Adventures in Making Art

Last Friday I received notice that I had been awarded a good-size grant by the Artist's Resource Trust, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. I applied seven (count 'em, 7) times for this grant without getting anywhere until this year. The grant is not contingent on my completing a project, but I did describe a project on the application that I hope to complete. It involves building a wall of works on 24 panels in an 8' x 12' configuration. The works would be in my Running Stitch series and I would like to show the wall in a small museum.

The Bing at night, photo by Chris Marion Photography, from The Bing's website

Money Changes Everything
Remember that song by Cyndi Lauper? Well, here's how the grant influenced me and changed my plans. I am having a solo show beginning February 3rd at the Bing Arts Center in Springfield. (I posted about this in more detail on my Art of Bricolage blog, link here.)  Although I have known about this show for a while, I had planned to show oil paintings because the space is quite large and I didn't think I had enough bricolage on panel works to fill the space. But when I learned that I got the grant and might be able to complete the project I envisioned, I was jostled out of my complacency. My thinking was that if I planned to contact some museums and other exhibition spaces about showing my uncompleted project, I had better have some big work to show them.

The Black One, 2011, tarpaper, book parts, patinated metal, oilstick,
tacks, encaustic on panel, 36"x36" (click to enlarge)

I've been gradually increasing the size of works that I'm making from 36" x 36", as above, to two just-completed Running Stitch pieces on 30" x 60" single panels. Waiting in the wings were four panels ready to make two diptychs, each 48" x 60", but I've been stalling on them. The grant has now motivated me to get cracking and get building. I have changed the title of the Bing show to GEOMETRIC BRICOLAGE: Found Materials Transformed and I've planned out the two 48" x 60" pieces so that I can complete them in time to show.


Discoveries of Scale
It's a good thing I've never had to work in a widget factory because I really don't like and can't do multiples of the same thing. Every time I make a piece, I do something a little different. As I've proceeded piece by piece with the Running Stitch and RS variants, the overall size has increased as well as the size of the elements. I have discovered that as the works get bigger, they need more structural elements to carry visually from the greater viewing distance their size requires. This is probably like reinventing the wheel but it's been a slowly evolving Aha for me to realize this.

Look At America, 2011, 30" x 60", painted paper and cardboard, book parts,
patinated metal, record album parts, tarpaper, tacks, encaustic on panel.
(click to enlarge)

The work above is constructed/painted on one panel, but I divided it up vertically and put in those black horizontal bands to give it more structure.

This American Time, 2011, 30" x 60", painted paper and cardboard, book parts,
patinated metal, record album parts, advertising posters, record album parts, tacks
encaustic on panel. (click to enlarge)

In this work, I used the solid red book cover pieces to add structure and unify the various colors, marks and printing.

You wouldn't believe how much looking, reconstruction and time it took me in working on these two pieces to figure this out.

Plan Ahead
So now with the next larger size, I am beginning with a strong structural plan for each of them. The challenge is to add variety and irregularities while maintaining the structure. (As you see with The Black One above, if the structure becomes too regular, it can get dull. However, in defense of this piece, I enjoy the simplicity as a change of pace, and in person, many more irregularities present themselves.)

Progress
When I remind myself that I only began making this work at the end of 2010 and of how many pieces I've made this year alone, I find it surprising. It's been very absorbing - I would even say entertaining. Keeping myself interested and entertained in the studio has become my mission in life, so I guess things are going well. And this year, not even counting the grant, for the first year in many years I have made enough from art to pretty much cover my art expenses. I'd call that a successful year for me. I hope it went well for you!

Recent Work of All Sizes

If you re a regular reader, you have no doubt realized that I've been shirking my blogging duties recently. I have felt that there was not much to be said about anything. I blame this on Facebook sucking away my writing energy. Yes, yes, it's all Facebook's fault. I take no responsibility. So, since Facebook has taken it upon itself to make drastic changes in its format that no one seems able to understand or master, I feel overwhelmed by it and unable to cope. It has driven me back to blogging.

