Real Painters Use Paint.

#35 Get off the Couch

Yes, so I'm in the real studio today cleaning my real painting table off and have another painter coming over to take a look at the pool paintings-the real ones that smell like oil paint.

I'm stymied by my lack of interest in making abstract work on the iPhone. It just doesn't hold my interest right now. I think it has to do with it being virtually impossible to make an honest abstract mark on the iPhone. It LOOKS like a painterly blob, but it's not created the same way as a painterly blob. The abstract painting on the iPhone is simply a image of what an abstract painting would look like, not what it actually is. That, and I'm really into the the banal images representing my life right now.

I'm so hooked on this.

I just discovered digital printmaking Nirvana. They're gorgeous-absolutely stellar, drop-dead lovely.

I dusted off my PictureMate, cleaned the head about 20 times, and have printed out two test prints on matte photo paper. It's like the digital art equivalent of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

#25 Clock Radio

iPhone sketch #25

Collated and Mailed.

I want a prize.

The grant was deceptively simple, yet unnecessarily complex. TWENTY-SIX pages to wade through. For real. And— AND, there was conflicting information about what to include and how to include it. I mean, if it was a 1-page grant app, sure, I can think outside the box and wing it, but I'm thinking with 26 pages and explicit directions, perhaps a little proofreading might have been a good idea.

The good news is that I'm set to whip it out in no time at all next year. I'm also really pleased about my project proposal and how it ties back in to some work I did about 15 years ago. Unfortunately it's not exactly big happy art-it deals with my mom's memory loss and um, you know, that inevitable thing other than taxes, but I'm hoping my wicked sense of inappropriate humor will lighten it up.

My next scheduled administrative task MUST be completed this weekend and then I swear I'm going to do nothing but paint.

***

Oooooh, but wait! I've printed out a hi-rez image of my Brushes iphone sketch, #25 clock radio. OMG, I'm in love with my iPhone. Okay, paint, and make iphone sketches- that's all I'm going to do.

Stay tuned for affordable prints!

Guess where I was yesterday.

˙ɯooɹ ƃuıʇıɐʍ ǝɔıɟɟo s,ɹoʇɔop :ɐ

A peek inside MY drawers.

I wish I could take credit for that scintillating title, but Tracy came up with it first and I'm not feeling very creative in the post title department today.

A huge part of my oeuvre is works on paper. Oddly enough I haven't exhibited them much and the flat files are stuffed to the gills. Unless it's being held for an exhibit, most everything in the drawers is for sale. Don't be shy. The photos are all iPhone, so forgive the crappy resolution.

First of all, everything in my studio is on casters. I like to move things around. One day, maybe it will all be just so. Until then- casters. Currently the flat files are by my sink with an old dropcloth protecting a piece of white laminate I had cut to size. The white laminate makes a nice top for the files just in case I ever want a clean, unobstructed surface. After I wash my brushes, I lay them on the top to dry. I also have several bottles of water stored on top. Most of the water is flat and one bottle specifically serves as a place to hang my studio keys.

Part of my rock collection is in a tray on top of a small table on top of the flat files. I recently acquired a large paper cutter, so it lives on top of the flat files for now. There's also some crap I need to put away. My seller's permit is framed and displayed conspicuously on the wall above the files. I can't even remember the last time I wore those rubber gloves. Rubber gloves give me the creeps.


The 2009 paintings are small. Most of them are on linen and they live in the top drawer now. I think I can fit one more inside. The rest are on the wall or on a bench. They look gawdawful squished next to each other like that. Talk about a visual cacophony. Jeesh.

The second drawer used to be the first drawer. It contains the smaller watercolors and gouaches on museum board and paper. My scatological drawings on paper live here as well.


The third drawer is where the unframed Tornado Face Drawings hang out, along with miscellaneous works on paper.

The fourth drawer is where the large watercolors live including watercolors from the late 1980's. Some even larger ones live at my storage unit.

But wait there's more! Still in the fourth drawer, we have even more watercolors and works on paper of all sizes. It's a veritable watercolor bonanza in there.

The bottom drawer is where my stockpile of blank paper is. In case all hell breaks loose, my goal is to have enough paper to last through Armageddon so that I don't have to dash to the store in the middle of it. God, I would hate that. Traffic would be a bitch here in L.A. and I'm sure there would be a run on art supplies with people trying to record the end of time and all.


I bought my flat files from a second hand office supply store. I left the former owner's labels on them. By the looks of the handwriting and the contents, I'm guessing NOT a painter. I can't remember if the arrow magnets were already there or if they were an impulse buy I couldn't live without.

And what recent post would be complete without my new obsession, a Brushes animation?

Addicting.

No wonder Hockney loves Brushes.









(some of them get stuck before they finish and you have to hit replay, but overall, not too buggy.)

Showtime.

OK, I figure when I see three references to the Brushes app within a week, it's time to download it and give it a whirl. I love being able to see my decision-making process looking so stream-lined. I'm hazarding a guess that in the studio, it's quite a bit messier. I'll do an abstract later on.

Identity Crisis Spurred by Advances in Digital Imaging Technology

I was hoping that the scanner would be high quality enough to document the work. Not even close. I am so lazy. Setting up a tripod and shooting this work should be a no-brainer. I've got procrastination issues. Not titling the work, not shooting the work, all these are symptoms.

I know artists who will NOT show anyone new work until their gallery sees it. Or artists who won't show anyone work until it's hanging in an exhibition. That's not my intention, but I guess I am feeling reluctant to post the work lest it suddenly lose the mystique I've attached to it here in the studio. It might have to do with scale. The large paintings will never be seen full size on a computer screen, at least not this year, or by anyone I know. I have this fantasy that Apple will come out with a life-size iPhone called the iPhone Station. I've roughed out a prototype below:

The new affordable iPhone 'Station', available 2010.

But back to art, the small paintings can be reproduced digitally 1:1 and this is a heart-breakingly deflating experience for me. Seeing the small works full size or larger on a computer screen is even less accurate of a representation than seeing larger paintings reproduced and scaled down. For the first time ever, I think a digital reproduction of my work is a filthy lie. Meanwhile I guess my solution will be to keep with the scaling thing and post small jpegs of them until I figure out a solution. Or maybe I'm just a little grumpy and my perfectionist streak is rearing its ugly head.

And speaking of mystique and enigma. I really like Carla’s Flashback Friday and might even be motivated to have a Flashback Friday myself. I liked what she said about exploring metaphysical/metaphorical imagery. I find myself finally acknowledging words like mysticism, romanticism and metaphysical though I'm still uncomfortable with labels other than 'abstract,' as you shall see below.

I was going to leave the following comment in Steven LaRose's comment section, but it's mostly about me, so I'm leaving it here:

I know. It's inevitable. Labels do help. I have thought of myself as an abstract painter since I first picked up a paintbrush, because that's what I'm interested in. I feel like the word, 'abstract' is fluid enough to cover any territory I enter, as opposed to non-objective, though it might be a ripe time to reinvent the definition of non-objective.

I'll go on a jinx myself and say that I have another studio visit tomorrow. This one is professional, so they won't be cancelling. At least I hope not. If they do, my faith in professionalism will be on it's way to being shot and my belief in superstitions will begin to gain momentum.