Back on the trail

It's our first outdoor art fair of the year and it almost started with a bang. We drove down to Birmingham on Wednesday for the scheduled set up on Thursday. It rained hard all night long and continued into the morning. The Internet said there would be thunderstorms all day with 20 mph winds and hail. Not exactly ideal set up conditions. But we got lucky! The storm moved through faster than expected and we had perfect weather.

The show has been lovely. Incredible weather - sunny, with a little wind, blue skies and puffball clouds - just what I would order for an art fair. Good food, lots of wine and friendly, interested people. I am selling work and have also made some new friends.

Tomorrow we head up to Memphis to see my brother and his family. Then back home. I soooo miss those kitties; I was hugging other people's dogs yesterday in an attempt to get a "critter fix."

Another kind of art

In between all of the visual art, I have been baking brownies. I am in quest of the perfect brownie. It must be fudgey and chewy, but not too chewy; sinfully rich as in food orgasm rich; and moistly dense. Not cake-like.

Katharine Hepburn's (who knew!?!?!) used to be my reliable recipe until I had a bad experience when the brownies became completely stuck to the foil I had used to line the pan. Not wanting to waste them, we developed a way to kind of gnaw them off the foil, but it wasn't pretty.

On St. Patrick's day, I made some Black and Tan brownies that incorporated Guinness beer. They were oddly satisfying despite my initial fears about the runny beer batter.

Over the weekend I made Truffle brownies, a Martha Stewart recipe. I wanted to try them mainly because of the ganache topping. Somehow I even managed to pour the ganache over the brownies rather than sit down and eat it with a spoon(I wonder why I can't lose weight, tee, hee, hee). These brownies had a perfect flavor but were too cakey. I am wondering if they would be better cooked for a shorter time? I will say they have gotten slightly more dense over the past couple days in the refrigerator.

But alas, I need to keep working it. And sorry, I don't need any more tasters. I have lots of them already lined up.

Quantity or Quality

After my recent post below (OK is not enough) you might think I would favor quality. And while I certainly respect and strive for quality, I also think it is important to produce sufficient quantity. This has been my focus/obsession lately, making enough inventory to present at my first art fair of the season. No matter how much I try, it seems I never manage to work too far ahead as I tend to be slightly "last minute" with my process. I have convinced myself it is better to be this way since it means I have fresh work for each show, newly made things that I feel passionate about.

But I digress.

There is apparently a book called The Seven Secrets of How to Think like a Rocket Scientist. I haven't read the book, but I saw an article that referenced it. The author, James Longuski, talks about a group of art students who are asked to make clay pots. Half of the class is told to make as many as they can during the semester while the other half is asked to focus on creating one great pot.

Oddly, in some perversion of the expected result, the research indicated that the group working on quantity actually produced the best work.

It sort of defies logic. I am guessing it is because the ones working on quality probably over-thought their project to the point of paralysis. I have been there, done that. The students working on quantity (this is just my speculation) probably disengaged their brain to some extent and ended up getting into a zone. Plus, in their angst to achieve the most quantity, they probably made mistakes. I have found that the mistake process often leads me on a journey of experimentation that is rather exciting.

The bottom line is I don't know what happened here, but it's an interesting thought, this quantity vs. quality discussion. Something to think about.

Once in a blue moon

Here is a commission I recently finished. It was made for a local woman who contacted me because she had seen my work at a gallery last year. She wanted a piece to commemorate her 1st anniversary. Since she wasn't quite sure what she wanted, she visited my studio to look at my various bodies of work. She was instantly drawn to my brand new abstracts which haven't been "out" yet since I am still working on them. Based on her interests, I was propelled into a totally new direction for this piece, a merging of her personal materials with my abstract style.

I am pleased with the organic feel that resulted. There was a lot of special text to consider and I had this vision that the text would form the shapes and linear detail in the piece. Having not done this before I wasn't quite sure where it was going but I did a sketch first (very unique for me!) and that helped me to know I was on the right track.

The piece is 30" tall by 10" wide on deep cradled clay board. I don't normally name my commissions, but decided to call this one, "Once in a blue moon." Specific mementos are embedded into the painting and the tiny ledger page numbers are her anniversary date.

The client was happy, at least I am pretty sure she was......she gushed with pleasure then threw her arms around me, tee, hee, hee. It is such a privilege to be charged with the responsibility of documenting a special occasion and I am glad it worked out.

