Also please check out my second blog, The Painting Archives to see older (pre-2004) paintings for sale.
Monday, May 04, 2009
new painting, and a clean studio
A new week and a newly cleaned and organized studio--big changes and hard work over the weekend. Piles of trash went out the door, and areas of the studio long cluttered and under-used opened up into interesting new work spaces. It's been years since the job was done--and I'm not quite finished yet so I'm holding off on posting photos--but it is quite a transformation. Anyone who knows my studio will be surprised! Though I did not do much with my rather famously messy painting table (because I like it that way!)
In the midst of sweat and grime, there were revelations, questions and discoveries. A tube of figure drawings from 1980-82 (carefully labeled) that were really very nice..why have I never worked more with the figure? A bunch of acrylic paints, stored away in an old ice cream bucket. (I had not used acrylics in about 20 years, until my recent mixed media work, so this was a mystery--but a happy discovery, since most of it seemed still usable.) Then there was the large bag of floor-sweeping compound, which split and spilled as soon as I tried to move it (it finally served its purpose, I guess, since I then had to sweep it up...) I also discovered a roll of very nice drawing paper, an old bathroom scale that will be useful in my new packaging/boxing area when I want to estimate shipping weight, several tools that had gone missing, and on and on.
Slightly repositioning several pieces of studio furniture made a huge difference in the feeling of energy, flow and purpose in the room. I don't know a thing about fung shei, but perhaps this is what it's about--kind of intriguing! And simply clearing out has left a much larger working area. It is a good time to do this, at the start of what will be five months of intensive work to be ready for two exhibits in the fall.
The painting above, Drawing #1, is one that I delivered on my road trip last week to Woodwalk Gallery in Door County, Wisconsin. I titled it Drawing #1 (there is another so far in the series) because it seemed as much about the lines as the paint. ¶ 8:43 AM
A new week and a newly cleaned and organized studio--big changes and hard work over the weekend. Piles of trash went out the door, and areas of the studio long cluttered and under-used opened up into interesting new work spaces. It's been years since the job was done--and I'm not quite finished yet so I'm holding off on posting photos--but it is quite a transformation. Anyone who knows my studio will be surprised! Though I did not do much with my rather famously messy painting table (because I like it that way!)
In the midst of sweat and grime, there were revelations, questions and discoveries. A tube of figure drawings from 1980-82 (carefully labeled) that were really very nice..why have I never worked more with the figure? A bunch of acrylic paints, stored away in an old ice cream bucket. (I had not used acrylics in about 20 years, until my recent mixed media work, so this was a mystery--but a happy discovery, since most of it seemed still usable.) Then there was the large bag of floor-sweeping compound, which split and spilled as soon as I tried to move it (it finally served its purpose, I guess, since I then had to sweep it up...) I also discovered a roll of very nice drawing paper, an old bathroom scale that will be useful in my new packaging/boxing area when I want to estimate shipping weight, several tools that had gone missing, and on and on.
Slightly repositioning several pieces of studio furniture made a huge difference in the feeling of energy, flow and purpose in the room. I don't know a thing about fung shei, but perhaps this is what it's about--kind of intriguing! And simply clearing out has left a much larger working area. It is a good time to do this, at the start of what will be five months of intensive work to be ready for two exhibits in the fall.
The painting above, Drawing #1, is one that I delivered on my road trip last week to Woodwalk Gallery in Door County, Wisconsin. I titled it Drawing #1 (there is another so far in the series) because it seemed as much about the lines as the paint. ¶ 8:43 AM
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really like "Drawing #1"...apt title ta boot! the lines like old parchment/vellum scribblings of a forgotten old master...
feng shui is a bit about that, though you could go headlong into it and have crystals in certain areas and trees in certain corners....have an inlaw very very into it...I'm more a mildly lax wabi sabi thinker....
feng shui is a bit about that, though you could go headlong into it and have crystals in certain areas and trees in certain corners....have an inlaw very very into it...I'm more a mildly lax wabi sabi thinker....
Reorganizing and tidying any workplace has a stimulating effect - it seems to clear cobwebs from my brain and helps to make goals clearer. Now if I could find some space to move the layers and stacks of stuff, I might be able to tidy up my tiny "studio".
I connect with the calligraphy in this new piece. It's beautiful.
I connect with the calligraphy in this new piece. It's beautiful.
thanks to you both for the comments bout the painting (or..drawing..whatever.)
And I am really enjoying the cleared out studio--
relaxed wabi sabi is definitely my normal mode but it is refreshing to be clear of a lot of unwanted stuff.
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And I am really enjoying the cleared out studio--
relaxed wabi sabi is definitely my normal mode but it is refreshing to be clear of a lot of unwanted stuff.
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