Clay Commission

"Crow Dreaming", ceramic with pearls and beads, 8 x 11", 2012

Over a month ago a friend commissioned me to create a clay piece for her atrium.  She needed art that could handle being outside.  Clay is perfect for that.  She told me I could create anything I like as long as it hangs on a wall and is not too large.  The possibilities were endless.  Hundreds of ideas ran through my head.  Finally I settled on an idea that had a personal connection to my friend.  After a couple of sketches I constructed the piece.  I had so much fun!  It was like drawing without a pencil.  This is my first relief sculpture, and certainly not my last.  I enjoy the process of working with clay.  It combines my fine art and crafting skills, 2D and 3D, and is a nice break from painting and jewelry.

Evolution of a Slime Mold Painting

I thought it would be fun to document the evolution of one of my new paintings.  Unfortunately, I didn’t do such a good job.  After photographing the under painting I got carried away with the work and the photo series makes sudden drastic changes.  I just couldn’t bear to stop and take pictures while I was in the process of creating.  I also have a little fear of immortalizing the work at an unfinished stage.  This painting is tiny, just 2 x 3"!  Here is what I did capture:

Drawing

Molding Paste with a little color added

Layer of Underpainting

Color!

Glitter!  It is finished!

 

Going Abstract

When inspiration strikes, it’s time to act.  I find that if I wait (out of fear or convenience) the window of opportunity closes and I often don’t come back to the idea.

So you are probably wondering what is going on with the painting above.  Over a year ago I was inspired by the encaustic work of an artist friend.  The paintings were mostly abstract and incorporated glitter.  Ahhh glitter!  I knew I needed to do something with glitter.  I bought the Martha Stewart glitter collection but never used it.  I felt blocked.  I couldn’t just jump into a painting without some sort of idea.

Now, after all this time, the moment has arrived.  After all the tiny myco drawings for jewelry pendants, inspiration struck.  I was lying in bed thinking about the fun, intriguing and beautiful world of slime molds and lichen when I had the idea; I can paint this subject.  And, these paintings would be the prefect place for a little glitter, maybe even tiny beads. 

So, this morning before making breakfast or tea (I’ll eat when I finish writing this blog) I got to work.  Oil paint is not great for any sort of collage; the oils break down materials imbedded in it.  So I got out the acrylics.  It has been a long time since I used them!  I put down a thin underglaze, sketched out my design, and started painting with modeling paste.  I am going all out, exploring the opposite of what I’ve been doing with paint for the past couple years.  I need to wait for things to dry before I do more.  The wonderful thing about acrylic is that my wait won’t be long.  What you see above will look very different when it is finished.  If I like it, I’ll do more!

Does this mean my style is changing?  Who knows?  Maybe this painting will help bring new life my candy/shell/sea glass work.  Maybe I’ll make more jewelry.  Maybe everything that I have ever wanted to express will gel and I’ll be at the top of my game.  Or, perhaps it will just be a fun exercise in self- expression.  Am I worried about any of this?  Not a chance. I'm just enjoying the flow of creativity.  A beautiful gift on a sunny, warm winter day.

Work in Progress

I’m a busy woman these days but I haven’t given up painting.  This piece has been in progress for a couple months now; it will get there slowly but surely.  The main shell and background need a lot of work.  The sea glass, pottery shard, and false pacific jingle shell are mostly done.  I hope that posting this helps energize me to finish!

“Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes”

Work in Progress

Today I am painting and thinking about change. 

There was this artist whose work I LOVE.  I discovered her paintings at a Mill Valley gallery years ago.  She worked in mixed media, creating narratives that were carefully rendered.  They had a Latin American feel.  She even painted the frames and incorporated them into the pieces.  I took a couple postcards from her shows and drooled over them.  Today, they are as interesting and beautiful to me as they were then. 

Recently I searched for her on the web.  I found a website bearing her name but the work looked nothing like her.  Could it be her?  It was. I confirmed her identity by her exhibition history.   She had become a minimalist!  There was no trace of the old work on her website.  I was shocked and disappointed.  I really liked the old work, I wanted to see it again, and I’m not attracted to minimalism.  How did her work change so drastically?

I can’t answer for her, but I can answer for myself.  My work has steadily changed over the years.  It’s not like I wake up one day and think, “I’m going to do something completely different”.  No, the art evolves.  I’ll be working in one style while in the back of my mind some ideas are percolating. Some of those ideas may brew for years, others may fizzle out before they are mature enough for me to birth them into the world.  When my work shifts it happens with joy.  I am newly inspired and am off exploring the unknown again.  I don’t mourn for the old.  Everything I do is like a steppingstone leading me deeper into the wilderness.  I savor that journey with excitement and anticipation.

My experience with the artist described above is not a new one.  In the arts we often get attached to a style of expression.  We relate to it, and it inspires us.  When the artist changes, we might be left longing for more of the same.  Some will only listen to David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, unable to embrace the work that followed (most of his career).  Others only like Picasso’s cubist period, or Kandinsky’s early work.  That’s okay.  We can listen to those albums and look at those paintings over and over.  They will continue to bring us joy.  No one expects us to like everything an artist creates.  All I ask is to be respectful of the mystery of artistic process and accept inevitable change.

“Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Without change something sleeps inside us, and never wakens.” – Duke Leo Artides