Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, boston, cabin fever, Ori Gersht, poster art, vacation
For those of you only interested in art…please scroll down…
For the rest of you…HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! YES, I made it through what seemed like an endless school vacation. SO EXHAUSTING. I think that what made it more exhausting is that for some odd reason I also decided that it was time to paint the kitchen cabinets:
No joke. Do you realize how many square inches of surface area cabinets have??? BAJILLIONS. All the doors and hinges have to come off…holes patched & sanded…prime EVERYTHING (at least once), and paint everything (at least once). Because this project is such a royal pain in the tush, I decided that there was no way that I could afford to hire someone else to do it. BAH! Merry Christmas to me! (not)
(FYI…blue tape is an a tool of the devil which is only used by non-professionals in the hope that paint won’t get everywhere, but that’s a total lie. Did I mention that I also managed to dip the end of my hair in the paint can? Yeah, I know…that’s not the fault of blue tape, but whatever…)
It also snowed here:
That’s the igloo that my son and husband started. Yes, they were so stir crazy, that they started an igloo. It was four degrees here this week…FOUR DEGREES! (that’s Fahrenheit, FYI) Needless to say, the igloo is unfinished. Also:
Yes, I was so stir crazy that I was willing for my son to play with the science experiment kit that we have. This basically involves making a big mess with things like vegetable oil, baking soda, and food coloring. I’m kind of a high strung person, so giving my kid a large eyedropper filled with ANYTHING makes me nervous. It was okay. Nothing really bad happened, other than me having to clean up a big mess and vowing to mysteriously lose the science kit somehow. At least it gave me a break from our imaginative play with Lego, where I’m always the Lego astronaut who falls to earth, lands in the middle of a dinosaur trapping station, and somehow can’t see anything until one of the dinosaur-trapper Lego guys tells my astronaut Lego guy to take his helmet off.
Yes, I am totally serious…and no, like my cabinet project, that’s not a joke. In fact, I may have to run to the fridge right now to get a second soy ice cream sandwich just to have the strength to finish this post.
It’s been a long eleven days.
My son drew this. Do you think that he wrote my name on it because he was making the drawing FOR me…or do you think that he was making it OF me? I’m assuming that I’d be the large creature in the center with the tiny head and sharp teeth. Thoughts? Comments? Reassuring remarks? Why do I have so many legs and why is steam coming out of my shoulder? And what’s up with that back hair???? Discuss.
Okay, so one of the highlights of the week, besides me eating two, soy ice cream sandwiches in a row (FYI…husband is vegan, and no, that doesn’t explain why I ate more than one…), was going to the MFA to see the Ori Gersht show. If you are in the Boston area and are not in the middle of overindulging, as I am…then RUN to the museum to see this show.
His work…is…stunning.
I mean…SOOOO stunning.
Please take a look at the numerous links for him here, and here, and here, and here, and here.
In the photo above, he has frozen these flowers in liquid nitrogen, then blown them up with dynamite. A-MA-ZING. His work comments on beauty, life, death, destruction, violence, fragility, humanity, history…I could go on. His photos and videos are mesmerizing and painterly. He is thinking of the most heartbreaking subjects (Hiroshima…WWII…) and tapping into the agony of these events through his slow, videos and photography of beauty coming to an end. I wish that I could do his work justice with a poetic description, but I am lacking in both poetry and writing skills (and yet you’re still here!) Seriously, though…his work is breathtaking. The show at the MFA closes on Sunday. GO NOW. WAIT OUTSIDE, IF YOU MUST. DON’T WHINE…IT ISN’T FOUR DEGREES ANYMORE, IT’S THIRTY-TWO. DEAL WITH IT. IT’S WORTH IT.
Okay, enough ranting. Perhaps that faux ice cream is having an odd affect on me? Maybe that’s why vegans are grouchy all the time. (just kidding, honey!!!!)
