The Beat Goes On...

2010 - B. SHIO (tide) - 40x66

Been producing but I haven't posted new work here since January... no, I showed a couple of ab/landscapes in March but somehow that doesn't really count these days. I'm fighting this recurring urge to switch back and forth between venues and am determined to stay focused. Bokushos need to be my main gig... I want to see them be all they can be and that means cut out the frivolous stuff... at least for now.

I truly love the process... how the square collage pieces of ink on rice paper turn my mind on to so many possibilities. Granted, all those options can confuse and conflict but all the better. Change... pentimento, even... is as much a part of my process as paint on canvas. "How's it look this way?" um... not so hot... "Oh, I know what it needs!" Oops, maybe not. And before you know it, a rich patina of thoughts and process has built up and... the painting is better for it.

Trick is: to call a halt to all that process! I'm showing a couple of recently named and documented paintings here that are already telling me they need more studio time. (Okay... maybe only one since Blogger thinks one is enough tonight.)

So... the beat goes on...

Sketchbooks...

The topic of sketchbooks has come up in conversation several times recently and thought I'd show my efforts to create something a bit larger than the moleskins that are so popular (I have three) and also use up some good print paper that's been stored for years.

This is the first sketchbook I made to take to France several years ago. The cover is made from medium weight w/c paper which has been painted and distressed with acrylic paints to resemble leather and give it a bit of protection. It's bound with jute cord.

The web is loaded with examples of artfully crafted handmade books, including instructions, and I'm in awe of all that can be done in that direction, but my purpose is simply to use up this large supply of paper in an efficient manner that also might offer a bit of inspiration without inhibiting my need to make marks without concern for making art.

So the "books" I'm making now are simply means of binding a few pages together, handy to keep with my gear without bulk or weight. And fit on my tripod drawing board perfectly (see earlier post.) The paper is heavy enough to take a bit of color, doesn't have as much sizing as w/c paper but w/c crayon/pencil or ink stick with a bit of water do fine.

I've been going though old sketchbooks and realizing I've really let the sketch habit fade... I love to draw but making myself actually do it is the problem. Wonder why that is...

Re-Do...

2007 - Fall Ritual - 40x40

Not everything that leaves the studio with love and kisses actually sells. Big whoop! So when they've done their time at one gallery, they are moved on to another. Not infrequently, they'll make it all the way around the block before running out of wall space. Then I either retire it to my own collection or, more often, it will either get a touch up or completely repainted. Usually when I start working on it again I can't stop and the original work disappears forever.

Not the case with the above painting. The bones and much of the original paint remain. Whether or not it's an improved version is up for grabs... at least it's different and gets another chance at making the rounds. I think there's a unity the first one didn't have but looking at both versions now, I see a few nuances were lost in the transition. So be it... other nuances were gained.

I've moved away from my usual modus operandi in the last year or so... to the point that I was having trouble reconnecting with a style that had served me well. Working with this painting again, in it's original context, has helped me understand where I was going wrong in both composition and technique.

I've mentioned that I like to thicken my gesso with dry spackle powder to create just the right texture. Without this particular ground, my techniques just don't work. Well, donchaknow I've run out and they've taken it off the market! Can't even find it on the web! I'm no chemist so figuring out the magic in the compound has been a trial an error affair. I just know that dry spackle worked and other powders didn't. I did start comparing the makeup of spackle and I think plaster of paris might work... I'll let you know. It's got to be tough, anything as soft as joint compound is disastrous... big time chipping at vulnerable, unframed edges. With big canvases, bumps do happen. Even many layers of paint won't protect.

Anyway, working again on this painting reminded me that I have to get back to that surface or forget the whole process. Funny... I hadn't realized it mattered that much... naturally I'm in the mood for some really thick, squishy texture!

Last Of The Tondos... Or Not...

Stacking the peeled palette paintings isn't a good idea as they tend to stick together. I store them between sheets of paper after the edges have been torn/trimmed. If I was into making art books they would be good fodder as it's fun to browse through the 'pages' of the folder. The trimmings themselves are begging to be used in some artful manner. I probably have a bucketful saved back. It would be easy to see them used to wrap and decorate poles or hiking sticks but I'm hoping for a better brainstorm.

