Process for the brain, eye, and hand: new collages and garden drawings

I am so excited about my work of late! I have been hard at work preparing for my show on November 21st at Imagebox.

My work is going in 2 different but related directions. I've been making brightly colored, abstract, linear collages that morph into organic shapes while also working on a set of colored pencil drawings of lush gardens that grow outside of a mysterious door or gate. These pieces are built up into 3-dimensional layers of paper separated by foam core.

I wonder, what's behind that door? Where is this lush, exotic place? It seems an extension of my interest in Utopian spaces but still relates to the abstract work in terms of color and pattern. It's all very exciting!

I love the multiple step process of creating the intricate drawings and then figuring out how to construct the pop-up parts by cutting into and propping up specific areas. I never know what the finished piece is going to look like; It's a very engaging process for the brain, the eye and the hand.

There is so much that goes into planning an art exhibit- from making the work (the most important part), to marketing it, to finding an exhibit space, to planning the opening celebration details and on and on. My head is spinning.

Spinning in a good way.

A trip to the City of Brotherly Love

Douglas and I took a road trip to Philadelphia this past weekend to visit his family. We rolled into town Friday afternoon and went to the Museum of Art. They were celebrating Japan night with live music, cocktails and snacks. We wandered amongst the French Impressionists. We feasted our eyes on Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Degas's pastels paintings of ballerinas and various Picasso's.

(photo: This beautiful dress was decorated with moss and sedums.)

We found a quiet cute little sushi restaurant. Instead of sitting at a table or the bar- we opted to sit in one of the booths where you take your shoes off and sit on the floor on a tatami mat. We had a delicious assortment of sushi, tempura spider roll, and instead of California roll- we asked for a chef's choice-- he made an eel roll wrapped in avocado slices with a sweet sauce, sprinkled with salmon roe and little greens that melted in my mouth! We shared a bottle of cold sake, and for dessert, tempura green tea ice cream -- SO delicious! We had the cutest waitress on the planet!

(Photo: Whimsical horses made from steel and recycled materials grazed in one of the gardens)

Saturday was devoted to the Italian themed flower show. We saw all kinds of crazy garden displays. Unfortunately, they weren't the kind that you could walk into on little paths (to keep people moving) as though they are little escapes into mini Utopian gardens. My favorite garden was a Tuscan vegetable and herb garden that had a distinct do-it-yourself feel....it was tucked behind tall cone shaped cypress bushes, nestled in between flowering shrubs and low growing plants. (Photo: Another amazing dress constructed from various dried straw and stick materials)

The highlight was the fashion/Milan section where designers created shoes, handbags and dresses out of all sorts of floral materials. There were some very beautiful accouterments.

Then came the individual plant prize winners, amazing for the sheer variety of plants, colors, textures, shapes and sizes. I have no idea what the criteria are for judging and how they chose 1st, 2nd or 3rd place but it's just really neat to see all the different types of plants and flowers that grow and how they take on funny persona's according to their looks.

Photo below:
Me, Douglas, Bruce and Martina having another impeccable meal- this time Thai. Too many delicious dishes to list and describe here-- it was all so delicious!!

Spotlight on... Patti Roberts-Pizzuto

(Forgotten History of Indeterminate Identities, Mixed Media on handmade paper)

I met a wonderful artist and friend in Patti Roberts-Pizzuto when we were both artists-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center in 2006. In just 4 weeks in Vermont she transformed her studio into a space of tranquility and creativity that I loved to go and visit! I was and still am totally in awe of her calm approach to her art. She is an amazing person who projects total peace with her artistic process. Patti makes amazing, delicate, celestial works on handmade paper using painting, drawing, embroidery and beadwork.

Here she shares some of her insights.

What are your interests? (outside of your artistic practice)
Reading (fiction and non-fiction), the New Yorker. I like to read books, articles that open up new worlds for me, as they expand my horizons in terms of my world view and the possibilities for making art. I love the New Yorker, because every issue always has something to read that's a total surprise and relates to something I either didn't know about or didn't realize I was interested in. It helps that everything in the New Yorker, fiction and non-fiction, is so well written! Good writing is important to me--no matter what the style. I will often put down a book (as in stop reading) that others have raved about if the writing doesn't resonate with me. I also like film, but again I'm pretty selective and have a hard time with movies that are just mindless entertainment.

