"On Being an Artist and a Mother"

Thank you to Sophia Narrett for bringing this work and article to my attention. I am always so interested and compelled by artists working directly from their experience as a mother and what others have to say about it. Read a very good article on the work of Chelsea Knight here.

You can see a clip of the film here.

I do not know if I think the work itself is that exciting, I would need to see the entire thing,  but the fact that she is doing it and the article are.

next up

Last week I had some great time in the studio and got a lot of work done.  Started on the website update, ack. But it got started, yeah. Though no one but me can tell so far.

Mostly I started on a new piece for the piles series. I felt like maybe I wanted to play with applique on this one. Instead of drawing it out with the thread drawing out with the fabric itself. It is too soon to tell how it is going but it reminded me how much I love the process of cutting, puzzling and pinning things together. So I am already counting down until the next long studio day.

intimacy oversized.

WARNING-

 SEXUAL IMAGERY-----

 

  

I was google image searching  recently and fell upon one of the paintings of Joan Semmel - I immediately was drawn in and went to see more. Joan's more recent works are very intimate paintings that zoom in on our sensuality, sexuality and as she titled one work Secret Spaces.

I love the courage in this work, the overt sex combined with the beauty of the painting skill and technique.

Often she plays with color int he skin tones in a very interesting way that lets you see past just what is in front of you and look into the meaning, love and desire of it.

Sometimes she treats the body almost like an abstract landscape which results in lovely work. But my favorite ones are definitely the most intimate moments portrayed.

Joan has a long career as a painter with many wonderful series so check her other work out here.

pixelated tradition.

Generally I do not feature more commercially based work but when a student led me to the design of the Glasgow based design duo know as Timorous Beasties I kind of had to write about them. They mostly focus on textile design and wallpaper. 

What I love about their work is the combination of contemporary references, places and societal issues amongst traditional patterns and designs.  Often creating damasks that look old and traditional from afar but almost pixelated and ink smeared up close.  They also did a lace curtain in a similar vain.

There claim to fame is for sure their contemporary take on toile adding architecture and situations that are truly modern day and site specific all blended in with the very traditional design.  I am a sucker for this stuff and if I ever were to be rich I would be getting some of that wallpaper for sure.

See more of their designs and special projects at their website here.http://www.timorousbeasties.com/

dino's done

This work is finally done. It seems like it truly took forever but in truth I think it was just about a month and a half and it was an insane busy wacko month of a month and a half. A LOT longer then I am use to but also far from forever. Now I am curious and want to look in my archives to see....

Any hoo I am very happy with it, even after I washed it.  It feels totally done. So I am waiting for it to dry then be ironed and photographed. Then to the next one. I need to get the drawing done for whatever is next but I have a few ideas so one night this week I will lock myself into the bathroom in the dark and get a new drawing to begin.

Flashin back- more on Orly Genger

First written about back in '09...


Check out my article here on the super sized crochet work of Orly Genger.

Then again in spring 2011.... mentioning my new found interest in piles!



Speaking of alumni, I was over looking at the OSU website, my undergrad, and was super psyched to see that their current visiting artist is Orly Genger. I have written about her work here before but is is cool enough to mention again.


For some reason when I think of Orly's work I always think of her outdoor installations rather then her interior work and it was nice to be reminded how gorgeous and heavy her interior work is.

awesome chair....


I have been thinking a lot about piles lately and how I can work with them in my work. To me the pile is such a powerful image and my studio is full of them, which visually I love, but now that I am a mama my house is full of them too. Piles of clean clothes, dirty clothes, toys, diapers, dishes...It is such a symbol for domestic life. So even though though Orly's work is totally not about that - the piling she tends to do totally inspired my brain.

still cool.

 

 

How cool is this installation at Madison Square Park in NYC by Orly Genger....

the mark is enough-

 I recently saw the work of Roanna Wells in the new books "Drawn to stitch" and loved it! A lot of the work is super simple repetition of stitches massed further and closer apart. Conceptually it is obvious that a lot more is going on but to be frank- I don't care.

Her work makes me not need to know what is inspiring her or how she makes decisions instead I just want to look at it. I can read into it if I want or I can see it as marks. I can think about groupings but I'd rather just let thought go and simply see.

details of various works above.

I am very inspired by how direct and simple the work is. I would never be able to just make stitches and let that be enough and I love that she can.

She also has a new work that is about taking away and I think it is an exciting direction.

See more of her work here.

threaded words

The Threads catalogue from earlier this spring. I have included the intro essay by Jenn McNamara and the pages featuring me. Again the images are large enough to click on and read. Enjoy.

self-fabricated words...

In the process of working on getting my website updated I have finally scanned in some pages from recent catalogues that have featured my work. This is from the winter exhibit Self-Fabricated at the Arts Complex Museum. Each artist had a short essay written about their work.  I was actually very nervous about how it would end up as it seemed like the writer and I struggled to communicate and the work featured is VERY hard to photograph so she was struggling in "getting" my work. But in the end she totally understood it and wrote a lovely piece about it. These are higher res images so if you click on them they become big enough for you actually read the text. Let me know what you think!

piled on the floor

When I was at the Brooklyn Museum a few weeks back I was drawn into the American Paintings gallery from afar by the above painting by Sylvia Plimack Mangold. I of course recognized her last name to be of Robert Mangold but had never heard of her before.

Apparently more known as a landscape artist she did a series of domestic space scenes, focused significantly on the floor and light. With a few of these paintings littered with the remnants of undressing and dirty clothes.

Since my new work is shifting towards this "domestic" still life I am kind of totally obsessed with looking at other artists that have done it. Much like when I shifted toward fiber I wanted to see it validated and explored by other artists- maybe this is the same. I move more and more towards drawing, thought still stitched, and want to see that this imagery can be valued by others.

I am sure I over think it all but since I actually want to be making my living as either a professor or artist you kind of have to I guess. Anyway I love these paintings by Sylvia- as the piles of clothes are what I am so interested in stitching at the moment and the patterns of sunlight on the floor have been a favorite photography subject of mine for many years.

I enjoy how simple her work is in composition but how meticulous it is in the craft. I would love to be able to find some more information and images of this particular work of hers. Now I know to keep my eye out.