Playing With Friends...

Been having some fun collaborating with a potter friend, Matt Wassenaar of Black Dog Pottery. He throws these amazing mugs and then I get to apply underglaze designs with brushes and my carved stamps. It has been ages since I worked on ceramics but I used to love hand building different things. I was never a great wheel thrower though, so this is a real treat!

 

 

heart art aka my precious

the nice thing about not having any current deadlines for shows is having time to experimenting with different media.  these wooden pieces hang from leather cords and measure approx 12x12 inches.  they have a thin wash of acrylic paint, then screen printed images, then enhanced details with sharpie markers and leather 'thread' stitched with holes drilled thru the wood...

so much of the creative process is playing with "what if" scenarios.  what if i do this, what if i use that color, or combine these images..."what if" is the essence of creating.  the lesson i learned most in pursuit of my BFA is that you have to be willing to take risks in the studio.  many artists especially young 'beginners' have a sense of preciousness about their work and a fear of 'messing up' something they like.  but that fear is what will hold you back from a real break through.  playing it safe isn't always the best thing and it is years of risking and fixing that help develop a mature artist and give you faith to trust your skills that if you do make a change you like less than a previous state you can fix it and work your way out of it.  (although this is easier to do with painting than printmaking i would dare to say you can even in printmaking problem solve to correct a bad creative choice.)

the other thing i have learned is to sleep on a project.  if you aren't sure about what to do next with a piece let it rest.  if you finished a piece and don't care for it, don't white wash it right away, give it time.  sometimes time alters your view of a thing and you'll grow to like it or see a new direction to take it in... and sometimes you realize you've outgrown it entirely.  but no matter what, the experience of having made a piece, even a failed piece, is of value.  similar to how you learn something of value from a broken heart.  it all helps shape your future work.

Dripping Pitch and Made of Wood

It's Valentine's Day, a holiday that stirs up a lot of commotion and sometimes emotion.  I've been working on a lot of heart themed images party around the idea of Valentine's day (I love to send cards!) but also as a continued step on this soul searching journey I've been on this past year or two.  

I'll be one of many lady artists in the "Art of Women" show that opens tonight at Oleson Gallery (685 Central Ave in St Pete) The 600 block has multiple openings tonight so it is worth a trip down and walk the block.  It is a nice alternative for those of us without significant others to maybe get out without feeling the pressure of dates or lack there of.   This is my piece for the show, please pardon the poor lighting but you get a taste of it.  It is called "Dripping Pitch and Made of Wood".  

The title comes from a Modest Mouse song called "3rd Planet" from I think back in 2000 but it is a line that has stuck in my head on continual loop for ages : "Your heart felt good, it was dripping pitch and made of wood". I didn't start out with that title in mind but I knew I wanted to have drips from the heart when I was working on this piece and then that jumped to mind so there you have it.  A glimpse into why things are what they are.  The cobweb? Well that is what I call nature's lace which serves to tie my love of spooky themes with the over the top sense of Valentine's day being all sugary... and maybe it needs to be cleared out so an old heart can beat again. Who knows.  Sometimes things just look nice and have no meaning.  But I like that it is there and I think it balances things out nicely.

Silk Screen, Acrylic, and Sharpie on Board
approx 20 x 25 inches (just a guess i forgot to measure before dropping at the gallery)
$165

Oh you can hear the Modest Mouse song here, I think it is nice. 3rd Planet on youtube