Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: Alex Katz, art, drawing, Seattle, woodblock print
Another dreary, cold day here. My husband tells me that this is what Seattle is like. Really? You mean I can have bad hair ALL YEAR, and not just occasionally? Maybe only people with shiny, straight hair that I envy live in Seattle. I’d have a whole new identity out there…someone would say, “You know…Elizabeth…the one with the crazy, wacked out hair…” Awesome. I’d have to wear a green cap, like the lady below…
So, I went to the MFA to see the Alex Katz exhibit. I hate to admit it, as it shows my ignorance, but I didn’t really like it. Actually, if I was worried about showing my ignorance, I wouldn’t have started this blog. So, I’ll throw caution and good sense out the window…and just continue with my ramblings. Here’s one of the prints:
So, this is a woodcut print. I’m just not into it. It’s so flat. I feel that I have to keep looking at it, though, to understand why I don’t like it. It actually BOTHERS me to look at it. Sometimes, he would take the same image, and repeat it as a woodblock print, a screenprint, a lithograpth, which was an interesting exercise in understanding the particularities of the print medium. I didn’t like the image in any medium, unfortunately. For example, whoever printed that image above must have been a MASTER printer. Seriously. Those huge expanses of flat color in a woodblock print are NOT EASY. I keep wondering if I don’t like these because this type of imagery has been used and reused by the advertising/fashion/illustration world a million times over? But, perhaps when it first came out…it looked more original/interesting? Can anyone help me out here to like these more than I do? I see their artistic merit…I just don’t want to look at one for more than a minute. The part of my brain that should like this must be feeble and undernourshed…I think maybe that it’s too CLEAN and STERILE for my taste. I like art to be more dirty and messy. (For those of you who have visited my house, try to act surprised)
This is the kind of stuff I like:
Cy Twombly
Love. it.
SPEAKING OF LOOKING AT ART…guess who got one of her drawings into a show at THE DANFORTH??? Yup. MARGERY HAMLEN!!! Ha ha…just kidding…I actually have no idea who that person is. I’m sure that she’s famous, though…unlike me. What I really mean to say is… ME!!!! I kid you not. Now, don’t be too impressed. There are actually TWO shows held concurrently at the Danforth. The prestigious show is called “Off the Wall”, and it is curated by Cody Hartley of the MFA. He chose 80 works of art. Sadly, mine was not one of them. (sniff..sniff..)
THEN, the director of the Danforth, Katherine French…chose from the remaining (i.e. leftover) pieces, to create the second show…called “Community of Artists.” I made it into THAT show. Ok…so Cody didn’t like my stuff….there’s always next year. Did I mention that there were over 1,400 entries, and that my show has only 136? Here’s the drawing that made it in:
Okay. I know what you’re thinking…”THAT made it in???? *YAWWWWN*” Why, yes it did…graphite on mylar, and it took me a long time, thankyouverymuch. Here’s my one concern: there is this tiny, elevator vestibule waaaay back in the first floor galleries. They put art back there. I am seriously concerned that my work will be in that vestibule. Why, you ask? Because it’s small….it’s black and white…it’s just PENCIL, for Lord’s sake. If I ask people to visit the show to see my drawing, they may miss it and think that I’m just totally delusional…or, just more so than usual.
Hmm. Did you notice that I am already whining, and this hasn’t even happened yet? I know. I’ll stop before I irritate myself further. Aren’t you glad that you’re not married to me? (Thanks honeeeey!!! xoxo)
So, I got some of my recent work photographed. Here is the large drawing:
But, I originally had it oriented vertically…with the pear at the bottom:
Or, does that look odd? Two of my artist friends gave me a critique. Needless to say…I’m taking their comments and trying to do a better job on the next drawing. Sheesh. I feel that I need a team of monkeys to help me with setting up these still lifes. Actually, that would be bad, as they’d probably just eat the fruit, thus ruining my composition.
Okay, I’ll stop droning on. Please go watch this video (btw…it has sound). MESMERIZING!!!
