Friday July 29

When I left off I had experimented with photo transfer but is was not suited to this piece.  I worked on balancing the values and I decide to hid the hands in the sand and develop the sand a the feet a little more. I made the foot thats closer to us darker and lightened up the background foot. I also gave the sand more volume and put in some highlights. The problem with the highlights is that they looked to white. Again Im loosing that nice flow and freshness that was started. It makes me wonder if I should try doing portraits in watercolour? So I'm struggling with the idea of overpainting this too much and loosing the life of the painting. The second thing I am struggling with is what to glaze it with. I did my other portrait of Sarah with acrylic but I wonder if I can get a more luminous look with oils. Manon mentioned a product that can dry oils in three days.

I still want to lighten his hair. Take down some of the highlights in the sand and finish the large chunks of sand coming from his feet, and work on the squinting eye before the colour begins.


Artist I dislike Assignment:

  The artist that I chose for this assignment is Marina Abramovic.  Mike introduced us to her briefly in class the other day. He talked about how in one of her large performances at MOMA she sat in front of people for hours just staring at them. People broke down crying and felt some kind of connection to the artist or to themselves that they needed her to help them discover. I felt that this was really odd, I don't love performance art and this to me just seemed to be hyped up nothingness framed in a gallery to give it a pretentious glamor. I understand the need that some people have to find a non verbal connection to someone or something in the world but was a sad state of affairs that they have to figure out how to do this with a complete stranger.
  I did some research on her when I got home and started to look at some of her earlier work. She really had some interesting ideas about having people feel their human-ness.  She works with the idea of ritual and humans fundamental need for creating them. She also works with human behavior and the limits of her audience when the rules are suspended for long periods of time.  What strikes a chord with me is her willingness to sacrifice her life for her work. Something must be missing in your life if your work needs to take on that kind of sacrifice.
   Her work with the objects on the table and allowing people to do or not do what ever they wanted to her with them for 6 hours. This at first glance seems like an interesting experiment but what concerned me was the bullet and the gun. When someone loaded it, held it to her head and tried to get her to press the trigger, she did not resist nor did there seem to be any security that would be cued if her life was in danger.  In many of her works she takes her own life into her hands and had to be rescued by doctors in the audience and took experimental drugs to see the effects that could have given her permanent damage. I guess although I like some of the ideology behind her work the fact that there is no line to be drawn disturbs me. I'm sure she wouldn't mind that but its like watching a really sadistic horror movie and then realizing you just don't get rid of those images they remain with you forever. Even more disturbing is the fact that the next time I'm inclined to watch another one of those movies the violence has less of an emotional impact and that scares me even more.
  A 2009 article on Abramovic showed some really sickening images of very young children with assault rifles in their hands and she was posing with them called 'The Family" that was shot in Laos. All I could think about was my own children and all the precautions we use to keep our children safe. It was horrifying. After further reading I discovered why she had taken the images and it made m peaceful ritual with a shaman  children were playing around with realistic toy guns. The contrast of the two scenes caused her to research more about what the children where doing to think of this as play and why the adults didn't seem to mind.
She discovered that the children were allowed to watch very violent shows on Laos TV. Unedited war scenes and ultra violent Kung Fu Movies ( Art in America, may 2009). TV antennas in the village were so big they were bending the houses over.
The photographs she took where her reactions to being so appalled.  The guns were plastic, the parents where there, The kids where very well prepped. She was trying to show the Laos family dynamic- one son is trained to kill the other to pray.
  Ok, so where does that leave me? I started with disliking her, then I though she was kind of cool in a meditative, warped 60's kind of way, then I say the children and the guns and was revolted by her, now I really like the work.


Last insight. I just finished talking to Michelle about the last statement and there is still the idea that if the general public has to read the context to understand the work and comes away with judgments about the work that are surface ones and add to violent imagery without a purpose than perhaps the artist, art world is missing something. (run on sentence) Can art made this way last?  So my next challenge is too look for more contemporary artist that can offer me both a subtle enough ambiguity that I can find room for interpretation, an aesthetic that I can engage with and some deeper meaning that will add to the work rather than give it a completely separate meaning.

Friday and Monday the 15th and 18th

Well the work has stalled.  I decided that I wanted to add some more conceptual ideas into Nicks painting. I was thinking about frameworks and the way that his dad and I help to construct his reality. I was thinking that even the things that I choose to photograph, manipulate how he looks back at his life. In a way I am "mapping" his life for him but it is a bit of an illusion.  So I started to go through the pictures that I have of him on my computer, mainly hockey and soccer pictures. I decided that I wanted to use some of these to do a photo transfer on to the canvas in the dark areas. It was my intention to glaze over them and have them be just hidden within the painting.