Do you have a daily ritual that gets you ready to get to work in your studio?
Not really--I'm just in there every chance I get, if I'm not reading. Those two activities are sometimes at odds with one another. Reading is food for being in the studio. My husband and I have recently begun doing yoga in the mornings before we do anything else (just working with DVDs) and that has helped reframe my attitude about other aspects of my life and helps me to feel more in balance. If I don't have enough time in the stuio, I get kind of cranky!

You have such a calm, zen approach to making your work, this is something we have talked about a little bit because I am the exact opposite. How do you maintain such calm and patience? What does it feel like to be inside your mind when you are working?
I think in some ways it may be cyclical--the work that I do is slow, meditative and requires a calm, zen-like approach. It wasn't always this way--for many years I was searching for myself as an artist--what was my work supposed to be? What was it about? What was my style? etc. These are all the questions that we ask ourselves continually in the struggle to make a life in art. I think it was about the time I turned 40 and we built a house where we both had studio space of our own, that things began to come together and I began making the work I am making now--it just evolved as I began working in drawing on handmade paper. After a time, I realized I understood that the work was coming from the inside out and not the outside in (the answers for me don't come from outside) and that the artwork was the vehicle through which I questioned and began to understand the world and my place in it. I began to relax and to trust that the process would eventually yield the work. I still struggle, but ultimately I trust the place that work comes from and if I find myself trying to make "art" I step back and begin again with play, which comes from the inside and not the outside. The work continues to evolve and I find that I can't imagine my life without making work, as it keeps me aware of what I know and don't know...it keeps me in touch with the yearning. Being inside my head while making the work, means that I think through my hands. I find that there is a real connection between keeping the hand moving and a meditative state and slow revelation. I can't describe it any other way!

What does your artwork mean to you? What words do you use to describe it?
To others who ask what it is that I do, I say that I make mixed-media drawings on hand-made paper, which is such a broad definition that it doesn't really say anything. I think I've already said what it means to me. I think that there are people who get their energy and their self-image from outside of themselves, from their interactions with others and with events. I get mine from inside and it is only after the experiences that I have filter through my pysche and often through the making process that I understand things of any signficance. I am definitely not a truly outgoing "people" person--a little goes a long way for me and then I must retreat. It's the difference between being an introvert and an extrovert.

What is your process? Do you get an idea and stick to it-- or do you play with your materials and see what happens?
I definitely do not get an idea and stick to it--for me that always spells disaster. There are times when I'd love to be able to work that way, but for me, I've finally learned to trust my own process and it has to evolve, often changing entirely from the beginning stages. If I'm honest I know when something is not working and even though I may like parts of it--the piece isn't resonating or I feel detached and don't yet know what it's trying to tell me, so I must let go and forge ahead in the destructive, constructive play. Often during the beginning stages of any piece, as I wait for the work to tell me what it is about and what I am thinking, there is a real struggle, but at a certain moment, I "know". And in that moment and it is often a real "moment" of knowing--I know exactly what the piece is about and exactly what needs to happen to finish it and what it looks like finished. It doesn't always happen exactly that way, but often. The moment of "getting it" is very satisfying and then I settle in to the finishing, which is often a very long process if there is a lot of embroidery!

How do you get through artist's block?

Play. Quit trying to make art. I long ago answered this question for myself, but I think it is very important to be honest with yourself when you ask this:

If no one ever saw what you made, would you continue to make art? Make art as if no one will ever see it. And perhaps stop trying to make "Art." That's what works for me, but everyone is different.

What are you inspired by?
Reading, gardening, the bittersweet, fragile unfolding of the universe...the overlooked moments...the accumulation of history.

What are you currently working on?
In addition to my current pieces (I work on several at a time which are at different stages of development), I am working on an altered book. At the library where I work, we are hosting an altered book exhibtion, which will open next month. I decided to start with a book and started blocking out with white paint all the words that don't begin with the letter "a". Once I knew that I wanted to approach an altered book through blocking out text, this idea came to me and also the realization that I would make 26 books, one for each letter of the alphabet! So, the total work will be the shelf of 26 books--I'm starting with a book written in 1916--a scientific treatise on animal behavior. I found once I started painting out words with my small brush and my white paint, this proces was entirely suited to me. It is slow, meditative and pretty obsessive compulsive!!! I must admit, the process is so addictive that I force myself to go back to my "regular" work!
It's been a couple weeks since I began and I'm on page 211 (out of 266!). Because the text is justified and the pages are a cream color, the words painted out (but still fairly visible beneath a thin layer of white acrylic) and those "a" words left, make a beautiful pattern. It is also a process that lets you read....very slowly, as you work line by line seeking the "a" words. Reading a scientific treatise from 1916 is a reminder to me that knowledge is always changing and that perhaps we, in 2009, ought not to be so sure of ourselves in terms of what we know. So, that's what I'm working on now...along with all the other pieces I'm working on to get ready for a big show in Sioux Falls this summer!