See? Black and white art CAN be arresting! Mine is just tiny, static, and silent, in comparison. I know. Not even remotely in the same ballpark…don’t remind me…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, drawing, Polymer clay, Shay Aaron
Yes, I finally did. I think that it’s a good transition to larger work. Sometimes, I worry that if what I do isn’t 8’x8′ in size…it is not “real art”. I know…what is real art, anyway? Who cares, right? Yes, I have heard of miniatures. I just don’t feel like painting with an eyelash or drawing with a microscope. But seriously…don’t you walk into an art gallery and expect to say “WOW” upon first stepping in? It’s hard for tiny artwork to do that. Is there a gallery for miniature art? Probably. If it is…it’s not in the U.S. We don’t do anything miniature here. Speaking of miniature…(bad segue #1)
Shay Aaron
This is the work of Shay Aaron. I’m kind of speechless.
Shay Aaron
Umm…did you notice the tomato seeds there? THEY ARE SMALLER THAN THE TINY LETTERING ON THAT PENNY. She (he?) must use an electron microscope to do these. It’s kind of making me hungry for a salad…speaking of THAT…(bad segue #2)
THOSE are our indoor tomatoes and cucumbers. No joke! I’m scared to put them outside, as we have a woodchuck that lives under our deck. I can either put them outside, and have them be woodchuck salad…or, I can keep them INSIDE, and accept that they will probably be stunted. Hmm! What’s a plant parent (aka “gardener”) to do???? Speaking of parenting…(bad segue #3)
My son has “reworked” his drawing. I LOVE IT MORE! I want to frame it, but it will cost an arm and a leg. Plus, the paper is the non-archival stuff that will self destruct in a week. SO sad for me. This next anecdote relates, but only in a paper-thin way: My son has a favorite book where a character tells a lame story, then ends it with “Yuk, yuk, yuk…the end!”. So, my son keeps saying that to random people, who give that faux smile and nod as they wonder what’s wrong with my child. This morning, I was getting gas in the car…and he wanted me to roll down the window so that he could say that to the gas guy. Uhm….no. So, I feel that after every one of my lame segues… I should be saying, “yuk, yuk, yuk…the end!” I’m sure that my son and I are the only two people on the planet who find that humorous at all. Too bad he can’t read, or else we may be the only two people on the planet who like this post as well and haven’t decided that ANYTHING is more interesting than this nonsense.
Okay…okay…here is my drawing (sans segue, for your relief):
I’m pretty happy with it. It needs a little more reworking…but it’s really almost done. This is when I start to feel all proud of my little accomplishement…until I see the work of someone else:
Seung Mo Park
That is the amazing work of Seung Mo Park. He builds these fantastic sculptures out of WIRE MESH. I kid you not…lookit:
Seung Mo Park
Are. You. Kidding. me.
SO AMAZING!!!!! See? There’s nothing like the brilliant work of an artist to make you feel amazing, if you aren’t an artist, and hopeless, if you are! My work is sooooo conventional. Drawing with a pencil? That’s soooooo 16th century (or whenever…I know that they didn’t have yellow Ticonderogas back then…). When I feel that I can “graduate” from pencil use…perhaps I will be able to advance to drawing with metal screens. Until then…back to the drawing board/the future/whatever.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: architecture, art, artist, drawing, Fimo, First Friday, painting, sculpture
Yes, you heard me. This latest drawing that I am working on is an example of me having bitten of more than I can chew. Because I am typically unhappy with a drawing until the final stages, I cannot bear to show you the “progress” images. Needless to say, I’m going to be working on this one for awhile. So, as I cannot entice you to read on with images of my own work…I’m going to digress into OTHER people’s work.
