the aftermath

i feel as though i've been hit by a train over and over again. i think this may be the worst hangover - hung from too many late nights and early mornings and sick kids. not that other kind of hangover - who has time for such things?!

i can feel the winds about to change and i'm going to get my groove back. i finally put everything away in my studio - what a mess. like a hurricane of paper and nails and adhesive experiments.

i know i'll find my way again soon.....

ahhhh, open studios

it's been a long while since i've posted but life's been absurdly crazy. however, getting to the topic at hand, OS was awesome. we had a gazillion more people come through our space than if we would have done it alone and hallelujah for that. oh, the "our" is the 4x4 collective - a drawing group that has inspired me and gotten me working like mad to make new work, only 4" square work, so not too much pressure. we rented a nice big room at fort mason and spent 3 months figuring out how to install our work, as we weren't able to hang on the walls. we had a brilliant solution and damn! if it didn't look cool too! (clockwise from top left: me and me, ellen burgin, kathryn clark, jennifer kelley, victoria veedell and neile royston).

....

woo hoo!

juices are a flowin'

i feel like i'm sort of on a roll. i've not written anything here in so long and with each one i add pics to, i realize how much i still have to do. i am intending to publish them in chronological order, however i may skip one or two. bear with me. there's a lot of ground to cover.....next.


inkjet transfers have been a fascination of mine for years. i've never really mastered it to a point where i'm comfortable using it in my work until this earlier this year. for a long while i was drawing all the time, like everyday and accumulations of these drawings that are just doodle-y swirls starting creeping into every crevice of clutter in my house and studio. and with the move, i sort of decided that something's got to give. i need to use these "spider webs" as zander refers to them, and incorporate them somehow in something. usually i scan and they are the foundation for my digital collages. great, i've got like 4,317 of these things - digitally i can't keep up. so i cut back on drawing and never really resolved a way to de-clutter our space of these little artworks, however, i have begun to use digitally rendered drawings in other ways. they are the foundation of my new favorite mixed media pieces. i've been using a 4 different drawings, all cut up into thumbnails as a transfer onto canvas boards. the thumbnail is the departure point for a sort of painting collage. these pieces give me a great sense of release when making them as they fulfill my interest in transfer techniques, they indulge my new love for gouache and finally satisfy my obsession with shiny, gooey surfaces which i seem to stumble upon in many local and contemporary artist's work.



what is most interesting to me is how one little drawing which is replicated 5 or 6 times can inspire a vast array of outcomes within a series. it's one of those things that i just don't see myself becoming bored with for a while.






i love the scale too. they're small yet in a series of 3 or 4, they have the potential to be a respectable size. i'm playing around with how to present them and i've sort of fallen for mounting them on a board and framing them in with small 1/2" wood. i think it gives a finished looked, but more importantly gives each the space they need on their own without cramping them with their siblings. oooh la la.


the best discovery yet, Zander and Desi LOVE to paint with me, even better! here's a shot of the older concentrating on his own process of mixing colors

a story of a sewing machine

a very, very sad one indeed. my mom gave it to me i think in college, or maybe it was grad school. regardless, i've busted it out once in like 20 yrs it seems like. no really. it's very sad. i remember chris' mom gave him one about the same time, a much older and heavier version. so for years, literally we've schlepped these sad and useless machines back and forth across the country, from town to town and house to house. each of us making a pact to use them, or at least try to learn how to use them. did we? no never. until a couple of months ago, after moving the darn thing around AGAIN, i decided that i'd needed to do this and now. somewhere along the way, during another move we ditched one of them (not mine). i knew that mine was next if i couldn't make this happen and soon. so, the poor lowly singer - emerged from it's case. dirty and sticky - who can imagine why. anyway. i immediately dove right in. bear with me as a turn a very short story into a novel.

right after moving i got it in my head that i wanted to be a street artist down on the embarcadero. well, believe it or not, there's actually a very comprehensive screening process, in which each artist has to present a fairly large number of completed and half-completed pieces to a committee. so, i had a TON of prints made in preparation for this wild, hair-brained scheme. i've been trying to re-work the digital print pieces in such a way that they pass from pen and ink, to digital rendering, and back to a more "real" vice, such as a third textile element, maybe fabric or paper or something. it's been this open-ended conundrum for me as i haven't been very certain as to what the thing should be. and then i realized that my fantasies of sewing my drawings would be perfect for this.


