Studio

Day Five

Life is exciting. You must go outside and live it. And some times that means not writing on your blog every day. Even when involved in a blogathon. So a bit delayed, but here is . . .

Day five prompt from artist Gina Thompson.

I have been journaling from a book called “Mapping the Intelligence of Artistic Work” and this is one of the topics I recently wrote about. I found it really helpful for me.  Bring to life the dynamics of your studio.  What gives you satisfaction in the studio? What are you currently exploring there? Create a “wish list” for your work.  What studio goals would allow for ecstasy?

My home is my studio. There are many variables involved in having a home studio when it is not in an extra room, but actually your dining/living room. You live with your art. And in my case another person (fiance) and his art too. Art is everywhere and very inspiring. My current exploration involves all the recyclable packaging and making art out of them. *note my Fun-A-Day Reseda art work was all recycled objects & so is the heart mobile below. My wish list includes continuing this study of recyclable art. Ecstasy in the studio? Having more art than art supplies. And the sunshine that comes into it everyday.

Heart Mobile made from toilet paper tubes by Amy Bauer Designs, Photo by Richard Heaven

Heart Mobile made from toilet paper tubes by Amy Bauer Designs, Photo by Richard Heaven

Self-Inspiring

Drying right now in the home studio and will be on display (& for sale!) next Sunday, I present three experiments in glue:

Oh did I mention that these three were inspirational to me? I started another piece which is much larger, 8″x10″ (lol), which in turn inspired an idea for an installation. Unfortunately there isn’t enough time to create this idea in time for the art show (Sunday, May 19 noon to 6pm 333 Newark St, Hoboken, NJ – Closing Studio Party  https://www.facebook.com/events/479697495433104/), but the above pieces and A LOT more will be there. Hopefully you will be too.

Portrait of a friend

I drew a portrait of my friend James upon his passing in August 31, 2011 (wow has it been that long?). It was sudden, unexpected, and impactful on my myself and others. We all reacted differently and we are all still feeling the lose. It has brought us back into each others lives and has bonded us for life (if we weren’t already). I am not saying the way we feel is different than others who have lost friends/family, just sharing how James keeps popping up in my life even as time goes by. And it is in a most pleasant way.

Back to the portrait. So I drew this portrait (more here) and I think it came out nicely. Since then I decided to cut the plain white back ground out and have taped him to a wall in my studio. When I was moving things around in my studio in January I moved him once again and incorporated him into a multimedia collage of sorts. Not sure yet where my portrait will go next, but I do enjoy having my friend smiling at me while I create.

Image

Teeny

Been working on my study of color paintings (they have gotten way tiny – some are 2″ x 2″) and incorporating my recycling into them. The images don’t show the texture or additions, but each one (except the large yellow one which was painted with discarded paint). The beauty of this show is that I am getting more excited as it gets closer and am experimenting with everything within arms reach! It also helps that I finally have an art studio outside of my abode : )

Here are some images (a little shoddy, quick cell phone pictures) of paintings and studio when I first moved in – empty, not its current state!).