Last friday, a friend and I went to the South End’s “First Friday”, where all of the galleries are open for people to visit and schmooze. As I hardly know anyone, I was more of the former than the latter. I won’t go on about those that I didn’t like…but focus on one that I did. I LOVED the work of Peter Opheim at Steven Zevitas Gallery. Take a look:
You can see that this painting is enormous…8’x8′. It is beautifully done…and so wry. Opheim creates these little figures, and then does a painting of them. In the press release, it states, “…Opheim’s paintings function as sculpture, and he does not consider them to be pictures.” HMM! I could sit here for an hour pondering that one…but I don’t know if I would have a profound thought in response. HMM! (just one of the reasons why I am not an art critic). But, they aren’t sculptures, so what is there about the translation process from object to painting that is significant? I feel that I am working on similar thoughts. What is the difference between having full scale sculptures of these made, to having full scale color photos, to having these enormous paintings? I find that kind of thing to be FASCINATING. Overall, I found these paintings to be wonderful, humorous, and provocative. Bravo! Fimo elevated to Fine Art! I love being “confronted” by these little creatures. It’s as if a part of everyone’s childhood (unless you were allergic to clay, I suppose), has now come back to haunt us, or to make us wonder who we are. Seriously! I look at these and they immediately make me think, “who are we, really?”. Don’t you think that they’re like contemporary fetishes?
Maybe I need to cut back on the tofu again?
As I have none of my own work to show…I’m going to yet again showcase the work by my four-year old son. This is a beach scene, I am told:
Don’t you love how ORDERLY it is? Apparently, the tiny scribbles in the rectangles are items such as: a beach umbrella, his swimsuit, my husband’s swimsuit, my swimsuit, etc. I’m not sure where we are, but our clothes are there. The complicated part at the bottom is some kind of mechanism, but I forgot what. The other in this “series”:
I cannot remember what this is. The top part may be an antenna, but I’m not sure. Thoughts? What would Freud say? That I’m an awful mom? I really hope not. At least he’s not drawing those little crying faces in cages, as I showed in an earlier post. Now, THAT was worrisome…
Yesterday, I went to visit the building that I worked on before I quit my job to be a better mom. It was the ribbon cutting ceremony, so everyone who wasn’t involved in construction was getting to visit the building for the first time.
I was thrilled to see it complete. Finally. Every door was in place, every duct where it should be…and every detail realized. I had a tremendous mix of emotions. I was overjoyed to be finally walking around the building that I spent so many months slaving over. But I also felt a great amount of sadness as well.
I felt sad that this was not my world anymore. I felt sad that I had passed the construction of the project over to others. I knew that it was in good hands…but I still handed it over…let it go. There is nothing in architecture that is a solo endeavour. Everything is accomplished by an enormous team of people…from the donors, to the institution, to the facilities department, to the architects…engineers…contractor…lighting designer…food service consultant…geotech…and the list goes on. So, this isn’t “my” building by any stretch of the imagination. Still, it feels like mine. Only because I worked on it with every shred of my being that I had left after trying to be a reasonable wife and mother. Every single thing…from a fire door, to an exhaust louver, to a wood ceiling, was a “labor of love” which took months to coordinate and design. And here it is. Finally done…both because of me, and in spite of my absence.
I look at it with extreme joy, but also with a heavy heart.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, drawing, Lego, Tic-tac-toe
I’m sure that there is some kind of sensible limit to the length of a blog title. Clearly, I missed that memo. YES! You heard me…PORTFOLIO REVIEW…organized by the Cambridge Art Association. It was an exciting Sunday of nail-biting, artist-schmoozing, reviewer-choosing, sanity-losing, and erudite-musing. I had three reviewers: Alvaro Camilo of Samsøn Projects, Russ Gerard of Gurari Collections, and Jessica Roscio of the Danforth Museum. Luckily, all three of them promised me solo exhibitions!!!!!!! Just kidding.
A.Camilo said that my work was a “good start” and that I was a “fine illustrator”. He quickly changed the word “illustrator” to something else that I can’t remember, as I think that “illustrator” can be a bit pejorative. He gave me many interesting ideas of where I might go next with my work. He also suggested some places to contact to see what they think of it…like Bromfield Gallery, Kingston Gallery…The Drawing Center in NYC (why not shoot for the moon?). One thing that he emphasized was the the art world is a social world…and just like in any industry…you’ve got to work those connections. Overall, I don’t think that he was exactly “wow-ed” by my work. Then again, his gallery tends to be more “cutting edge”, and my work perhaps appeared more like a quaint fish-knife. Have I lost you yet? Really, I don’t blame you…
R. Gerard wanted to know about me as a person…and he also talked about his way of evaluating art. Some of the key points for him are: 1. Is there an immediate, visceral response to the work? 2. Does it exhibit mastery of the medium? 3. Will it resonate over time? I did appreciate that he felt it was “gallery worthy”, and that he really liked the work. Not bad, right? He did, however, caution against staying in my comfort zone with my technique. His suggestion: keep challenging yourself. By that, I don’t think that he means try to work on a drawing while cooking the dinner and listening to my son tell me about building demolition while he builds a Lego tower in the middle of the kitchen floor. While that would be “a challenge”, I think that the drawing, the dinner, my son, and his tower would all suffer as a result. Just thinking about that makes me want to lie down and do some deep breathing exercises.