What's on your reading list?
We just finished watching the John Adams HBO series (on Netflix) and now I'm reading the book John Adams by David McCullough. I am fascinated by the early history of this country, as the whole thing was so fragile. The "founding fathers" didn't know what they were doing exactly, but forged ahead one step at a time, figuring things out as they went. It makes you appreciate all the more, that the United States actually succeeded and held together, as the outcome was anything but certain. Off the top of my head at this moment, I can recommend Somserset Maugham, the autobiographical work of Nabokov and my favorite, W. G. Sebald! For my reading future, I'm not sure--still several hundred pages to go in John Adams!

What is your dream project?
I don't think I have a dream project--I think I am doing it, which is a really wonderful thing to be able to say....and I am very thankful that I am in such a place.

What words do you live by?
Hmmm. I can't thinking of anything that can be boiled down to a saying. Perhaps, in the end what I can say is that my approach to life is to watch for and express the unexplainable through my work. This thing we call life is so immense, so vast that I can only urge people to realize it's all so much bigger than we make it out to be. It's a good thing to keep in mind, when we try to boil things down, when we look for easy answers and when we think in black and white. There is room for so many different ways of being and seeing the world.

Patti Roberts-Pizzuto attended art school at Ringling School of Art and Design (now Ringling College of Art and Design). After receiving her B.F.A. in painting, she took what she thought to be a temporary job in the library at Ringling, but found that the work suited her temperament and cataloging books fed her artistic and creative life.

After twenty-five years working in the library, where she served as the cataloger and curator of the artist’s books collection at Ringling, Patti relocated to South Dakota in 2005 with her husband, Johntimothy Pizzuto. Currently she is working as a part-time cataloger in the I.D. Weeks Library at the University of South Dakota while she continues to pursue making and exhibiting her work nationally.

Most recently, she was the focus of an article entitled, "Meditations in Mixed Media" by
Lynn Cornelius Jablonski, published in the April/May 2008 Fiber Arts Magazine. Patti’s
work is also published in the Gallery Issue (September 2006) of Surface Design: The
Journal of the Surface Design Association and in the Fiber Arts Design Book Seven
(2004).

She is finding much inspiration in the history and spirit of the land of South Dakota and
the Midwest, which continues to inspire new and evolving works of art. She and her
husband have just completed a new home on the banks of the Missouri River and she
looks forward to the works that will follow. Take a look at her website!!

Thanks Patti!!

Spotlight on...Laurie Trok

In addition to being a talented emerging artist, Laurie Trok is also my studio mate and sometimes collaborator, an awesome jewelery maker, my fashion icon, and an all-around great gal. Here, we talk about her artistic process and influences.

Tell me about all of the different interests you have.

I am very interested in the way things are perceived and understood. I am fascinated with language, especially the visual language we find ourselves in constant dialogue with. I like to play with shapes and arrange parts of things to invent new meaning, or to find it within something.

Your artwork is a mix of collage, construction, graffiti and doodles. Can you talk about all the different artists and processes that influence what you do? What inspires your work?
Wow. I love looking at art. I can spend a whole day on the Internet or reading art magazines about new work being made. I think it's important to have a rich sense of where we come from as artists in contemporary society. This means my influences range from Matisse (specifically his cutouts) to Swoon.
Other influences at the moment are Andy Goldsworthy, Diana Cooper, Kara Walker, Ray Johnson, Robert Rauschenberg and Mark Bradford. I am inspired by the artwork I see on the street on a daily basis. I love looking at zines, comics, posters...(check out PaperRad) I am also greatly influenced by my artist friends. I love to see their processes and work, and watch as we steal from one another shamelessly. Especially you, Lauren, and my friend Todd Scalise.

