Thursday, December 28, 2006

Remembering ArtBasel/MiamiBeach

Thinking about art in Miami!

This is SO weird, but now that it's been about three weeks, I can come up for air regarding Art Basel-Miami Beach.

This is not about Art Basel-Miami Beach really..........it's more about the fact that I was cleaning out my big sack of stuff from Art Basel and remembered that I stuck a card in the big sack of an artist whose work I really liked. His name is hard to remember for me since I don't know a lot of artists with names spelled like his (being that I'm an ordinary American-Southern artist) His name is Karim Ghidinelli. Now could you remember how to spell his name, I ask you if you didn't know how?? http://karimghidinelli.com

This site really doesn't show you what I saw of his work in Miami......at the ArtCenter/SouthFlorida complex.

My friend, Robin Walker, told us about his work when she and Nancy came across it the day before....so she took us back over to the art center after dinner on Friday night. I enjoyed visiting there as much or more than all the other places we went over the several days in Miami.

The work........IT IS FABULOUS..........surface quality (I can't do without it), mark-making with meaning, and wonderful craftsmanship/technique. We saw some work I don't see on his website......work that was maybe 6 feet tall and in a couple of panels. It represented a portrait of someone he knew, only not an ordinary portrait. One that was composed of script or writing the subject of the portrait had written.

Karim organized all this script into a wonderfully executed/designed artwork. .....beautiful layers of paint, and/or metal inscribed with script and wax or whatever he used for the other layers. We talked to him about what he did with the work and I've forgotten (if I ever knew) everything he said about how he worked on those pieces...........they were exquisite. It's impossible to really see what he does on the website. I don't see the pieces I'm talking about either.

I haven't done the work or the description of what he told us about the work justice. Sorry Karim.........you know how it is when someone else describes what the artist means or does!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Just Can't help myself...Merry Christmas!

I got a link to this site to make this from my friend Karen Jacobs. I just couldn't help myself, I made one of my own for all of you............
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=ca61d0ccb89f32fcc04a2b6G06122308

Friday, December 22, 2006

Opening Pandora's Box

Unlocking Pandora's box. That might be what I could call trying to find something in the studio. I mentioned earlier finding a painting from 2005.........now I need to find a painting for a frame and plexiglas here in the studio. Knowing me, I did not order a good frame and plexiglas for no reason at all.......but it's 19 x 25".......hum, now where is that painting?

Then I had to uncover a lot more dust bunnies as I KNEW I had 16 x 16 plexiglas for the last three maple frames that size and I need them now for some collage pieces. Wouldn't you know it was on the bottom of the pile of stuff under the table corner on an old rolling utility cart..............BUT, now I have two extra ones and wonder why.

Oh........and all the saved collage stuff I found (cough, cough). If I didn't do collage/mixed media work, I might have more room around here.

Maybe there's a message here.........some real goody hiding out in all this stuff that will just MAKE my new painting project. I can hope so.. or give that excuse anyway for keeping all this stuff anyone else would have trashed long ago.

The downer is I got all my stuff out for putting the chopped 48 x 48" frame together this morning and found a bad place in the corner so had to call the framer to return them so it will be after the new year before they send the new ones to replace these. I was hoping to make inroads on getting some of this stuff framed up so I could put it all away and start fresh.

Framing/matting,etc just doesn't mix well with painting and collaging. I've been cutting all the outsides of my rag mat and backing boards for the past couple of years and then taking them downtown to the framer to cut the insides for a nominal fee. It sure beats ruining expensive rag mat like I'm prone to do since I don't do enough mat cutting to get good at it.

Guess my break has lasted long enough.....lured away by email again. Need to get the outsides of those mats cut and stacked away.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Who knows what you might find cleaning the studio?



Who knows what you might find if you clean up around the studio a little? I was moving stuff around and trying to get ready to start working on a new series of paintings when I found a painting I made right after I came back from Santa Fe last year. Since I flew there in a small plane I was even more aware of the landscape with an aerial view/perspective and so that's where the title of this painting came from.

Aerial View, acrylic on paper 30 x 22". I see that I signed it in this vertical orientation but it would work turned any way you want I think.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

One through twelve........or is it fearless???

One through twelve...........or Fearless!

Well, this post could be called fearless.....I'm fearless when it comes to prepping my canvases or getting out the paint to lay out on the palette. Scared ^$#L(ESS when it comes to really doing much, although I'm good at faking it.

This one could be called both............I've been mulling over in my mind for some time some work I might start when I have uninterrupted time. (Is there such a thing?). It's really unusual to have a "plan" per se for me. And I have to say that the plan is still open to changes as always, in my mind.

I just went into the studio to prep the panels I ordered some time ago from Jerry's/Ampersand.
They look wonderful.....just beautiful. Now to make something to complement the wonderful surface. My plan is not complete, but it is a negative/positive thought. So when I went to Miami............guess what I saw there??? Negative/Positive. Now I know you don't know what I'm talking about but in my mind I DO. That is the most important thing........I KNOW. Now to DO IT.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Just can't do it

Just can't do it. I left the bait to stay tuned in the last post and now I have no time to think straight and I can't separate all that I saw and did at Art Basel-Miami Beach. Many others who really did know what they were doing and where they were going said it better than I could have anyway.

