Photographing in the Studio

Sometimes you have to supply a picture of yourself in the studio. Of course you want this image to represent both you and your studio in the best way, but that's not so easy. Today Bonnie, my official photographer, and I went to the studio to get an image I could use for a couple of requests. Here are a few of the rejects and the one success that I'm including for your consideration. (Of course I'm not showing you the ones that were so bad that I deleted them. These are just bad enough to learn from.)

Image #1 - REJECTED

Image #1 - I wanted to show some things in the foreground that I work with and in the background some of my work. Why it was rejected: I am too far away from the camera, there is old work in the background, and the work is lined up with my head, materials in foreground are too random and unidentifiable. It looks too cluttered.

Image #2 - REJECTED

Image #2 - I wanted to show that this was a large space, well lit and that I had plenty of room to work. Instead I look like an ant in the corner - who is that over there? Too much stuff on the tables and the floor. A big trash can is right in the foreground.

Image #3 - REJECTED

This is closer to me so it's a little better because at least you can see that it's me. I like seeing the work behind me, but what's all that stuff in the foreground? Looks messy. Do I want to show off the diet Polar drink and handiwipes? Am I a painter or a carpenter?

Image #4 - REJECTED

Too much dirty floor, shot into the window so details are lost.

Image #5 - REJECTED

Who is that over there? Why are they showing off the chair, the fan and the trash can - not to mention that dirty floor again?

Image #6 - REJECTED

This shot is better because it shows the encaustic set-up in the foreground and me supposedly working on a panel, but did I lose my best friend?

Image #7 - ACCEPTED

OK, this is the one. I like the set up, I'm smiling, the work shows in front of and behind me. I wish you could see more of the work on the wall, but at least you can get a hint of it. I would also have preferred it without those black lines of paint on the wall, but that's what's there.

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ADDENDUM
With emphasis on the "DUM(B)"

Image with no black lines

Thanks to friend, blog reader and Photoshopper Linda Cordner, I no longer have black lines on my wall in the accepted image! Somehow I never remember that reality can always be improved through the magic of Photoshop. This is a big improvement, I think. (Also thanks to Karen Jacobs for pointing out that the clone tool works wonders.) Much better!
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We also made a short video in the studio this morning. I was able to download it from the iPhone to the computer but getting it from the computer to the blog was beyond me. I guess I need to find a 15-year-old to educate me.

Now where's the reader who knows how to load a video?

Studio As Sanctum

I love opening the door of my studio and walking in. I'm greeted first by the smell of wax and then by the wall of windows at the end with that beautiful north light. I am very fortunate in having a beautiful, spacious studio that is relatively cheap, as studio rents go. It's a peaceful, welcoming space that allows me to make my work and retreat from the world. I guess it's my version of a temple, but here I am god - or goddess. Actually, I feel more like a high priestess at the altar of art. Sometimes the priestess has to sweep out the temple because the festivities get a bit rambunctious and the lone worshipper has a habit of dragging out all the relics and paraphernalia until she can't walk around without tripping over things.

Walking into the studio

Recently, due to an important studio visit, I cleaned up and rearranged the sanctum. The walls could have used some patching and painting, but it was pretty neat and my work was easily accessed for viewing. In honor of the occasion, I took some photos, so I thought I'd give you a look

I'm not showing you my storage area because it's so stogged with stuff. That's the part of the studio that you walk into first. So we'll just scurry right through there and move on to the larger part of the space, which is where I actually spend my time working. (Note: click on each picture to enlarge it.)

Left wall

Left wall wider view

Moving down the wall

Older work at end of wall

Swinging around with my back to the windows

Work on top of flat file

More work on flat file

Right wall

"Carry On" and "Gateway" on right wall

Two vertical pieces

From end of right wall looking back toward windows

Pin-ups (including Rachel M.) and storage at end of right wall

Wider view of right wall

Small works on table

A little somethin'-somethin' for visitor refreshments

Of course it no longer looks like this because I'm working now and not entertaining. In a mere couple of weeks I'll have 15 students and faculty in from Smith College for my presentation about encaustic and their experimentation with the medium. I'll have to put all my in-process work away and rearrange everything again, but that's just part of life in the sanctum.

Attacking the Studio

Perhaps "attack" is the wrong word when beginning a project like this. I guess it's more like "avoid" and then begrudgingly begin.

Part of the avoidance was a back issue of Art in America that I received yesterday from Linda Cordner at the New England Wax meeting. She was kind enough to think of me when going through some old issues and seeing an article on El Anatsui.

This was a great issue of the magazine and I was very glad to page through it while eating my lunch. (Always eat as a means of avoidance is my motto.)

May 2006 issue of Art in America

There were a couple of El Anatsui pieces that I had not seen before, and I liked the way they were photographed because you could really see the texture of the aluminum bottle caps and wrappings that the pieces are made of.

This spiral piece is really fabulous looking and seems very different from his other work. It has so much dimension and the spiral seems set into the background of vertical strips. All that gold reminds me of Egyptian jewelry. It is a great piece.

So I read the article and then continued to page through. There are many other interesting articles in this issue and I am keeping it next to my chair so I can read them during future avoidance sessions.

One of the things I found in the magazine was this very amusing list by Amy Sillman. On the left are remarks that people make to artists at their openings and on the right is what they are really thinking. If you click on the image, it will open larger so you can read it more easily.

Well, by this time a couple of hours had passed and I was starting to get anxious thinking about all the work I had to do. What's happening is that I am teaching a class of Smith College students about encaustic next week at my studio. On Tuesday I will demonstrate encaustic painting and present a Power Point about the history of encaustic (with a survey of contemporary work in encaustic). Then on Thursday, the students will come back and experiment with the medium themselves. This is a class called "Historic Methods and Materials," and I believe that this is the first time the class has included encaustic in addition to oil painting, fresco, etc.

So this is what I'm contending with - a studio packed with stuff in various piles.

Messy working habits with half-completed projects strewn all over.

And barely room for me to walk around in let alone let students into.

Paint and materials for the Smith class

But worse than anything is this corner of my storage area that is (was) piled with bags of old bubble wrap, cardboard boxes and scraps of painted papers from years ago.

I'm happy to say that once I put down the magazine and got going, I tackled the bad corner first and took two shopping carts full of cardboard and old wrappings down to the trash room. I already have the cart filled and ready again with the next load. It's a relief to get at this mess and dig it out. Why did I save it all? is what I kept asking myself as I unearthed yet another bag full of bubble wrap scraps. And the answer, I guess, is because "you never know when it might come in handy." How much crap has been stored under that rubric and how good it feels to say, "I don't care."