Weird Transition

This has been a strange year. It hasn’t gone as I’ve expected. Last spring my computer failed and they couldn’t save the data. I could send it off for a ton of money for them to try and retrieve it, but there’s no guarantee. Then, when I checked the backup drive, it had failed too. Same story. I can send it out for a ton of money, but it’s a gamble on whether they can get the data. It’s so strange to have a chunk of your work history disappear. Now I don’t want to be too dramatic, since I have a lot of images on my website, Instagram, on Google Drive and in random emails, but still, I know quite a few images, especially older ones are missing. Plus, the missing files were edited so even if I gathered images they would have to be cleaned up in Photoshop all over again. This also means files for prints. Prints have been an awesome source of side income for me, but I never planned on selling prints initially. I am all about original art.

Yet in a big way, it’s a good excuse for a fresh start. I feel like I have been in the same place for awhile. I feel like I haven’t grown the way I’d like to. I want to work in a variety of mediums, work bigger and get out of my comfort zone. I want to make art that really excites me.

I recently had friends over for an art night and it was awesome. I have been occasionally having friends in my studio to work and I want to make this a more regular thing. When I used to run Sofa Sketch, a monthly art meet up, we had a great time. But working in my studio is the best. We aren’t working in a public place, there’s a variety of supplies to grab and use. I love it. Oh, and I provide great snacks. There’s nothing like having friends to experiment with and talk to about art and other things.

This is a recent succulent painting I made for a client for a housewarming gift. With all the commissions lately, I have been thinking more about my personal work and I have so many ideas right now. From subject/theme to medium, there are a lot of ideas I want to explore.

I haven’t had much of a plan, which I normally do. It feels good to go with the flow lately. All I want to do is get deeper into my work and take it somewhere exciting. So, art night with friends, more experimenting, going to shows and evolving my work. I am going to roll with this freer approach and it seems to be a good track since the work isn’t slowing down.

What’s I’m thinking about lately…

• Painting a mural - which I will be doing for Pow! Wow! San Jose in October!

• Taking a break from commissions after October or after the new year

• Hosting more art nights and more art field trips

• Going to art shows

• Finishing my proposal for a book

• Making a new zine

• Returning to different mediums - Sumi ink, acrylic ink, ceramics, textiles and trying oils again since I learned how you can reduce the toxicity of them

• Thinking over whether to do limited prints of only most asked for images

• Making a BIG painting - been hard to get to since I’ve had so many commissions!

• Caring about the work and not the money, which has made me make more of it lately

The Last Couple of Weeks

Client Work

I have been super busy with client work between a wedding invitation and paintings of various subjects. I can't wait to share them when I'm done! I also hope to get some free art time this summer to work on personal work. I have lots of ideas I want to get to.

 

The Dancing Cat Workshop

Last weekend I taught a watercolor workshop at The Dancing Cat. I love their space! It's always amazing to see what they come up with, but I found this group to really impress me with their compositions, colors and style. We had a blast talking and painting with each other. I love my neighborhood and how we have lots of great things going on like this.

 

Figure Drawing

I have been getting back into figure drawing these last couple of weeks. The poses were from one minute to twenty-five minutes. As usual, I find drawing women easier, but after working on the short poses, I got into working on drawing the male model. I am finding this to be really good for me. Even though I don't always paint the human figure in my regular work, it teaches you so much about form, light, composition and your style. I hope I can continue to make time in my schedule for this! 

Next Weekend!

I already had tickets for this Obi Kaufmann talk and book signing at Forager in San Jose, CA. I even spread the word to friends and got them to sign up for it. So it was super exciting to be invited to do a watercolor table for attendees of the event. Guests will be able to make a small watercolor painting with me. Obi Kaufmann is a rad backpacker and illustrator. He primarily works in watercolor and recently wrote The California Field Atlas. This event is in collaboration with the Peninsula Open Space Trust, an amazing organization that preserves natural space in the area. They will be working to fight against Measure B and preserve this special open space in San Jose, North Coyote Valley. Bring your love of nature and signup here! 

Weekend 2/24/17

Listening

• The Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast interview with Abby Martin was a great listen. I've been following her for years and I loved hearing her perspective on the current political climate.