J. Roscio felt that certain drawings in the set can stand on their own. She especially liked the drawing of the pear with nails:
She felt that the set overall was “almost there”. I think that she would prefer that I edit out the earlier drawings, which are more “timid” in comparison to more recent ones. She suggested that I could form smaller groupings…like the nails/tacks/screws as a set. She felt that my message or concepts were clear, without being heavy-handed. She also commented that my technique was good. I have submitted three of these to the Danforth for an upcoming juried show…I’m hoping that she’ll be involved in the jury and will wax poetic about my sublime pears. Or, maybe not. Maybe everyone will look at the images and wonder if it’s lunchtime…
I have NOT completed a new drawing this week. I’ve only JUST started one. I got distracted with a side project of making another book for someone. Here is the cover:
There is text on the white mark, but I edited it out for my blog post. Looks pretty modest…until you open it up:
Then, I unleash the craziness! Actually, my son and I painted the pages together as a “group project”. Then, I wrote a story in the book…and I had him illustrate each page. So cute! The drawing on the left is a picture of a book, and on the right he drew some numbers. Very sweet. I really do find these “artist books” to be addictive.
Well, enough about MY drawings. My son has learned how to play tic-tac-toe…but he kind of makes it an “extreme” version:
Basically…he draws ALL of the grids first, and you can put an “x” or an “o” on whichever one you want. It takes ages. My head hurts thinking about it. Looks like grandma got bored and drew a turtle on the page. My son must have been annoyed by that, as he added more tic-tac-toe grids ON TOP of the turtle. Here’s another group project that he and my mom did together:
Notice that she wrote the word, “chocolate” on the page. My son can’t read that, so I wonder if she was just lost in thought while he furiously drew an array of dots and scribbles? I notice that his brown marker slashed through her word…again, he’s clearly disgruntled about the direction that their project took. But what artist doesn’t hate a group project? We used to hate that in architecture school too…until we realized upon graduating that THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. My son may be too much of a “prima donna” to be an architect. Scribbling on what someone else drew is typically frowned upon in an office…See? Not only do you get art advice, but architecture advice as well! The only people who get to scribble on other’s drawings are critics in architecture school on a student’s work. Well, I’ve also seen a critic take a saw to a student’s model while she continued to provide helpful criticism…but I digress…I think I need to lie down again…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, drawing, Patrick Kelly
So, I returned to the drawing board this week to complete another drawing for my series. Here is the latest image:
closer:
Note the tools of the trade on the left…leadless pencil, eraser shield, drafting brush, kneadable eraser, etc. etc. The brush is key for keeping the drawing clean. Most people use it to brush off bits of eraser, etc…but I find it helpful when I am snacking. I try my best not to have food crumbs on my work. It looks less “professional” when you have food stuck to your drawing. See? I provide such insightful tips to all of the other aspiring artists out there. I might also have to get a “beer hat” so that I can be sure to drink my tea without spilling…you know what I mean:
Have I already lost some of you?
(Probably)
Not a great image for a Friday morning?
I agree. Moving on…
So, I often look to see what other graphite artists are doing. I do this partially for inspiration…and partially for self-flagellation. I found the work of this guy, Patrick Kelly which is SO BEAUTIFUL. Here is a partial view of one of his drawings:
Seriously gorgeous. He makes these crazy templates that he traces with super dark graphite. He keeps shifting the template, and tracing it again and again. Seriously…check out his stuff NOW.
