Process of Discovery

As artists we must pay attention to the things that we keep coming back to for they hold our greatest potential.

We can intellectualize art as much as we want and have grand reasons for why we make it, but it all starts with a small seed of intrigue - a technique, a line, a color, a notion. We come back to this seed again and again revisiting  that technique, that line, that color or that notion, and slowly it grows into something.

At least that’s the way it is for me. I latch onto something and explore it over and over again until I can discovery the meaning of it. Usually it starts out as an unconscious mark to fill space in my journal or a simple thing to try something new. That is how all of my work has started - my Excavation series, my Palimpsests, my mixed media pieces. Over a great period of time I come back to the idea again and again. I play with it, cultivate it, develop it, and finally figure out what it means to me.

So, it is the same with my latest fascination. For much of the last fifteen years, I have explored imagery that has dealt with Connection - connection to self and connection with others, and the latest iteration of this Connection imagery is a web-like image that first grew out of a tree/artery image (see above) in a journal more than five years ago. Over those years, I have revisited that image, and pushed it and pulled it. I have explored a variety of materials from ink and marker to acrylic paint and paper cuts. Something about it fascinates me, and I am still trying to discovery what it exactly means to me.

It’s web-like, and tissue-like. There is a definite organic quality to it - like blood vessels or microscopic views of cells. I tend to use red a lot though I have explored black and blue as well. I know it’s about connection - connection to and with others. My Excavation series was all about the connection to myself - about digging deep and going within. The web is about the ties that bind us to others, but I’m not particularly sure how or why. But that is the fun of art - the discovery. If I knew what it all meant, what it all was to look like, I wouldn’t have to make the art. It’s all about the process of discovery.

I do know that this line of inquiry needs to grow larger in more ways than one. I do know that I want to involve creative collaborators, and I have some ideas in the works. I’ll share more soon. Until I hope you enjoy my latest direction.

Great Week

I'm happy to say that after weeks of feeling tired and aimless, I've had a great week and feel like I'm heading in a good direction.

It started off with a visit to art dealer Grey Carter's house last Saturday. Grey is a collector and dealer of Visionary Art and represents a variety of artists, many of whom have been featured at the American Visionary Art Museum. It is always inspiring to see the work of other artists, and my wife and I were particularly taken with the work of JJ Cromer. I was inspired to get it into gear and start cleaning and organizing the studio on Sunday.

Also, on Sunday, I was able to take in the artwork of good friend and metal sculptor Brian Kirk at an artist's reception at a local winery. I taught alongside of Brian for nine years when I taught high school art. Over the last few years Brian has been exploring rust prints and has devised a way to have steel objects, shapes, and plates rust onto watercolor paper. The results are unpredictable and very stunning. At the reception, I ran into another artist/teacher friend Steve Loya and his wife, and we spent the rest of the afternoon at another local winery catching up and having a lovely time. Steve is a longtime friend and author of the blog Go Flying Turtle. His Splotch Monsters are amazing.

So it was an art filled weekend, and though the week wasn't filled with as much art, I had a great week at school. Teaching art at the elementary level can be an amazing experience. The kids come up with some incredibly creative things, and their curiosity can't be beat. Too bad many of them lose those qualities as they grow. I also had time to finish the cleaning and organizing of my studio (See the photo above). I now have space to work, and I can actually find things. It was nice to purge.

To cap off a great week, I was able to work on some of my own art last night, and I feel like I'm getting back into the groove. And afterward, I spent the chilly evening relaxing in front of a perfect fire in the backyard fire pit. It is so calming to watch a fire burn.

What a great week. I feel like I'm opening up and letting the universe in.

Art of the Carolinas

In two weeks the Journal Fodder Junkies will be returning to Art of the Carolinas in Raleigh, North Carolina once again. We will be teaching two journaling/mixed-media workshops, and there is plenty of room left in both. So if you are in the Raleigh area or wish to take a trip to North Carolina, we hope to see you there. Click the links below for more information. It's not too late to sign up.


Art of the Carolinas - Raleigh, NC

Friday, November 8 - Alternative Approaches to the Self Portrait, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM, $119

Sunday, November 10 - The Illustrated Manuscript: A Chapter in the Book of You, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM, $119

Turning a New Leaf

My life has swung amazingly out of balance lately. I have been feeling tired, disconnected, scattered, and woefully out of touch with myself. I've been feeling overwhelmed and pulled in many directions, and I've been forgetting a lot of small details. Unfortunately, this has been a familiar feeling over the last few years.

My studio has shown the effects of this mental imbalance with all its clutter, piles, and mess. It has been almost a year and a half since I thoroughly cleaned and organized the studio making it a difficult and uncomfortable place to work. So, I haven't worked there much. Although I have done some small works and have started a few larger pieces, I have allowed myself to be pulled from my work. I am feeling the effects tremendously.

