raise again. I can’t remember the sound coming from the speakers, but I remember the “puff” sound when the robot would release the paper. Oh yeah..the windows were all tinted pink. It was brilliant.
Mass MOCA has other amazing spaces:
This sliver of space separates is also amazing. Look at the brickwork! Crazy. The grand finale is, of course, Sol LeWitt.
His work is located on three floors, with the early works on the lowest floors, and then you progress upwards to more recent work. This man could do anything with geometry. I love that triangle wall.
While I loved the walls with the eye-pain inducing colors, I was really drawn to the walls of graphite drawing:
Yes, those are graphite drawings. On the walls. Closer:
Mindblowing, right? These drawings (or whatever I should call them) are stunning. Such beauty in their chaos and order! More:
I know that I’m obviously enamored with graphite, as it’s the medium that I’ve chosen to grapple with. These works really elevate graphite to stratospheric levels. It makes me want to grab a pencil and start scribbling on the walls (at home, of course.) But, as I can’t do that while telling my son that he’s not allowed to, I’ll just have to restrain myself. If you feel that this whole post has been a parade of superlatives, check out the last work that was in an alcove next to these LeWitt masterpieces:
I can’t remember if the title of this was, “Bucket and Mop, Alone at Last“, or “I Thought You Loved Me?“, or “Everything Filthy Must be Mine.” JUST KIDDING! This really was just a mop and bucket in the corner. Fooled ya, right? Just keeping you on your toes…seeing if you were paying attention or daydreaming about all of the better things that you could be doing with your time besides actually READING this blog.
I’m going to post this now before we lose power from raging SANDY. Feel free to send me care packages. I’m partial to cookies and pirate’s booty.
Filed under: Drawing | Tags: art, Cereal, Chex, embroidery, Needlework, Oreo
Has anyone out there ever been to Concord? It’s probably the last place to have “palooza” after its name. It is an immaculate/supercute New England town. Why do I bring it up? Well, because ten of my drawings are at the Concord Art Association!!! The opening/reception was on Thursday night (yes, I had to miss the finale of Project Runway, but I’d like to think that I have my priorities straight.) The show is “Consuming Passion: Food as Metaphor in Art.” (Brief aimless tangent: I arrived slightly early for the opening (try to be surprised), and because I had not eaten dinner…I thought that I’d walk into the downtown and grab something from somewhere. WELL, Concord is so swanky and nice that there WASN’T anyplace to GRAB something. That’s too ghetto. No joke! There were either lovely restaurants…or lovely inedible items, like fancy clothes or jewelry. Sigh. Thus, I had to snarf down lots of snacks at the reception.)
OKAY. End of tangent. Here are nine of my drawings in all of their black and white glory:
WOO HOO! Lookin’ good! My babies! Where is the tenth drawing, you ask? On the opposite wall. He’s lonely and orphaned, but it’s okay. I was really happy to see the group of them on the wall. I saw someone ALMOST touch one of them, but they didn’t. Umm…really? Overprotective mommy here…PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE DRAWINGS, areyoufrigginkiddingme? Some of my big-hearted friends asked why I didn’t bring my son to the reception. Enough said.
But enough about me…I’ve got some pictures of some of the other FASCINATING works (because my stuff is obviously fascinating as well, thankyouverymuch):
Hannah Perrine Mode, Weight and Sea I, 2011, 84″ x 30″, oil on canvas
This enormous and lovely painting is by Hannah Perrine Mode. I actually got a chance to chat with her a bit. She was lovely and friendly and I wish her loads of success, as she has recently moved to NYC. I really love that piece. Must. Sell. Art. In. Order. To. Buy. It. She said that she has to work much MUCH smaller, as she’s got a tiny place in Manhattan. My work, in contrast, is already tiny. See! My work is MADE for NYC! Right??? You must agree.
Some other fascinating work by Judith Klausner:
Judith Klausner, Cereal Sampler #2: The Most Important Meal, 2010, Chex corn cereal and thread
Yes. She. Did. (1 of 3):
She did embroidery on CEREAL. Not kidding. So awesome. Look at the date. IT’S TWO YEARS OLD! Even better. Next:
Judith Klausner, Oreo Cameo #10, 2011, Oreo sandwich cookie
Yes. She. Did. (2 of 3):
She sculpted a “cameo” portrait from an OREO. AN OREO!!!!
