Anderson Ranch + Critique Workshop / Part 4

Ribcage Study

Finally, I figured out what I wanted to convey with my work this week at Anderson Ranch. But I still felt I needed to look at some other avenues for expressing it. I thought I wanted my work to be very open-ended and abstract, but I wanted to be certain. So I did these more representational drawings of the heart and ribcage, since the chest area became the primary area of the body to which I wanted to relate.

 

Heart Study

I like these drawings, especially combined with the ink washes, but the mood/tone I am going for right now is much more subtle. I think I should stick with abstraction for the final crit on tomorrow.

Anderson Ranch + Critique Workshop / Part 3

 Stuffed Blue Heart (detail)

Ink and twine on paper mounted on board

In process

I had been working on this piece for several days, trying to combine the ink work with the twine work. I worked out a lot of issues in this one, and I am able to really begin to focus on the issues that really matter to me: making art that is about a/the material body and the mental/emotional space that partners with physical embodied experience.

Stuffed Blue Heart (detail)

Ink and twine on paper mounted on board

In process

I began to add more and more design elements to this piece, which I think looks good, but was actually taking away from the simplicity of what I’m trying to convey. I love decoration (see my graphic design work), so it has been hard to let go of wanting to decorate everything with color and little graphic elements.

 Stuffed Blue Heart (detail)

Ink and twine + gouache on paper mounted on board

In process

Gary Simmons, workshop leader, suggested that I was using the painting surface as a crutch, because it’s something I’m comfortable with. Perhaps that’s true. He asked me if I really should be doing sculpture at this point, to which I responded ‘probably, yes, but that makes me uncomfortable.’ . . . So, here I go, abandoning the painting surface and moving my work directly onto the wall (look for that work tomorrow, it’s not finished yet!).

Stuffed Blue Heart

Ink and twine on paper mounted on board

In process

When this piece is finished, knotted twine will billow and spill out from all the holes in the center of the painting, creating a three-dimensional effect. You can see that the piece is really about the action in the center, and I need to get rid of the background completely.

Anderson Ranch + Critique Workshop / Part 2

Holes and Protrusions

Studies for twine

This week at Anderson Ranch, I’ve been working back and forth between using my inks and working with twine. You can see yesterday’s ink work here.

This series of studies is looking at ways to utilize the membrane of the paintings’ surfaces as something that can be penetrated in different ways with the twine (plus perhaps other materials).

Holes and Protrusions

Studies for twine

Tomorrow I’ll show you how the two (ink & twine) are starting to combine in new ways for me. The jury is still out on whether my experiments are going to be a success.

Anderson Ranch + Critique Workshop / Part 1

Self-portrait on a blank sheet of paper

Digital photograph

This week I’m at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado taking the Contemporary Studio Critique workshop with Gary Simmons. It has been interesting so far: Monday was spent going through a preliminary overview and general critique of the ten students’ work up to the present moment. Today, we’ve been working on our own and have had individual discussions with Gary.

Self-portrait on a painted sheet of paper

Digital photograph

I usually work on several different artworks at once, and it’s no different at Anderson Ranch this week! I have 6 pieces going already, and it’s only the second day of the workshop, and that’s not including the process photos  above and the video you’ll see below.

The painting with quivering aspen leaves

Digital video

I’m always interested in conveying some sense of spiritual energy in my art, whatever the media. Today was the first time I took my inks outside to work (I didn’t want to smoke everyone out of the studio with my rubbing alcohol), and now I wonder why I never did it before! I set up shop on a wooden balcony that sits on the edge of a rushing creek. The first thing I noticed were the shadows cast by the aspen leaves overhead, and how they moved over my empty sheet of paper. Then, again, as I worked on my painting, the little quivering shadows surely must’ve influenced my composition. I decided to shoot a quick video of the shadows dancing on top of the painting.

I’ll show you some of the other stuff I’m working on tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Colorado Love

Colorado makes
me feel
                        
grounded.


The earth

                  up
reaches
to meet me.

Design In Progress: FIDM View Book

I’ve been working on a new college view book for the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. It’s about 64 pages, and will include lots of information for students on life at FIDM. These are two of the cover concepts I’ve been working on. The text is being tweaked now, so the interior pages are still in progress. I think this view book will be a nice snapshot of what it’s like to be a student on campus. When we finish this one, we’ll start working on the second view book in the series, which will focus on the exciting careers of FIDM graduates.

See more of my design work for FIDM here.

 

New Designs: Ute Learning Garden

Several months ago, I finished working on a project to create seven interpretive signs for the new Ute Learning Garden at the Mesa County Fairgrounds in western Colorado. I worked with the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, and Colorado State University Extension to complete the project.

I really enjoyed working on this project, and learned a lot about how Native Americans lived on the land before they were pushed out by white settlers.

My only regret is that I didn’t have a voice in creating the posts that the signs were eventually mounted on. I probably would’ve chosen something a little more substantial weight-wise and painted them darker colors that aren’t as distracting. But overall, I think the signs themselves look great! I’m looking forward to the completion of the garden. Hopefully then they will invite me to help them unify everything graphically throughout the entire exhibit.

I’d love to have more opportunities in the future to work with educators to create interpretive displays for the public.

My Work at Gregory Way Gallery

Musical Series: Orange Triptych

Available in the window at 

Gregory Way Gallery

245 S. Beverly Drive

Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Last month I hosted a booth at the Beverly Hills Art Festival. I met the director of the Gregory Way Gallery there, and we’ve been corresponding about getting more of my work there on display! These are the pieces I’ll be shipping next week:

 Karma #04

48x36 inches. Acrylic & ink on board.

Tangential Thinking #04

24x36 inches. Ink on paper on board.

Tangential Thinking #02

24x36 inches. Ink & gouache on paper on board.

Tangential Thinking #05

24x36 inches. Ink & gouache on paper on board.