Studio Journal Entry #5

SOOOOOOOO... Kind of slowed down with painting this week and got a lot more material to work from.  I came home and got a bunch of cool pictures.  I went to the same location as my nocturnal boat painting and took pictures throughout the day as the light changed.  Different atmospheres arose which will make for interesting paintings.  I think I want to keep painting the same location.  I am being redundant.  I took some pictures of the dock during daylight and some during dusk.  It will be interesting to see how different emotions arise when viewing the painting of this location during various times of the day.  That didn't make much sense- I think I am having trouble articulating today.  It makes sense to me though so I'll just have to execute so I can show all of you!   Here are some of the pictures I plan to work from-

We'll see how this goes.  For the thesis show I may just show boat and landscape paintings.  I still wanna try out painting pictures of my Grandmother's destroyed house but I am nervous to see how they will come out.  We shall see. 

Catherine Murphy showed a drawing she did of buttons and I was inspired.  I had a revelation, or idea rather, and want to try incorporating buttons into my paintings.  I want to start introducing collage into my work.  My future plans involve this- Button and cardboard.  Before painting on a canvas, I want to glue down these things and paint overtop.  It will create a unique texture and visual dynamism.  This is a huge project so maybe that will be what I work on all next semester.  

So I've been reading from the MOMA's, "On Line" by: Cornelia H. Butler and Cathering De Zegher.  I found some interesting reads concerning collage and the space it creates.  On page #34 of Line/Plane/Space: In Tension (1910-1960), it reads, "By now it had become clear that tearing and cutting into patterned or colored papers withdrew the line so that contour accrued instead to the paper's edge, and became increasingly coextensive with real space.  This transference directed the viewer's attention to outlining new relations; collage opposed the simple literalism of figure against ground, allowing a visual play of discrepant scales and styles.  Increasingly, the focus was on relation and on line.  The marks once used to augment representational resemblance- shading and modeling, hatching and crosshatching- all these faded in importance."  

My take: I think that relating mixed media and collage to "actual space" is interesting.  I agree.  For me, layering creates multiple dimensions that are not otherwise present.  Even if this layering or collage technique does not represent a recognizable space, it definitely creates a space with depth.  I want to start utilizing collage.  Ripped paper, cardboard, buttons etc.  It is so much more interesting to observe artwork, especially paintings, that are three dimensional due to the use of collage.  I read a few other excerpts concerning collage that I enjoyed, but other than that I found the book a bit jumbled and confusing.  The authors went off on a few too many tangents.  Oh well, can't like everything you read.

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:  

Since I have more material to work from I can continue on with my boat paintings.  My ideas are starting to evolve and make more sense.  I like my idea of painting the same location during different times of the day.  I won't have an idea concerning the outcome until I begin.  So, I gotta get on it.  Also, I want to start making more sense of my collage idea.  I have to start collecting materials now.  Things usually take a lot longer than I expect.  I also want to paint over my painting of the dock and sunrise.  I think it sucks and is on the verge of becoming one of those corny oceanic landscape paintings.  I purchased modeling paste so I think I am going to make a textured surface over that painting and start over.  We must flunk sometimes to further succeed as artists.  I'm excited for this upcoming week.