OK is not enough

I destroyed some of my old pieces today - work that was no good and couldn't be "fixed" with another layer of paint or collage. I used to carry these to show after show but never put them up on the wall because I didn't like them. As I was doing my inventory today it struck me that I didn't even want to count a couple of the paintings. Talk about negative energy, these pieces were literally dragging me down they were that bad. And I started to think about that.

Why would I even keep work that I dislike so much?

When I couldn't find a reason, destruction made sense. So I slashed them, right through the canvas with my knife. I ripped off layer after layer. It was violent yet felt powerfully symbolic. Then I made a pact with myself........I must insist on a certain standard for my work, a standard of truth that I (and only I) can set. I cannot deviate even if I am crazed to meet a deadline. Even if I need to quickly build inventory for a show. Even if other people might find the work acceptable, it doesn't matter.

I remember a teacher of mine talking about this years ago, about how she would burn failed paintings. At the time I thought it was nuts as I didn't think anything she did could ever be deemed "failed."

But now I understand.

No time to rest

Whew, what a weekend! Despite the crappy weather, Venus Envy was fun. There were lots of laughs and good times spent with a number of my friends who braved the cold rain and came out . I soooo appreciate time to enjoy the art and music with friends. And their patience and understanding as I talk to other attendees is terrific. In addition to many laughs, yummy sangria, and good tunes, I had lots of sales. That was a relief because, after so many months "off" work, I am grateful to see an income again.

This is a picture of me from the last night. I am wearing one of my fantastic Parisian flea market finds that I bought at the coolest little shop in Port Townsend. That is my warm cashmere poncho on top. I kind of rigged it up as a shawl of sorts, first using a chip clip to hold it behind my back. Until my brilliant husband pointed out I could simply button it under my arms. Well duh, that is infinitely more convenient than wearing a chip clip. He always was smarter than me.

The art was especially good this year with many fine artists, some exhibiting for the very first time which is one of the best parts of Venus Envy, the opportunity and exposure for emerging artists. This second shot shows several exhibits in the background and you can get a flavor of the warehouse atmosphere. I loved the installation shown. I am having some sort of a brain fart and cannot remember the artist's name however, I talked to her about her work. It represents a dream she had recently, one of a series of dreams where she is always dressed in red and is in imminent danger from an unseen force. In this particular manifestation, she finally saw the danger in the form of wolves coming after her. The white doves are warning her and offering protection. I thought it was really a cool work of art, very skillfully done.

John came to the show last night with our friends Bud & Marian, who I have to thank for these photos. I swear I don't know why I even carry a camera when I apparently can't remember to use it.

I need some time to sleep but it is apparently not going to happen until I get into the car for John to drive us down to the ONB Magic City show. Cause I've got a lot of art to make in the next 9 days.

Venus Envy

I am charged!

Excitement is in the air, electricity pulsing through the building and my veins (or in my case, it's probably caffeine), woo hoo!!!!

We will have lights, music, drinks, art, dancing - all that and more. It will be a wild and crazy blast of inspiring art and entertainment. Just what this city needs to welcome Spring.

So come visit me Friday and Saturday from 7-midnite.
Venus Envy
3016 Locust Street
St. Louis, MO

We'll let him think it's us

The last couple of nights Merlyn has been driving us crazy. He walks around the house in the middle of the night caterwauling like you could not believe. The first night I freaked out, leaped up from a sound sleep to run down the steps and see if he was OK. He was fine, just bored I believe. I carried him upstairs and installed him in bed between me and John.

The second night I didn't fall for it. He started up at about 4 am and I tried my best to feign sleep and ignore him.

The third night he did it while walking all over me. Then he knocked my glasses off the nightstand. Then he stood on my chest. You get the drift.

Last night when I was ready for bed, Merlyn was snuggled up next to John. I sat beside them and gave Merle a little lecture. I told him his behavior was uncalled for and that he needed to respect our sleep. I got pretty specific with him, told him the caterwauling had to end, walking on me during my sleep had to end, etc, etc. He looked at me intently (I swear he did, John as my witness) and then stood up, walked across the bed and sat down with his back to me.

Blink.

John cracked up and said, "well, I guess he told you."

But last night he finally behaved. No crazy nighttime activity. I awoke in the middle of the night and he was curled up in my arms, sound asleep, having somehow burrowed in so quietly I didn't even realize he was there.

