Painting Large

In Studio Journeys, our art bundle, or monthly lesson plan, for Jan. has been scale.  Those who tend to paint small are encouraged to paint large, and those who already paint large are encouraged to try very small paintings.  My challenge has been to go bigger.  I've gotten pretty comfortable with the 12" square or the 16x20".  This painting is not huge, but it is a step up at 24x30".  I'd like to try some really big paintings like 5 ft. x 6 ft, but that seems impossible until weather warms up and I can use the garage.  There is quite a challenge to keep the same loose energy going as you go bigger, a whole new set of tools required, but it is exciting and I'm eager to experiment a lot more.

For this painting I used the Zorn Palette which I've fallen in love with--cadmium red medium, yellow ochre, black and white.

Need a Do-Over!

I've decided I'm starting the new year all over in Feb.  Things are not getting off to a good start.

I lost my 13 year old bulldog, and trusty studio companion, Jack.  He was constantly by my side, and his favorite place was my studio.  I always felt like he probably picked up happy vibes from me when we were working in there.  He often got there first and barked to let me know it was time to join him.  The studio is very empty without him, and I'll be grieving that loss for quite a while.

My energy level is very low as I struggle with a cold.  I'll be heading to CA to help my mom recover from foot surgery for a few weeks, so everything will be on hold for a while.  But February!  Time for a fresh start!

I have only begun a few stitches toward my new daily stitch project.  Maybe I'll get it off to a serious start in Feb.  I know the direction I want to go now--lots of spontaneous stitching.  Here are some of the inspirations behind it.

The stunningly gorgeous stitching of Lisa Smirnova.  Her version of Frida takes my breath away.  I love the rawness of her stitching combined with her delicate touch.  Wow!

The playful heavy stitching and recurring motifs of Junko Oki.

 These wonderful chunky stitched pieces from The Nui Project, a stitching program for developmentally disabled adults in Japan.

And the very spontaneous stitching of Rieko Koga.

I so love all of this work, and hope that I can somehow capture that free, spontaneous feeling in my new project.  My posting will be sporadic until I get settled back in in Feb, but maybe by then I'll have lots of wild stitching to show.

Deep Experimentation

More experiments with the Zorn palette.  I wanted to explore the range of colors and moods I could get with those same 4 colors--black, white, Cadmium Red med. and Yellow Ochre.  I'm also trying to be even more raw in painting, not polishing them up so much.  Nancy Hillis has a phrase--deep experimentation--that is always in my mind.  I think that will be my word(s) for the year.  To me it's about showing up, listening deeply to intuition, trying the uncomfortable, and hardest of all, doing a lot of paintings that I end up not even liking.  There's a lot of letting go to work on this year, but I think that's where the more exciting work is.

I love this time of year, reviewing what worked and didn't work last year and planning for the new one.   To set a direction for painting, I've been using these questions from Donna Zagotta's blog a few years ago.  I've probably paraphrased them, but they are basically what she asks.

1.  In the next 12 months, I want to accomplish--

2.  To achieve my goals, I will have to--

3.  My current interests are--

4.  Some things I would like to explore in my work--

5.  Words I want to have describe my work--

6.  3 artists I want to have as mentors--

7.  One specific thing I like about each of these artist's work--

8.  I can incorporate some of these ideas into my own by--

9.   If I could paint only one subject--

10.  I love painting this subject because--

11.  I can create a series on this subject by--

12.  I will love my paintings when--

I've answered them for painting, but I think I'll now go back and see how they apply to my stitching.

Out With the Old

While I was somewhat sad to finish up my 2016 stitch project, I am nothing but happy to have the 2017 one done.  I struggled with this one more, mainly because of the silk thread I used throughout it.  It tangled and snagged, and I spent way too much time trying to smooth it back down.  Lesson learned.  I also felt restricted by the composition in this one and started getting bored with it towards the end.  But I am happy I stuck with it and finished it.

Here's the December part.  I was not planning on using red and green as that seemed so...Christmasy, but it wanted to appear anyway.

I did feel good when I finally laid each month out together and got to see the whole thing.  Things always look better in lots of multiples.  I was surprised it turned out so colorful.  I thought I had a lot more neutrals in it.

I like the idea of it joining together in a long piece that somehow is displayed on spools, but for now I have to put both of these projects away and look at them fresh later.

Now I'm pondering the next stitch project.  I've been having such a hard time coming up with something for 2018 that I'm wondering if it means I don't want another year long project.  But I do like having something I do daily.  I showed this in my art group meeting, and one of the members, who also happens to be a therapist, asked me an interesting question-- "How has it changed you to work on something daily like this?"  I do think it changes you.  Partly it's having just a wee bit of structure, deadline, commitment to myself everyday.  It's almost like a little bit of self-care and a way of honoring my quiet time each day.  It also was very useful for keeping me present and aware of all the marks and lines around me as the seasons shift.

I do have ideas now for more handstitching in 2018, so I think I will just start something and see if it evolves into a yearlong project or not.

My new guidelines are:
1.  No silk thread!
2.  Room for compositional experimentation.
3.  Easily portable.  It has to fit into a ziplock bag.
4.  Not too many choices, limited materials.
5.  Only recycled materials or things I already have.

Happy New Year!