6' by 4' paint/drawing

This process is as intuitive for me as that of making the paneled drawings. Its the largest I've worked, and not so intimidating after all. what you see here is about three hours of work, all in one evening.

12 12" by 12" panels, in progress

just working on these a little every day until they're resolved.

a very good week

sometimes I can convince myself that I'm capable of mental housecleaning. Usually this happens after a long spell of stress--for me this means aimlessness, frustration, non-motivation, and the sentiment that "I haven't made anything I've liked for months" whether this is the case or not. At some point all of that frustration culminates into a moment of conviction, in which I have a memory lapse, forgetting all sense of accomplishment and happiness I've felt in the past month, and decide I need to DO something about my pathetic situation.

Whether my situation is ever dire enough to warrant such a gung-ho feeling that I am "trying to turn my life around" is questionable. However, this transformation periods always lead to better things, among them serious productiveness (I become prolific in the studio for at least a week or two before things balance out again), an extreme natural high (which takes days to turn off), and an overall confidence in any social situation in which I find myself.

Such a shift took place a couple weeks ago. Although, really, nothing has changed I just feel a bit lighter because the problems that were in the back of my head have disappeared, and I do feel more invested in my artwork. Essentially, what did this was a few good conversations with people I respect and a pleasantly cold walk home that night. Then I had my open studio (with plenty of feedback) and a relaxed weekend at home with Jake and the cats, no work.

The Monday after I threw myself at some blank 12" by 12" panels and a 6' by 4' wooden support with some gouache, markers, cut vellum, and all the energy I'd saved over the weekend. Good things happened, and I suspect that it had to do with making art because I like to make art and a complete lack of concern for what kind of art I think people would like me to make. Of course, when you do that, your teachers always like your art better.

I think making art is how I keep my head clear--it's borderline meditational. When I'm allowing my hand to do what it is compelled to do, I lose total track of time, feel exhausted when I'm finished. Things I see and feel make a little more sense as a result of thinking about them as my hands mix colors or make permanent lines on a page.

The next few posts will showcase the studio progress that has occurred since last Monday.

my corner of some world (a construction in more scales and little nuggets)

I extended the drawing from the last post into another panel, making a bigger drawing or perhaps a diptych. Here is what it looks like currently:




It feels like I'm drawing a joyous universe for my head. Here's the progression of the piece:

Mirror Carp Scales and Sarah Sze

This work came out of some drawings I made of Sarah Sze's work and some of the unique scale patterns of the mirror carp.

Now it's its own monster. I am barely holding the reins.

Partial Arrangements and Half-Baked Thoughts

These studies are working towards a drawing made in several layers on vellum (a semi-transparent drafting paper) The general ideas floating around in my head concern time and the accumulation of information. To show that I hope to let the top layer happen intuitively, where I compose the space by appropriating contemporary sculpture into drawings. In each subsequent layer I want to break down the forms and shapes and lines in the complex, initial drawing. Currently, I plan to do so by finding forms in nature, from the most evolved to the most basic, that could have influenced or informed the artworks. However, the process may change as things rarely work according to my plans when I'm in the studio.