This image shows how some look with the edges hanging on... adds a bit of dynamism that could be explored. A comment in the last post compared the possibilities to Kandinski's "Farbstudie Quadrate" and that composition in grid format has crossed my mind but didn't really take hold... I really like for them to stand alone.

In "Three Of A Kind" you see that I did have a bit of fun comparing orbs. The whole tondo project is vintage 2003-4... haven't worked it lately, but am still stirring it around in my mind.

More On Tondos...

2004 - Sphere Series - 10" square

When I say I like my layers to interact this is a good example. I'm especially fond of this particular series but unfortunately their diminuitive size inhibits the works. Possibly they should be separated, not shown as a group... used in small rooms or niches where each can carry more impact.

These 'found' paintings were used through several series, a few can be seen on my website. One of the problems is that I'm limited to these 6" disks... oh sure, I could contrive the same idea in a larger version, but I don't think so. Have tried working them into grids (a precursor to the bokusho idea) but didn't like that format.

To be continued...

Copper Tacks...

First, re: my last post about John Scott, the NY Times mentions his passing. Very nice article.

Been doing a lot of stretching of canvases lately... it's a great way to get things straight in my head while actually accomplishing something. You didn't have to be very astute to guess that I was lolling around in funk city for the last week or so... just plain tired after being on 'speed' through August and taking longer than usual to get back on track. But I'm good now... all is well, occasional rain has not only cooled us off a bit but might be just in time to stop the mass dying of so many of our beautiful trees. I guess we'll know for sure next spring but for now the grass is green and everything looks positively thankful for our occasional afternoon showers. The heat and drought was no doubt adding to my pity party.

So... where was I?

If there's one place I won't cut corners it's on the backs of my canvases. I'm talking about staples vs tacks... copper tacks, that is. I've had my turn with staples and maybe I just wasn't coordinated enough to get the hang of it. Just getting the durned staple gun to work consistently was enough of a problem and I invested in a number of them. When I switched to tacks hate and frustration turned to the pleasure of rhythm and purpose, a place where you can put your mind on the back burner and let the hands take over. Then I discovered copper tacks (before the price of copper went through the roof!) and a true love affair was born. They are my professional jewelry, my bling. You'll notice I also turn under the raw edges... my backside looks fine, I want you to know!


Don't know if you remember the series of paintings from the late 70's by Avigdor Arikha that featured the backs of stretched canvases... they were quite wonderful and I often think of them as I hammer away. This is the only image Google can find of those particular paintings and it's on an out of print book cover. Seems the web is more about the here and now than the tracks we leave.

Beginning Again

2005 - Indigo Field - 54x40

Just received a check for a very special painting. My NOLA gallery has been working with a 'gentleman' who lost his entire art collection in the Katrina tragedy. He's finally ready to add art to his life again and has chosen the above painting as his first purchase. I don't know if he owned any of my work previously, but I'm delighted to know that he does now.

I suspect, should any of my canvases be submerged in water, mud and/or yuck for any period of time... well, say a few days, anyway... that they could be cleaned and restretched and be almost good as new. Of course, many homes were left for months before attempts to reclaim possessions were possible. The wood would warp, the canvas would have to be disinfected, might be weakened but could be backed, but the thickness of my paint (often with spackle stirred into the gesso) would probably be in tact unless punctured or scraped badly.

Indigo Field has long been a personal favorite, but hadn't really looked at it in awhile. I like the way the landscape ties closely with my usual abstract format... that's what I want to do more of... or perhaps I should say, that's what I want to retain in my new work.

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Well, about all that w/c painting I was going to do at the lake... does latex on walls count? I'll call it my minimalist mural effort ;-) Seems like a lot of people are not happy with their choice of khaki colored mixed paint as I have several returned cans of varying shades. One was a perfect match for a bed skirt in a formerly blue room... which I swear had not been painted since my earlier effort 25 years ago! The silver-blue carpet cleaned up like new, we must have put some good stuff down there, I rather expected to be able to pull up tuffs of fiber but carpet throughout the whole basement seems to be in really good condition. Should have been able to finish that room in a day but didn't. Painting the built in shelves and floor trim will have to wait until next time.

