Studio Journal Entry#9

What I did to my parents' bathroom

So for drawing class we had to "extend line out into the environment", so i decided to make a grid out of my parents' bathroom.  It was pretty funny, and it also kinda pissed my parents off :O).  I think it sort of transformed the space in a way- it turned something so "homey", like a bathroom in a house, into a sort of industrialized, structural, formal space.  WOOoOOOoooooo0oooo0o0o

I'm gonna stretch a new canvas and work on it this week- FINALLY.  This is the busy part of the semester so I don't have as much time to produce as I did in September.  No excuses, though.  

I've been looking at Cessily Brown lately.  I really like her in a weird way.  I figure she's a good artist to be looking at when doing landscapes in the style I am ultimately aiming for.  Some of them have a stamp-like quality which reminds me of my use of paper towels as a sort of paint brush.  I get a destruction vibe from her paintings.  The majority of them have a centralized, sort of cluster of paint that is very abstract.  You are still able to recognize the painting as a landscape, but the finer details are lost in her brush strokes.  I really appreciate how simultaneously descriptive and NON descriptive her paintings are.  This is something I could work towards for my next painting.  This is the picture I want to work from next, and I think looking toward Cessily Brown is a great reference for me: 

  

This is my grandma's house after the hurricane.  I really need to plan this out and really consider the surface of my canvas and the manner in which I paint.  

Cessily Brown

I read this article about Brown online to get a better feel for who she is as an artist.  It's called "The Aura of an Expanded Painter", by Nicola Trezzi. Here's the link: 

http://www.flashartonline.com/interno.php?pagina=articolo_det&id_art=268&det=ok&title=CECILY-BROWN

I like the fact that her paintings "represent a fragment of a more complex situation".  With painting, you don't always have to be completely representational.  This is something I am battling with.  I can give just a litttlllee bit of information without revealing the whole.  Does that make sense? probably not.  Essentially, I think I can convey my point by just exposing a fragment of my "complex situation" (or overall thesis idea...).  

GOALS

Get on with it.

Studio Journal Entry #8

HI.  I've been sick so not much has been produced this week... I'm almost done another painting, however.  I kind of ignored the whole color scheme of the picture I have been working from to loosen up my style a bit.  At first I didn't like it, but now its growing on me.  The background is kind of post-apocalyptic because I used mostly oranges and yellows.  I'm making more impulsive decisions which has been yielding different and varying results from my previous work.  Now it's time for me to get my 4x4 canvas- I believe I'll have that ready for next class. 

Last Friday we saw a work space for the Bruce High Quality Foundation in Brooklyn for thesis class.  It was interesting, but I left feeling confused on what their overall purpose was.  I have heard of the foundation before, but never really knew what it was all about.  I decided to read an article on the foundation to better figure it out. I know this doesn't exactly pertain to my thesis ideas, but it does relate to my future as an artist.  I really like how empowering and positive their overall mission is.  There's not much positivity going on nowadays.  Here's the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/arts/design/13roberta.html

Here's a quote about Bruce High Quality's mission I really enjoyed: 

"The Bruce High Quality Foundation, the official arbiter of the estate of Bruce High Quality, is dedicated to the preservation of the legacy of the late social sculptor, Bruce High Quality.  In the spirit of the life and work of Bruce High Quality, we aspire to resurrect art history from the bowels of despair, and to impregnate the institutions of art with the joy of man's desire."

Professional Challenges, Amateur Solutions 

My next blog will be a lot more happenin'.  Not feeling so inspired this week.  BLAH

Latest painting.  Trying to avoid paying too much attention to the pictures I work from.  I think this is my biggest stretch yet and perhaps most successful.  The color scheme is more toward what I'm going for with my future paintings.