 

Painting

A couple weeks ago, it was pretty sweet to spend my Monday in Monterey painting with my friend Tara (her painting of kayakers is on the left). We had a great time especially since the rain stopped and it was nice enough to sit on a bench and work outside. I always feel like I need to do this more.

A librarian friend started a Drawn to the Night event at the Santa Clara City Library. The theme was 'eyes' and we had a blast hanging out drawing.

I worked on a portrait of April Ryan, the journalist. It's about 50 percent finished here. Rachel did an awesome job setting up the event with a display of different examples of eyes, tables and they even have work stations with angled tables.

Reading

• This New Yorker humor piece on working from home is a little too accurate! Thanks to Meighan O'Toole's newsletter for sharing. Freaking hilarious.
• I'm FINALLY reading The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao by Juno Díaz. So far, it's really good and I'm sad I waited so long. It's a story about a Dominican boy in New Jersey.

 

Sofa Sketch

Sofa Sketch was extra good this round since we gave our first about to be mom some special gifts, including a book of images we made for her. I marbled the front cover in blue and painted her name. I left it open ended so everyone could paint or write whatever they wanted. The artists made so many good ones around motherhood, that I decided to make mine about imagination, painting Claudine and her new baby on a boat, with her pups close by on shore (dad's in the house cooking). It was fun painting something from my head, keeping it super intuitive. 

After painting the image for Claudine's book, I decided to paint something intuitively again for sketch night. It didn't turn out as great as I thought it might, but it was a fun exercise. 

Yvonne's art from Sofa Sketch. I loved those dark shadows and how she used the corner of the page.

Playing in Spain

I was looking for a photo on my phone and came across a group of photos from Spain that stopped me in my tracks and made me say 'duh'. Time created some distance from some ideas I had out there and it was nice to see them again. They reminded me of a few projects I still want to try out. I had all day to play with materials and just have fun experimenting while working out there. I had not looked at these since I shot them and I think there's such interesting stuff happening in these photos (of course, maybe just interesting to me!). Since I've been back, I've been focusing on smaller paintings (with a focus on the 'product' not the process), moving the studio and a variety of other things. I had almost let some pretty cool ideas fade from my memory. 

Paint test sheets, cut shapes, ink drawings and watercolor paintings.

I had a ton of ideas there. Too many. A month was definitely not enough time to carry out all of them, but there are at least elements of these ideas that I want to use in current and future projects since there isn't an expiration date. 

Strips of cut watercolor paper placed in front of two different paintings. 

The juxtaposition of certain pieces together was really interesting to me. I had painted strips of paper and layered them in front of two different paintings, which gave me all kinds of ideas for dioramas and other three-dimensional work.

A sort of watercolor landscape lit from behind.

A mock-up for a lightbox.

Using cheap roll paper, I drew and painted without a care since I didn't feel precious about this inexpensive material. I tested out lighting it from behind, thinking I would create an installation that used this idea. It is something I would still like to try. I have used a light before, but hanging rather than behind the art. 

Experimenting with "gotas" or blobs piled along the wall.

One of the first things I played around with were cut watercolor shapes I called 'gotas' (or blobs in Spanish). Each day, I made anywhere from several to ten. This ended up being included in the final exhibition which you can see here. 

Sketchbook brainstorming

Second fireplace sketch

An early version of the flooding room. 

Stone and rug large ink drawings.

Playing around with color in the installation.

Here are some ideas I had for the fireplace installation I did. You can see the final installation here. The idea behind the piece evolved to be about states of static versus flow. How we can become stagnant or try to achieve a firm stance in life when it is constantly in flux and moving around us. 

My work piled up.

Cut paper plants with window reflection.

Whether getting caught up in a routine or having too many deadlines or goals, we can forget about concepting, sketching, playing, experimenting, making mistakes, making a mess. By working with these materials in different ways, I explored light, shadow, scale, dimension, pushing the idea of a two-dimensional painting. I was so excited while working in Spain, being inspired by a different landscape and surroundings, and I'd like to keep that going here. 

I am currently working on dioramas with cut watercolor paper for a new project. I'll keep ya posted on how that goes!