There was also a postcard exhibit, and a poster exhibit as well:
Ib Andersen
I had to take a picture of this, as it made me reminisce about being an architect. Ah…the sectional perspective…classic. But, naturally, the non-architecture poster of a toothbrush was my favorite:
Niklaus Stoecklin
Isn’t that so fantastic??? I’m not sure which is my favorite part…the change in the toothbrush’s appearance as it exits the glass, or the look of the toothpaste tube through the toothbrush handle, or the pink reflection of light on the toothpaste cap. Either way…this is pretty amazing. It’s like Mario Testino decided to take a picture of his bathroom sink, or something. His toothbrush would look like Giselle Bundchen, while mine typically looks like someone who just ate two ice cream sandwiches. Hmmm. Maybe I should get a third??? Okay, maybe not…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: Ambreen Butt, art, Carroll & Sons, Christmas, Parent, Toyota
Well, I made it through the holidays with my sanity mostly intact. WOO HOOOO!!! Now, I just have to make it through this vacation week until January 2, when school resumes. LORD HAVE MERCY. I’m sure that there are some parents out there with easygoing children. We’re not in that category. I keep trying to remind myself how I’ll miss this age in a year, but this thought doesn’t really help much. I just googled “child anger management.” Yes, we’re at that point. Did I mention that he’s only 5? I have gray hairs already set aside for his teenage years.
It’s kind of ridiculous to be “at that point” when we JUST had Christmas and my son’s 5th birthday. I know. Toys won’t solve childhood angst…even this one:
Yes. It’s hungry hungry hippos. LOVE. IT. Who’s world is not made more complete by this toy???? Apparently my son today at 5pm. I think that’s kind of the bewitching hour for kids anyway…that’s why the world created SpongeBob and Happy Hour.
Did I mention that my son has told me repeatedly that my smooches on his cheek are “irritating his skin”? Did I also mention that he walked into the kitchen the other day with his shoes, coat, and backpack on telling me that he was leaving? I fear that my chances for “Mother Of The Year” are slipping through my fingers. I quit my job as an architect to be a better mom. Is it working????? Based upon my recent parental “feedback”, I’d say “no”. I’m just glad that my son doesn’t know how to dial a phone yet, or else DSS might be at my doorstep any minute now.
In order to cope with my child’s angst and anger, I’m reawakening my drug of choice:
Yes…those are needles…but not the heroin kind. That’s knitting. For those of you that don’t knit…don’t start. It can be horribly addictive, socially isolating, and can create episodes of both euphoria and despair. Don’t even get me started on those crack dens called “knitting stores”. How bad can it really be when the result is a handmade woolly garment, right? Don’t be fooled. Just say “no”. The store employees are TOTAL ENABLERS. This is the kind of stuff they think is a good idea:
Hmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Ohhhhkay. NOW, I feel like “Mom Of The Year” in comparison to the parent of this poor child. Yes, that’s a HAT with a KNIT BEARD attached to it. No, I’m not kidding. People make these…many people. (None that you should get to know, though.) No, I’m really not kidding. I think that there should be a law against putting beard/hat combos on anyone who is not physically able to remove it IMMEDIATELY. Poor thing. Talk about irritating the skin…sheesh…I should show this to my son and perhaps he’ll consider himself lucky…
Besides not getting any artwork done, as it’s vacation/circus week here, I did manage (or rather, finagle) my way over to the South End to see the last day of a show at Carroll & Sons. I felt that I deserved to do this, as I had been waiting at the Toyota dealership that morning for my 50K tune up for THREE AND A HALF HOURS. You’d think with all of that time they could have cleaned out the explosion of crumbs on my son’s carseat…but I digress…
The show at Carroll & Sons was the work of Ambreen Butt. The title of the show was, “Beyond the Ideas of Rightness or Wrongness There is a Field; I’ll Meet You There.” I loved all of it, and I was so amazed at the breadth of her skill. Here are some images from the show:
So amazing, right? The radiating reliefs of toes and fingers were AMAZING. So beautiful, yet also a bit disturbing. The row of portraits are a sublime transformation of one person into another…brilliant! The huge collages which look like Persian rugs were astounding. As I managed to see this show on its last day, I can’t suggest that you run out and see it yourself. Take a look at the links to her website…she’s uber talented and I bask in her artistic virtuosity. It seems that she can do anything from beautiful paintings to compelling collages, to phenomenal sculpture…sigh. Super inspiring. Definitely check out her website.
