Two more explorations in the current series. The one called Lauren’s Underbelly got its title from the happy little fact that the underpainting/monotype was a portrait of a pregnant woman. She apparently gave birth to this painting. It’s a girl!
Hidden Defect, oil into monotype on paper, 22′ x 16″
Lauren’s Underbelly, oil into monotype on paper, 18″ x 12″
This week my mind has been racing with all kinds of thoughts, usually unfriendly ones, but hey it happens from time to time and when it does one of the most soothing things to do (besides cleaning everything) is to find something repetitive that distracts through a form of monotony. I had a little side project from JD tucked away for just such an occasion, transcribing lengthy text.
What I really loved about this was it was all text I would have never really read on my own, and even better still haven’t. Even though I faithfully copied Lovecraft and Robespierre faithfully I couldn’t really tell you what either was about. I was so focused on one word at a time that they never formed any cohesive sentence in my own mind. I do remember writing the word “liberty” and “virtue” quite a bit.
As far as physical process there was a learning curve. Find a pen, it is the wrong pen, look for another, remember how to write clearly, contend with adverse paper textures, wonder about placement…all of this kept me plenty distracted from the obnoxious chatter of my own mind for awhile, but I’ll be needing more paper soon.
Finally getting these to where I can spell words. However, these are actually the only letters I have enough of to do so. This will be the background for a stencil to be added hopefully this weekend.
Clearly legibility isn’t this style’s strong suit, but I can live with it for a repeated phrase like this. If I ever do longer texts it’s something I’ll have to manage. Perfect for ransom notes though.
-JD
jeesus … it’s the end of the day and I’m finally posting. I don’t have access to the Internet in the green mountain state of vermont, but I’m back in the fair city of boston so here we go. as you know, I’ve embarked on a project of drawing something everyday. often it’s on the phone, yet I do actually take pencil, oil stick and ink to paper, it’s just that it’s a bit easier to post the digital drawings. I highly recommend this as a way to stay in the game … to make sure your studio practice goes with you so you’re never able to say ” I couldn’t draw because …..”. the notion of the artist block starts to recede when you do something everyday …. it really does make a difference to keep moving along. so here’s my daily drawing ->
I have post-nasal drip and it’s postcards again this week! These I made using watercolor crayons, colored pencil, and ink on all rag museum board. Perhaps I will continue until I have amassed a large collection of these and then send them all out at once. Or maybe I will leave them in random places. Or maybe I will shove them into a corner to add to the clutter. Who can say?
Happy winter to you!
-Steph
This piece has a photographic feel and Kodak is on its death bed. That’s a sad thought.
Ektachromoplasm, oil over monotype on paper, 20″ x 16″
It’s been a long time since I have taken any photographs of people, and when I do they are usually people I know very well, but a recent interaction made me wonder what the fair use of pictures of strangers would be. I don’t take pictures for advertisements, or to sell, so it’s not something I ever really think much about but since the question came up I threw it out to my good friends on Twitter and Matthew Best was kind enough to provide me with this very useful article which answered all of my questions and then some. Looks like as long as I am in public and not invading a private space then I am in the clear.
In the mean time you should check out some of his work here. Good stuff.
First things: I’ve started a Tumblr to post some of the pieces I make that will go into future quilts, and other progress shots.
This is a test of work I’ve been doing with stencils. I can use individual letter stencils to then create words and more.
Towards that end, here are 1000 Es that I created.
More after the jump. Read more »
so I’ve recently begun using my iphone and ipad to draw. it’s quite different than paper (obviously) and lends itself to casual, free mark making. unlike a pencil to paper, a digital mark is more easily deleted which makes the whole thing less precious. I like it quite but. I also love to make marks on paper as the sound/feel is deeply resonant. right now I’m enjoying the act of drawing something each day. as woody allen – and many many others say – “showing up is 80% of success”.
6 x 4 inches
colored pencil on museum board
Despite a lack of snow, this bleak cold, dark winter has been kicking my ass. Even art making doesn’t seem to be enough to make me want to get out of bed in the morning. And the prospect of spending hours closed up alone in my cold studio, without even the company of my sweet, warm cats, is no motivation. So this last week, I moved production to the cozy inner sanctum of the living room. Of course, this meant scaling down and adapting working methods to something a bit tidier than my usual paint-slinging. So I’m making postcards. They are small and easy and I can manage making them. Sometimes you just have to say fuck it and keep going no matter how or why. Fuck it. I may even mail them. That’s one above. Here are two more:
Stay warm,
-Steph
I’ve been in Baltimore caring for my parents for a week and have been painting in the basement of the house I’m staying in. Here are some of the results.
I had the opportunity to take advantage of my father Harry’s experienced eye for design. He’s 92 years old. I asked him what he thought of the 1st piece below while I was still working through unresolved stages. He looked at it, covered an area with his hand and said, “get rid of this shape. These things don’t mean anything.” A title was born.