What is your creative process?
I like to think my process is something that is ever-changing and growing. In my two-dimensional work, I like to begin with blind contour drawings (drawings done without looking down at the page) and use the marker bleeds on the opposite side of the page to begin the transformation of the work -- breaking it down into shapes. These shapes are constantly being cut into and out of my collages, and appear in my three dimensional work as well. I am pretty much lost without a pair of scissors or an exact-o knife.

How does music influence your work?
Oh, boy. I studied classical music for most of my youth into college, when I turned toward the visual arts. I think it's because of my music training that I work so abstractly. I think in music and in shapes. I like to listen to music while I work. I am not interested in representing things literally. I am interested in creating reality. Music is the highest form of this idea.

You use a lot of interesting materials-- found, thrown away, recycled. Can you talk about how these materials shape your work and why you are drawn to them?
There are several reasons why I work in recycled and found materials. One is strictly financial. I want to work, now. I can't afford art supplies, and I don't think I need them. Not today. With the excess around us, I feel responsible for this waste. I feel it is necessary to use the images that fall all around us, and build something new out of them. To order the chaos, so to speak.

Your artwork seems to be moving off the wall and becoming more sculptural--do you think you will be creating sculpture in the future?
YES. I love working three dimensionally. One of the reasons I want to go back to school is to learn how to use more materials so these three dimensional sketches can be realized. I enjoy playing with materials that don't go together, finding new meaning. This has naturally brought me to a more 3 dimensional sensibility. I am really excited to explore the possibilities.

What is your dream project?
Right now I am applying to a residency program in the Grand Canyon. I dream and hope that I'll get it, so I can work with the raw materials that the environment provides. It will be a literal breath of fresh air from my manic paper-cutting.
I guess on a larger scale my dream project would be some kind of installation of cut paper, filling a space that can be inhabited. People that spend time there could interact with the work, add to it, etc. As time goes on and material filters in and out of the space, the work evolves. That would be cool. I just thought of that.

You have a day job, how do you balance your job with your creativity?
I wouldn't take my advice on this one. I am struggling with that right now. Ideally my answer would be that I am able to take things from daily life straight to my studio and that since it pays the bills and helps me achieve balance, I see it as a stepping stone toward a future of art-making as a full-time career. It takes nothing away from being an artist, it only adds dimension. While I believe that, I struggle to practice it. I harbor a lot of bitterness about the ways I feel forced to spend my time. Like I said, its something I'm working on....

How do you get through artist's block?
I mainly feel blocked by time and material/financial constraints. This has taught me to work resourcefully and spontaneously. I feel as if there is no time to waste, and have become accustomed to working with whatever material I can get my hands on. When I feel blocked, I go back to the drawing board. I look at a lot of art during my down times. I go to museums, I walk outside. I copy art that I like. I continue to work, even if I feel I am producing very little. It's strange what comes out of these times. It makes it all worth it.

What are you working on now?
I have a few projects in the works. I am going through a sort-of boring but necessary phase right now of cataloguing all my of work up to the present. I've been really lazy about it, but I am learning more and more that organization in this area leads to opportunity.
I have been drawing a lot, too, in anticipation for the weather to break so I can realize some of these drawings on a large scale in my studio. Lauren and I are planning to exhibit this spring together with a two-wall, multi layered installation. All the drawings in the cold and scraps of paper cut will end up a part of this work.

(Above: Vinyl and collage on window panel)

Laurie Trok is a working artist in the Penn Avenue Corridor in Pittsburgh. She recently exhibited her collages and vinyl collage windows at Garfield Artworks.

Laurie studied Music Performance and Studio Art at Duquesne University and is currently working toward a residency program in the Grand Canyon. She plans to return to school in the fall to continue her studies.

To see more of Laurie's work and for contact information, please visit her Pittsburgh Artist Registry page.

Thanks Laurie!

"tough times never last but tough people do"

Here are 3 of 8 brand new collages I am currently working on.

These are on the smaller side, approx. 8x11 inches. I have made a total mess- cutting up papers- and creating a huge pile of clippings and and scraps all over the futon and floor of my home studio.

I'm loving creating these because I don't think about it, I just do it. Tiny pieces emerge out of the mess and settle in to some kind of balance on the paper. It's a very meditative practice. These are going to go through a couple more stages of drawing and painting before being finished.

