You Will Be Replaced By A Television

Have you heard about this yet?  If you live in Indiana, you probably have:

http://www.ibj.com/highprofile-art-at-airport-removed-for-video-wall/PARAMS/article/31038
http://www.ibj.com/airport-artist-complains-about-removal-of-public-art/PARAMS/article/28814


James Faust's piece "Chrysalis" is coming down to make room for a monitor, as if this world needs another oversized television screen.  It was his understanding that the wall sculpture that he created for that specific space would be up for at least a decade.  The article alludes to the lack of reading the fine print by Faust and his wife on the Indianapolis Airport Art Contract.  They claim that it the works were always intended to be rotated.  Faust knew it would eventually be rotated, but not after only three years, and replaced by a television screen.

The art community cannot be outraged completely - the television screen will be featuring video art by Artur Silva that is precisely 62 seconds long (the amount of time to descend to the baggage claim on the escalator below).  If it were only that, maybe I wouldn't feel threatened by their choice...but of course, that is not all they will be featuring.  Guess.  Yes, that's right, advertisements.  Commercials.

I'm interested to see what the ratio is between the time spent showing Silva's 62 second film, and advertising.  I'm hoping that they only show a ten second advertisement per hour, but I'm not foolish enough about the culture we live in to believe that.  They will probably load it up with all sorts of junk with Silva's film becoming the commercial break to the commercials.  If they were truly using the television screen for video art, they would have more film artists showing their work back to back without any commercials at all.  Instead, it is going to be one artist at a time...with commercials.

The airport will be looking for more local and national artists in film to feature on their new screen in the future months.  That had me thinking...

The best, hilarious idea I have come up with is this - someone needs to go over to the airport and film Faust's sculpture as is, followed by the bringing it down, and ending with the installing of the telelvision screen.  (...they started taking it down on Monday, so I'm hoping that someone had the same idea and filmed already!)

Could you imagine if they featured that on that screen?!  Of course, it would involve trickery, but I think it'd be great jab.  So if you live by Indy, get out there and film! hahaha!  Or please share your better idea of what to do!

What's your take on this article and situation?  Do you believe that Faust missed the fine print?  What should Faust do with the work now?

The One Year Project

The layer studies that I've been working on lately have yet to be discussed or explained.  There are a lot of things that culminated to make me suddenly want to go this route and experiment in this way.

I recently was researching my father's ship he was on in Vietnam - the USS Higbee.  My father served as a cook on the ship and he has often told me of fun stories I adored when I was small about eggs running across the griddle while sailing the seas.  When I was older, he also would tell me about his ship being bombed by an air attack of a MIG-17.  Luckily no one was killed in this attack, though the pictures were absolutely amazing of how badly the ship was injured.  They were all truly lucky that day.  There are a lot of things that culminated to allow my father and his shipmates survive that day and be able to dock safely.

In my recent research I actually found a photo of the pilot who was flying the MIG-17 that day.  My jaw dropped, and I sent the image to my parents' email.  It was such a bizarre feeling looking at that man with a smile upon his face...the man that at one time tried to kill my father and his fellow service men back in 1972.  Upon seeing the image, my father was so intrigued to see a photo of the man that one of his friends was trying to shoot back at with a machine gun in a desperate attempt.   My father put it plainly, "He was doing his job, and we were doing ours."  My mother added to the man's defense of my confusion of seeing the pilot, "Well, it was war." 

We quickly began conversing about wondering if he was still alive.  Did he make it through the war like my father had?  Did he survive to have children?  Is he still thriving somewhere in the world today?  We would like to think so. 

The complexity of the roles we play in life and who we are in different situations for survival is so intriguing.  With time, we forgive ourselves and each other.  Old roles deteriorate like ships rusting away at the bottom of oceans. 

I began creating a drawing series based upon this event in my father's life, and the new photos I found online.  The following is the first drawing I did in this series...there are still problems with it that I need to remedy, but at the moment this is what I have so far. 

I was thinking that it would still lack something once it was in a more final, polished form. 

Then, I took a walk around Portland last week photographing texture/color/buildings.  I have been intrigued with the colors and textures of rust for a long time.  I thought that perhaps this is what was missing from this drawing.  The studies began.  I'm thinking that perhaps the studies could be a part of the piece - maybe along the sides of the drawing.  It will add a textural feel of the tangible along side the image.  I've also thought about a more direct application.  I think I will begin experimenting with that this week with an older drawing to see if it will work visually.

In addition, another idea went into the mix.  I have been researching graduate programs and actually visited one of the schools I was interested in.  The tour consisted of walking around the current students' studio spaces.  What I found to be true throughout the tour was the fact that exploration and experimentation were extremely encouraged.  Some students were gaining ground by working in a manner that they had previously ignored in their undergraduate work.  They were encouraged to stick with a certain manner of working for a year to grow in their practice and understanding of their own methods.  I left there thinking, why haven't I done more of that? 

