Visual riffs / scenes from the studio

Overhead view of a tray of ripped strips, each one jockeying for position 🙂

So here's how the studio looks when I'm in the midst of finishing a new series of collages -- this work is for my "ThroughLines" show in September.It may appear hectic, but there's lots of study and contemplation to figure out what paper element goes where. I commit to placing one piece and let the composition evolve from there -- it's not all figured out in advance. So I have to stay somewhat centered, in the midst of the mayhem, to accomplish my goal of making these collages powerful and relevant.My working artist statement about this series: The “ThroughLines" series of collages are visual riffs on the unexpected landscapes of our minds as we address concerns like bandwidth and overwhelm, alongside mindfulness and purpose. Each piece represents a moment in time, full of multi-layered and competing thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams, and memories -- all moving forward and influencing each other — glimpses of the complex world of the self.In case you're worried about this new look, I haven't given up on ripping paper... that artistic gesture is far too cathartic! To get this stripe-y effect, I'm ripping against a metal straightedge to crop images in a uniform manner. I have several shoeboxes full of these strips, ready to use as appropriate. Here's a tray of some of my "ingredients" / palette, below.

Reworking the studio space -- the saga continues

It seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time to move everything back into my newly rehabbed studio spaces. I'm sifting, sorting -- and evaluating whether I will ever use some of the potential collage papers and art materials that I've stored for a long time. I've gotten rid of stacks of magazines, a behemoth of a flat file, and a worktable in an effort to keep more open space. I've only been in the space a couple of weeks and I've already rearranged the furniture a bit! I'm pretty sure I'll want to do more tweaking when I understand better how the spaces accommodate my process and workflows. And there is still a lot to resolve. And it feels like it should be DONE by now.

So it was a gift to stumble across a timely blog post, "Tidying Up," by Austin Kleon today...

"The best studio tidying is a kind of exploring — I’m re-discovering spaces as I sift through the objects that occupy them. The reason I tidy is not to clean, but to come into contact with something special that I’ve forgotten that I can now use. This is a slow, dreamy, ruminative, reminiscent form of tidying."

Really, I'm clearing space for future work / possibilities... plus making new discoveries and connections.

"...creativity is about connections, and connections are not made by siloing everything off into its own space. New ideas are formed by interesting juxtapositions, and interesting juxtapositions happen when things are out of place."

Glimpses of the process… studio vignettes.

Studio re-do

The original studio, now intended as a design/business-focused office, being reassembled.

Like a glacier, I've slowly been creeping into adjacent spaces at home to expand the studio... it now includes all the original studio space (that I used to share with my husband), plus the family room, and extends to the back porch on especially nice days! The two adjoining rooms had never had the same paint or carpet colors so this fall I had the entire space re-carpeted with industrial gray and painted an art-friendly white. What a huge difference. While this project was going on, all the studio furniture and art-making gear was moved and somehow compressed, stacked floor to ceiling, into our dining room.All this upheaval gave me the opportunity to get rid of things that weren't serving me well, re-integrate items that had returned from my previous out-of-house studio, and re-think how I store the somewhat shocking amounts of paper that I like to have on hand.I've slowly been moving things back into the studio space and am now almost finished, with my deadline being asap, so that we can dine without debris for Thanksgiving!Switching up the way I'd previously used the rooms, plus a new furniture arrangement seems more efficient and allows the luxury of being able to get farther away from my work for the long-view perspective. I'll post some final photos/video soon. Unseen in these photos, right now the detached brick garage outside the windows is also under construction (a whole other story).I am so excited to begin working in this "new" space. Even so, I'm sure that I'll also spend some time at the Art Gym each week just to get out and be around other artists.Speaking of creative spaces... this morning I was re-reading a lovely essay by the poet Mary Oliver about the time, space and focus usually required to keep the thread of an idea moving forward."No one yet has made a list of places where the extraordinary may happen and where it may not. Still, there are indications. Among crowds, in drawing rooms, among easements and comforts and pleasures, it is seldom seen. It likes the out-of-doors. It likes the concentrating mind. It likes solitude. It is more likely to stick to the risk-taker than the ticket-taker. It isn’t that it would disparage comforts, or the set routines of the world, but that its concern is directed to another place. Its concern is the edge, and the making of a form out of the formlessness that is beyond the edge."The whole essay, titled "The Artist's Task," is here... a good read and applicable to most any creative pursuit.SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Lull

Exploring the gardens, spring 2017.

Work table at the Art Gym and one of my sketchbook collages ~ 12 x 9."

You may've noticed that I've been quieter lately... not so present on social media or here on the blog. I'm recovering from a total knee replacement and that's been my priority project since the beginning of the year. Sessions of elevating, icing, rest, physical therapy, walking and stationary bike riding have punctuated my days and been my focus.I've used our Botanic Gardens membership nearly daily for parts of the spring... lots of surface types to walk on, uncrowded, and so much inspiration in nature. What a luxury to be close enough to do my walks there!

Thankfully my recovery has coincided with a period of time when show commitments were negligible. And while I haven't completed much work lately, I've been thinking a lot about collage, concepts for future works, and the place of art in my life. Not to mention reading, looking at art, and watching way too much political coverage.

Since moving out of the studio at 910 Arts on Santa Fe last fall, followed by dealing with my Dad's death, I've not finished moving back into my home studio fully... and simply haven't had the mobility to muscle boxes of paper around until now. So organizing the space is high on my list of summer priorities. In the meantime, I'm enjoying working a bit each week at Denver's super cool Art Gym.

Just beyond the studio, the about-to-fall-down, 107-year-old, garage in the back yard has been demolished and we await the building permit variance required to rebuild. I've resigned myself to having the family bike collection in the dining room with miscellaneous tools and garage stuff on the back porch. Meanwhile, my stationary bike is positioned in the middle of the art studio, soaking up the crazy, unkempt, creative atmosphere -- as I ride to nowhere! But it'll turn out to be somewhere, no doubt. I'm ready to get back to work.