I watched 2 films this week that were polar opposites but equally inspiring:
How to Draw a Bunny, a documentary about the amazing collage artist who committed suicide in 1995, Ray Johnson, and Rivers and Tides, a documentary about artist/sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. Ray Johnson was very tuned in to pop culture- and created these really multi-layered, kooky collages, works on paper and correspondences, while Goldsworthy is all about the energy and flow of materials- he works with stones, ice, leaves, flowers to create site specific installations in nature. Part of their existence is the act of their destruction- the ice melts, the pile of stones caves in, the web of branches falls down. And he just gets up and starts all over again. He is a very mellow, solitary figure with his work.
I'm also nearing the end of season 2 of 6 feet under. I love seeing Claire trying out photography and her slow realization that it's something that fits her despite all the negativity coming from her teacher and brothers.

Here is a great story on NPR about Bob Raglan, a Denver artist who is recession proof and proud of it.

lastly:

(photo: collage with cutouts/ for sale on Friday)

I am getting excited for the girl's night out event at City Theatre on Friday night (1.30.09) where Laurie and I will have a table set up selling our wares. I have handmade scarves, art cards, and a couple of augmented books, and Laurie has handmade crocheted wire earrings and small drawings. If you are in the neighborhood- stop in and say hi, 7pm-8pm at:
City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., Pittsburgh PA 15203.

Spotlight on.......Honey S. Lapcharoen

Today's interview is with Honey Lapcharoen. Honey and I were in the same program at college, lived in the same dorm- but didn't really become friends until our junior year. I would have a difficult time putting into words how I feel about Honey. To say that she has been my mentor, my trusted and great friend, and a sounding board for me feels like an understatement. I have learned so much from her in so many different arenas of life: spirituality, self-confidence and assuredness and respect. The list could go on and on. She is one of the most deeply insightful, bright, beautiful people I know.

Tell me about all of your interests, ie. baking, cats, art, music, poetry, etc.......

My love of music fuels all of my other interests. It scares me to think about how lost I'd be without my personal soundtrack. I love to write, to work in the garden, to cook, and I do all of those things while listening to my favorite bands. I connect some of the most important experiences of my life to particular songs, lyrics, and voices.

I've written poetry on and off since high school, but only recently became serious about writing poetry as something to share with others. I love watching television when the writing behind it exceeds my expectations.

I consider myself a spiritual person. I'm a Buddhist by choice and I've found that amazing things happen when I pray. I'm also a cat person because cats rule and dogs drool.

You are working on your PhD....what are you writing about and how has your writing process changed since you began the project? What is the mission of your thesis?

I'm writing my dissertation about an amazing Japanese American artist named Roger Shimomura. I first saw his work in a magazine, and was completely overwhelmed by how much I related to the issues of Asian American identity he critiques in his art. My dissertation explores how I, as an Asian American viewer, make connections to aspects of his work that communicate an "Asian American" experience. The difficulty with my thesis is that it relies on an overtly subjective-critical perspective. Using the "personal" perspective in academic work is challenging, so I've had to read the work of theorists who specialize in autobiography, narratives and alternative methods of research. Art remains a discipline which benefits from a variety of perspectives including psychoanalysis, sociology, history, critical theory, and philosophy, so I have a great deal to work with. Ultimately, I'm trying to write a paper which adds something informative and unique to the discussion of ethnicity and identity. I want it to be simultaneously personal and intellectual.

Before I started work on the dissertation, I never wrote anything longer than 20 pages. Writing a paper 150 pages or more was a daunting prospect for me. I used to be the kind of writer who edited every sentence before it ever showed up on the page. I don't do that anymore. I just write whatever babble comes to my head and edit everything later. Editing takes a lot of practice, and I've had many opportunities to edit the writing of others. All of that outside work enabled me to see the strengths and shortcomings of my own work.

You've teamed up with a film maker-- what are you working on?
Mika Johnson is a person that I've known for over 7 years. He's made a few short films, but started work on a feature film script about four years ago. He wanted to hear my opinions about his story's synopsis, so I agreed to give him feedback. Before I realized what was happening, I became completely involved in his project. His film is called "AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts," and tells the story of a Japanese woman who comes to the United States in search of her father and her true destiny. Mika is a fantastic director and photographer, but I found that his writing lacked the poetry of his visual palate and imagination. So I volunteered my time and helped him basically re-write and edit his script. I'm now the co-writer for AMERIKA, and the writer for Arcanum Productions, the company he started with his wife. It's been an exciting and frustrating time because we're trying to find funding to make the film. But overall, it's been one of the most rewarding endeavors I've ever been a part of.