He really exploits the metallic sheen of graphite. Amazing. Has anyone out there seen his work “in person”??? I want one. See the paper templates on the floor by the wall? See the ubiquitous Target step-stool? We have one of those EXACT stools. I’m one step closer to greatness…
Perhaps this post been too black and white so far? Boring? Here is a pop of color from our yard:
Isn’t it amazing???? I love forsythia. It looks stunning for a few short weeks in the early spring…then it looks like an ugly bramble the rest of the year. Or, perhaps that’s just in our yard? Probably.
My son has created yet another priceless work of art:
Brilliant! I may have to get this bronzed, but I’m worried that it will ruin the effect. Thoughts?
My friend, George, came back recently from a very long trip to India. Here is his website. He brought back some lovely wood stamps:
These are HAND CARVED. I kid you not. So beautiful…just as objects. I am antsy to use them as stamps on some fabric. Maybe when I finish that dress that I started last week (and mentioned in the last post), I might use some of these? It might distract from the potentially mumu-like look of the outfit. Are tigers slimming? Who knows.
Okay, so next week…I’ll let you know how this weekend’s portfolio review went. I hope that the reviewers are helpful, insightful, and in awe of my little box of drawings. In reality, these are serious people in the Boston art world, so perhaps I should just hope that no one spills their Snapple on my stuff. My drafting brush can’t fix that. My art advisor suggested that I bring white cotton gloves for the reviewers when they flip through the drawings, but perhaps a beer-hat for each would be better? Hmmm…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, drawing, Jim Dine, Pencil, still life
Well, I think that I’ve made all of the preparations that I can for my upcoming portfolio review on April 1. This is where esteemed people in the Boston art world (curators…gallery owners…etc.) will come to the Arlington Center for the Arts and take a look at artists’ portflios. I’ve got my drawings…my box…I just ordered some postcards…and I have even updated my website: www.elizabethkostojohn.com. Also…I took some photographs of how my work looks when pinned up:
and here I am looking at it:
close up:
Kind of interesting, right? It’s very minimal. My advisor, Adria Arch, was kind enough to let me use her studio space to pin these up. The idea is that these drawings are a single work of art…not individual pieces. Adria showed me an example of a work by Jim Dine that has that same attitude…forty drawings comprise a single work of art: The Glyptotek Drawings. Yes, his ability to draw is stunning! Here is one of the drawings:
Jim Dine
Amazing! I love the smudgy areas and the scratchy areas combined…there is so much depth…sigh.
That image is a good segue onto wonky people that my son continues to draw…here is one:
Look at those mesmerizing eyes! Maybe that’s actually supposed to be me in the morning, before I’ve had my cup of tea. I’m concerned about the bald spot on my head above my left eye…but no matter. I’ll just part my hair differently.
My son is obsessed with building blocks. Typically…we are making imaginary structures. This week, however, he decided to do something else:
I asked him what it was…a skyscraper? A tower? He said that he was making a shoe store. So funny! Can’t you see that kind of thing at Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie??? Okay, so maybe his future is in retail…not construction.
I finished another drawing for the series:
I’m feeling that I need to “regroup” now. Do I want to do more of these? Do I want to shift and continue in a different way? I know. I’m the only one who can answer that. I have to do some pondering. I also have to do some housekeeping! I spend more time drawing mangled fruit than I do straightening up around here. I’m going to get a little zen…you know, chop wood…carry water…while I put this series and where it’s going into the backburner of my subconscious. Hopefully, the fumes of Windex, Murphy’s Oil Soap, and scented Swiffer sheets will be enlightening, and hopefully the direction that I am looking for will come to me…much like the way static-charged dust and crumbs are drawn to the bottom of one’s socks…or, is that only in my house?
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, drawing, winter
So, I feel that the pace at which I complete drawings has slowed down considerably. Why is that? Winter lethargy? Domestic distractions? Raiding the refrigerator like a racoon every thirty minutes? What???
I think that I’m actually starting to notice the neglected house…the stacks of papers…the projects “in process”…and the general clutter. I would love to wake up tomorrow morning as a neat person, but it’s not likely to happen. Neatness takes time. I prefer to spend my time making a mess, rather than cleaning it up. I’m clearly setting an awful example for my son. When he was little, he considered it entertaining to dump out the contents of his toy bins onto the floor. That was not a good omen for future neatness.
