about 20 x 30 inches
oil and pastel on gessoed paper
More old work from long, long ago or about the same time as these.
about 30 x 20 inches
oil, nails and eggshells on gessoed paper
I’m still never quite sure where to put anything. And so, it just keeps piling up.
From a long way under,
-Steph
“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
oil, spraypaint, and enamel on gessoed paper
about 30 x 20 inches
1994
For a while now, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about some art I made a long time ago. It’s been moldering in a portfolio (some of it folded in half) in a corner of my studio for years. Lately, art making has me feeling antsy, as it does sometimes, and my mind is searching for ways around it. What I used to do when I hit a stage like this was gesso a bunch of papers, tape them to the wall or the floor and just fucking work without giving a fuck, make a mess, play with whatever was around until I’d worked out whatever was itching up my britches.
Well today, I dug out a handful of the rumpled old works that were on my mind. Above and below are two from the vault circa 1994. It’s fun to look back at this stuff. There are things I still like about them and things I’d do differently now, but I’m thinking the approach is something I need to revisit. Specifically, I want to be careless and make a mess. No, I want to make a bunch of really big messes and see what comes of it. Wish me luck. No… wish me fun.
oil, spraypaint, and charcoal on gessoed paper
about 30 x 20 inches
1994
Thanks for accompanying me on this little time warp.
-Steph
Sweetjeezlouise, I tried not to post this song, but really, how could i not? Sorry.
8 x 10 inches
ballpoint pen, acrylic and soft pastel on all rag matboard
You may remember that I default to circles. Here I am doing it again. If you think of the outline of a circle as a route that ends where it begins (and you are me) you may also be able to see the circle as a metaphor for acceptance, and a reflection of a recurring pattern of existence. This helps explain (to me, at least) why I return to the shape again and again.
Again and again,
-Steph
8 x 10 inches
acrylic and bits of collage on all rag board
Accepting that it’s impossible to always feel grounded might be a good idea.
With lightness,
-Steph
p.s. detail shot:
14 x 11 inches
acrylic on 4 ply all rag mat board
Seeing as this is Columbus Day weekend, I am probably off being very busy picking apples, finding my way through corn mazes and searching out Columbus. In the spirit of the holiday, take a look at this sketch and let me know what you discover. Apparently, it is harboring such delights as a heart, a hematoma, porn, mammal meat, aquatic life, extreme weather, and unholy nods to the birds and the bees. What do you see? Say dead people and I’ll squish you like a bug.
Love, Autumnal air, and inexplicable fascinations,
-Steph
“I default to circles”
colored pencil and graphite on matboard
6 x 8 inches
Someone in the online art group where the original d’Arteboardians were born asked just recently,”What do you guys do when you just can’t find anything you feel like painting?” I told her that I used to do a self portrait when that happened to me. Hastings answered, “I default to circles.” If I had answered with what I actually do now, I’d have said exactly that. I did this sketch when I felt like working, but had no real ideas. I’ve titled it accordingly. Thank you, Mr. Hastings.
Sincerely,
-Steph
Another quick sketch between lunch and the next thing.
I’m thinking about the cottage and the lobster and the sea. Not that this image necessarily says that.
mixed media: pencil, graphite, ink, benzyl ink, gouache on paper; 9″ x 12″
18 x 9 inches
acrylic, purple flocking fiber, red ballpoint pen and graphite on all-rag board
I did this sketch the other day while the paint on what I really wanted to work on stubbornly refused to dry. And although I was irritated at the time, I really do understand. Extreme humidity can suck the energy to do anything out of anyone… or anything. Hell, I was barely able to muster the energy to breathe that day. Gills might have helped, but wearing mine always reminds me of that awful movie Waterworld so I generally keep them tucked away–out of sight, out of mind. Also, I didn’t manage to stay dry myself so how can I possibly expect more from my art? Right. It makes no sense, any of it. Flocking hell.
OK I love ya Mister Eyeballman buh bye!
-Steph
That sounds like a good title for a hard-boiled pulp detective novel by someone named Max Phillips, doesn’t it?
Nude and Cat
mixed media on paper, 12″ x 9″
Figure and Cat
mixed media on paper, 12″ x 9″
Here’s an old page from a sketchbook. The stuff I’m working on now kind of grew out of this cell stuff. My ideas split and multiply faster than I can realize them.
I need a snack.
-Steph
From the NYC subway, yet again.
T.B.
gouache, acrylic, charcoal and pastel on mat board
16.5 x 10.5 inches
I found this sketch the other day in a pile in my studio. I did it a few years ago and then forgot all about it. When I found it, I was surprised at how relevant it seems to what I’m doing now, but then I figured that’s how things work. I concentrate on one thing while another part of my brain sorts through other stuff. I never know what the hell’s really going on.
With amused acceptance,
-Steph
acrylic and collage on 3/4 inch birch plywood
21 x 8 inches
Above is another sketch I finished this week. The previous sketches I finished in this vein were about working out a kind of chaotic, icky element to incorporate into my current work. This one is about starting to combine that stuff with ordered pattern underneath. As usual, the photo representation of it is only so decipherable. Maybe I’ll get some detail shots to add later.
Have a happy Saturday!
-Steph
A mixed media study:
ink, graphite, gouache on paper, 10 x 14
….and more stuff about my dad. He deserves it. A fine and fun blog out of England called Existential Ennui(<click in the hyperlink) pays tribute to him and his paperback book art. The blogger, Louis XlV, even mentions our blog.
Tom Bennett
The Man with a Getaway Face, 1963, Pocket Books division of Simon and Schuster
This week, for my daily drawings I’ve been concentrating on people instead of monsters. I’ll pry continue this theme next week too, although, I need to practice my perspective drawing. I’ve also been thinking about trying some paintings were I use my own drawings as I would a found image. I made these two digital colored drawings as kind of a sketch; one being a straight forward approach to color and the second a more arbitrary abstract approach.
I like the arbitrary one a lot and I would like to explore the idea in paint, as soon as I have time.
Warrior & Warrior 2, ink on paper 8 1/2″ x 11″ scanned and colored on paintshop pro
This is what I did with my leftover paint yesterday.
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Acrylic on ragboard
10 x 8, 5 x 3.5 and 3.5 x 2.5 inches
In a random, irrelevant coincidence, I happen to be wearing pink and yellow underwear today. Oh how crazy.
-Steph
about 8 x 10 inches
collaged pazzle pieces a la JD and acrylic on matboard
I was delighted a few months back when Mr. Hastings sent me a package that included a stash of pazzle pieces, the likes of which we’ve seen in many of his works. I was even more delighted to find among the pieces several silhouettes of our favorite cottontail. Above is one of the collages I’ve made incorporating said lapin.
Whelp, time to hit the bunny trail. I may (or may not) return later with more sketchiness.
-Steph
Quick EDIT:
In the spirit of JDawg, here’s this post’s fitting musical accompaniment.
Back on the underground trains between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Ah, the scent of garbage and urine baking in the heat. Thank god there’s air conditioning in 95% of the cars. All ink on paper, 9″ x 6″.
TB
other sketches:
acrylic and pastel on matboard
prolly about 17 x 11 inches or so-ish, i dunno
Much denser and fussier than the ones I’ve been doing recently, this one I did quite a while ago. I remember that I had mixed feelings about it at the time. I couldn’t make up my mind. I kind of liked it. I kind of didn’t like it. Then i put it in a box for a long time and forgot about it. I happened upon it the other day and added that big green stroke. Now I’ve decided that I’m no longer undecided about how I feel about it. I was right to begin with. I kind of like it. I kind of don’t like it.
Agora Gallery - the proud sponsor of the Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, which offers contemporary artists the opportunity to show their original art at one the most acclaimed juried art shows in Chelsea, New York’s art galleries district.
darteboard
jdhastings
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laelia e. mitchell
