Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, decay, decordova, Exhibit, fragments, Leonardo Drew, museum, sculpture
So, this was the last day that the work of Leonardo Drew is at the DeCordova. I am SO lucky that I went. I seriously loved it. He’s brilliant.
His works are primarily sculpture…and his work is often a gridlike arrangement of decayed fragments. Think: rust, dirt, remnants, remains…gathered with beautiful sensitivity to texture, form, and pattern. I know…how can these things be “beautiful”? Trust me, they were. Jawdropping.
I believe that after a trip to Japan, he began to think about works of paper…but he initially struggled with how to convey his worldview with this pristine, flat medium. His idea became creating intricate paper castings of the debris that was once a part of his work…old shoes, a broken toy truck, a telephone. These were like light, fragile cocoons. I loved the transformation of these previously gritty, broken, discarded items to something so…delicate and ephemeral. Both the heavy/dark/decaying pieces and the pale/delicate/ephemeral pieces still had a similar sensibility, which was kind of amazing to me. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it was almost as if he captures a beauty that exists within death. I know. That makes no sense. But the individual objects all had a previous life…someone wore that shoe, some child played with that toy, and someone else used that phone. Now, this is their second life…where their uniqueness merges into the overall assemblage/texture/form.
I wish that I could post images of his work, but I think that would be wrong in the world of intellectual property/blogging. Am I right? Please follow this link to get to his webpage and see what I’m rambling about. [I also just found someone’s blog post on this exhibit]
I’m so bummed that I cannot demand that my friends and relatives go see this show TOMORROW. It’s gone. Moving on. I’m going to start saving up now to buy one of the teeny weeny pieces of his work. I settled for buying the book, in the meantime.
Filed under: Drawing, printmaking | Tags: abstract, art, Art book, book, drawing, goat, handmade, Pencil, portrait, printmaking, sketch, sketching, Visual Arts
So, I managed to get a bunch of stuff done before the weekend. I probably won’t get much time to work on stuff until next Tues. Yes, this stuff is “all over the map”. Think of it as a pu-pu platter of attempts.
I keep thinking that I need to make a more coherent set of things. Then, I get distracted and want to try something new. Thus, the randomness of it all.
I’m not going to post every day. While I’m still working on my 365 projects, I’m not going to barrage you with posts. It’s too exhausting for everyone…well, mostly me.
So, if any of you have some thoughts on this stuff, I’d love to hear it. Even if you tell me NOT to EVER do that again…at least I’ll have some feedback. Right now, I am kind of working in a bubble. I am trying to investigate ways to possibly get some feedback from people. So, until I figure that out, this is my forum for comments!
I’ll stop rambling now, as my hands are too cold to type, and just show you my stuff. I kind of like this one:
a detail of the above print:
another similar one…I like the colors, but the design is so-so:
detail:
this one was not good, and i couldn’t save it:
and a detail:
at last…something recognizable! no, it’s not me…:
detail:
And now for something completely different…a pencil drawing:
detail:
I liked this drawing, so I made a print of it:
detail:
And I made another little book! This one is about winter:
detail:
even CLOSER:
Whew! Okay, that’s it for this week. Seriously. Speaking of winter, my hands are so cold that I can barely type. We’re supposed to get snow this weekend too…brrrrr! Have a good weekend!
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, drawing, illustration
My 365 creation for the day:
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: art, Collage, painting, printmaking, Visual Arts
So, I didn’t hear from many on you on my question regarding posting EVERY DAY. Perhaps I should interpret your silence as polite pleading not to innundate you with posts.
Clearly, I’m ignoring this for now. The first image is my 365 creation from yesterday. It’s so much better to photograph with sunlight.
detail:
This was obviously a departure from the printmaking stuff. Well, I take that back…as that isn’t really obvious. This was a collage/painting.
I also took another stab at another print in the series of the cartoonish guy. It turned out so-so…I took away too much red ink.
detail:
I’m not sure that I have much more to say with him. We’ll see. Here is a print using yet ANOTHER type of ink…oil based:
detail:
I wasn’t too thrilled with it. I think that the general technique has some interesting possibilities (if I was Picasso), but I’m going to have to try again.
Here are a couple of experiments:
I photoshopped out two big smudges in the margins of this last one. I know. That’s kind of cheating. If I wasn’t so sloppy, I wouldn’t have to do that!
Thumbs up? Down? No comment? I am so looking forward to my classes, as I feel that I am fumbling around with a lot of these printmaking materials. Also, feedback from my teacher/classmates will be good (or OTHERS…hint..hint).
🙂
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: art, Collage, Graduate school, Visual Arts
Okay, here is my print for the day. Again…not so good. (try to be surprised) It took me a couple of hours. I know. Doesn’t look like it. The collage part took a while. I’ve been pretty hesitant to do any type of collage work. I took a collage course in grad school with this pretty well respected painter teaching it. Anyway, he didn’t think much of what I did. Neither did I. As a result, I’ve kept my distance from collage, as I have decided that I’m bad at it. Now, as I’m trying to throw caution to the wind…I’m trying it again. We’ll see how it goes. I’m liking the whole glue stick thingy. It feels so “elementary school” and fun.