This morning I told John about it and said, "I think every once in awhile we need to let him know who's boss."

John looked at me and chuckled, "And who would that be?"

Quote of the day

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Frank Outlaw
(Courtesy of Teri Martin; you can sign up for her daily quotes by clicking on the link.)

Challenging Venus

For the past 4 years (ever since I moved to St. Louis) I have been juried into Venus Envy . The 1st time I entered I had no idea what I was getting in to. We had just moved here from San Francisco, I saw the call for art and it sounded fun. If you have looked at the VE website, you might have gathered the show attracts really progressive art, all made from women. Many local artists use this show as a chance to "push the envelope" a bit and challenge viewers. Me? Well, call me shallow (ok, that's enough) but I try to make work that is fun - for instance, this piece will be in the show along with 21 of my other brand new works.

To give you a little background, Venus Envy is a non-profit organization. The show location changes each year. The group relies on donated properties - typically it's a building set for re-hab or demolition so the owner allows VE to adapt the space however they wish. Free of charge. The artists and a huge team of volunteers do tons of cleaning and painting to make the space fit for the show. Stages and a bar are built, lights hung, walls installed. You get the drift, it's a B-I-G deal. This year, I happened to volunteer to help the entertainment acts, so I haven't done much cleaning however, in past years I have done things like scrub toilets, vacuum floors or clean up trash.

In addition, the artists hang their own art and also attend all three nights of the event, that being the Preview Party on Thurs. and the actual show on Friday and Saturday. We are given a certain # of linear feet to install our exhibit according to the "proposal" that was accepted into the show.

Saturday was installation. We were expecting brick walls so John was armed with his drill and masonry bits. Rhonda brought her Pro-Panel walls, enough for both of us, in the event we didn't have good hanging area. Turned out we used the Pro-Panels, which was probably good since there was no electricity to operate our drill. Of course we did not expect that. Nor did we expect it to be 23 degrees in the unheated building that also has no plumbing. We froze our butts off doing the installation. I have never been so cold in my entire life. I am talking about the kind of cold that sets into your bones and you simply cannot shake it off even hours after you are back in a heated space. And dirty, did I mention it was dirty?

Ugh.

I have complete faith that it will all be fine by Thurs. but right now it's hard to imagine how that is going to occur. Every single year I have serious doubts that the show will come off as planned but it somehow works out and is attended by thousands of people. It will be fine this year too - the power of women is simply amazing. I just need to keep telling myself this. And possibly re-consider my wardrobe to include some fleece....

Planet Earth

Is anyone else watching this series on The Discovery Channel?

Oh --my goodness it is so wonderful. The most amazing footage of animals, mountains, and exotic countries, these shows are incredibly inspiring. The stunning scenery is such a pleasure purely from an artistic standpoint. Not to mention the cinematography. And there are baby animals in each show(or at least the two we have watched thus far) so you know I am all over that. Go set your Tivo before it's too late.

More Artfest

I haven't said too much about Artfest because it is hard to synthesize into a blog post. So many experiences all in a mad rush......it flew by so fast I barely had to time to breathe.

I looked at the images on my camera and was dismayed to find I took hardly any pictures. My friends took some so hopefully they will share with me and I can post later. This is the gang (or posse as some called us, tee, hee hee) that I travelled with and we all shared a house. We meshed amazingly well and I was glad they twisted my arm to attend. I don't have a picture of us, but it was great fun to finally meet my friend Shari who is just as cute and sweet as I expected. We had this funny synchronistic moment in Seattle and actually had our very first meeting in an Office Max parking lot.

You all know I was a neurotic wreck before I left - worrying about people not liking me (I am secretly quite shy); obsessing about art supplies; scared I would make really ugly art; afraid I might do something stupid like fart in my sleep - you name it, I was a mess all the way till the moment I got on the plane.

Despite my greatest fears, the whole thing went smashingly well. I learned a TON of new techniques, so many that my head is spinning and I now have about 2 million new ideas instead of 1 million. Unfortunately, no time to try them out just yet as I have 2 commissions lined up. I did finish the last Venus Envy piece yesterday and did all the paper work this morning, so I am ready for installation this Saturday.