I printed off the pictures in thumbnail size and cut them all out. I talked with Stephanie about the process of photo transfer. I carefully chose the areas that I wanted them to be and using gel medium and a blow dryer and a palette knife I transferred the photos over. This first one I did on his neck looks alright the rest looked terrible.
 They were in colour and they should have been in b/w. They were all the same size, the scale should have changed, they distracted from the sensitivity of the painting. Oh well, that process only wasted about four hours. So I have been working at covering them up. Now some of the interesting transparent water colour effects that I was playing with have been wiped out. I am going to continue to work at the values in his hands and feet and in the trees a little more. Then I will start glazing. I wonder if I have the patience enough to glaze in oil paint? The paint is here. I guess I can always wipe it off with turpentine if I don't like it. Experimenting on Nick's portrait is a little uncomfortable.

Unsuccessful composition

I did really enjoy the process of transferring the photos to the canvas. It gave them a really interesting texture and changed the values. The actual act of transferring them was way more successful than anything I have tried in the past. I will have to try this technique again. I think I will choose a more experimental subject matter and try to work on how the photo(s) would relate to the paint or other media a little better.

Moss Street Paint in-

Wow, how inspiring. What an amazing collection of artists.   I found a few people who's work I really felt a connection to so I am posting an image of one of their works and a web address.

First is Desiree Bond.  I love the conte on acrylic method. Would like to explore this further in my own work.
Desiree Bond Artist

Another artist work drew me in was Kate Carson from Art Corner.
Art Corner - Kate Carson Artist + Instructor - Victoria BC

I think what both these artists have in common are

1. Dark, broken sensitive line 
2. Geometric shapes within the image 
3. Texture
4. Layering

I like the idea of the structure coming in on top of the expressive gestures of the paint. It is kind of the opposite of the techniques that I am exploring now (under painting) is more like (over drawing).
This technique is an interesting combination of abstraction and realism, drawing and painting.

Thursday 14th

Yesterday Jodi, Judith and I met to look at each other's studios and talk about our work. Here are some sketches I drew of the other artists work and some notes about our discussion.

My pencil Crayon response to Judith's Relief Madonna

Judith is a prolific artist who has had lost of experience in a wide variety of mediums

Themes: The Madonna, Botanical,Abstract, Texture/Mixed Media, Patterns found or created.

Influences: 17th Century Art, Klimt, Modigliani, Klee

Process: Modelling paste, Gel, Plaster, Handmade paper to start or during the painting process. For her paintings she uses acrylic. She works on her imagery playing with surface texture, often introducing crackle medium in some areas.  She shares a studio and often shows with two other artists from the island.

Direction: Thinking about collections of things and the theme of "The Whole is the Sum of the Parts"  Likes the idea of different artists responding to the same directions. She wants to do two works this summer one a series of responding to the same directions of art instruction in different ways, secondly she would like to do a series of 8 Madonnas.


Critique: Judith has explored texture in some very unique ways. I was really enjoying two main pieces  from her portfolio, Blowing Butterflies and Baubles. The textures and colours are rich and appealing to many senses. The patterning that she creates on the background and veils of the Madonna is lively and playful and very contemporary. This contrast of contemporary style and method on a historical and significant subject (madonna) is and interesting juxtaposition. If I could take anything from Judith to influence my own work it would be to play with more sculpture within painting rather than separate from it, and to incorporate more pattern into my work.






Jodi

My pencil Crayon Response to Jodi's Farm Animals

Jodi has come back to making art after a period of not focusing on it for a while. She was inspired to paint for an exhibition of paintings at a local farm. The farm and the people involved in the show seemed to have a huge influence on her work.


Themes: Domestic Farm Animals, Fractals, Flowers, Life Drawing, Nature, Raven, Inside/Outside in literal and cultural way.


Influences: Yoga, Brad Leir, Heritage Things


Process: Jodi likes to concentrate on capturing the spirit of the things that she is drawing. She like to see the colour  and details in nature in a way that others tend not to notice. She is starting to investigate the ideas of Raven and started to mess around with Alters to the Raven. Then recent events made her think about being part of something or being considered and outsider and breaking through boundaries.


Direction: Jodi saw a dead woodpecker and decided that she needed the wings for the raven alter. She  did some research on line and came up with a manual on backyard avian necropsy. She bravely dissected this bird and is currently drying out the wings for later use. She has also decided that rather than an alter she wants to investigate medicine cabinets and public vs private. The finished painting of a bird will be on the outside of the cabinet. Somehow the wings will be incorporated. The medicine cabinet idea will probably become of a series.

Critique: Jodi is really pushing her boundaries and use of materials. Her farm animal series was beautiful and the spirt of the animal comes through in her work. I think it is this capturing of spirt that is becoming her theme through a more sculptural methodology. I love the fact that the painting will remain a painting even if it can be altered. If I could take something away from Jodi's work for myself it would be the ideas if opening to reveal, layering and emotion of colour.