Not kidding. Awesomer. Next:
Judith Klausner, Toast Embroidery #1: Egg on Toast, 2010, Toast, thread, paper (structural)
Yes. She. Did. (3 of 3):
That’s EMBROIDERY on TOAST. She is a food + art mastermind!!! That one’s two years old as well…impressive! There were lots of other great work…I just can’t post it all here. Well, okay…I’ll post one more bit of artistic amazingness:
My 4 yr old son drew this today. It’s a building falling down. Look at those action lines! See the sideways door? He said it tipped over. LOVE. IT. Please don’t ask my why my child has done a bajillion drawings of buildings collapsing. It’s a direct result of his mommy letting him watch building demolition videos on You Tube. Sigh. I can practically HEAR his synapses fusing into abnormal arrays. Sigh.
This is a recent portrait, so he can’t be THAT messed up, right???:
See? He looks happy! And relatively calm, I might add. This evidence will exonerate me when DSS comes by.
Speaking of calm…look at the lovely weather we had today!
Did I mention that it was almost 70 DEGREES??? For MID-OCTOBER??? Very strange.
At least the leaves are turning…and I haven’t seen any palm trees springing up yet, or toucans flying by.
Lots of blobby pumpkins, though! Hmm…this gives me the idea of power tools and pumpkins…I may be onto something here… (note: I said “onto” something, not “on” something…) Perhaps I’m channeling my inner Gallagher? I think that I’d better stop while I’m neither ahead nor behind.
Happy Fall! Hakuna Matata! Go see the show at Concord, or else!
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: Boston College, Germany, Paul Klee
Yes! PAUL KLEE! There is currently an exhibit of his drawings at Boston College. Here is the link. If you are in the Boston area, it’s a MUST see. No pressure.
He was truly a fascinating person. Here is a Boston Globe article, which reviews the show. (I hope that you don’t need a subscription to read it.) Here’s a familiar quote of one of his main philosophies:
Art does not reproduce the visible; it makes visible. – Paul Klee
Brilliant! I wish I said that. Unfortunately, I’m not a genius. My normal insights are: “Oh, was that dirty?”, or “We’re out of floss”, or “Why is there a wadded up kleenex taped to the wall?” You know. Normal stuff.
Klee was obsessed with the natural world…the order of it, the purity of it. Here was a drawing that I saw:
Paul Klee, Insekten
OF COURSE, this image does it no justice. Please go see it in person. He draws with the most delicate lines, and captures the prickly, leggy, fragile quality of insects. I especially love that larva-esque creature in the lower right hand corner. If I was a bug, that’s what I would look like. Prickly and curled up in ball. But, I digress…
Paul Klee, Der Selbstmorder auf der Bruke
(Suicide on the Bridge)
He draws almost with a “stained glass” effect, where all things are interconnected and part of a larger order. The man on the bridge contemplating death is drawn with menacing figures and a looming clock face around him. Notice also the starburst of lines below…is it beckoning him to jump? Is he seeing what will happen in the future if he does jump? I feel for him. FASCINATING! Last image:
Paul Klee, Eidola – Erswhile Philospher
Ok, brilliant right? Did he not capture the feeling and form in such an amazing way????? That’s what I look like in the grocery store when I’m trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Except, I have hair. More about hair later…
I hope that I’ve convinced some of you to go. I’ve only selected black & white drawings, but there was mostly works with color…so don’t think that you’re just getting strictly drawing. Ohhhh no…there’s more.
This made me think about my son’s recent work:
Apparently, there are ships flying around a Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to capture it.
I first thought that he had drawn THIS:
Look familiar? Ahh…I’m such a product of he 80’s. Speaking of 80’s product (thus begins the slide into nonsense):
Now, THAT’S a lot of product.
GOOD LORD! Are these photos even REAL???? This is the sort of thing that would make Paul Klee roll over in his grave. He pondered the order of the universe, and I’m looking up big haired people from the 80s on the internet. WHAT HAS BECOME OF SOCIETY????
Is it just me, or are you also wondering how long it took them to get ready for this photo? How do they know if they’re having a “bad hair day?” Are they all in therapy now because their family photo was posted on the internet???
Again, I ponder the mediocre and insane.
Maybe those images were before the dawn of the beloved flat iron:
I think that I need to stop this post now both because it’s getting more inane, and because my hands are so cold…I can no longer type. Perhaps we need to remove the air conditioners from our windows, now that it’s in the 40s?
Ok. Must go warm hands by the 400 degree heat from my beloved flat iron whilst I wax nostalgic about Aqua Net and AT-ATs…
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.
slightly wonky 