All my Artfest classes were good but the Misty Mawn class was extra special. Partially because she is such a delightful serene soul. Or maybe it is her complete attitude of sharing that is so fresh. Or the fact she plays cool music so I got into a zone? Who knows? Here are the pieces I made in her class, these were done on 12x6 wood panels.

Home at last

I am back from Artfest. It was a lengthy day with a long delayed flight, but I finally made it home last night about 10:30.

And whew....what a whirlwind that was. Artfest I mean - a completely wonderful whirlwind!!! I took great classes from talented teachers; got to spend time with my pals; partied my butt off; and laughed more than I ever thought possible.

I am working on "re-entry" today. Unpacking, organizing my art supplies, reading mail, doing laundry, blahblahblah. But I am buzzing with creative ideas and can hardly wait to get into the studio.

Thanks to Teesha and Tracy Moore for this truly unique event. All I can say is W-O-W.

Artfest here I come

Well, tomorrow morning I am officially Artfest bound. Travelling with a group of my buddies from St. Louis, I will catch up with some old friends from CA, meet some of my Internet pals for the 1st time (Shari for sure!!) and hopefully make other new friends as well. Plus make art for 3 glorious days, woo hoo, hip hip hooray, yippee ka yay, yee ha!!! And what a bonus that I get to play in the Pacific Northwest; I am hoping to carve out a little time to hike around Ft. Worden and enjoy the sites of Port Townsend. Ah to be around all that water, I can't wait. And if I am really lucky, THE mountain, that being Rainier, will be out when we land tomorrow.

Yes, I did get all my work done, or at least nearly all of it. I finished 21 pieces for Venus Envy, 1 short of my goal. BUT, 20 of them are already varnished with sides painted black and I seriously did not think I would get that done. The show entries have been handled, email caught up, other correspondence and paper work complete, commissions researched and ready for action when I get home.

I am good to go. So later gators....

Yesterday we attended Grape Arts, the yearly fund raiser for Art Saint Louis, of which I am an active member.

I am happy to report they served the caramelized bacon again, woo hoo. Obsessive girl had been talking about this bacon ever since last year, so my friends kept bringing me pieces of it and I believe I might have ate an entire pound. Along with my champagne.

My donated collage painting, Not my God, generated wild bidding, a "war" of sorts among a couple of my collectors and some other folks who I suppose just liked the piece. It was thrilling for me to actually see people fighting over my work, in a friendly way of course. I had an opportunity to talk to some of the bidders who had questions about my motivation for making this collage. The guys who eventually won the piece came over and hugged me (how sweet!) and promised to come see me at an upcoming show. They were adorable; I love it when my art finds a good home.

I even bought a piece, a collage on book cover by Baby Smith, who is a friend of my friend Robin. I don't know Baby personally as she apparently moved to LA before I moved here from SF, but her work is wonderfully smart.

I am afraid I was a little obnoxious in my efforts to win this piece....ugh, how embarrassing...You see, I have trouble with the mind games/power plays of an auction. Last year I lost a piece in the final minutes because I simply didn't have the _______ (balls, nerve, stamina - insert word of choice) to endure the endgame. At the time, I joked that my friend Claire wouldn't have lost the auction.

Well, Claire was with me yesterday. And, after seeing my distress at the idea of losing this piece, she suggested a strategy and coached me accordingly.

After a couple rounds of play, I was ready. When the opposing bidder walked up to put her new bid on the form. I pulled myself up to my full 5'0"(actually a little taller as I had on a low heel), threw my shoulders back and tried to assume a persona of power. I looked her straight in the eyes, never wavering and announced sweetly, "I am going to win this piece." At which point the girl dropped the pencil and simply walked away.

O.M.G.

Geez, I felt so guilty about my blatant display of greed. I swear I had to stop myself from running after her groveling about how I am not normally like this.

And that, art fans, is how I won this faboo little piece that is now proudly on display in my office.

Gotcha Saatchi

Many months ago I was contacted by the Saatchi gallery with an offer to put up a free page on their site. It seems they are doing some artist outreach marketing especially geared toward emerging artists. I'm not sure where they got my name but they also contacted a few of my artist friends.

This week I finally(!) got around to setting it up and will have to say it looks totally cool. So, here is the link to me on Saatchi. When you click over there you will see a totally new look. A preview of my new series of abstracts called Community. You will see more of them in the coming months. And no, I'm not going to stop making the Common Denominator pieces, but I just love shaking things up a bit.

