(Parenthetical Project) 1

“And you? What are you going to be when you grow up?”

In kindergarten, when the teacher asked this question,

Warren had answered with his plans for that afternoon—

the afternoon being as far into the future

as his five-year-old mind could imagine. Since then,

“What are you going to be when you grow up?”

had been Mia's and his way of asking about plans for the day.

Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere

Warren! 

My hero!

What, you ask, do I want to be when I grow up? I want to be the artist who, this afternoon, interrupts her Abstract Faces series/class progress to start a parenthetical project of a different sort. 

How's that for grown up!

(parenthetical project),
twelve 4.5 x 6"starts, acrylic on drawing paper

On My Nightstand, on My Easel (6)

On my nightstand

When we were growing up, 
being sick was an occasion. 
Mother brought us meals on a pink wicker bed tray. 
Our family even had a separate set of dishes for illness—
blue and white with a dewy rosebud painted in the center. 
The plates were smaller than regular dinner plates. 
"You just don't have an appetite when you're sick. 
There's nothing less appealing 
than a big plate of food!" Mother would say. 
I can still see her shaking down the thermometer,
that whit-whit-whit.

Judy Goldman, Losing My Sister


On my easel

detail—tissue paper collage
work in progress, 16 days in, 5/4/20
24 x 48" on canvas

detail—tissue paper collage
work in progress, 16 days in, 5/4/20
24 x 48" on canvas

No Filter

rough day yesterday.

gray skies, 

gray spirits, 

heavy heart. 

an uproar 

of my own 

gray making. 

went into my studio, 

grabbed a finished painting, 

reached for gesso 

off a shelf.

and a brush.

painted right over 

that sucker.

black gesso. 

white gesso. 

whatever came to hand.

threw my raw feelings 

directly onto the canvas 

with no filter.

felt

much

better.

An Unrolled Bolt of Raw Feeling, Saturated with November
12 x 24"; acrylic, china marker, charcoal crayon, and collage on canvas
abstract
2019
SOLD

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earlier history: see 2017 post

Following My Nose

Eighteen months ago, in March 2018, I started playing with a huge sheet of foam core given to me by a friend when she moved to a new home previously owned by an artist who'd left some materials behind. I covered the foam core with a thin slapdash coat of gesso, penciled off a grid of 40 six-inch squares and various rectangles, adhered tissue and magazine collage randomly, and started playing. I considered the 'canvas' to be an erasable space, so to speak, where I could follow my nose to try out this and that.

activated canvas

After a few months, I ended up with a 'patchwork quilt' painting roughly 3 x 4 feet in size. 

close to completion

Fast forward to May of this year when I took a photo of one patch and used it to make an email birthday card for a friend. She asked if I still had the original painting and if it was available for sale.

Yes, I still had the original. 

Was it available for sale? Uh … sort of.

Well, you know me: I'm all about cutting up my paintings. Even, it turns out, my paintings on foam core! I pressed my husband and his skill saw into service and proceeded to keep on following my nose. 

The Song of the World So Often Rises
in Places We Had Not Thought to Look
5.75 x 6.5" in 9 x 9" frame
acrylic, ink, and collage
abstract floral
2019

detail
left to right: birch frame, green mat, cream mat,
whitewashed 1927-dictionary-page collage,
painted edge of half-inch-thick foam core, and
The Song of the World on surface of foam core

Plumbers Both

Dan the bathroom man
plumbs the master bath, while I
plumb sea, salt, sky, swell.

work in progress
16 x 20", acrylic on canvas

Up from Below the Surface

When inner sub-marine currents started nudging, I pulled out a painted canvas previously featured on September 4, 2017 and October 17, 22, and 23 of 2018.

Covered it with black gesso, grabbed a ceramic tile for a starting color reference, mixed up colors, and let an expression of salty seawater and phytoplankton make itself known.

work in progress
16 x 20'; acrylic on canvas

Inspiration

Along with moseying back into painting and blogging this week, I've begun to mosey back into Instagram.

While scrolling through my IG feed, I took inspiration from artist Maz Hawes.

Literally.

I inhaled and then before I even had time to exhale, I took that inspiration, squeezed some white paint on free canvas #3, and spread it around with a palette knife.

Then I let my breath out.

Love that all-action-no-mind kind of painting—thank you, Maz!

free canvas #3
work in progress

detail

detail

Counter Stretch

I have worked on a small scale with a bunch of detail and a heap of deliberation for several days. Fun, engaging work that stretched me as an artist. Very satisfying.

But, whew, did I ever need a counter stretch today.

Pulled out that free 16x20" canvas again and followed whatever impulses made themselves known—slapped on some wrinkly orange collage paper, painted some mars black, veiled some of the black with titanium white, and scribbled with Krink white ink. Down and dirty, maybe 15 minutes total.

Felt terrific!

free canvas #1
16x20"
work in progress