This too, too obvious title came to mind for my post, but I resisted. (The book title originally
belonged to  Thomas Hardy, of course, but I liked this image better.)

Anyway, tonight instead of Facebook, I went down the list of blogs I used to follow in pre-Facebook-Obsession days. One of those was Alexandre Masino's blog and his post was called "Oeuvre Recente" (except with an acute accent over the first "e" which Blogger won't let me put in). I loved that post title and even understood it with my limited (read, mostly nonexistent) French. It has a much more distinguished and arty feel than "Recent Work." However, I am resorting to the English translation for my post.

What my work table looks like when I'm making little pieces

Little Work
Today I finished up making 13 small pieces in the Running Stitch series. They range from 6"x6" to 22" x 10". Although I have previously made some small ones, I overpainted all the elements with encaustic so they had a much different look. These little ones were made in the standard Running Stitch way. I didn't photo all the pieces, but just had a photo from the other day when there were only eight of them.

Note that they still have their blue tape on the sides. The sides, when untaped, will all be black.

This one is my favorite (10"x8"). I love this green color of the encaustic,
a color I mixed but one that is near a new color Hylla Evans is considering making.
This piece is being gifted to the dear Binster.

What brought on this surge of littleness? -  you might ask. I have a submission in mind and am making them for that purpose.

Next on the docket are three pieces I am making for the MassArt Auction. This year, because I am represented by Arden Gallery, my work will be eligible for the live auction. That is, if they jury in one of my works. I thought it would be worth the opportunity of experiencing the live auction and the publicity for me and for Arden. We'll see what happens. If they don't want anything, shame on them and I'll have another three smallish pieces in my inventory. More about this later.

Another view of the same thing, from the other direction. Feel any different?

Big Work - In Another Medium
It all started when I happened to see a sale on big stretched canvases at a local art supply store. They were discounted 50 percent, and I thought it was a really good deal since they had a lot of 48" x 48" and larger for pretty cheap prices. The stretchers were inch and a half deep with canvas wrapped around the sides, and while they were not finest quality, they were not bad (Windsor & Newton). So I first bought six of the 48" x 48". The next week, I went back and bought six more 48" x 48" plus two 60" x 48". In the interim of purchasing the two lots, I had been invited to have a solo show next year at an art center in Springfield, and I thought these canvases would be just the thing. (Note - you can click on pix to enlarge)

Aqua Electric, 48" x 48", oil and oil pastel on canvas

Big Sea, 60" x 48", oil and oil pastel on canvas

You see, I had a hankering for working in oil paint. I really love mixing color, and while I do some of that with encaustic, it's much easier with oil. I also wanted to just paint instead of doing the constructing that I do with my encaustic work.

Sunrise, 48" x 48", oil on canvas

Sunset, 48" x 48", oil on canvas

Clouds, 48" x 48", oil on canvas

I did have fun with these. I bought a supply of some great medium that was alkyd based, sort of a semi-gel thing that came in a quart-sized can. I mixed individual colors on small paper plates and I used chip brushes that I could throw out instead of having to clean. I wanted my oil painting experience to be as much fun and as pain free as possible.

Bright Future, 60" x 48", oil and oil pastel on canvas

So outside of their having some dumb titles, I am quite happy with these pieces. They are not masterpieces but they are colorful and uncomplicated. I am hoping that my art consultant will sell them in the corporate market in the interim since I can always paint more for the show next year.

I wish I had some photos of my studio while I was painting these because it had to be turned over strictly to oil painting while I was working. It's a messy process compared to encaustic - at least the way I work, but I do enjoy it. The smell of oil paint always gets to me since that's the medium I first used.

Although you might not pick these pieces out in a crowd as genuine Natales, I think you can see the relationship to my Running Stitch work. We all have a way that we work that can't be hidden no matter which medium is used - or which size.