So much to do and so little time

So why on earth am I dreaming of running away to NY to see a Rauschenberg exhibit? The NY Times article gives it high marks and I would love to see his early works specifically these drawings and transfers. I have never spent much time with transfers mainly because it has always seemed a dicey process to me. I fear I would be working on a painting then "ruin" it with a failed transfer. Perhaps that is the wrong way for me to approach this? Maybe I should instead welcome the outcome whatever it might be?

Bottom line, I simply could not leave town now. I have an awful lot going on. Suddenly life has clicked back into full gear.

This past week I have been working on new pieces for Venus Envy. I was pleased to be accepted as a 4th year exhibitor. The only problem is that I just found out (on 3/12) that I was accepted and I have to deliver the pieces on 4/04. Right after I get back from Artfest. And you know what that means - all the pieces need to be done before I leave. Twenty two of them to be exact, based on my proposal. I have a batch of 6x6's almost finished and I am pretty pleased with their direction. It seems that the extended "break" really helped me look at my Common Denominator series with a fresh eye. I am using new colors that are light and modern, quite a juxtaposition with the vintage images. I like the feel though and find they all hang well with the older work.

My new series will have to sit on the back burner for awhile as I finish the VE stuff and also work on 2 new commissions. Plus complete all the apps that are due through early April - seven to be exact. Yikes! Some are for art fairs, others are juried competitions.

Lots to do before Artfest.

Stars, stars everywhere

These are a sampling of my charms for Artfest. Now mind you I had announced (ha!) early on that I wasn't going to do trades. That was until I heard about charm trades and got to thinking how neat it would be to make a bracelet to commemorate my inaugural Artfest.

Naturally I had never made a charm before and really had no idea where to start.

Then, in a moment of synchronicity, I attended a meeting last week where a friend (thanks Kristin!) did a wonderful demo of how to fuse scrap fibers to paper. It was so much fun I flew home to play around with my left over knitting yarns. And these little stars were the result of my labors.

I just hope someone wants to trade with me.

And we have a winner!

Wow, you guys are good. Lots of excellent entries and that made it especially hard for the committee. Of course the cats quickly lost interest because none of the stories mentioned birds or cat treats or any of their favorite things. But the people (me & John) agreed which was cool. We are running a little late because we were watching the end of the Xavier game, where my Alma mater (a slight under dog) beat BYU. Woo hoo!!! That is the good news; the bad news is they now face Ohio State on Saturday where they will be a hee-yuge under dog.

Enough basketball talk. Without further ado, let's get to the winner! Drum roll please.......

Izabella, for the following story:

Sleeping on Snow
She fled with just her dress and stockings, snow clinging to the bottom of her dress like weights. The life she knew was gone~

This story is so evocative, I especially love the description "snow clinging to the bottom of her dress."

Izabella, please email me with your snail mail address and I will mail your prize, one of my giclee prints. If you would like to go on over to my website, you can even pick which one you prefer!
Look under the Repro section of my website to make your selection.

One we also liked a lot was submitted by my pal Shari Beaubien:

The crowd parts. Our eyes meet. Caught.....my suspicions confirmed. He drops her hand, apology on his face. BITCH! I turn my back. It's over.

And I would like to recognize 2 terrific entries that seemed more "poetry" like to me. But I enjoyed them so much I want to share.

"In the Dark" by Beth
She was a dreamer
and
a dancer
have you seen her
she's on her toes
waiting
for her heart
to beat again

and Kim, a friend of Beth's who probably did a poem because Beth posted that it was a poetry contest, hahahahaha. You know I'm just teasing you Beth!! Here is Kim's entry:
"eyes wide shut"
a child is born
but taken away..
a girl grows up
but never learns
a woman wonders why
but never finds answers..
eyes wide shut...

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to write something and submit to my first contest. This was so much fun I will have to do it again sometime.

Last chance

The contest is ending today, so don't forget to submit your entry. Scroll on down the page for more details....

And in other news, you all will be pleased to know that James Brown was finally laid to rest the other day. Yes, the man was still not buried. Died on Christmas Day, his body was first touring the country (see my January 03 post) then being preserved for paternity cases (I am guessing?). He was finally buried this week in a crypt at the home of one of his daughters.

The news article said, "the embalmed body has been kept in a refrigerated room." Well duh.