What's On My Wall - May 26, 2013

Busy week getting ready for a show at Las Manos Gallery. I work in my home, a one bedroom condo in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, and it is not really large enough to do double duty as both a home and a artist studio. I really notice the cramped conditions when I'm working on multiple things simultaneously. This week I've been collaging cardboard, making watercolors of Lake Michigan and trying to fit a few things into store-bought frames. On the wall are two large stapled collage pieces headed for the Gallery. The new funky cardboard one was created out of leftover pieces of cardboard over a couple days of mad assembly this week. I haven't quite decided on it's orientation but if fit on the wall here and hanging gets it out of my way until the show. On the floor you can see some recent watercolors. They are created in layers and each layer has to dry completely before the next can go on. So I work on multiples at the same time and step over them as they dry. This photo shows the weeks worth, and it strikes me that these watercolors are a visual diary of the lakes changing colors and conditions. I use photos as reference for this series, mostly for color and tonalities. I hang my head and camera off my balcony and shoot between the buildings on Lake Shore Drive with the telephoto lens extended. Every once in a while I get a nice photo.

Invite for the June Show at Las Manos

Spring Cleaning - Watercolor Style

It must be spring. My watercolor work is ramping up and it is time to clean, organize and label my paint supplies. I spent Friday doing just that - making samples of each color in my chaotic array of watercolor tubes, tossing out the dead ones and making an inventory of needed supplies. I may have an interesting opportunity in the near future that involves the 'Lake' watercolors so this task is essential. I will keep you posted as things progress.

New Box Drawing

A couple new developments with my 'Box' drawings recently. I've been making them in white paint on dark back grounds. And I have found new paint based pens. These pens are popular with the graffiti crowd and here in the Chicago area are sold in art supply stores behind lock and key. But they are filled with acrylic paint, come in an array of colors and are relatively reliable when it comes to line width and application of paint. They are not with out a few problems, and they continue to occasionally challenge my perfectionist instincts, but I find the results refreshing. Below is a box drawing made with my new tool. It reinvigorates an old idea for me and I'm intrigued by the results. On to colored pens or maybe metallic?

Collage With Staples

The upcoming June show at Las Manos Gallery will consist of myself and Michelle Peterson-Albandoz. Although I have not made final selections as to the contents of the show I will be including this piece. It is a collage/construction made of recycled cardboard, some of it colored with India ink, held together with staples. I'm attracted to the somewhat random structure of the finished piece when it is held together with something as flexible as a staple. It reminds me of what it is I respond to in art utilizing fabric and textiles. It also relates to some of my recent work around flags. It is large, 40x82 inches and the orientation is flexible.

What's On My Wall - May 5, 2013

The same piece has graced my wall for the last few months - a cardboard construction held together with staples (see 'Whats On My Wall February 24, 2013'). It is so large and somewhat delicate that I have nowhere to store it, and taped to my wall is a relatively safe spot in my crowded apartment/studio. I finally got tired of looking at it so yesterday I flipped it around to expose the back side. I forgot how colorful it would be! But it is refreshing, and the clustering of color is intriguing. Also visible in the photograph; my new Ted Harris lamp from Scout, a recent panoramic photograph from my trip to Palm Springs, and at the foot of one of my retro 70's era speakers, is an old India ink drawing on a rough piece cardboard. Details below.