so anyway, after detailing and semi-restoring my poor singer, i attempted this drawing with sewing-machine layer for the first time. what a disaster. i had so much to learn. who did i think i was? i haven't used a sewing machine since 8th grade. really. i know i used this machine for something before, but i have no idea what it was. anyway, defeated i decided i needed different needles and thread and i really, more than anything else needed a mentor. well, mentorless, however fully loaded with a variety of needles and thread, i attempted again and quickly learned that it was so much more satisfying to simply use the machine to make holes - regular and perfectly spaced. i liked this. it wasn't what i imagined i'd be doing with this idea, but it was nonetheless totally fun and liberating. as i may have mentioned in other posts, i am not a perfectionist. in fact my ability to create something that has flawless utility or more relevant in this case, is masterfully created is horrible. for me, it takes the fun out of the job. i have rules and guidelines, but usually, they are mine and mine alone. technical applications, such as sewing a functional anything is beyond my interest. getting the thread and needle to work harmoniously with the paper was disenchanting. i lost interest completely. HOWEVER, drawing with the machine was AWESOME and the result was really exciting for me. i will always admire and one day hope to acquire a piece of tucker's work, but for now, i will simply stick to this new fun tool.





i saw a book exhibit at the Legion of Honor years ago and a local artist created these unbelievably simple, yet delicate and beautiful landscape drawings on thick white drawing paper, using thin, white thread. it was love at first site. it's rare that i'm completely smitten by someone's work without knowing anything about them, but there i was. totally dazed. of course, being the disorganized person i was/am, wrote her name down in some random place, never to be found again. i walked into dick blick a couple of weeks ago, and there she was, a book of textile artists. random and thrilling all at the same time. ahhh, the inspiration i needed. i had no inspiration. i will never be able to create pieces like her's but i do admire them and am absolutely taken by the idea. it's brilliant.


i've taken the holes and used them as a template for needle and thread - by hand, layered with paper and glued in such a way that the paper has it's own presence, not resembling paper. then i have to ad yet another element which is the premise of most of my series' and that is that they each (drawing that is) run into each other. the lines always connect. so i'm chopping the drawings up in quarters and collage 4 different drawings together to make one. the lines of digital ink eventually converge, but ultimately connect by thread and paper. It ain't no Tucker Schwartz, but it is very much a Renee DeCarlo Johnson.

drawing, drawing, drawing

i've made it back in the studio - FINALLY. and i'm all over the place. i must have 300 projects going on and i want to work on all of the simultaneously. it's nuts.
i think the best thing to do is just write about each one a little bit at a time.
starting with: the sewing machine

moving sucks

well doesn't it??? i've moved so many times in my life, as a child nearly every 2 years, as an adult - i've not done much to break that tradition. in fact, sometimes i increased the frequency, doubled even tripled it. since living in SF, we've moved 3 times - to SF, from the hood to the city burbs, and now to the most amazing neighborhood in city (in our opinion) and i swear it this time, NEVER AGAIN. it was so hard, the hardest and i don't admit it that often. it has taken me 3 months to write about here, and in 3 months, very few of our closest friends have actually seen our place or even know where we are. shame on us. i do apologize, sincerely.

i think the only reason i'm even writing about this in the first place is so that when the discussion to move comes up again, i can reflect on what i write here to dissuade our decision to entertain the idea. IF it comes up.

i must admit, the kids love it here, we actually really engage in the outdoors with more frequency and we are lulled to sleep by fog horns. ahhh, the romance. we live on the same street as the Palace of Fine Arts for crying out loud! i'm not bragging, i'm simply reflecting. since moving we've had swine flu, respiratory infections, and Zander has had 3 viruses in 30 days - woohoo. there should be an award or something to accomplish so many illnesses in such a short amount of time and not really have anything major wrong. not that an award would make me feel at all better. in fact, i'm ready to move on and pray for the best of health and jump on every healthy tidbit bandwagon that comes my way. really, i am.

needless to say, i love it here and actually feel like this is my favorite place i've ever lived, ever, ever. and the boys are happy - so that's really all that matters. now that i've documented this, i'll shut up about it. don't move, don't. never. it sucks.

