Mold Work

I'm working on one of the mold pieces. I chose to start with this purple cabbage one, because it's not as beautiful as some of the others, and therefore not so precious. I feel comfortable tearing this one up, and I can experiment without worrying about ruining it. I'm going to do some stitching through the layers, and try to tie the sections together, as well as adhere them to the pigment-painted backing. This piece is about 38" x 44".

More Cats Sleeping

I know some of you object to the sleeping cat posts, but I couldn't resist. This was just too cute. It was kind of cold today, or at least cold for Southern California, and Sashi buried herself under a quilt.

Earth Pigments

I got the Earth Pigment color chart from Sinopia in San Francisco:



The colors are fabulous. Earth Pigments are finely ground powders that are dug directly out of the Earth. Soil color differs from place to place, depending on the minerals in the soil. Copper gives a greenish color, iron gives a reddish color, etc. There are no blues or purples on the chart. Blues and purples are available, but they're very expensive, because they're ground from semi-precious crystalline materials such as lapis lazuli.

I'm using dry pigments and a soy milk binder to paint backgrounds for my mold pieces. So far I've experimented with these three:



From left to right they are Caput Mortuum (an iron-oxide pigment), Yellow Ochre, and Green Earth. The binder is holding up really well, and next I'm going to paint some Earth-toned abstracts on unprimed canvas.

Thanksgiving in California

I hate holidays, but it was really pretty here today, and it's nice and quiet when there's no traffic. I am grateful for the beauty of the Earth, and for being alive and awake to be able to appreciate it.

Mold Update

I'm trying to figure out what to do next with these mold pieces. They're subtly beautiful on their own, and I don't want to do anything that's going to overpower or ruin them. On the other hand, they feel incomplete as they are. I need to do something more, but what?

One of my teachers, Jim Murray, said I should let the issues determine my choices. What techniques and what additional work will complement what I want to say? The thing is, I'm not sure what it is that I'm saying. It has something to do with the ugly being beautiful, and it's also about old things and decay. But do these pieces say that? This is hard for me, and I'm feeling paralyzed right now.

I also have to think about presentation. Will they be on stretched canvas? Framed under glass? Mounted on board? Not mounted and hung like fiber art? And what will hold the pieces together? Glue? Stitching? Safety pins? Rusty nails?

Ed Moses

I visited the studio of Ed Moses today with my Otis class. Ed is one of my all-time favorite painters, and it was exciting to have the opportunity to hear him talk about his process and his work.

One of the things I got from Ed is a feeling that I'm not alone in the way I work. Like me, he creates a lot of work in a short period of time. But not everything turns out good, and he throws away the ones that don't work out. I do that, too, but I kind of thought there was something wrong with that.

And like me, he gets bored with a style or a technique as soon as soon as he gets good at it. The challenge is gone, and it's the challenge that is interesting.

Ed said that his newest paintings never sell right away. He said it takes five years of showing a body of work before people become familiar with it and the work starts to sell. Then his collectors want him to keep doing the same paintings that they have become comfortable with, but Ed doesn't work that way. He continues to move forward, always changing his style, and always onto something different and new.

Ed paints seven days a week, starting at 7:30 every morning. This is the outdoor space where he does his large-scale paintings:



He has spider imagery painted everywhere, including this one he carved and painted into wet cement:



I've never seen spiders appear in his paintings, and I don't know what the spiders are about!

Soy Milk Binder

I'm experimenting with using soy milk as a binder for pigments on unprimed canvas. This is a Japanese technique usually used on silk, and popularized in the United States by John Marshall. I'm using it as a way to apply dry pigments to cotton canvas. The only other way to get color on unprimed canvas without using a synthetic binder is dye, and the colors from natural dyes generally aren't as bright as I'd like them to be. The colors of natural pigments are subtle and earth-toned, too, but there's a bit more oomph than with the dyes.

This is Caput Mortuum, a purple-red iron oxide pigment, first applied more or less evenly, and then applied unevenly:






Pigments in soy milk binder can also be used for stamping:



Once the soy milk cures, the pigment is permanent on the canvas, and will not rub off or wash off.

I plan to use these fabrics as background for my mold pieces, and my goal is to use all natural materials and processes. Here's the evenly painted canvas behind the cantaloupe mold piece:



If you're interested in the use of soy milk as a binder, I highly recommend John's book, Salvation Through Soy.

And if you want to know more about natural pigments, visit the Sinopia website. Sinopia is a store in San Francisco that sells natural pigments, and offers workshops and instruction in their use.

No Direction Home

I took a break and watched the recently released documentary on Bob Dylan tonight, "No Direction Home," done by Martin Scorsese. It's long -- four hours -- but I watched it straight through because it's compelling. I have always been an admirer of Dylan, and I wish I had his genius. How does someone end up being so incredibly talented? I think at least part of it is that Dylan wasn't trying to be popular or to be a star. He didn't really care if people liked his music or not. He just did what he felt like doing, regardless of what other people thought, and he wasn't always well received. I highly recommend this DVD if you're a Dylan fan.

More on the Purpose of Art

Jori Lynn Keyser saw my post about the article she wrote for Art Calendar magazine, titled "The Art of the Art Business: Marketing From the Creative Mind". She left the following comment, which I think is important, and I'm reposting it here so you'll see it.

"I just accidentally ran across your blog entry about my article in Art Calendar, and of course, you raise a good point that I simply didn't have the space to explore in that one article.