He built this little house the other day. I’m actually more concerned about his interest in construction/building, than his messy habits. What if he wants to become an architect???? I have to shield him from such reckless thoughts…which I must insist upon, as a recovering architect myself.
I got the photographs of my drawings back. They look good! Here, see if you can guess which was the professional photograph:
Is it this one?
or, is it this un-photoshop-ed one?
It is for this same reason that I now take my son to get his hair cut by a professional. I know. It isn’t really a fair comparison, as I did nothing to help my shoddy photo. Still…no amount of product could fix my remedial haircutting…so, I still say that it’s worth it to go to an expert.
In a similar vein to last week, I am highlighting an artist whose work I love. Her name is Kate Petley. Please check out her website. I LOOOOOVE her colors and swooping marks. Her is one of her paintings:
I mean, really….isn’t it GORGEOUS???? (I always worry that the artist will be upset that I have her work on my blog. But, as I credit her for the work, and provide a link to her website…I hope that this is good blog etiquette…) Look at those colors! Look at that composition! Look at how that green paint bleeds up into the white area! Look at that little gray square in the lower left! Sigh. Such brilliance. Maybe I can afford a mug with that on it?
Besides finally completing a drawing this week, I also updated my website! Check it out here, please! See? Big changes, if you were familiar with how it was before. Yes, after looking at my website, you may want to suggest that I look into Zoloft. Really, I’m fine.
So, here is my latest drawing:
See? I’m fiiiiine. Perhaps I have S.A.D.? Look at that dim light! It is finally winter around here:
Perhaps my son has S.A.D. too???
Should I be concerned? Where are the rainbows and flying horses??? Where are the puppies and smiley faces?????? What’s up with that CAGE???????
Maybe we need to get the “family-size” zoloft? Really, it isn’t “The Shining” over here. I’m thrilled that it’s snowing.
(and snowing…and snowing…and snowing…)
Heeeere’s MOMMY!!!
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, drawing, Jeff Koons, Pencil, Surabhi Saraf
NO…not my actual child! (I’m sure that the plural was puzzling as well) I mean my DRAWINGS. Yes, I took my set of 16 drawings to be photographed yesterday. So, as I write this…they are sitting in a photographer’s studio, and will be there over the weekend. I made sure not to act like a neurotic parent by asking the photographer if he was going to treat them with kid gloves, as if they were important artifacts or rare antiquities. Heck, I think that some of them even have pear juice on them. No joke. This is the last one that I finished:
You can see it in the box…with my handy-dandy eraser shield adjacent. I have another one in progress…mwah-ha-ha! (The produce aisle shudders at my approach…)
In the realm of art, more drawings by my son…another hilarious muppet-esque face:
I seriously love these. And his version of an eighteen-wheeler:
I think that he thought that all eighteen wheels are are ONE side of the truck…plus, he ran out of room for the full amount.
I try not to get depressed when I see amazing work by other artists. I mean…if we all let that kind of thing get to us, none of us would get anywhere, right? Take, for instance, Surabhi Saraf. Her work is stunning…please take a look at her link. She is a media artist, and does AMAZING videos of the mundane turned sublime. Here are stills of one of her pieces:
Surabhi Saraf – Peel, 2009
and:
Surabhi Saraf – Peel, 2009
You can’t appreciate how beautiful these videos are without watching one. Go. Now. I insist. (click here…but, please come back!) I know. Gorgeous, right??????
Here is another thing to get depressed about:
How far MY mundane is from the sublime. Case in point:
Our plant is growing. (Hurrah! will wonders never cease?)
Also, my recent Bed, Bath, and Beyond indulgence (I’m such the suburban mom):
Close up:
It’s a basket made from woven recycled paper…from China. I love it! I can’t decide what to do with it…I mean, doesn’t this deserve to be more than a wastebasket???
I love that art causes you not just to look at the world with fresh eyes, but specifically to look at the world AROUND US with fresh eyes. I feel that Saraf’s work does that in a poetic way…taking the repetitive tasks of domestic life and multiplying/choreographing these rhythmic routines to an enormous scale. Perhaps, in its own little way, my wastebasket does the same…imagine the possibilities of what a lowly, Market Basket flyer could become! What if it wasn’t a wastebasket…
but a LARGE, WOVEN PUPPY, A-LA-JEFF KOONS???? NOW, we’re talkin’!