Well, 2012 has been crazy, to say the least. I’m not even going to discuss the chaotic world news that puts me in a tailspin EVERY DAY whilst I masochistically tune in to NPR. The horrors. Next time, while I rock in the fetal position listening one of these harrowing stories, I’ll try to remember to bring my knitting. I hope that over the past year this blog has provided you, dear reader, with moments of levity, artistic inspiration, and an occasional, “WOW! There are REALLY crazy people out there!!!!” (I’ll forgive you if you include me as one of them.)
Happy Upcoming New Year’s Eve! (the holiday liked only by people between the ages of 21 and 25…*YAWN*)
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, Baking, Baking and Confections, cake, clock, drawing, Lego
Okay. I’m about to rant about something, but before I do…I’d like to acknowledge how lucky I am to have such problems in the wake of the recent tragedy in Connecticut. Peace be with those tormented families.
My excuse this week for not having interesting content (besides my crying intermittently as a result of the aforementioned tragedy) is that I was responsible for creating/coordinating/conducting my 4 yr, soon to be 5 yr, old’s birthday. I am not a party planner. I stress. I anguish over it. It’s not because I want the perfect party. I want a GOOD party that doesn’t cost me what would be the equivalent of a down payment on a small house. I kid you not…some places charge hundreds of dollars to host your party…and that does NOT include cake/pizza/favors. But, they highlight “FREE paper cups, plates, napkins!!!” Really?
The epic disaster for my attempted DIY party was…the cake. Let me outline for you my series of mishaps. Let me also advise you to always have someone ELSE make your cakes…someone with nerves of steel and a clue.
Things started off okay…I greased and floured a 13×9 cake pan. No prob. I slaved over making the batter. Looks good. THEN, I poured the batter into “the pan”…except that it WASN’T “the pan”…it was a different, UNGREASED pan. And then I baked it. I kid you not. I turned around to grease the pan for the next cake, and I realized my mistake. So, cake #1…ruined.
THEN, I rushed to make the SECOND cake…which turned out okay. As one wasn’t going to be big enough, I needed to make another. Here’s what the first two cakes looked like:
HMMM! I actually contemplated frosting the broken cake. Then, I regained my keen senses and realized that, much like time moving backwards and being in the fast moving lane at Stop & Shop, this was not possible.
Now, of course I’m out of ingredients for a third cake! SO, after getting new ingredients, I bake the THIRD cake. Now, it’s close to when we need to LEAVE for the party. Have you ever tried to frost a warm cake? I hadn’t until then. I thought, “What’s the big deal? Ok…it’s not cooled, but SO WHAT???”
Umm…yes, the frosting MELTED on the cake.
It looked like someone tripped and spilled their orange sherbet sundae all over the cake as the frosting melted into bright orange pools of pure sugar. STRESS. So, I SCRAPED OFF the melted frosting and rushed the warm cake OUTSIDE to cool off. I stealthily placed it UNDER the patio table, thinking that this would protect it from THE RAIN. Yes, it was raining! JOY. My parents were at the house, luckily, so I had my father be on duty to watch that some rabid squirrel didn’t come over and sit upon/start munching on the cake whist I mixed up MORE frosting (which is everywhere, mind you…along with a general dusting of powered sugar). I finally bring in the cooled cake and frost the friggin’ thing. Here it is:
Okay. Don’t laugh. It looked MUCH worse before, if that’s at all possible. Those odd, tulip shaped things are supposed to be dinosaur footprints. I know. How sad. Do you believe that it tasted good? No? Well, I don’t blame you.