How do you structure your day? What is your creative process?

I can't really focus on writing until I have a cup of coffee in my hands. If I smoked, I'd probably be on a pack a day by now. I'm not a morning person, so I don't usually do any writing until after noon. Sometimes writer's block hits me and I'll find any excuse in the world to distract me from the void in my brain. My most productive and fruitful artistic experiences happen between the hours of midnight and 3am. And needless to say, I don't sleep soundly.

With writing, I make lots of notes by hand and type them up later. Music also helps to motivate me. You know that feeling you have when you're listening to an upbeat song while you're on the treadmill? The one that makes you want to run faster? When I listen to the right song, I physically write faster and think more clearly. It's strange.

You started off studying one thing and gradually, that thing kept morphing. Can you talk about how your life as a student has brought you to where you are today.
When I was at Syracuse University I realized that I enjoyed speaking and thinking about the impact of art, rather than making art itself. Critical Theory seemed like a natural fit, because it combined extravagant thinking with academia. I eventually went to NYU for an Arts and Humanities Education degree, because it heavily focused on Critical Studies. The Doctoral program in Art Education was more of the same.

But when I was in the thick of graduate school, I sometimes felt completely inferior to everyone around me - students, professors, other visual artists. I was the youngest person in my doctoral program and I'd often be sitting at a table with only two professors and two graduate students who were over 10 years older than me. There was pressure to speak and think in a particular "post-modern" way. I was able to keep up, but there were times when I would doubt my own sincerity. Now that I've had some time outside of the academic environment, I realize that I want to speak and think in a way that incorporates what I've learned without limiting the way I communicate that information.

What books, mentors, teachers, people, etc. have had the most influence on your development as a writer?

My mom is the biggest influence on my life. She represents everything I want to be in terms of her confidence, strength, and resolve. I've been exceedingly fortunate in the support I have had from teachers and friends throughout my life, but there's nothing more important to me than the support of my mom. In terms of writing, I am most inspired by Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." That novel speaks the breadth of the universe using the fewest amount of words. It's remarkable.

What are you currently reading?

I'm embarrassed by how many books I'm reading concurrently: Revolutionary Road, Blood Meridian, The Hunger Games, 2666, and Fantasy Lover-a romance book ;)

What are you inspired by?

I'm inspired by people who aren't afraid. I'm always afraid and I hate it.

What is your dream project?

I recently started writing a novel and if I finish it, publish it, and sell it, that will be my dream project.

What words do you live by each day??

I say a particular prayer every day and those are the words I live by. The prayer isn't from any text, it's something that I created a long time ago, when I was still finding my way. It works for me. But for something a little less enigmatic:

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have been a very grounded, spiritual presence in my life, how does your spirituality affect the way you approach your creativity?

It's difficult for me to think of myself as a creative person, because I don't think that I have much of an imagination. I have a very pedestrian nature that impedes my ambition. But prayer has allowed me to see the scale and impact of my life on the world. Without getting too narcissistic, I have come to realize that my choices are significant, and the positive and negative energy that I reveal to others always finds its way back to me. I no longer believe in coincidence of any kind. Everything has significance and profundity, and I remain open to its possibility.

Honey S. Lapcharoen is a writer, editor, and artist from Silver Spring, Maryland. She holds a B.F.A. and M.A. in Art Photography and Arts and Humanities Education respectively, and is currently writing her Ph.D. on the work of Japanese American artist Roger Shimomura through New York University's Art Education and Visual Culture department. Her writing has been published in Beyond Race Magazine and at the Asian American online magazine iaLink. She is the co-author of the upcoming independent film "AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts" and is the lead writer at Arcanum Productions. She is a Cancer (moody) and a cancer survivor (thyroid), and she spends her free time pulling the tails of her cats.


Thank you Honey!

Lately Looking at...

artist, Kim Jones aka Mud Man
I wish I could have seen this exhibit at the NewMuseum about collage.

just stuff

I started working on a drawing from 5 years ago and in the process of re-thinking and filling in, I learned something about myself.... I'm not afraid. This is a really great news because I think 5 years ago my confidence was rocked and I was afraid of doing everything, going anywhere, trying anything etc etc. I'm so much better now! Yay for me!