Color As A Found Object... Oops!

1985 - Azalea Splash - 11x30

We're way overdue for quality time at the lake... J's sprain is still sprung but there's too much to do to put it off. He'll just have to take it easy and work on small projects. I've been collecting Oops paint from HD and Lowes (returned and marked waay down) and will start painting the downstairs with whatever seems appropriate or can be mixed to something close. I found a gallon of a gorgeous shade of geranium red and can't decide which room deserves it. There's a very large bath, also a long skinny laundry room, both windowless... either could use some color excitement.

Whatever isn't used will wind up in the studio as underpaint as I build up layers. I always finish the paintings with good quality acrylics, usually Golden, but as I work larger these days, it takes an awful lot of paint to create my idea of a proper surface... hence, Oops!

I think I'll gather my w/c supplies and take them all to the lake. There's something about my main studio that sez 'same ole, same ole' demanding that I actually work on REAL paintings, suitable for gallery inventory. Well, shoot me now! It's summer, I want to play... REAL paintings will just have to wait! I've given thought to eventually taking my oils down there as well... but let me see if I can actually make myself set aside time to sketch and dabble with paint.

Yes... go pack up the watercolors... every last tube and scrap of paper! Ummm... maybe I'll see if I have all the parts to my dismantled old drafting table... it used to be a key piece of furniture in my small studio there.

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I understand this creative list by Hugh MacLeod might become a book. Includes a 31 point list of tips, cool enough, followed by an expanded list that's just plain good reading. I think he pretty much covers everything you need to know about the tending to the creative side of life.

Framing

2007 - The Grid 1 - 36x36

Delivered four new paintings to my local gallery today so my walls are bare yet again. I have some paper pieces I've collected over the years that need frames... I have the wall space now, just need to get out the gear. Several years ago J sectioned off a framing room for me in his basement workshop space and I got it all organized and did use it for awhile. Then the room had to be cleared when he decided to add a half bath upstairs, directly over said space. Wouldn't have been so bad if I'd cleared it out myself but piles of stuff stirred and restacked elsewhere is intimidating to tackle... so I haven't. What appears to be haphazard and probably worthless scrap is actually something I'm gonna need as soon as I can't find it. But no one would know that but me. But hey! What a great excuse for not framing anything for a couple of years! I forgive.

Obviously, framing is not on my list of favorite pastimes. Hence an early move from paper works to gallery wrap canvases that don't require frames. I'm a d-i-y type, too cheap to pay someone to do something I can (passably) do myself. And anyway... I've heard the "how much without the frame" remark often enough to know it's asking for trouble. However I've seen some frame jobs that would make me ask the same question. I started announcing (when I was doing the selling) that the frame was free. That it merely served to protect the artwork and offered a temporary means of display. "Free?" Yep... the magic word! Got rid of a lot of scratched frames that way, too!

Several opportunities to show matted works on paper, plus the preponderance of such work accumulated, have me in the mat cutting business again. You can't just shove the stuff out there, naked and unadorned as if abandoned and unloved. You have to show some respect for it with quality mats and protective wrap. So... I'm armed with brand new razor blades, found most of my cutting gear and have my work cut out for me... so to speak.

I think we'll go to the lake for a couple of days ;-)

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---The gallery sent a few photos of the Memphis show and they are loaded here.
---My poison ivy is finally fading away but since I'm actively working on getting the pest under control at the lake house, I expect to get it again in spite of extreme precautions.
---J's bad sprain continues to bother him... bad swelling up to his knee, but he's beginning to be able to get around without the walker... and doesn't complain quite as much. Talk about a D-I-Y type, that's his middle name! We joke that all his best friends work at Home Depot so you can understand his impatience.

La Mer

Coming up on the first anniversary of my month long residency in France and the memories keep bubbling up. We visited the little book village of Montolieu near Carcassonne and I came away with a couple of souvenir books... one, La Mer, was purchased as collage fodder but it wasn't until this week that I actually began using it. I've created this long, skinny scroll type painting (20x72) that was just >>blahhhh<< sitting there. Made an edging of the French text which gave it another layer of interest. No photo of the work yet... later.