ANYHOO…I think that the party turned out okay…and the cake tasted reasonable as well. I have noticed many more gray hairs on my head since Sunday, but no prob! At least I have hair! Action shot at party:
Needless to say, I understand that I do not have a career ahead of me in either: a. event planning, b. baking, or c. photography.
The big gift for my son was goldfish! (no, not the crackers…)
AREN’T THEY SO CUTE???? My son has been asking for a fish for ages. I contemplated the small fishbowls…but as I wanted a goldfish (not a catatonic beta fish), I opted for the slightly larger tank. DON’T YOU LOVE IT???
I’ve come to realize, however, that my gift of fish has not been as met with the same enthusiasm as the grandparent’s gift of Legos. Hmm. Another fail. I should have just stayed in bed that day.
Moving along…tis the season to be receiving packages in the mail, right? I recently ordered a cool clock…one of those old school “flip clocks”. The one I got was pretty plain…but THIS is the clock that I REALLY wanted:
I have coveted this clock for ages. It has different fonts that show up as it flips through the time. LOVE. IT. Here is a link to see it. Did you also see the price tag? $395!!!!! OUCH! So, I had to settle for a more conventional one, which I am very happy with. Still…I hold a special place in my heart for this clock. (any of you Powerball winners out there…I’d love one for Xmas! Thank U!!!!) Anyway, I was talking about packages in the mail. Here is how my clock arrived:
Package Fail
Umm….are you KIDDING ME? It looks like an elephant sat on it whilst eating its 1,000 pound lunch of hay. Wha??? How???
Believe it or not…the clock inside was actually undamaged. Ho Ho Ho! Lucky me!
Just so that you don’t feel that I’ve TOTALLY wasted your time with this post, here is some cool stuff to check out:
Check out the video here of this crazy thing. This is “Firewall” by Adam Sherwood. Please check out his website. AMAZING! I want one for my living room (next to my $395 font clock, which I don’t actually have). Next:
Isn’t that gorgeous???? This artist, Guy Denning. Sooo talented! Please check out his website here. Look under the heading “self portraits”. Amazing, right? I love how he draws. So loose, yet so accurate. BRILLIANT!
Okay, have a lovely holdiay! I’ll be making yet another birthday cake for my son’s ACTUAL birthday, which is Christmas Day. No joke. Oh, continued joy and happiness!!!!
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: 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.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, Cambridge Art Association, Claybord, Cy Twombly, drawing, Visual Arts
So, this past week has seen the opening of two, group shows that I am participating in. The first show is “Community of Artists” at the Danforth Museum, in Framingham. The other show is the “11th National Prize Show” at the Cambridge Art Association, in Cambridge. I have one drawing in each show. Here is my drawing in Cambridge:
Can you see my wee drawing? Here it is again:
I’m happy with how this turned out. It would look better with ALL of the other drawings in the series, but then it wouldn’t really be a group show, now would it? You should also take note that I took this photo with my messed up camera. Luckily, the people at the camera shop were able to remove the maple syrup and saliva that my 4 year old graciously smeared all over the lens. I somehow felt that if I told them exactly what I thought was on the lens, this might help in their cleanup operation. I believe that this makes me a “helicopter customer” as well as being a “helicopter parent.” Two words: micro. manage.
I want to show some of the other works that I saw. I only have photos from the Cambridge show, as my camera was still out of order when I visited the Danforth. Here’s an interesting sculpture:
I can’t seem to get into her website, but I like the little house. I think that it spoke to my inner architect. I’d like to see a room of these dilapidated houses. I used to always dream about having a little cabin (with no doorbell, on the other side of our front lawn, mind you), where I could escape. This little house made me think of that. I’m going to also say that the Cambridge Art Association should reconsider it’s choice in flooring material. It hurts my eyes. Just sayin’.