I believe that we get what we want by giving other people what they want. How this can actually work in art, which we think of in our present society as a means of raw self-expression, is a good question and it behooves us to try it out and see. "Giving other people what they want" doesn't necessarily mean painting only images we think other people will like. It can also have to do with the activities we offer around the art (how and where we show it and what we can give through that channel is a good example). As regards the work itself, maybe we can ask questions like: "What can I address in other people's hearts that will speak to them, enrich their lives, and make them want to live with my painting?" This question gives both sides quite a lot of room to be themselves, yet find out in what deep and true place they can actually meet.

One of the major points of marketing from the creative mindset is that everyone in the transaction comes away with more than they had. This is not only possible, it's necessary for true prosperity, and I believe it's a wonderful aspect that enhances our own creative processes."

Studio Sale

Today was the open studio at my house, with two other artists: Carole Spence and Susie Oliver. It was incredibly busy, and now I'm exhausted, but I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.

Carole and I are the painters, and we both do wearables as well. Susie makes beautiful jewelry.

Thank you to all of you who came! It was great to see you again.

Ready for Thanksgiving?

Ron told me about this American Greetings Thanksgiving e-card. It's really funny. Check it out.

Open Studio Preparation

Carole was here today, and we hung our paintings for the open studio at my house this coming Saturday.






It looks pretty good. Now if I can just keep the cats off of everything until then.

More Cats

This is the weirdest cat sleeping place yet! I washed the shower curtain and put it on the patio to dry, and Nelson crawled in under it to sleep. I guess it was warm, like a greenhouse. He's a funny one!

Florida Reptile

Ron sent me this picture of a lizard or a chameleon (he doesn't know which) crawling up the window screen of the doctor's office where he works. He said it was green and nearly two feet long. Very cute!

Happy Art

There's an interesting article in the November 2005 issue of Art Calendar magazine titled "The Art of the Art Business: Marketing From the Creative Mind" by Jori Lynn Keyser. I found myself agreeing with much of what she said, but then later I was thinking about this suggestion to artists from the article:

"Imagine how you can make other people happy. How can you best use your good work to give people what they want? The focus here is on the people who cohabit this earth with you and what they can use that you can offer. On the one hand, this approach keeps you on a positive upward spiral that nurtures generosity and gratitude. On the other, you may find yourself discovering (or creating) new market niches."

It's the age-old question about the purpose of art. Is art a communication? Should art come from the heart, or can artists let the market dictate their work? Does art have to make people feel happy? What about art that speaks about suffering and pain?

Only in LA

I was doing some grocery shopping at the Co-op today, and was asked to sign a release on my way out the door. Some guys were filming a documentary in the store, and I was in some of the shots. Only in Los Angeles! I can't even go shopping without being filmed. Maybe I should pay more attention to what I wear. I didn't go out thinking I was going to be in a movie.

Consistently Consistent

A gallery recently rejected two of my paintings, and the owner said it's because my work is too consistent with not enough variation. I know I do that. I have a tendency to make things look even, balanced and the same all over. I consciously try not to, but I can't help myself, and I do it anyway! I find it interesting that the gallery owner picked up on it immediately and rejected my work because of it. She also doesn't like the dot pattern that I sometimes use, but I don't know what to say about that. Liking or disliking dots may be a personal preference. Damien Hirst has certainly done well with dots.

I was wondering why we need to fight our natural inclinations. If my impulse is to make things look consistent, why not go for it? What exactly is wrong with consistency, anyway? Is is a cultural bias? Do Americans prefer inconsistency and variation? Is consistency out of style right now? Or is consistency universally distasteful?

Isn't consistency calming and meditative, while variation is dynamic and exciting? Is there something intrinsically unattractive about work that is calming and meditative? Perhaps it becomes boring to the eye.

These are the two paintings that were rejected. What do you think? Are they consistent in an unattractive way?

"On a Wing," diptych 52" x 40", acrylic on canvas:



"Winter," 36" x 48", acrylic on canvas:

Watermelon and Cantaloupe

I washed out the watermelon and cantaloupe mold pieces today. Lots of holes and areas that disintegrated.



But there are some very beautiful sections, too. This one is cantaloupe:



And this is from the watermelon:



I'm going to start doing something with these after my open studio on November 12th. I'm thinking of layering them with canvas that has been dyed with plant dyes, or maybe canvas that has been stained in the compost pile. I'll have to play around with it and see what looks good. I might also add some stitching and some beeswax. My concept is to work with all natural and nontoxic materials.

WildCam Africa

I found out about an incredible webcam from my acupuncturist, Dr. Richard Grossman. It pans across Pete's Pond in Botswana, Africa, and you can see impala and elephants coming to drink, as well as ostriches and guinea hens. It's amazing to watch animals that are thousands of miles away. I almost feel as if I'm right there with them. When the webcam detects motion, it zooms in, giving you a closer view.

There's a ten hour time difference between PST and Botswana, so the best viewing times here are late at night or early in the morning. When it's night there you can't see much, but you can hear lots of crickets and other night creatures.

Cats Will Be Cats

Nelson impulsively ran up a tree this morning, and then thought he couldn't get down. Cats never seem to learn, and they do the same thing over and over again. He definitely seems to be on the waiting list to move in here, but we're full up with cats right now. He's hanging around more and more. Finally he took a chance and jumped, and of course he's fine.



He's a funny one!

I'm still working on getting ready for my open studio on November 12th. Hope to see you there!