Damaged Painting

I'm not one to chat away on my cell phone while driving, but I'm also not one to ignore a call, even when merging onto a busy Interstate. The call was from the Atlanta gallery with news that a recently sold landscape had been damaged in transit to Houston and pics were on the way. Would I be able to fix? I can't see anyone being able to fix this but me! I've ordered new stretchers (42x54) and can only hope the cracking doesn't equate to flaking. I don't think it will, the thickening agent is dry spackle mixed into heavy gesso... even with cracking, the paint layers should hang on pretty tight (she said, hopefully!) Not exactly what I'd planned to do when I'd cleared the slate for the New Year, but guess no one else involved planned this side trip either...

My Palette?

A surplus door from the lake house was recently scarfed up and put into use as another table in the studio since much of what I do now requires the canvases to be horizontal. But instead of supporting new works in progress, it seems to have become my new palette with loose groupings of assorted bokusho material. I find there are many ways to create these inked papers, just a dilution of the ink, addition of a little color, change of brush or impulse give a very different look to each series. So it's necessary that they be kept as separate as paint in tubes. In this case, they don't mix very well. Interesting how different series can dictate the mood or composition of a work... each suggesting it's own attitude.

Note the string of old brushes on the left... hardware store, China bristle of good quality, worn to a pulp. Dried paint tends to gather at the top so it's sometimes necessary to take a razor or X-acto knife to the bristles just under the ferrule and take off a layer of the clogged surface hairs... it really refreshes the brush and extends the life of it. But eventually, the brush is declared dead and is usually tossed, except for these few saved back just as keepsakes. I find I'm using chip brushes more and more often... those throw-aways from the paint dept for less than a dollar. I can get them on the web, the 2" for $.33, and I need to order a bushel or so. They are surprisingly versatile and last longer than expected. So nice to just toss and not have to clean. Not that I spend a lot of time cleaning brushes... btdt! I think my style has evolved to accommodate my slack attitude re: brush cleaning.

Before Bokusho

2005, Catalyst 2, 24x24

I took new paintings to my local gallery today... I'd promised them new work but had been putting it off, knowing I'd have to finally show the new Bokusho work. Actually, I have several small ones in New Orleans but these are more developed and the door is open wide now. They represent what my Feb show will look like, I explained to my reps. Always appreciative, they wanted to know the story first hand (they'd already read my early explanation on my website.) I gave them the song and dance, but as I checked through some older inventory at the gallery, I realized that there is more to the story.

Up until about two years ago, I, like so many other artists, was fascinated with the many imported handmade papers to be found in art supply stores and websites, but preferred to use them discreetly as in the Venture Series. I began to see the same papers being used by other artists and became uncomfortable with the use of them in my own work. So I started playing around with making my own... not quite knowing what I wanted my efforts to look like, I just didn't want to learn later that I'd said something offensive in a language I didn't understand! The image above incorporated the use of a blotted Viva paper towel. Mixed media can mean most anything!

So that was how it was when I went to France in April, 06. The primary art materials I took were ink, rice paper and various brushes. Also a bit of watercolor, just in case, but the ink turned out to be the key to a new motivation.

Oil vs Acrylic

One of the paintings I took to NOLA was an oil landscape. The style doesn't vary due to media, but a bit of the technique does... but safe to say that similar works in both media are about the same... until you look close and feel the paintings... the oils have a really lush feel to them (visually as well as physically) and it could become very addictive. Can't leave acrylics behind because I'd never be able to meet deadlines without their quick dry ability. But I do plan to begin more oils soon. I sure don't have a technique conqured yet, or anything close to one.

Funny thing... as I was showing Carol the oil she remarked that a customer had been very taken by my work but said he would never buy an acrylic painting, he only buys oils. Well... that's pretty stupid, I think, didn't know there were still any of that type still out there.

I'd asked this very question of Kay at Lagerquist in Atlanta and she said no one ever seemed to care... so there ya go. But the difference in the two galleries is that the Atlanta gallery probably deals more with decorators buying for someone else, and the NOLA gallery deals with individuals buying for themselves... at least that's my take, and it could account for the difference.