Favorite Things I've Made

This post is based off a fun idea Erika over at Foxtrot Press has put together.  So be sure to click on that link there and check out what else is going on over there!

Here are the six things I've settled on:

A group of drawings 

Painting of my brother Kevin from this Summer

An old vase, I probably made this somewhere around 2008? 

Some of the signs I'be been making at work.

My new tattoo that I collaborated on with my tattoo artist Dennis, from Providence Tattoo

A couple of simple and colorful dishes I've made this week... healthy and otherwise.

Go ahead and linkup if you like!

Inspiration

A bubbly blackberry cocktail 

I've been looking around for inspiration lately.
For art and for life, transitional periods can be challenging and I am currently finding myself without a studio space and without a solid six month life plan.  To deal with this transitional time, I am indulging in the little things where I can.  I've been enjoying special moments with friends as they make exciting steps in their lives while keeping an eye out for exciting colors and textures while I'm at it.

Here are a few photos from my friend Andrea's Bridal shower along with some color sampling as inspired by a graphic design blog Color Collective.

Michael Kors Watch, Inherited Vintage Bracelets, Adorable mini Tabasco Sauce 

Orange Skirt and Patterned Belt from Loft

View of Boston from Granite Links

Sandpaper Factory

I've been back in the Sandpaper Factory for a month now thanks to Scott Ketcham's artistically generous spirit.  This is the third Summer he has given me rein over the space while he is away at the Vermont Studio Center (I MUST go there someday).

I've been getting tons of work done and am absolutely thrilled about it.  I am also currently thrilled about the opening I will be having in the space on July 21st.  My girl Zheyu will have some work up as well; she has been busy making gigantic things in there lately. Check that link I made through her name in that last sentence, her work is amazing.

 Lots of portraits have been happing.  Originally I started making them as practice for a piece I am doing for a friend, but I've been getting into them a lot more than I imagined.  I'm having a lot of fun working the oil pastels in with the paint and searching for a rhythmic balance back and forth between them.  This portrait above kinda looks like there is a swollen mouth situation going on, but I think I'm over it.  I suspect that my precision in portraiture will increase with more practice.  While I do care a lot about the growth of that precision, I am equally as invested in the compositional quality of each piece.  I want to add another sentence here figuring out that equation and what it means for my paintings, but this is all very new work for me and I am still working on those answers.

Been getting outside a bit too:

And what I feel to be an obligatory "Serious Painter" portrait.

I truly hope that if you are reading this you will be able to come to the exhibition.

"Summer 2012"

July 21, 2012

7p-9p, party to follow

83 East Water Street.

4th Floor

Rockland, MA

Painting In One Hour Stints

Yesterday a friend asked me how I decide what to paint.  I didn't really know what to tell her. Do these images really just come to me?  Are simply the result of the casual image logs I make through my bias filter throughout a day?  Is there something I want to say and therefore come up with an image? 
I think that it has been the latter for me at times; in my political and suicide paintings I used that format pretty directly.  The past several years for me though, ideas and images have seemed to form more closely together making It increasingly difficult to tease apart, and answer questions about my decision making.
My most recent work (shown here and in progress) is the closest piece to contain more of a  separation between idea and image than any of my work over the past several years.


I don't know what comes first but goes something like:
Idea: How do I feel in this space?
Image: Still life of anything for a pink color study.
Idea: This is a special place that should be recorded.
Image: Cathedral ceiling surrounded in pink.
Idea: The transition of a space from Nana's home to my studio to Kevin's home.
Image: Contrasting styles and patters and emphasis on color transitions.


My studio rhythm reflects this back and forth.  I usually paint for about 45minutes to an hour and then spend about 20-30minutes looking at the piece while allowing myself flip back and forth between my questions and concerns about what is going on.


So still, I have no answer for my friend and I guess that is fine, but I would really like to work that out so that I can have a more fruitful conversation about this with my students.