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: artist, decordova, drawing, Pencil
Yes, this was a shoddy production week. I didn’t even finish ONE DRAWING. I kid you not. I did, however, build a box for my drawings and mount them all:
Nice, right? Snazzy custom box! That’s just to distract you from harping on the fact that I did not finish a new drawing for this week. So sad.
I am digressing from my stuff to note that my son’s drawings have taken a new direction. He was “a scribbler” for the most part. Now, he’s doing these hilarious faces. Check it out:
He decided that the hair only on the top of the head wasn’t enough…it needed to go around the WHOLE head. Awesome. This next one, he told me, is a one-year old:
See all of the circles in his mouth? Those are apricots.
My own drawings, as a kid, were rather mundane:
I assume that I was older than 4 when I did this…my dad mowing the lawn. Nice beard stubble. Apparently, that was important. Next:
I’m not sure that my spelling is any better. Does anyone remember those Ed Emberley books???? They were these odd guides of how to draw stuff…these fish are CLEARLY from that book. In some ways, those books are really “anti-art”, as how to draw things is codified. BUT, I think that it’s an interesting take on abstraction, just using combinations of basic geometric forms. I know. No one is going to get into any MFA program with these drawings, but you gotta start somewhere.
This week, I went to the DeCordova museum to see their Biennial exhibit. It’s odd…I liked it generally, but I wasn’t really wow-ed by it. I’m not sure why, so maybe I’ll know by the end of this post.
Lately, there is a lot of work where something looks familiar, but it is made out of completely surprising materials. Take these, for example:
Antoniadis & Stone – Sculpture Park (Flipside)
This looked like two, green concrete block walls that have been stacked on their side. Hmm! Actually, it was made of particle board, plastic and paint. I kid you not. I liked their work, as it was taking the mundane of our landscape and not only reconfiguring these objects, but making them by hand with other materials. Next:
Chris Taylor – Untitled
This artist takes mundane objects, like styrofoam cups and bubblewrap…and makes them out of GLASS. Seriously. They look perfect. I guess that he’s sort of the “anti-Chihuly”. I liked these, but I didn’t like how they were shown. They were all sitting on a steel shelf, jumbled together. I would have liked them to be treated in a more precious way. How pedestrian of me. Next:
Lauren Kalman – Blooms, Efflorescence, and Other Dermatological Embellishments (Nevus Comedonicus)
HMMM! This artist studied skin conditions, and then rendered them with jeweled piercings. It makes beautiful what we would normally think of as “ugly”. She used herself as a model, I believe. I like where this is going…but is the final product actually “beautiful”? Or, now that it is body adornment…has it become ugly again because of it’s unorthodox nature? Either way…ouch. I’ll stay with pencil drawing, thankyouverymuch.
Tomorrow, I’m going to the “Artists’ Books: Books by Artists” exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum. I LOOOOVE this kind of stuff. I’ve now made several little books myself, which I think is super fun. I haven’t ever really focused on one seriously, as an attempted piece of art. Anyone out there know some favorite artists who create cool artists’ books????
For those who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about…artists’ books are basically a book as art. For example:
Merrill Shatzman
I discovered this artist online. Her (his?) stuff looks GORGEOUS! Check out her/his website. I seriously love her/his stuff…(sorry, Merrill! Maybe I’ll invent “hisser” as a word to replace her/his? Thoughts? Will Daniel Webster rise from his grave to strangle me?)
Any other book artist recommendations out there?????
Is ANYBODY out there???? (kidding…sort of…)
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, drawing, In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust, Pencil, still life
Yes, this week is a hodgepodge of stuff. No, there will be no coherent theme to this post, so don’t bother looking for one.