[okay…once again, i couldn’t leave well enough alone. i messed with this print…see below. notice the smudgy fingerprints now in the margins…nice!]
okay, so i photoshopped out all of my smudgy prints, as they’re sloppy and distracting:
Okay. Today, I’m not liking how anything is turning out. Sigh. I have visions of grandeur, only to be squashed by reality. I’m still working with these new, water-based inks. I only have three colors, so I’m finding the palette to be a bit limited. I know…I should be able to mix ANY color from yellow, red and blue. This is probably true, but I can’t seem to do that. So, if you wonder why the color palette with all of these is similar, this is why. I can’t tell if I should list the images from bad to worse? Perhaps not. Maybe I’ll put the worst one somewhere in the middle, in an attempt to “bury” it. I’m putting this ink away for the time being…until I feel that I can muster the strength to possibly produce more ugly things.
This one is a composite of the previous prints…I just started looking the shapes, and decided to make a “collage” of them.
and a detail:
Now, some of the more recent (icky) prints:
And the “ghost” print:
I know. Blech. Here the WORST one:
I know. Why bother? SERIOUSLY. It’s hard to bounce back from some of these prints. At least the next ones are kind of punchy/fun:
detail:
And the other one:
detail:
Lucky for me, I’m taking some printmaking classes next year. Thank goodness!!! Do I need help, or WHAT? Not that these teachers can be miracle workers, but I have high hopes.
Tomorrow is going to be Christmas Eve craziness around the house. Makes me want to hide somewhere…with a latte. Okay. That sounds rather scrooge-y. I’ll think positively, and hope that I can somehow get a nap in tomorrow…AFTER my latte.
I’m going to check out Keri Smith’s blog now, as her stuff always is funny and inspiring. You should look at it too! Especially those of you who feel that you may be in some kind of rut…she’ll give you lots of ideas to try something different. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE OUT THERE! 😛
Okay, so here is another one in this series. I like this, as I both changed the paper, and I tried to have more ink. These are reductive prints, meaning: I start out with the plate fully covered with ink, and then I wipe away the areas that I don’t want to have color. Messy! So, this last time, I tried to leave more ink on the plate. Better.
Filed under: printmaking | Tags: art, Equipment and Supplies, Ink, linoleum block, Printing, printmaking
Okay. So, I tried a new ink & technique for printing today. I was hoping that it was going to be fabulous. Unfortunately, it turned out horribly. Big fail…waaah! I like the layered colors, but for the life of me, I could not get the middle part to print as dark as the edges. I have NO idea what I was doing wrong. I would love to blame the press, or the ink, but it was surely my fault. sigh. It’s always frustrating to spend time on something that does not turn out well. I tried to revive it along the way, but no luck. I may email my printmaking teacher to ask her for suggestions. [update: I think that I needed to add “retarder” to my ink. This modifier slows down the rate of drying. So, my ink was drying out before I had a chance to print it. I’ve used that modifier for other inks, but I somehow thought that this ink didn’t need it. I was wrong. SIGH. The inspiration (if that’s what I should call it) for the print came from seeing my recently planted bulbs dug up out of the garden by some critter. The sad bulbs were lying on the soil, pale and bare. I wanted to replant them, but I thought that this would just be futile. So, no springtime flowers for me! DRAMATIC SIGH]
I also have a lino print (one of four copies) in process. I used some oil based ink, which was so much better for printing than the water based. Unfortunately, I have been waiting AGES for it to dry. I could probably keep printing, even though it is still tacky, but I’m worried that I’ll mess it up somehow.
I haven’t gotten much done lately. Holiday stuff…trying to purge excess stuff (primarily toys and clothes)…etc. The basement renovation is progressing. I’m looking forward to having some space to work and leave things in process.
Comments welcome! Or if any of you are into printmaking, please feel free to give me some pointers.
I’m going to go and eat a cookie now…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: architecture, art, career transition, Printing, printmaking, Screen-printing
Today, someone at my old office sent me photos of a project that I worked on. It was an addition/renovation to a dining hall. It looks really good! The building was pretty much designed before they brought me on, but I had the task of coordinating and detailing the exterior. Needless to say, it was stressful, but I was working with a great team of people. If I remember correctly, there were just three of us doing the drawings! Anyway…why do I bring this up? Well, I can’t help but feel an odd pang when I see the building. I am thinking, “I used to do that”…”I was good at that”…”What am I doing now?”…”Why am I throwing away all that I know, to start again?”
Whatever it is that I’m doing now, I’m a beginner. This is tough to be a beginner, so late in life. I used to know what I was doing. Yes, I had way too much to do, but I knew what had to be done and I was good at doing it. Now…I’m a beginner…muddling my way along…trying to figure out what the heck I’m doing.
Every time I meet up with a friend, they ask me how “things” are going. Good question. No good answer available. I’m trying lots of things: printmaking, painting, screen printing, sewing, felting, etc. etc. etc. But what exactly do I have to show for myself? A very odd arrangement of things in progress… Some things I am happy with, many things I am chalking up to experience.
I have been advised to think of myself as an “artist”. This feels a little premature, and quite a bit of a stretch. So, I don’t know what I am. I know that people spend a lifetime trying to figure out who/what they are. I’m finally stopping to ask myself that question. It took me long enough! I feel grateful that I am able to ask. I wish that I had a profound answer. I don’t so far. I just have a collection of odd things. In any event, I am happy to have this collection of odd things. It may not make sense to anyone else, but these odd things are dear to me…more so than the lovely, praiseworthy building. While the building represents my former life as a “take no prisoners/stress-case” architect, the odd things represent my current self…wondering, struggling, searching and hoping.
slightly wonky 