So here it is.  I have given this much thought and have decided to explore the combination of drawing and these layer studies for one year.  I think I would have a lot to gain through this method and it would encourage me to grow in different ways.  Drawing skills would be improved, and creative problem solving would definitely be exercised in new ways. 

With that, I welcome you to my year long project of experimentation!  Are there any projects you would like to embark upon?  I would love to hear about your experiences with such projects that you have been through or ones you have in the works.  Thank you for reading!

Not So Blank Any More - Revise, Revise, Revise...

When I first created this blog, the name "Blank Canvas" fit well.  It was a fresh, new blog on a fresh new computer with internet capabilities.  I was beginning to make the commitment of creating art on a regular basis and sending submissions to exhibition opportunities.
Lately, I've felt that this title does not apply anymore.  After two years of gaining in studio practice, and direction after all that college entailed, I feel that the name of this blog discredits progress.  To go forward working under the same title would be misleading and depleting.
I've been thinking that perhaps the title "Emerging Surface" or something about emerge or surface would be a good idea, since I have dedicated myself to working in a particular manner for a full year that deals a lot with the surface of paper, texture, and the images that emerge.


Or maybe I'll just use my name...not too sure at this point, but for now it works. If you have any ideas, I'm open for any suggestions!


I do have information to pass onto you!  One of my fellow artists/college friends sent me links to two of his websites found on www.mosaicglobe.com and www.wix.com .  The sites he did looked amazing!  Not to mention, they were FREE!  At least they are free up to a point - if you want to upgrade, then it costs money, but a lot of online needs can be met with the free hosting service.  I'm completely psyched about this, as I hope some you are too!  Here's also a look at my friend's blog on wix -  enjoy!
http://www.wix.com/avisapien/rah

Studying, studying, studying...maybe it's crap, maybe it's not.  I really don't know, but honesty is always refreshing.

New Little Studies

Recent studies:

I've been experiementing with color layers on 5x7" watercolor paper.  It's been interesting, and I've learned a lot from these paintings so far.  I've posted seven of them on Etsy today for $12 each with free shipping.  There are also more photos of these works above on the site as well in frames if you are interested.  I invite you to check them out at: 

 http://www.etsy.com/people/OnePebbleStudio?ref=si_pr

 I'm going to keep going with these studies...in fact I'll probably start some more of them tonight.  I'm interested in using these combined with drawings in a more formal sense...I'll keep you posted of my progress or blunders (not sure how well they will combine with the drawings yet).  Cheers to feeling like a bit of a mad scientist!  Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy my crazy little Etsy site if you check it out.  Sincere thanks!



I Am Not on A Porch Overlooking An Expansive Landscape

 I spent a large part of today going back through my listings on Etsy and taking additional photos for the postings.  This involved rearranging the living room,and taking down the existing artwork to make space for a photo area, followed by dragging out all of the works into my living room.  I struggled a bit with lighting - I used a combination of natural light and an adjustable floor lamp...this is not exactly what experts suggest.  One can tell when looking at the photos that they were not shot in a fancy studio, but it's what I had to work with.  I did the best that I could for the day, and actually I don't think they turned out half bad.  It's definitely better than just having one photo per listing.

Some artists have a photo studio to photograph their works, others just make space.  Some have money to get professional photographers to photograph their pieces, while others do the best they can. 

The Haves and the Have-Nots.

It would be great if we could be judged among our peers in more of an equal manner (if we have to be judged at all), but this is not the way the world works.  It's easy to see on Etsy.  Some artists have awesome photos of their work and these stylish banners that look so professional.  They have done amazing jobs with representing themselves and they do it with such ease...or at least it seems that way.

Artist websites vary greatly, but some really are works of art in and of themselves.  They can be absolutely beautiful and sophisticated.  They are often easy to navigate with a simplistic style.  They scream, "I am a REAL artist.  I am a TRUE PROFESSIONAL."  Maybe they are not so crass as the capital letters I used, but there is a powerful professionalism about them before even browsing through their work.

Equally, there are some pretty terrible ones out there too.  The ones that annoy me the most are the ones that are simply CVs with a few photos jammed between the lines of information and links.  They lack any charisma, despite the oversized signature at the top of the page.  Judging by the CV, these artists are quite accomplished.  Maybe they are too busy traveling the world from gallery to gallery in their clean white, flowing clothes to bother with the web.  I also picture them drinking wine on porches looking down over an expansive landscapes of olive and cypress trees with a slight breeze.  This is what my art history books have done to me.