So, back to this drawing-- I started it in grad school and it depicts a Utopian landscape complete with grassy hills, streams, bridges, trees decorated with tiny lights and these comfy egg shaped modernist chairs hanging from the branches. It was exhibited unfinished but I recently decided to finish it and have been coloring it in and thinking about some changes I'd like to make. It's a very slow process because I'm coloring in each leaf individually.

Otherwise, it's been a while since I've written in the blog- here's what's new in no particular order.

*I applied for the associated artists of pittsburgh and didn't get in. oh well, will try again in the fall.

*I went to see the Carnegie International on sunday and while I didn't see it all-- I was pretty impressed by some of what I did see-- Matthew Monahan's sculptures made out of floral foam, beautiful and unusual statuary relics that look like they are from another place and time. In fact, I can't stop thinking about these. (more on these later)

(image: carnegie museum)

Also, Mark Bradford's huge collaged paintings which use found papers and posters, permanent wave hair wrappers from the hairdresser and other urban detritus. He collages these huge canvases to look like maps of his neighborhood in LA and then sands them down and builds them up in places. These are so freaking awesome and huge and layered!!!

*Stacy and I went to the gallery crawl on Penn Ave on Friday night and we visited some cool little alternative art spaces on Penn Ave., the Glass Center, plus the Tunnel Gallery located in my studio building- which has a cool show of 5 kinetic metal sculptures by Boston artist, AM Lilly.

*Braun Brunch took place with a smaller group than usual this past Sunday. I made lemon ricotta pancakes-- they were REALLY tasty. I found the recipe on the site the kitchn.

(I did not take this picture, it's from the kitchen website linked above!)

*I had a job interview last week and the interviewer asked me to bring a writing sample. I realized I should really start writing more about the art I see. I did not want the job nor was it offered it to me- but I developed a nice piece of writing because of the interview!

Jeremy Blake’s animated videos combine photography, computer art and drawings to create a rich and densely layered landscape. Inspired by pop culture, fashion, the Sixties, psychedelia, punk rock and video games, his artistic process was as complex and layered as his body of work. One of Blake’s video projects, Reading Ossie Clark, was inspired by the 1998 publication of the London based fashion designer’s illustrated diaries. Clark, whose clients included Twiggy, Bianca and Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful, had a great impact on the “swinging sixties.” Blake’s videos mimic diary form with a stream of conscious, non-linear visual narrative of words and images. An ambient soundtrack consists of Clarissa Dalrymple, a NY art dealer and critic, reading fragments from Clark’s diary entries. Employing color, imagery, pattern and sound as tools, Blake constructs an animated world that pays homage to Clark’s influence while referencing the youth culture of life in London in the sixties. Blake grew up in the Washington DC area and was formally trained as a painter. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 1993) and earned a MFA at Cal Arts in 1995. Blake unfortunately committed suicide during the summer of 2007.
* Erica and Heidi had their baby derby party on Sunday and I bought them both little somethings which I wrapped in really cool paper with black ribbon-- distinctively un-babyshowerish but I really like it!

Lately Looking at...

work by the painter, Elizabeth Murray:

Images from Art:21 and the NYTimes.

revisiting the past

I stumbled upon this cd of images from my MFA thesis exhibit and decided to take a look and prepare them to archive on my website. It's strange to look at this work now that I have some distance from it.- It was such a difficult period of time in my life. I worked so hard on this and had so much mental anxiety. I thought about destroying all of these delicate mobiles and sculptures that I made out of paper when I finished school but I resisted the urge and packed everything away in boxes to return to at some point far off in the future and I guess that day is here. Interesting how time and distance changes your perception.

and so it begins

Spring is pushing up out of the ground in the form of buds and leaves.
Went to the library this morning to do research and took out a bunch of interesting books including one about the use of Craft in Contemporary Art. Discovered the artist Carolyn Salas whose soft sculptures take the form of underwater seascapes. An idea I have been playing around with in the form of drawings inspired by creatures who dwell at the ocean floor. I love it when I get to see into other artist's studios. The photo at right is a studio view.


I also checked season 1 of Art:21 out of the library. This is such a fantastic series-- showing artists at work in their studios, practicing their art- and discussing what they're doing, how they do it, and the ideas behind it. Every time I watch one of the segments I feel inspired and opened up to art engaging people in so many different ways. It was really inspiring to hear/see Margaret Kilgallen talk a little bit about her work. She passed away at the age of 33 in 2001. Her work has this really western meets folksy, handmade feel. I love the section in Art:21 where she is riding her bike and stops to take a photo of a painted sign and the store owner comes out to ask what she's doing. I love that she was inspired by the handmade visual world around her and that part of her process was to document and archive the images and typography she saw.


very inspiring......

