busy, busy!!

john has been busy out in the garage, taping off a section of the floor to create the outline of my booth for CCAF.  he is painting away on the display panels he has in the works.  as he works diligently, i am spending time back in the house stressing out!  questions are running through my brain.  they run from "do i have enough work????" to "will anybody buy anything???" to "i think i should have never even applied to this show!!"  then, in moments of calm in between the freaking out, i think "this is no big deal." and "all i gotta do is sell a few works to break even."

agh.

in between the stressing and calm thoughts, i am making more birds.

here is the print from yesterday.

artist statement

handle with care, 2010

crappity, crap, crap.  i have to write an artist statement.  this is a hard one for me.  i am not into the "deep" stuff as far as statements (or art) go.  i make art, i play, i sometimes get a good result.  i like objects, people, shapes, patina.  i like all that stuff to look nice together.  i like color.  it's fun to put colors together that look beautiful.  for me, it's not about something higher.  it's just putting all of the elements together until i get just the right combination.  and then i'm done, and ready to do it all over again. 

here are things i like to use in my art over and over:

circles--they seem safe and comfortable.

stripes--they just look orderly to me, and i'm a virgo.  love order!!

lines--well, i don't know how you'd create something without at least an implied line...do you?

ordinary objects and people-- they are interesting to me.  i like the mundane for it's simple beauty.

red--it's happy.

green--it's safe and comfortable, like circles.

blue--i used to hate it, then i forced myself to use it because i hated it.  and now i love it.

brown--it's like green only safer and more comfortable.

texture and patina--i love things that are used and have the touch of a person or of mother nature.  if it's not there, i try and create it in a believable way.

handwriting--it's almost a lost art.  nobody writes letters any more.  and pencil?  it's just so beautiful!  smudgy, sharp or dull depending on the writer, and that shimmer of graphite.  wow.

numbers and letters--hmmm.  i like to use them as elements, and they usually don't say anything.  just elements of design.  3 is a personal favorite.  i think because it has circles.  i also like X.  so strong for such a tiny thing.

the virgin mary--she's an icon.  i'm not the religious type, but i have a huge collection of Mary in many forms.  she reminds me of my grandmother, who was such a kind woman.  she just makes me feel comfortable.  like circles.  and green.

here is what influences me:

pop culture--sometimes i just drive around and look at stuff.  i call it my artistic education.  it gets my brain ticking.  i look at people, buildings, products in the stores, old stuff, trash, fashion, advertising.

old stuff--back to the patina thing.

magazines--(all types including boring ones like consumer reports). i'm kind of addicted.  it's like driving around, only sitting still.  and you can bring them in the bathtub.

graphic design--letters, numbers, color combinations, flattening of the picture plane.

artists--oh god.  i look at everything i can.  how can i even make a list?  i could start today, and not finish for days.  it's impossible.  

i wish i were the kind of person who could take all of this information and make up a gorgeous paragraph or two that turns into an artist statement.  i guess i am going to have to do that really soon.

no title yet...but another box finished!!

finished this one last night.  i have had the clown knock-down target for at least 5 years.  i bought it up in silverton, colorado, at an antique store there.   i loved the hand-painted surface, and the patina of wear.  at the time i paid $24 for him, the price tag was still attached!  i created the monoprint in the background with the same color scheme, and tried to get a whimsical, fun pattern to work with the clown.  the roulette wheel was purchased on ebay, it's really old, and is marked "made in england".  the front of the box is a loom of some sort, and each sawtooth-shaped spike was hand-cut with a saw.  the discs on the front are made from some old poker chips which have paper circles overlapping them.  i cut them from a monoprint.  

john made the box for me.  it's made from oak, and has beautiful dovetailed corners.  it measures about 10x15x3 inches.  it can hang or sit on the legs i have installed discretely on the bottom of the box.

there is really no story attached to this box, i just loved the pieces individually, and think they look really nice together.  sometimes when i create a box, i'm telling a story.  and sometimes i just like to play around with combinations of elements.  

here's an image of silverton from a 1950's postcard.  it still looks exactly the same!

silverton, colorado

"OCD", a new box in progress

messy studio

OCD

well, it's not quite finished yet, but i am getting close.  this is another box that includes cut-up prints and found objects from my collection.  i think i am in a red mode.  (i am concurrently working on another box with a red color scheme as well.)  the title, OCD, reflects the number and label theme.  as humans, we are always trying to put things in order.  the tags are vintage, and look like they were originally used to identify keys.  one says "K's suitcase", another "freezer".    the numbers (a personal favorite of mine) show up in a cool old ruler, some metal "numbering tacks" that declare on the package that they are "for marking screens, storm windows, bins. drawers, lockers, etc."  the red squares are from some sort of vintage game.  i have no idea how to play it.  the wooden box, divided in sections was obviously some sort of container for keeping something tidy.  lastly, the wooden nurse.  she works well with the colors, and she's the perfect size.  and she reminds us that there is a very thin line between order, compulsion, and medication.  ( i think about that every day when i count the 16 pieces of banana i put into my cereal in the morning.  i often tell myself that i'm not OCD, just a virgo.)

speaking of order, the top photo shows my messy studio in action.  just yesterday that table was pretty clean.  in hours it went to full-on crazy mess.  guess my virgo tendencies don't transfer everywhere.  the picture below shows it a little less chaotic!

clean studio