Favorite Art Supplies and Cinequest Film Festival

I thought I would share my favorite art supplies since I will be live painting at Cinequest Film Festival as of... TODAY! You may see me using some of these materials if you come by Camera 12 Cinemas, where I will be painting in the windows, alongside artists Mike Borja and Denis Korkh.

A few things about this event. Each artist will be painting over the course of 10 days, from February 25th-March 6th. We each have a blank 4' x 6' canvas and an easel. The live painting is also a contest and you can vote for your favorite painting. A stipend for supplies was set up for each of us at University Art Center. I went yesterday to get my materials so I can get started today. The live painting event will culminate at the Filmmaker Awards Ceremony on March 7th, where the artists will be acknowledged and the winner announced.

I never paint in front of other people. Sure, when I was in school I had to or when I sketch in public or get together with a small group of artists, but not as a focal point in a window in front of strangers. That's one of the reasons why I decided to do it, because it sort of freaks me out. Also, it will be on a 4' x 6' canvas and I have been working on smaller paper and wood for the last 5 years. Going back to canvas should be interesting. I will be getting rid of the tooth of the canvas by applying gesso and sanding down the surface until it is more like working on wood or masonite. This was a technique I learned in art school and formerly used.

I learned so much about art supplies and techniques while in school. I made my own artist books (hand bound, typed or screen printed text, screen print or lithograph images inside), learned how to prepare surfaces to work on, learned printmaking (lithography, screen printing, mono printing), encaustic, ceramic sculpture, plastic mould-making, jewelry (casting, welding), aluminum and steel wire sculptures. I learned how to use graphite powder, charcoal, pastels, oil pastels, inks, watercolor, acrylic, oil paint. It was great to learn how to use these materials and then decide what I liked and didn't like. I have found myself moving between different materials and techniques, but I have also found myself keeping it simple. 

I was frequently an oil painter in school and out, but moved away from it because of the toxicity when you don't have proper ventilation. When I did paint with oils, my professors always tried to get me to apply more paint, but I continued to paint thin layers. I just never liked an impasto or thick surface for my own work. That's why I was drawn to screen printing, lithography, watercolor and ink. You have to create any depth through thin layers. In my last year of school, I focused on screen printing and mixed media work for my graduation show, using a specially mixed gesso surface on wood with graphite, charcoal and FW Artists' Acrylic Inks. 

My block printed thank you notes sent with every purchase.

One technique I did not learn in school was block printing. I carve and print blocks  for artwork and for the thank you notes I send to customers with their purchases. 

For the Cinequest live painting event, I think I will be using acrylic paint. I thought about oils, but I'm not sure how happy movie-goers will be with that smell and it may have been way too long since I've used them. These days, although I have been using gouache and watercolor frequently, I still regularly use acrylic paint for portrait commissions. I will be bringing watercolor and gouache to sketch while I am there as well.

Materials I Love:

Paint 

• Yasutomo Waterproof Liquid Sumi Ink
• Gouache - a variety of brands I have collected over the years
• Watercolor - a variety of brands I have collected over the years
• Sennelier French Artists' Watercolor (a recent gift from my mom)
• Liquitex and sometimes Golden acrylic paint

Brushes

• Cheap Princeton Snap! brushes from The Aresenal 
• A random variety of brushes I've had for years, cheap to expensive

Supports

• Paper - Arches watercolor paper for watercolor, gouache and Sumi ink, BFKRives printmaking paper for Sumi ink and block printing
• Wood - salvaged or recycled wood. The weird sizes and odd shapes make me think up creative ideas. Also, the variety of wood is always fun to work with.
• A damn good sketchbook that allows me to use dry or wet media. Lately, I love my Kunst & Papier binder board sketchbook. It's acid-free and you can decorate the cover. 

Other

• A heap of rags
• Masking tape
• Milan gigante eraser - I've had this giant eraser since art school! That's about a decade. I have two small pieces of it left. Get one. You won't regret it.
• My Talenti Gelato water cup (pistachio, of course!). I love that I can tighten it closed and take it with me on the road.
• My favorite pencil sharpener I bought in Maine many years ago
• Palette
• Salt and rubbing alcohol for cool effects with watercolors

Blank new canvas for Cinequest.