3-D Paper Collages

Today I'm working in the green room ...also known as the spare bedroom. I tried doing work at my studio yesterday but it was just too darn cold. Since today is a day off for me, I decided to just play and make some collages at home-- and I'm having fun with markers, paper and scotch tape. Making art is a continual evolution and everyday I feel differently about it. I've come to the conclusion that this is the year I'm going to push forward. In both working on my art and gaining exposure for it. The wheels are in motion!
I'm so excited to be off from work for a few days (till Monday). This weekend we are going on a mini adventure to W. Virginia. Will report later.

weekend wonders

All weekend I worked on putting a press kit together so that I can start sending my work out to galleries. I ordered new business cards and they are due in around Feb.21. I polished up my artist c.v. and artist statement. Best of all I was looking online to gather ideas for business cards and letterhead and came across this flickr collection.

a series of little tiny epiphanies

I wish I could take credit for the cupcakes above but the image is from Martha Stewart-- click on the pic for the recipe and original site.

It's a cold snowy morning this morning. I am bundled up in my chunky knit scarf with a hottie mug o' coffee. Today is a very special day, D's birthday!!!!
Aside from birthday festivities and having to work this afternoon, my mind is hard at work!
I've been thinking about professional accomplishments I have made and would like to make in the coming year. I'm making a list and checking it twice. One of those is creating a class proposal to take to some of the local art establishments around town. Something having to do with collage-making and non-traditional books. Something clicked into place in the last couple of days-- a need to push myself in a certain direction and become very focused. I feel excited about it. Tomorrow- I signed up for a creativity symposium with some guest speakers. I have no idea what to expect but will let you know how it goes!

It's gonna be bright yellow

Above: Jeremy Blake, Reading Ossie Clark, 2003, digital animation with sound on DVD, stills from 9-minute continuous loop, courtesy Kinz, Tillou + Feigen, New York

Got back from a trip to DC where we saw friends, family and ART. Hello to friends and family-- thanks so much for your hospitality!!! We had a lovely time.

Out of all the Museums we went to and all the art we saw, the exhibit that left the most inspiring impression on me was Wild Choir-- 3 animations/video's with sound by the late Jeremy Blake.

Today, we started the giant project of priming and painting the dining room. It was a color akin to masking tape.....and it's going to be a color called Lemon Sorbet. We trekked out to Ikea and bought the Norrelbo shelving unit and sang songs using all the names of the Ikea furniture. I am very excited to have a newly designed dining room!

Movies we've seen in the last week:
Charlie Wilson's War
Knocked Up
The Assassination of Jesse James
Sweeney Todd
Atonement
Jeremy Blake, Sodium Fox, 2005, digital animation with sound on DVD, stills from 14-minute continuous loop, courtesy Kinz, Tillou + Feigen, New York

been a while

something new from the studio.

Inspiration

This lettering by Me Up a Tree was the illustration for William Saffire's On Language Column in the Magazine section of the NY Times. I clipped it out and took it to my studio to study over for awhile. There were a couple of things in the paper this week that I clipped out and added to my inspiration collection.



I love this painting by Karl Benjamin, "Black Pillars," 1957. from another article in the NYtimes, "California Flaunts its Designs with Cool." I would love to see these exhibits at LACMA and the Orange County Museum of Art which focus on California's art scene in the 60's-70's and 50's.



Last but not least, I would love love love to see these collages by Mark Bradford up close and personal. They look so textured and layered even through my flat computer screen...I feel an art trip to NY coming soon! the picture came from here.

Day of Domesticity

My favorite thing to do on Sundays...read the NYTimes at a coffee shop with a hot frothy coffee beverage in my hand. I didn't do that today though-- I made some pasta salads from Martha Stewart Living magazine recipes and cupcakes and now I'm doing laundry. It's a rainy grey day- the kind that is good for watching a movie.

Yesterday turned out to be a great studio day. I have begun making some pastel drawings. It took awhile but the studio is feeling more comfortable and gaining a creative and colorful vibe. I'm excited to see what is going to happen next. The creative process is so strange and mysterious- one minute a blank page stares back at you- the moment you make the first move, you enter into this conversation and the thing you're working on just keeps morphing and becoming new and different and guiding you.