First off, I have come to realize that I do really well with repetitive tasks in the studio. I find an odd comfort in it. Be it making balls of paper and soaking them in medium, or carefully dismantling an book, or dipping and folding pieces of paper to be tacked down to the surface of painting, I find it mind - numbing, in the best way possible. The events over the last year and a half, and specifically over the last few weeks that have brought this project to the final production stage have been a roller coaster of emotions. So, being able to take on tasks in the studio that don't require a great deal of thinking beyond the big picture of the project, has given me time to evaluate the meaning of elements and the emotion behind it all. Good, bad, and ugly emotions have all come into the mix here. Now as I make the elements (and I have completed 257 of the 3124 pieces of paper that will go into this heap in the gallery window,) well, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. And to some extent that is a good thing, the whole idea behind this project was for it to be overwhelming. We should feel overwhelmed when we do go after the things we want in life.
I'm sure a bit of this is coming from moments of introspection into my life and studio practice. I have largely absent in the studio since last summer. Between teaching obligations, work, and the "stuff" of life, making art has shamefully fallen by the wayside. Not having a recent situation not go the way I would have like it to, was a big old kick in the backside. But, it was one I needed at the moment, making me realize that art is paramount in my life, and my studio practice is the most important thing to me. It sort of was a good thing in the long run that things ended up as they did, as I suspect that once again the studio practice would have fallen victim to the demands of the personal life, when in reality, it should be the other way around.
I am trilled with the progress that I have made over the last week, things are moving ahead nicely for the all the work being made for the two shows I have coming up. Here's a peak at the elements going into the final form of the rejected stories project. It will be on view in the gallery window at La Grange Art League during my featured artist show, remnant memories from March 30 - April 30, 2015. The reception will be on April 11th, 6-8:30pm.
Also realizing, that should I ever take up something like knitting, I think I would be really good at it... and everyone would be getting black or gray sweaters and scarves for holiday and birthday gifts!
I'm sure a bit of this is coming from moments of introspection into my life and studio practice. I have largely absent in the studio since last summer. Between teaching obligations, work, and the "stuff" of life, making art has shamefully fallen by the wayside. Not having a recent situation not go the way I would have like it to, was a big old kick in the backside. But, it was one I needed at the moment, making me realize that art is paramount in my life, and my studio practice is the most important thing to me. It sort of was a good thing in the long run that things ended up as they did, as I suspect that once again the studio practice would have fallen victim to the demands of the personal life, when in reality, it should be the other way around.
I am trilled with the progress that I have made over the last week, things are moving ahead nicely for the all the work being made for the two shows I have coming up. Here's a peak at the elements going into the final form of the rejected stories project. It will be on view in the gallery window at La Grange Art League during my featured artist show, remnant memories from March 30 - April 30, 2015. The reception will be on April 11th, 6-8:30pm.
Also realizing, that should I ever take up something like knitting, I think I would be really good at it... and everyone would be getting black or gray sweaters and scarves for holiday and birthday gifts!