I think that this is speaking to my inner architect again. I like it. I don’t know why. Something about it feels kind of dated, but I like the space that’s created…especially in the right hand side. I keep wanting to crop it into a square…with the lighter side becoming just a slim rectangle next to the darker side. Maybe that’s just me. If we were in architecture school, and a critic felt the same way…(s)he would likely get a hacksaw and start cutting the canvas to show you how much better it would look. Actually, because this series of paintings is based upon airports, this symmetry and landscape orientation makes more sense to me conceptually. (not that it didn’t make sense before…)
Yes, I finally have some amazing artwork by my son to show you. Ok…this is the point where anyone seriously interested in art can basically sign off. Now, begins my “Refrigerator Front Gallery”. Here is his latest creation, co-created with Grandma:
Don’t you LOVE it???? Or, is this the kind of scribble that only a mama could love? Should I mention that the house is on fire? Should I be worried? As long as my son does not know how to use a match, I’ll try not to worry. Maybe we should get rid of our “strike anywhere” matches? Hmm. And another:
I imagine this as sort of a Cy Twombly hopped up on froot loops.
So, I keep experimenting with different drawing substrates. (is that what it’s called, or am I slipping back into architecture?). This week, I experimented with Ampersand’s Claybord. Here is my experiment:
Now, all was going well until I tried to make DARK marks. Then, it was like trying to draw with a candle on Teflon. The soft pencil just slid across the surface, and didn’t really work. Here’s a closeup of the shadow:
See how scratchy it is? I almost feel that the only way to work on this board is to keep the pencil very light, and think of it almost as a silverpoint drawing. I know that the two people out there (yes, you’re one of them) who read this blog never respond, BUT:
Have you ever used Claybord with pencil? Did you like it????? (Bueller?)
If it wasn’t 9am and trash day, I would probably hear crickets about now…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., painting | Tags: architecture, art, drawing, Pencil
You know that it’s going to be a snoozefest if I can’t even come up with a title for this post. Why bother with a title, you ask? Or, why bother with this post? WELL…if I asked myself THAT question too often, I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. So…why not? (has anyone out there been to “Perche No” in Florence, Italy? two words: bacio gelato…but i digress)
So, this week, I’ve been slaving over a drawing that I’m not sure is really turning out too well. I’m trying to use a different medium. Normally, I use graphite on Duralar. THIS WEEK, however, my advisor suggested that I coat some cradled plywood with absorbent ground, and draw on that. WELL. I think that if I was better at PAINTING…and could have applied a SMOOTH layer of absorbent ground…then this might have been more successful. (notice how I deflect the cause of the problem to the board, and not me) Here it is:
Okay…it’s NOT done yet. Still…I think that it still may be a bit off. I’ve changed the vantage of my usual still life subject so that you can better see the impact of the hammer on the pear. Do you think that it’s effective? Or, is it just weird? Actually, don’t answer that. Nevermind. Perhaps when I finish it, it will feel ok. Here is a side view, so you can see the board that I’m drawing on:
HMM! It’s so different than the thin and translucent Duralar…
We visited some friends over the long weekend who have a fantabulous house on Cape Cod. Yes, it’s true. Not only do they have a HOUSE there…but it’s dreamy as well. In all honesty…after just three days in that house/with those friends/at the Cape, I felt so refreshed. That’s amazing when you consider that my 4 yr old son and their 4 yr old son played the entire time. In other words: shrieking laughter whilst the boys throw things at mating horseshoe crabs, etc. Luckily, we weren’t thrown out by the Audubon “crab copulation” police. If there are fewer horseshoe crabs next year, it’s because our kids distrupted their love-fest. It’s so refreshing to take a break from helicopter parenting, and just say “who cares?”
ANYWAY…that weekend made me fantasize about my own dreamy house. Here is what our house looks like:
Pretty typical, huh? It has painted white shingles…a stone foundation…brick steps…original, dilapidated windows…you know, the norm. It’s a very sweet house. (“sweet” is a euphemism for “tiny”) But, I’m NOT complaining…it’s really lovely. We’re sooo lucky to have it. BUT…wouldn’t it be NEATO to live in a more modern house, like THIS one???