Anyway, I am not one of them.  For now, I do not own any white clothes except for a couple of blouses, and I do not stand on porches overlooking expansive landscapes.  However, I do not feel sorry that I'm not one of them who can afford luxuries of a professional photographer, a studio that is only a studio, a brilliant web designer, and plane tickets to gallery shows around the world.  For now, I can honestly say it's kind of fun not to be one of them.  I get to try to learn all of this stuff on my own, and by trial and error.  It gives me much needed time to experiment with my work.  So far I believe that I have only errored, but there will be a time when I get it right.  Eventually.  I hope.  The challenges allow us to learn.  My struggles with the format of my website (yes, I'm redoing it AGAIN) will eventually make sense and it will look professional someday.  Maybe not this time around, but maybe the time after that I will get it right.  I am making measurable progress and that's good.  I am still trying, and sometimes, even though I'm not getting it right, that says a lot.

Take a Walk in Portland

Today I had a meeting in NW Portland and decided to take my camera along.  There are so many times when Matthew and I are down there and wish we would have brought our cameras to capture what our eyes love so much about this city.  Today I didn't miss out on the opportunity.

The walk started out innocently enough, but then I began to think of it as collecting textures.  The brick, the moss, the rust, the old buildings as remnants of the not so distant past still persevering against the shiney new giants beside them...I quickly realized that I will probably use these as reference points for future works and to strengthen the aesthetics of what I am currently doing.

The weather was chilly...I rushed out the door this morning without putting on the sweater over my long-sleeved tee, but it didn't matter.  I was so enthralled with the city, I hardly noticed.  It was a day well spent in Portland.  I love this city.  Here are some of the photos of the day - just click on them to get a bigger scale and more detail - enjoy!

Enjoy your day!  Love to all!

Going Forward

Today I've been continuing the de-clutterization of the apartment...all seems to be going well, but I am realizing that it's going to take a bigger chunk of time than I expected. 

I also took the opportunity to photograph the painting that's currently in the works.  I like to photograph my art while it is in progress sometimes because it distances me from the work itself.  It seems that I can evaluate the progress and think of different solutions when I see it in a different manner than just standing in front of it.  I like to think that it makes my evaluation a bit more objective.  Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. 

This painting is quite a departure from what I've done before.  I can see hints of this in earlier works - I took the things I liked from earlier works and am trying to get it all inside one work.  I'll keep you all posted!

Currently working on...

The beginning of a painting on a 36x24"canvas...I will be adding to this today.



Detail of the above work...



Inside the sketchbook

Inside the sketch book

Just a bit of what's in the studio and sketchbook - find myself seduced by line a lot lately...

Tuesday Morning Protest

"Tuesday Morning Protest" 2011

Oil on Canvas, 24x18"

This is a painting I completed the other day based upon what Matthew and I witnessed over by the Washington Square Mall.  It took us by surprise to see a man in a plush bathrobe taking his dog out in a bank parking lot.  I thought it said a lot of about the state of the United States right now in a quiet and funny way.

Justified Clutter vs. Nesting

This is part of the studio area Matthew and I share.  To work is to make clutter.  You will also notice one of small furry studio assistants.  She cares for the paintbrushes mostly.  Our other assistant cares for paper...but he was napping during this photo.


The clutter is caused by several works going on at once...usually a clean studio area is what we aim for, but once we begin getting more involved with works, all matters of clearing the areas are forgotten.  We gather more references, more materials, and putting it all away at the end of a work session would only be giving us more work for the next day.  To have to go about gathering everything all over again would be an obstacle to creating.  I try to minimize that as much as possible - there are more than enough obstacles to creating on any given day whether imagined or concrete for most artists.  We do what we must in order to ensure that we show up.  That freedom to just sit down and begin working is WONDERFUL.


I think back to a few professors in college that were exceptionally organized and tidy.  The work spaces were always meticulously clean.  I admired their expectations in the communal spaces so that we all provided eachother with a clean work environment that limited accidental tragedies of ruin.  One professor took cleanliness and lack of clutter to an extreme.  The apartment she lived in was void of the typical "home" environment.  No comforts of furniture outside of a solid wood dining table and four chairs.  Decor consisted of two houseplants in a window, and a rug by the entry door.  As shocking as it was to my system to see an uninterupted sea of beige carpeting, I found it refreshing.  The minimalism seemed to allow more room for thinking, for speaking, for focusing, for being.  I loved her home.


Matthew and I went through a phase of that before we left for Portland.  We tried to declutter our home as much as possible.  We donated, we threw out, and we prioritized our "stuff".  We have now lived in Oregon for over a year and it was only recently that we adopted some real furniture - two plush chairs that I think our cats love even more than we do. 


Notice that I said Matthew and I went through a "phase" of that in our home...it seems that it's now getting to the point of the great decluttering once again.  We both realize that we do need to do some sorting and organizing.  Some studio clutter is just what happens as a result of work.  It's a given and it is a means to an end.  Yet, it is that time of year for "nesting" type of activities since we are getting ready for a winter's worth of spending more time inside our homes...I'm feeling it coming on strong while I wait for the gesso on the canvas to dry.  You'll know where I'll be if you need me.  Happy nesting to all of you who are feeling the same way!