The Process.

[Ceanothus americanus, Gouache on mat board / Oil on canvas]

Making a cohesive body of visual art is a strange process. It's one I have never truly had to commit myself to until recently, seeing as the bulk of the past three years has focused mainly on individual projects or mini-series. I have collections of graphite and charcoal renderings from various drawing courses, a portfolio of anatomical studies and gestural sketches from Figure Painting, newsprint-swaddled monotypes and lithographs from printmaking, and similar documentation from just about every other studio class I have been a part of. But now instead of being given a task with guidelines, I am in the thick of creating not just a finished product, but the foundation on which I am to build my thesis, ideas, dialogue, aesthetic, and also the visual artwork.

 The process, I have realized, takes a great deal of time. Time to process and refine ideas until they become expressible thoughts, time to let the thought process be worked out in the physical method of sketching, painting, building, and time to carry out projects that cost not only time, but money, and more likely than not will end up in the "no" category come exhibition time, or prove to be nothing more than a stepping stone on the road leading to the right combination of subject/style/medium needed to communicate an idea more clearly.

So far I'm six months in, and am still constantly learning. I am beginning to understand what it might look like to make art as a job in which I grow and advance, not solely as a hobby I'm passionate about. I want to make art consistently for the long haul. Whether or not I'll be able to make a living off of it is unknown, but even if it's not my main source of income, I have to stick with it. There is something intrinsic about it, and I would hate to ever abandon a practice so valuable to me.

As my senior exhibition approaches, I'll post some more info about what exactly I'm painting, how, and why. Also, I will have an artist statement ready to share. Huzzah for progress!

To Staying in Bed.

Consider my glass raised.

I am a morning person. I like to wake up around the same time the sun does. It could be due to some kind of suppressed competitive nature I have yet to fully admit to, but if ever I am the last to wake up in the house, I hate it. I feel as though I have been beaten to the punch, because I wanted this precious, quiet morning to myself - uninterrupted by any of you goons' thunderous banter (mildly dramatic... but not always entirely untrue). 

Idyllic mornings consist of rainy conditions outside, hot breakfast, coffee via french press drunk from my favorite cerulean pottery mug, little to no speaking, sitting on the blue sofa adjacent to the corner window in my bedroom, breathing deeply, reminding myself of things that are Good, sometimes reading, sometimes writing, and trying to be quiet, be present. 

On a recent morning, however, I slept later than planned and having missed those fleeting hours, dared attempt a different course of action: I stayed in bed ... for quite some time. I ventured to the kitchen only to prepare my french press and cook some oats, and with my steaming breakfast and coffee in tow, hurried quickly back into the cocoon of flannel and down.

Curling up under the toasty comforter after finishing my oats, I picked up an outdated issue of Kinfolk I got on sale for $4 at Williams Sonoma (probably the only thing I have ever actually purchased from Williams Sonoma) and perused a few of the beautifully written essays and tales accompanied by stunning photos of magnificent places. Simple stories of humanity and beauty. 

For me, I have learned there is great value in beginning my day in a state of rest and imagination. And in that, I have learned those purest morning hours are not the only hours in which such a state can be experienced. And in that, I have learned sleeping in (past 8 AM) is not always in my worst interest. (As long as I have a warm, unmade bed and anthology of something Good awaiting my return)

Figuring.

{Re-cap of ARTS 4985}

A sampling of sketches and studies from Adv. Figure Drawing & Painting: