thinking about mending...

So I found all these lovely "art" images of mending. From old to new and all lovely.

other posts do do with mending here and here.

authentic

After a week away in Martha's Vineyard I am "back to life, back to reality..." 

sort of- I actually get 2 extra days to be in the studio before reality (aka job) really returns. Today got off to a slow start as I am pretty absorbed in my book, hold still, and I am always distracted and time sucked into looking for teaching jobs that don't exist and are insane competitive but I waste the time anyway.

Once I got into the studio I started a new drawing. I didn't feel like it was working so I put it aside either to begin again or salvage the paper. As I was perusing my image archives I got quite taken with a photo in my iphoto galleries and a new drawing was born. It is not done yet but I am super happy with it so far. I have a little more work to do in the body and am undecided on the hair. Most of my other drawings have an additional element in it. Almost like 2 images collaged...so maybe this one will end up with something too.  Just going with the flow.

I am loving making these drawings and hope that they find a home in the end. A place to exhibit and people to support them. It is scary changing your practice so much as I will no longer be of interest for some people as the fiber is fading out as a less dominant medium for me. But you have to be authentic and right now these feel oh so good. 

But with that said I did spend about 3 hours stitching today too (on my never ending piece) and that was a nice change of pace.

brought to you by a mama artist moment...

I have one of those silly mom/artist moments that truly sort of made my week/month and so on... so why not share. 2 things to know....

1. My son is a super creative kid that loves art and drawing.

2. I am obsessed with Sally Mann and am reading her new biography Hold Still.

So when T came in this Sunday morning to tell me that "there was a mommy daddy book on the black chair."  I say "thats mama's book"  T says " I was looking at it"  I say "ok. you can look at it that's fine. Just be careful with it."

Go back to sleep for an hour.

Wake-up.  "what ya doing?"

t: Mama I am drawing this little girl. I like this picture

And I look. He is drawing Virginia from the image in the book.

me: Oh that's Virginia and on the other page that's an image of Emmett. Those are the kiddos of the photographer.

t: Why are they naked?

me: They live on a big farm in the middle of Virginia.  They have a big area to swim and a cliff that overlooks it. No one is around for a long time. If we had a place like that you and me would be swimming naked too.  

t: Ok.

Proceeds to draw the farm, water and cliff.
Then draws Emmett.

My mama artist heart was exploding with love, pride and artistic joy.

first post...

That comment I made yesterday made me curious so here is the very first post I ever wrote...going on 8 years ago.  I am simultaneously embarrassed and envious of how un-self-conscious it is... Also kind of amazed by the similarities between the studio walls then and now and so recognize the voice of that artist that I was.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

ok, so i am finally doing it. Starting a blog.
everybody has been telling me to do it. So here goes.

I am all alone this week. No Hubby ( aka C).
And I left my phone in nyc so I cannot even call him or my mom for company.
Lame.

I would think it would be easier to be by myself for 5 days.
Let me tell you it sucks.
I cannot wait to be done with my thesis so I am in the city full time and say goodbye to this lonely little
apartment with no furniture in massachusetts for good.

So here is the lowdown. I am an artist, I am in my last year of graduate school.
I live 3 days a week where I go to school in Massachusetts and live the rest of the time in Brooklyn with my husband, he is a cutie, and the most adorable fabulous 3 cats in the world, and a fish. I would rather be in Brooklyn pretty much all the time but alas I must finish what I started.

These are some images of my studio earlier this week.
But it is already old news. I have rearranged everything and will have to update.
I am trying to figure out how to group stuff so....I rearrange always.

movement

 I remember when I use to write here everyday. I remember how wonderful that was. 


As maybe some of you have noticed it has been very quiet here. I have written a few times about the struggle of what this blog is to me right now or needs to be and my attempt towards understanding that and how it needs to change.

I considered "officially" closing the blog as I have seen so many people do over the last year. But that just seemed wrong. Then I questioned what is it? This blog? It started as an experiment and in reality an online sort of diary.  A confessional writing exercise that made sense with my art practice.  Then it became a "journal" more about critical writing, thoughts and work of talented fiber artists...I began to be afraid or timid about sharing my own personal journey- how was it to live up to all of this amazing art and amazing artists that I was writing about? It became more about them and less about me.

It opened up doors and provided opportunities.

Then my life changed... so much.

Child born, life moved and uprooted, full time job came back, marriage struggled....

As my statement says   "the autobiographical drives the work and is necessary for it to exist" so as my life dramatically shifted into the realm of a working mother with a broken relationship my work and needs as an artist shifted.  My time and energy was splintered, my art work struggling. The last thing I wanted to do was look at talented artists and write about them. So then what was the purpose of this place. Everyone came here to read about these other artists? And why did that cripple me so much?

In these last few weeks I have really yearned for this place again.  This dialogue which in reality is mostly with myself. This blog has always been for me, my personal journey, for me to archive artists, for me to make community, for me to share my work, my practice, my thoughts. When I started it literally no one except my mom was reading it and I still got up everyday and wrote. Makes me want to revise those first weeks of blogging...