Servie Boetzkes and Jeroen Helder
Isn’t it GREAT???? No, I don’t think that it’s Darth Vader’s European hideout, thankyouverymuch. This house is designed by Boetzkes and Helder. OF COURSE, it’s in the Netherlands…not the ‘burbs of Boston. Here is a closeup of the metal panel exterior:
DREAMY! Or, as I used to say when I was working as an architect: BUTTERY! (that’s not a technical term, fyi)
I have no artwork completed by my son to show you. I know. That’s why you read this blog, isn’t it? If that’s not why, then I’m not sure what’s left, honestly. ANYHOO, here is the work of an uber-talented artist you should look at:
This is the work of German street artist, EVOL. Umm…that’s a painting…on a piece of scrap cardboard. SCRAP CARDBOARD…for Lord’s sake. Here I am, whining about working on cradled plywood…and he’s making crazy paintings out of cardboard. Here’s another:
Are. You. Kidding. Me.
Sigh. I’d love to have that on the wall of my Darth Vader house at the Cape.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, drawing, graphite, Pencil, Sandra Allen, Visual Arts
I’m so concerned about this post being boring that I’ve decided to post an image of the drawing that I’m working on…which is still in process:
There! Now, is this post exciting??? No? Too bad.
This drawing is waaay too pale. I need to generally bring up the tones, etc. etc. But, I think that it’s coming along. These drawings take forever, so I’m often pining to do something more “scribbly”, just to get that visceral, mark-making feeling out of my system. Actually, I sort of get that out a little when my son and I do a “group” art project. Here is our latest drawng:
I do NOT like to draw on my son’s drawings, as I obviously “ruin” them if I do. But often, he insists that we draw together. I get yelled at if I slack off. So, above, you can *clearly* see a soccer field…a baseball diamond…and a football field. I drew the little brown people on the sidelines watching the game. My son asked why they had no arms. I had no good reason, so he decided to add arms. You will notice the short, orange arm extending off of the lowest person. BUT, if you look at the person second from the top, you will see LOOONG, swirly arms coming off of him. That blob that looks like a spiky sun on the bottom of the page is one of his hands. BRILLIANT! See? This drawing would be so much better if I didn’t have to contribute to it.
The reason it’s posted on the wall is because my son wanted to cut a hole in the wall. Even though I pointed out to him that our staircase is on the other side of that wall (I didn’t bother to mention the more obvious reasons of not cutting holes in walls), he still insisted that we cut a hole. After much wrangling and debating and struggling to tell him that we are NOT cutting a hole in the wall, he agreed that we could draw what we imagined would be in the hole. Thus, we have several athletic fields. Go figure.
In my poking around on the internet, I found the GORGEOUS drawings of Sandra Allen. Here is a sample of what she does:
Sandra Allen, Auspice, 60″ x 42″, pencil on paper
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? That’s a PENCIL drawing, for Lord’s sake!!!!! Look how big it is too! That’s actually tiny for her…she does some truly enormous drawings. Please check out her website. I’m pretty flabbergasted by it. She has a drawing that she’s done which is 37 FEET TALL! No, not 37 inches…37 FEET…I kid you not. Go look at her work. Now. Isn’t it amazing??? I’m not going to give my usual whining speech lamenting that, in comparison, my drawings look marginally better than putting a pencil and a sheet of paper in a clothes dryer for an hour. Okay, that’s an exaggeration…but only slightly. I’ll just give a dramatic *SIGH* to express my discouragement.
Can anyone recommend the work of other artists who work in graphite? I’m always interested in seeing what others are doing (in my masochistic way). Hmmmm??? Suggestions? Whom should I look at?
Here’s something that you should look at:
That’s in our garden! No kidding! I wish I could take some kind of credit for this lovely iris (am I right?), but I cannot. Not only did I play no part in it’s budding (obviously)…but I also didn’t even put that silly bulb in the ground in the first place. It was here when we moved in. For someone like myself, who has the tendency to inadvertently kill most plants, it’s great to see something lovely in the garden that I haven’t destroyed by sheer ignorance. Now, if I can just keep my son from hitting it with a wiffle ball bat…
slightly wonky 