Wednesday the 13th

Mike drew us some a nice diagram of the history of art, art ed, and Education. It was simple and easy. I wish someone had drawn this for me years ago.
He also mentioned the Arts Propel Portfolio Framework and gave us some interesting history on Howard Gardner (multiple intelligence theory) and his interest in art. Lots of great things to say about this portfolio evaluation. Mike also reiterated the ideas of finding patterns of behavior and themes with our students work and how important it is for them to do this. We also reviewed DBAE and put it into a cultural context. We Looked at Davids Video and Alix's Video. Davids is about the act of using left over paint to create art. Transformation of process- finding aesthetic. The idea of collecting left over garbage, paint, dryer lint is coming to me as a way of incorporating life, real life into my art, or even to create images with. Hmmmmm...
We also talked about aesthetics and textures of light. Mike mentioned a woman who said " Vision is a metaphor for touch"  This really strikes a chord for me. I need to find this woman. ( irag??)
We also looked at Cindy Sherman and how beautiful her image of puke from bulimia is. I have always liked Cindys work because it is beautiful.

Mike said something about finding the metaphor in our work. I need to do this.

No time to paint today I met with Judith, Jodi and Shoni today. I loved learning about their process but will put my reflections in a separate post tomorrow. Lots of small group bonding and sharing today.

Tuesday the 12th

Today we learned about how to access cool stuff from the UVic library. Some pretty cool journals on Art Education for free there. We talked some more about Art Education in a Visual Culture as a blending of psychology, sociology and fine arts.  Its not medium specific as ideas are more important. We looked at Brian Jungens art and I fell in love with it. Generally I don't love art that has to make political or cultural comments but this was so beautiful. My students would love this. First Nations culture and Nike shoes, their two favorite things!
He also showed us Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Milans work. I have to say I really didn't like it. ( but that's next week!)
Bob showed us the DVD How Art Made the World. We loved it. I will definitely show this and class and use some of the lessons from this website. (Ex i Jesus!)
How Art Made the World | PBS
Stephanie made seagull art as a reflection process for Bob illustrating the nneurological principle known as the peak shift. In essence our brain is hard-wired to focus upon parts of objects with pleasing associations. So if you were an artist, the tendency would be to reproduce human figures with parts that mattered the most to you.  The seagulls red beak was an illustration of how this works in birds.  How thoughtful. We all want seagull imagery in our classrooms now.
We also talked about Peter Londons Second Hand Art article and debated the merits of personal meaning and connection with nature over product in art. Don showed Londons books I think I want to get Drawing Closer To Nature.
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Closer-Nature-Dialogue-Natural/dp/1570628548
 As for actual studio work today I worked more on creating values in my painting. I need to bring in a close up photo for Nicks face as it needs to look just like him or I will hate it.

Monday 11th

      Today we watched a presentation by Professor Don Bergland.  He showed us a great video he created on you tube about artist and their ideas it was so funny for those of us in the room. I think its a great visual for all artists. For me it really struck me as the way I teach. I am constantly full of new ideas to try with kids. Once they start to get I, I get more ideas, better ideas, ways they could do it differently. Sometimes so many ideas that they start to feel overwhelmed. They want a beginning, middle and end. I really like beginnings!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOpnHnlN79s


   Don really made a big impact on all of us. He discussed his studio practice. I could really relate to the struggle he was having with remembering and reviewing his ideas. Ironically we both decided that putting them in the computer worked for us as a way of storing and reviewing.  As for his reflection stage, this is obviously something I am going to have to work on. It is why I am a little stagnant in life.  I guess the effort, and time this stage takes was always a little overwhelming. If I had done it though I bet I would be a way more organized teacher and probably making more proactive decisions as an artist. So after his discussion I started this blog. Thanks Don!
   Don also talked about legacy in art. This theme has been coming up for me a lot. Having a parent pass away makes you think about your own contributions to the world. Having art made from my mothers hands gives me the opportunity to feel the trace of her hands. I want that for my kids. It needs to be one of the goals of my work here.
    Today we learned a new word. Exegesis.  Lisa taught us how to shout it with our hands raised in prayer.  Loved that, will never say it wrong again. Really.  Praxis is a reflexive studio practice that entails a cycle of action then reflection then action. Not my strong point. Exegesis is the written portion we are learning is important because it helps us study the process of  art making ( observations, descriptions and analyses) and puts the work into a "cultural context". This is important and I must start doing this more with my students know matter how painful. The key lesson of this week is reflection and documentation of that refection gives meaning to the work. Missing this step is doing them a disservice.

Another big phrase of the day is Hermeneutic ( Interpretation of the work to give meaning) Phenomenology ( intuitive, describing form without judgement seeing the essentials).

In this research model we need to look at the work objectively for patterns or themes, reflect and interpret meaning.

If I was to do this to my own work I would see the pattern of change, in subject, style. I would see that themes of creating patterns, texture, brush stroke and intense colour and emotion is repeated. I like to capture essences or life and movement in whatever the subjects are. The pattern of process shows that I like to really research techniques, styles methods intensely before I start. I love the challenge of learning new things and tend to move on once I feel that I understand them by being able to re-create the idea or technique a few times. Is this a weakness or a strength. I'm not sure.