Matthew Langley and Edward Winkleman are two who have blogs to read about what they saw there. These people also are in the "network" and know the art crowd. I'm just a painter going around with my jaw dropped looking. Of all the shows, I think I really enjoyed Flow and Bridge (located next to each other in the Catalina Hotel) the most.........but what the heck, they were the main shows I saw where the galleries were a bit more approachable. The guys at the ABMB were so far in the stratosphere above me for me to feel like I was in a museum with a cattle car feel. I spent the WHOLE first day there. ( they need to open earlier than noon....I can't stay up all night).

With so much going (holiday time you know) on since I returned, I'm officially abandoning the idea of making any contribution to the gazillion other blogs on Miami. I know something will seep out sometime down the line but it will be old news by then.

I'm just hoping the old news influence will in some way affect how I feel about my career as an artist........not by emulating some of hype but just by having experienced it.(I don't think this might make any sense).........oh well, how many artists make sense to anyone else but themselves???

Good thing our group had a place out in East Little Havana to go to get away from some of it in the late evening.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Frozen Brain, art overload







Frozen brain...........



That's what I have after coming home from Art Basel-Miami. No way around it, my brain is NOT working. I saw so much and yet I didn't see a fraction of what was there to see. AND, I'm only talking about art here.....not all the partying and networking that was going on all over the place.



And I'd never been to Miami, or even Florida, so it was all foreign to me. I'd heard Miami was dirty and they didn't speak English there ( I won't divulge where I got that info). I must say right out that I loved it......and what I saw was great. They may not have all spoken English (some areas more than others, maybe) but I felt like I was in another country in the area where I stayed in East Little Havana..........and they had a fantastic place there at the B & B ...Miami River Inn ...with 4-5 bungalows.........near our home away from home, I felt like I might be in the REAL Miami. I even found some really cool but comfy little thong sandals really cheap on 7th or 8th Street or Avenue (can't get those straight).They name some streets and some avenues with the same name ....and Cuban food the first night at a strangely named restaurant named Versailles Restaurant..located on SW 8th Street.

First of all, next time I go to something like this I will NOT buy my tickets to get in the event ahead of time like I did this time.............I wasted money as I couldn't go the second day to the main event or I wouldn't have been able to see a few of the other shows there. I'll just stand in line to get my ticket day by day or take my chances and get there early and pray. As it was, I still didn't see a fraction of what was there to see. I suppose I should have noted what I wanted to see exactly but over time I've found that only makes me anxious when I can't get over to see what I had planned. This time I was going with the flow so to speak. Just go where everyone else wanted to go, and in the time allotted. Oh yeah.........that was another thing......nothing opened until noon, so how did you expect to get around to seeing much in the time frame. I'd not really taken note of that. Good things and bad..........at least you didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to something but my old internal alarm went off and I got up and was ready to go by at least 9 am, coffee and the breakfast goodies put out by Carlos at the Miami River Inn. The evenings were full of walking/strolling around just gawking at things like the Delano Miami scene and all the people.........too bad I'm not a people painter!



continued.......... ah ha....gotcha, huh!

Monday, December 4, 2006

Yikes.....Art Basel-Miami Beach

YIKES.........Art Basel-Miami Beach is almost upon me. I leave for Dallas day after tomorrow early as I have things to do there before flying out on Thursday.

BUT, first I need to figure out what I'm taking with me to a place that has a forecast of rain every day and upper 70's for temps....when it is upper 20's right now here at home with highs in the 50's........Even more important is the same old thing that happens every time I'm going anywhere for any time spent walking around......SHOES, what shoes??? I know, I know, comfy shoes, and then you have to think of the weather again and shoes that are warm or cool. So off to the department store again just to look to make sure I haven't overlooked something I need when I don't even know what that is.

I might also need a couple of bright colored tops that aren't too hot....and everything seems to be totally neutral in the closet as I looked at it this morning and I need jeans that are actually long enough.............

Back from the mall.... and so much for that idea. They didn't have my size to try on of the shoes I wanted to try.....some comfort ballet style flats. Will try again in Dallas Wednesday if I have time, but will just have to take what I have in case that doesn't work out either.

Saturday, December 2, 2006

Calling it finished




Calling it finished...........

I've been working on this painting again reported on in the last blog entry. Then I had to sleep on it for two days. This morning was THE day, I'm painting over the top....just has to be, for good or ill.

Some people might like the first rendition, but this is finished........if I decide later it isn't, I'll just throw it away as I think this thing has about a ton of paint on it and it's not the heavy duty gallery wrap stretcher so it just can't take any more weight.......and it will have to be framed. This just reminded me why I don't like painting on the standard stretchers any longer.


This is the first of the final rendition...it just had to have more unity ....so, red won out...give me more red for the final painting........











The the final painting is at the top of the post.............title??