Tom Bennett
These Things Don’t Mean Anything, oil on monotpye, paper, 18″ x9″
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Below, I’ve posted a photo of an original monotype and the subsequent over-painting.
First stage: Original monotype on paper
figure 1993, monotype,
Final stage:
Figure 1-11-12, oil on paper, 2012,
Why is it that all electronics decide to crap out at the same time? My Olympus, like my previous laptop, has been dying a slow death for the last year or so. It had gotten to the point of being so unreliable that it was essentially unusable, and now with all the problems the company is having along with my personal experience with their products I thought it would be best to go in a new direction. Lucky for me I have a few camera nerd friends and after a little consulting decided to go with this.
So far it’s great, a bit heftier than my previous ones, but it also feels more substantial. Now the only problem is that I have been without a decent camera for so long I don’t know what I want to take photos of…so here is a cat.
When in doubt always go with a cat, it is the default setting for internet communications.
My cousin and his bride, Kate, were married in December 2011. I promised them a good piece that night and used the full year allowed by good manners to finish it. The result was their Wedding/Christmas present this year.
Each piece is 24″ x 18″, and is a quit of paintings, collages and traditional fabric quilt. Pieces of each background are used to fill in the different planes of the form within it. This is what I was testing in this post.
Unfortunately, because I had to build the frames and stretch these in Los Angeles I wasn’t able to photograph them in my studio with my equipment. While my uncle and father are both good phtographers with solid equipment, we had a hell of a time getting worthwhile photos. Two of these are too blurry to show details of, and the two that are still have problems. So, while these are some of the most intricate pieces I created last year, I haven’t the documentation to prove it. Typical. Regardless, here they are:
-JD
as I started the new year, i felt it important that i have a disciplined small project to keep me on track. I bought a new sketchbook and commanded myself to draw something everyday. as the new year approached, i was excited and kinda nervous. drawing was out of my comfort zone. i’m a photographer. maybe my self imposed limits needed to be stretched. my good fortune came through twitter where @stelth opined “should I do a drawing a day?” to which I replied ”yes and I’ll join you”
i am using the iphone and paper based drawings in this project. it’s a terrific exercise for me to open up and play. it’s helping to be part of a group … accountability.
todays sketch has yet to materialize, however here’s a link to the project and yesterday’s sketch
Photos of the first stages of the process I’m exploring with these current reworked monotypes-to-paintings.
The monotype is an ancient relic from the early 90′s. Drawing over the image and reintegrating the underlying forms with the new marks, I then bring in paint of varying viscosities with brush and knife. The recontextualization of form may be overtly reconsidered or more likely metamorphosizes ‘organically’ (for lack of better pompous phrasing). Here much of the original is obliterated yet structurally the new image is recognizably built on form that is now rendered abstract. I’m away from my studio this week and won’t be reworking this until I get back, so this current unresolved stage will have to ferment like a soft wheel of gouda, also known as my head.
When I was out west visiting with Mr. Hastings I noticed a stack of unused magnets that have been sitting there for 4 years (I know this because I stuck them there 4 years ago) and I asked if I could have them. I probably could have just thrown them in my bag and they would have never been missed, but it’s always polite to ask.
These are 2 inches by 3 inches.
On average, the New Years weekend is probably my most productive of any time of the year. Decembers are usually spent finalizing Christmas gifts and rushing around trying to finish a variety of things. Then the Holidays come and I’m usually separated from the studio for about a week. By the time New Years comes, I am alone in my apartment without any near term responsibilities and all I want to do is play. Around this time last year I had just bought a new Sewing Machine and was experimenting with the form of quilt I played with all year.
This weekend may have been the most productive of my life. I started playing with stencils, and different colors of paint. Because these hues are ridiculously expensive, I started diluting them and creating my own mixtures. The result of these 2 things was a weekend of painting or preparing to paint (making stencils/mixing paint) near non-stop. I learned a lot in these 3 days, but may have to force myself to slow down to prevent burning myself out.
What I didn’t do much of was document what I was doing. So for now you’ll have to trust me and accept these 2 stencils of a passage from a poem by Baudelaire that I am working with to become accustomed with text:
(This one got cur off in the rush to scan it at midnight last night. Apologies.)
-JD
“Unwritten”
10 x 8 inches
acrylic and soft pastel on archival mat board
I may have mentioned earlier that I haven’t been in the best frame of mind lately. Well, yeah, that’s the way it is. And then it isn’t. And then it is again. A very smart, very kind friend of mine once compared living life to swinging on a pendulum. I’m paraphrasing, but he said something like, sometimes it’s hard to tell if your on an upswing or a down. It always stuck with me because it really is just like that. And some days, you just feel flat no matter what–like that Arp poem–the one in the first sketch below. Here are two sketches I did back in 1994. Both are about 30 x 20 inches They’re from the same series as these. These old works were kind of a jumping off point for some I’m doing now like the one above.
Anyway, I figure looking back and comparing past with present is appropriate enough right now what with the new year about to come in. Happy New Year, everyone.
-Steph
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