I have no idea what this blog is anymore, but I do know it still has breath in it. So maybe what to expect:

I will be honest I am still not very interested in writing about other artists. Just revisiting the ones that constantly inspire me; Sally Mann, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Annette Messeger, etc.

I am mostly not doing fiber right now and it feels really good.

I am drawing with pencil, shooting with a digital camera, and have no idea where I am going but know that I am moving.

And movement feels good.

Alice Neel...

 

Someone I have been looking at a lot in this moment of "what the f*** is Alice Neel.
I was so lucky and delighted to see that David Zwirner was having a show of her drawings in NYC when I was there last month.  So I dragged my not feeling well 4 year old to the gallery and it was so worth it.

I love the directness of her drawing style, her viewers direct gaze and her admittance to the domestic world that she lived and worked in. As a very real woman who married multiple times, had a handful of children and never ever stopped making her art. I am inspired by her perseverance and her ability to gaze in a way that few were doing at the time.

 

Of course I like her pregnant women series (none in the show) very much but also really found the images she drew of children powerful. The show is up until the end of the week and so worth it. I am really loving drawing work right now it is so simple and direct and raw. 

My problem comes with the fact that it then needs to be behind glass, I wish I could figure out a less permanent way to resolve mine in the gallery. But I will take Alice's work however they give it to me.

sharing...

I have so much to say and so much to share. The issue of life is that I do not have the time and energy to get to sharing it and saying it here. This winter has been such a weird one. Usually winter is when you can really get stuff done in the studio and sort of refresh but with the TERRIBLE weather and the unexpected solo show my winter was actually total chaos.

 

So at this point I am still just catching up and recovering. I am trying not to be too hard on myself about the fact that the weather, taxes, weird appts, and sickness has kept me from the studio as I was extremely prolific leading up to my show. But it is hard to give myself that space.  As an artist you always feel like you need to be in the studio to be doing anything. But instead I have been looking, reading, researching, questioning, talking, journaling, reviewing... really trying to figure out what is next for me. 

It has been a weird few months and I was frustrated with the end result of my show. I loved the work. I thought it looked great. But somehow it became too formal, less intimate and immediate then previous solo shows of mine, The frames though appropriate for the work pushed people back and away from the content.  The small space of the gallery behind a larger space and show changed the experience of the viewer in a way I have not dealt with before. All of these things are so important for me to know and think about as I moved forward in this new direction in my work and try to figure it out.

So since I have not been making much what I have been doing is updating my website. It is far from done but a new header pager and some new drawing galleries (more coming) new photo galleries and not yet but also coming new fiber works. So feel free to check it out as a work in progress.

I have been reading the book Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. If you are an artist and have somehow missed this gem of a book like I did. Go get it now. Get a pen a big cup of tea and read.....

"For those who are near you are far away...and this shows that the space around you is begining to grow vast. And if what is near you is far away, then your vastness if already among the stars and is very great; be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind..."

I am also really looking forward to being at NYU again teaching as a visiting artist (more time NOT in the studio though and Squam in early June.)

storied stitch.

Looks like a great show with lots of familiar faces...

The Storied Stitch  

 Azarian McCullough Art Gallery

March 31st through April 19th

Needlework has a rich history in America. From early native Americans to the first European colonists, needlework has been used both as a record and as a means of communication. Family history and traditions are remembered in needlecraft, embroidered details communicate messages of status, wealth, and beauty.

Modern needlework may utilize the same techniques, but the message has been broadened. The Storied Stitch provides a space for that message. Here we see traditional techniques in uncommon contexts, reminding us of our past while exploring current issues. We also see the stitch pushed beyond the familiar shape, stretching and sketching and living in a new form. What begins as an intimate craft results in work that reveals a narrative both personal and universal.

Megan Canning

Orly Cogan

Michelle Kingdom

Katrina Majkut

Tamar Stone

Welcome reception Wednesday April 8 from 4:30 to 6:30, with an artist talk beginning at 5:30.
Closing reception Sunday April 19 from 2:00 to 4:00, with an artist talk beginning at 3:00.

More info here.

abstracted interior.

I like this work by Marsha Cottrell.  Made using office printers and fine papers. They are so minimal but I can imagine in person very rich with flaw, tonality and having an essence of magic in the banal.

See more here.

See in person now here. The installation shots on the galleries website really add to your understanding of the work, scale and how they relate.

critique....

I happily found a crit group a few months back. It has been so great to have monthly dialogue about art. The intention is always to stay on track about work but inevitably goes into broader art territory, which are often the best moments of dialogue.  It really has just been a game changer.

In my first crit they really helped me see directions I could take my drawings with layering, going in and removing, line quality etc... This time since all my new work is at the gallery I took advantage and showed some unresolved work. The window piece which I have been struggling with resolving was the main topic of conversation. One suggestion that I loved and am going to pursue was that maybe it's less that the embroidery is not done and more that it is part of something. I.E a dyptich or tryptich. So I'm planning on exploring what those missing parts might be.

I'm also seriously thinking about using color pencils in a new drawing.  eek. Who am I?

In the studio all morning, so glad.