Hats off to Bailey and Bearden!

Here's what I've been working on lately.

This is one of several African figures I grew up with. When my parents moved I got some of the smaller African statues. I've decided to make small watercolors of each one.

Here's the first the watercolor...scroll down to see different backgrounds.

watercolor & gouache 9" x 12 background still needed

After working on it for a bit I realized my influence from this guy... 

Radcliffe Bailey

check out Radcliffe Bailey current exhbition

Then I thought about it, and I can see we're both heavily influenced by this guy...

Romare Bearden

check out the Romare Bearden Foundation

Which image do you prefer?

Don't call it a come back!

Here's just some of what's happened since my last post.

Playful exploration of the materials and ephemera from the elementary art room:

 Color mixing lesson 250+ palettes

Inner & Outer spaces

 

 Giant Pods

 Text based work

Non verbis, sed rebus

This is the start of the second semester of my MFA-IA program. I am trying to find out how to express ideas with image not word. With materials, not pictures. What is the minimal amount of information needed to say what needs to be said? More importantly what needs to be said? Last semester ended OK. I made enough work to have a small show which opened at the start of this semester. It's been up for a week and I've sold two pieces so far! That's encouraging but also scary. Mostly scary because I'm moving on from that body of work. At least I think I am. The problem is I haven't made much work at all so far this semester. Slow start. I have too much everyday noise going on plus anxiety about what to do next. I feel a bit fuzzy, like my mind is filled with static.

Luckily I outlined a plan while I was still in residency. I hope to look at several artists who use symbols and signs in their work. I think part of my interest in symbols grows out of my job as a teaching artist. I use symbols for students who can't read and because they have more immediacy for students. I've been interested in and studying African American art history for a long time. The use of symbols is a part of this heritage that continues to intrigue me.  This semester I am also working on a collaborative art project with two classmates, both print makers who use symbols in their work. We took apart a book and we're each working on sections that we will mail off to each other throughout the semester.

knots

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted anything. This blog is supposed to be a record of my MFA experience, instead it feels like yet another thing I should do but I'm not.

I'm feeling very unsatisfied/agitated by the "work". I feel a little stuck and don't know how to push forward or if I can push forward. What if this is it? What if there's nothing more, nothing better to come from me? Or another way I guess I can think of it is...What does the next level look like? feel like?

I imagine feeling free and more than that I imagine feeling courageous. What would I do if I wasn't afraid? Make art. Make more art. Make bigger funkier messier art. Share my art. What would it feel like to be an artist? It would feel important. I would have something to say. I would know what I want to say. What does it mean to say something through making art? How do you make a statement using just color, shapes and lines?

What am I afraid of? Failure. What's the worse thing that could happen? I would make art and show my art and people would hate it and laugh at me for thinking I could be an artist. What would happen after that? I would feel awful and I would feel mad. But worse than that is I would make art and share it and everyone would say it's nice but really think it was sad or pathetic and no one will tell me the truth so I never know how truly awful my work is. That's the worse thing that could happen.

I know the enemy is me but still I can't get me to shut up in my head and keep it steppin' sister.

They've arrived!

This weekend new visitors came. The books finally arrived and James my youngest invited himself to stay for a week. Just him and me and the books.

I've been looking forward to having him over. I can't say the same about these books. I really did not want to read anything. But now that they're here I'm glad.

Float on...

Newspaper, color paper, felt and beads on thread

Felt and pony beads on thread

"Cut from the same cloth"

Look what I found on Pintrest?

I can't believe it. I'm so excited! I feel like I finally found someone who speaks my language.

http://andreamyersartist.com/home.html

I also saw an exhibit by Emily Payne at Erica Tanov.

http://www.emilypayne.net/index.html

When I looked on Emily's website I remembered she'd done an earlier installation with Erica Tanov similar to this:

And this work reminded me of Ruth Asawa.