Sinister Rabbit. The first of my new series dealing with many and various odd and interesting objects. Why do we make what we make, like what we like, buy what we buy, and live with what we live with? Our stuff can have much longer lives than we do. Do we see our stuff as it is or is it always about the context or memory the stuff is associated with?
Now – onto more rabbits.
I’m a few days late getting this first post of the year up because I’ve been struggling with a familiar situation. Maybe some of you are familiar with it. The painting I was hard at work on and really optimistic about before the holidays – upon a return to the studio – became tough and resistant to my liking anything about it. I did not like it and did not want to work on it. Several days of my giving it the evil eye and finding other convenient ways to avoid it went by. And then a couple of days ago my aggravation reached the point where I had to call someone in frustration, even opening up my palette and getting my brush wet had no effect. Still awful. My husband said , “Thats because it is awful, get rid of it and start a new one!” Humpf. He was right – but what had happened to my initial great idea? Before the holidays I had had a brainwave - brought on by second thoughts – about the colour. I thought I should warm it up. Chose my palette, mixed my paint – and got started. The rest you know. Its funny how these things work. After I talked to my husband that day I went and had a nap – classic avoidance behavior. But after lunch I went to look at it again and – EUREKA! – the solution was to go back to my original idea and palette and now the darned thing is kind of painting itself. And I love it. I think there were two major factors in this little drama. First I changed my original exciting idea because – and this is the important part – I had second thoughts about whether or not people would like it – I thought it might be too…creepy. Which is exactlly what I had loved about the idea in the first place. Why do I always forget that my paintings are 99% right about how they want to be? Every time. The second factor was, of course, the Christmas break. Getting back into the flow always takes me a few days and for some other unknown reason that always catches me off guard too. Now all is flowing smoothly. We’ll see how long we can prolong that. Its really good to be back in the studio.
Every year I think I will get more painting done in December than I actually do and its all because of Christmas. At first I resent Christmas for disrupting my plans – but then the shopping has to be done, the planning, the cleaning and the cooking. I always feel better when I stop resisting and just flow with the season and remember what its all about. Its all about – for me – the joy of giving my best to the people I love – and whoever else gets in front of me, and relaxing into that makes it a huge pleasure. A gift.
So I wish all my readers the very best the season has to offer – may you all enjoy your family traditions – invent a couple of new ones and mostly – may you appreciate all the dear ones you’ll be seeing. Merry Christmas to you all.
This will be my last post of the year – but I will resume again on January 5, 2010. Happy New Year!
The beginning of a new series is always an interesting time for me, and in the case of the most recent I’m not really sure its that new. I’m really intrigued with the object – more specifically with the way that objects hold meaning. This started in Marg’s Museum when I was working with things that had belonged to my Mom. They were and still are full of meaning for me. So I’m thinking – do objects rely on context and memory for their meaning – and if so does that disappear with the individual for whom it had meaning. Or in a broader context what cultural influences determine the individuals perception of meaning? How does where you are generationally affect your perception of the objects you see? These are the ideas I’m working with right now – it will be interesting for me to see how they play out through the painting process. The painting – Her Panda’s – above – is a painting of some of the initial objects of inspiration. Why do we choose the objects we choose?
Well – here is the End of Disaster. I’ve had a very interesting time with my Summer Experiments. The acrylic mediums I’ve been experimenting with are fascinating and have tremendous possibility. The painting itself is not, I think, one of my best, but I’m not embarrassed by it and feel I’ve resolved it – in other words – it isn’t squeaking at me anymore. And there is some nice symbolism in it. I wish I had about 8 more lives so I could explore explore more artistic avenues in greater depth. What I’ve found here is that I’m really missing the deep process of my still life oil paintings. And so I will resume my new series of those on Friday. The studio is now clean. Stay tuned for my thoughts and progress reports.
Well – here is my ” Disaster”. It seems that I can’t stop working on it no matter how sideways it goes. This image is of the first time I thought it was done. I’m liking what is happening just now a little bit better and will post it again next week so that you can all see how it transforms. Wish me luck! Hopefully it will be finished.
As a way of relaxing from the pressure of constant production – I will often take breaks from my usual practice and try on something new. This summer I decided to come to terms with the massive, often confusing, wall of acrylic mediums at the art store. I bought a bunch. What a learning curve! So far my experience is telling me that its easy to make something kinda cool… but well – is it art I want people to see – or is it just awful. This is what I’m constantly telling my students: ” When you start a new medium give yourself a couple of years to really get the hang of it. Its ALL about the practice. ” I came out with a couple of things that are ok. And one unmitigated disaster – that I keep trying to save. The one above turned out ok. Live and learn. Now its time for me to get back into my long seeing mode and make some more Still Life. I’ll finish cleaning the studio today and should be back at the easel on Friday. I’m looking forward to it.
This new website is intended to give a broad overview of my work as an artist and teacher with an emphasis on the gregarious nature of my creative spirit – an extended portfolio. I believe art to be a vast thing – endless in its possibilties, pains and pleasures – and I love to be engaged in it in any capacity.
This site will also be a format for my ongoing discussion with myself and others on art and my experiences as an artist. I hope that the site will also serve an educational role for many of my students – by example and by direct comment.
I hope to post things at least once a week – so please come back on a regular basis.
I hope you enjoy your visits.
Welcome again,
Lori