SF Perinatal Associates

I'm pleased to announce that I am currently showing my ink and beeswax pieces from now until January of 2010. There are 13 mixed media pieces that are hung throughout the offices and lobbies at One Daniel Burnham Court, Suite 230C San Francisco, CA 94109. For more information on hours and access to the show, please email me.
Here's a sneak peek of a few of the pieces:





for more pics, you can find them on my flickr page.

where have i been lately???

so it would seem i tripped and fell off the map...but i didn't, i'm still here. just terribly behind and it's my hope that this week i will re-invent my agenda/calendar. so those of you wondering i've not jumped ship or given up on the blog-land. i'm just on hiatus, for few more days. i've been cracking the whip on making and planning and organizing - all good stuff - all of it. lots of changes, tons. good ones too.
oh, and by the way, i fully intend to post pics soon.

111 minna

well, the time has come to get out there and SHOW the work i've been making, and not just virtually. i've been invited to participate in a group show, celebrating spring, happy hour and a little downtown flavor. i may even dress up a little and put the sweats and running shoes away for the afternoon.

scoutie girl

Thank you Jan for writing a wonderful review of my drawings. I am forever in your debt...

http://www.scoutiegirl.com/gifts_between_2550/page/2/

Jan DiCintio is the amazingly creative artist behind ScoutieGirl.com and Daisy Janie. I feel so lucky and completely honored for her kind words about my Etsy pieces.

minis (round 2)

here are the 2 set of minis. this time around i did all the transfers with Kodak photo paper, and the results were much less colorful. the transferred images had milky film over the top, which dulled the colors and details. i applied another coat of modeling paste to see if the film would disappear, and it actually did. there are 50 total in this series, and i imagine about another 500 - woohoo!

minis

so i thought that since i've moved my "drawing studio" into the dining room that it might be fun to document the view each session. this is an endeavor that i hope to be able to remember to do. for now, mid march this is the what's going on at the beach.  we live about 10 block from the ocean and the views of the water are breathtaking most days. today's pretty mellow. 

i am delving into a HUGE series of mini-panels.  by HUGE, i mean that i see no limit in sight. i would love to install them some day in a really long room, as a chain growing around the walls. 

more pics are available on my flickr site. 

here they are, from beginning to an idea or two of the end. 

the smallest are 2"sq and the largest are 2.5x3.5".  the begin with a thumbnail size inkjet transfer of a much larger drawing, mounted onto each canvas in a random position.  i then go into the drawing with a very fine pen and create a new drawing - using the inkjet as a point of departure.  finally, the pieces are finished with a layer of gouache which is applied colorfully and 3-dimensionally, pulling forms out of the lines, creating bulbous, pod-like, spirally shapes.  the ink and gouache work magically with the surface of the transfer and the texture of the canvas and modeling gel.  the surface is much more sketcherly and un-refined, giving each piece a life of their own.  i am thoroughly pleased with these and love that each is a quick sketch, but one in a production of many.  despite the fact that they each are begun with a different part of a line drawing, when assembled in a row or cluster, they all connect beautifully to each other.  

4x4s

i guess it was last fall or maybe a wee bit earlier, i joined a drawing group of mom's.  there's were only 4 of us at the beginning and now we've grown to 6 (woo hoo) and plan to create a flickr page showing what we've been up to.  

anyway, each month we get together and review our drawings - which we create based on theme chose in the previous month.  the only real stipulation is that we need to try and keep our drawings within a 4x4" format - otherwise any materials, surfaces, etc are open.  i will post pieces from the previous months soon, but for now these were the results for the month of february. the theme was to work around something that meant a lot to you.  i chose inkjet transfers, as cj made me aware of the fact that i have been obsessed with the process for years.  it's true, i cannot deny it. so of course i had to incorporate my latest discoveries into these pieces.  

you can see the actual 4x4" transfer on each (there are 2 per panel).  the panels themselves are 6x8" canvas covered.  of course i had to turn them all into little mini series, but they are definitely fun to make....the one that are 2 by 2 are detail of the series of 4 shown below it (i hope that makes sense). 

titles are stil to come....

shop news

so i'm trying to streamline my shop to sell affordable art that's ready to hang or sit or whatever.  basically framed prints and prints.  one day i'll sell some of my latest canvas panels, but i haven't really figured out how to present them or how they should be finished ie: framed or mounted.  

here's a few shots of the shadowboxes (framed prints). i've been testing 'em out on my dearest and most beloved friends and family, and they seemed to have been a hit. let's see how they end up doing in the shop. :)