I’m going to start with something that will prove how…shall I say…weird, I am. So, I think that we’re all familiar with Marcel Proust’s yammering about his madeleines, right? I recently got a photocopy of the passage from A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, and it started me thinking…(always a recipe for disaster). Here’s the quote:
And so it is with our past. It is a labor in vain to recapture it: all the efforts of our intellect must prove futile. The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm beyond the reach of intellect, in some material object (in the sensation which that material object will give us) which we do not suspect. And as for the object, it depends on chance whether or not we come upon it or now before we ourselves must die. – [Marcel Proust]
So, I pondered this quote, and wondered what my “material object” would be that would bring me back to the past. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t think of anything profound, as Proust does. BUT, I thought about something ridiculous. When I was little, I had a rather sizeable collection of Tomy Pocket Games. Does anyone else remember these????? I loved them. I think that I have always been a “micro” person. This may be attributed to my rather acute nearsightedness…but perhaps not. Anyway, these little games were a micro world to me. Each had it’s own character, difficulty, and fun. They were small enough to fit in one’s pocket, hence the name. ANYWAY, (this is going somewhere, albeit slowly) I thought back to the ONE of these little games that I loved the most. It was a tiny obstacle course for a little silver ball. TEENY TINY! I remember the one that I had was slightly damaged, as my dad tried to get the price tag off with lighter fluid and slightly “melted” the plastic on that spot. SO, on a whim, I decided to look on ebay to see if anyone was selling one. Well…I kid you not. There was one in exquisite condition. As per usual, ebay stresses me out. I only buy things that I can “buy it now”, without an auction. Unfortunately, this had an auction. Days went by…on the evening of the final bidding, I placed my bid…and left to put my son to bed. I let go and just hoped that I would win it…
And I did:
BEHOLD! MY MADELEINE!
I know. I *truly* have a problem. Nonetheless, I am thrilled to have this little thing back in my life. I am clearly not of the buddhist school of thought where I relinquish attachment to all worldly possessions. No, I’m just about the complete opposite. Proust randomly stumbled upon his madeleine…whereas I sought out and bought mine on Ebay. Same difference.
I wonder what my son’s “madeleine” would be? We actually have a set of wooden blocks that was my husband’s grandfather’s blocks when he was a kid. Amazing, right? Anyway, my husband says that the smell of these wood blocks brings him back to his childhood…
That’s a skyscraper that he built “with” my son. Cool, right? Sorry about the mess. I was too lazy to photoshop out the general disaster in the house. I needed some kind of “de-crap” filter, but I don’t think that my version has that kind of thing…
The other cool project with my son is trying to grow something in a pot. Our bird feeder project was a complete fail, as I somehow managed to buy a suet block that is completely unappealing to our furry and feathered friends outside….but I digress. So, we’re trying to grow either beans, or peas. I can’t remember what we stuck in the pot, and I’m too lazy to get up and find the seed packet. I was very skeptical about this project, as I am really bad with plants. I mean, REAAAALLY bad. BUT! Take a look!!!!:
LOOKIT! There are some tiny GREEN THINGS coming up in the plant pot!!!!! YES!!!! I can restore my son’s faith in the order of the natural world! I was concerned that he was skeptical because of the bird feeder fail. See??? Add sun and water and stuff actually GROWS! Ah, I’m such a simpleton…
For those of you interested in art, you’ve probably already stopped reading by now. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost most readers by this point. SORRY! If you wanted exciting, I’m sure that Kim Kardashian has a blog that you can check on. Just tell her that I sent you.
So, for my friend’s 40th bday, I made her a little book. Here it is:
and the inside:
Fun, right? I called it her “Forever 40” book. She can just maintain that same age from now on, and reject the signs of getting older. Blue hair? Senior discount? Not when you’re only 40! I may join her in this delusion when I turn 40.
I’m horrified at how little drawing I got done this week. This is it:
Just ONE drawing? Ugh. My husband was away this week, so my excuse is that I had less free time than usual. Or, I’m just slacking off. I’ll choose the former.
Has anyone seen any good art exhibits in the Boston area? I took my son to the MFA this week to meet a friend and her son. Yes, we did not manage to do the visit without a guard reprimanding me about my son trying to touch the two-story tall Chihuly sculpture. Sigh. Here I am…trying to be the good mom with my kid at the MFA, and we get called out as delinquents. Anyway, if you can think of a show in the area worth seeing…let me know…sans enfants next time…
slightly wonky 