I am trying to shift the balance, and this past weekend, I began cleaning and organizing the studio trying to purge the clutter and make sense of a lot of junk that has accumulated. I haven't quite gotten it completely cleaned and organized, but it's well on it's way and not the frightful mess like the picture above. I'll share another photo of the studio when I complete the overhaul.

I'm hoping that this major studio cleanse will be the start of a shift back to center to a state of greater balance and peace of mind.

Upcoming Workshops

Are you struggling with your art? Is your inner critic rearing it's ugly head causing doubt and frustration? Then we have the answer. Actually we have two answers, and both involve joining us for one of our upcoming workshops to get your creative juices flowing.

We will be teaching two classes each at Art Unraveled in August and Art of the Carolinas in November, and registration is going on for both. So, come and join us in Phoenix and/or Raleigh and jump start your art with some new ideas.

Art Unraveled - Phoenix, AZ, July 29 - August 6

Sunday, August 4 - Cultivate Creativity, 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM, $145

Monday, August 5 - Facing Doubts and Just Letting Go, 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM, $145

Art of the Carolinas - Raleigh, NC, November 7-10

Friday, November 8 - Alternative Approaches to the Self Portrait, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM, $119

Sunday, November 10 - The Illustrated Manuscript: A Chapter in the Book of You, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM, $119

We hope to see you at one of these.

Topography

Although this summer has already been busy (Dave and I had our retreat, and I taught a weeklong journal camp for kids), I have had some time in the studio. I have been woking in the journal as well as on some small scale mixed media pieces, but I have also been working on some pieces that are starting to move into new directions.

For some time now I have been enamored with topographic imagery, and I have explored it a lot in my journal over the last couple of years. I love maps and the way they connect us to each other and our environments. I love how they are representational of those connections and relationships. I think the main reason why I have been attracted to topographic ideas has a lot to do with how they can not only show how high something is, but also how far something recesses - thinking of canyons and rifts. On a flat surface, the lines of elevation are only shapes and how close or far away from other lines, represents the steepness or flatness of an area. But once those shapes are cut out and stacked up, they begin to show the form. As a lover of paper, I am fascinated, also, by how a flat surface can be used to create form. More specifically, I like how the paper can create a form that recedes into the surface - how it can stack layer upon layer. I even experimented with some thin drawing paper back in February.

In the example above, I used twenty-five 11x14 inch sheets of Strathmore Imperial Watercolor paper to create the recession. Using a very sharp X-acto knife, I cut each piece individually beginning with the top layer. I haven't glued them yet, and I think that I want to cut out a couple more recessions that bleed the edges and break up the surface a bit more. The stack is about a half inch thick, and I'll probably glue it all together and seal it with Golden Soft Gel Medium and mount it on a cradle once I am finished cutting. I love the white relief, so I have no plans to paint it.

JFJ: The Retreat

Dave and I were extremely fortunate to conduct our very own art retreat this week. It was an intimate affair with just five participants, but for four days we explored the visual journal at the Embassy Suites in Ashburn, VA, just 30 minutes from my home.

The group gelled very quickly, and we ended up eating lunch together and hanging out far beyond our scheduled time. Since we had the same room for the entire four days, it didn't take long for the art bomb to drop, and with three big round tables, everyone was able to spread out in order to take full advantage of the small group size. Besides sharing our perspective on the visual journal, we initiated several of the group into the ways of Farkle - a dice game where newbies swear that you're just making up the rules as you go.

With the creative energy and the camaraderie, it was fantastic group, and we felt very lucky to have Kathy, Kristy, Joe, Nicole, and Jackie join us for our inaugural retreat. We are definitely going to have another retreat next year hoping that it will become an annual tradition. We have even tentatively set the dates, June 26 - 29, 2014. We'll confirm up those dates later in the summer or early fall, but if you weren't one of our fortunate five this year, don't miss out next year.

Mark your calendars.

Layer 2

With the second layer for this series, I used Prismacolor watercolor pencil. Along with watercolor paint, watercolor pencil is one of my favorite media. I am particularly fond of using the pencil to define shapes by shading into the negative space and leaving the positive spaces untouched. This pushes the negative spaces into the image making them seem to recede from the surface. The spaces within the shapes seem to stay on level with the surface, thus starting the push and pull that I desire.

Since I worked on several pieces at once, I was able to experiment with a variety of color combinations and a variety of shapes. This watercolor pencil work begins to lay the compositional foundations for the pieces.

Layers - Step 1

I've been working on a series of small 4x6 inch layered pieces, and when I work small, I usually use the same process for each of them while experimenting with color, application, and imagery. So I've decided to share my process as a bit of a tutorial, and to let you in on what goes on inside my head as I work.

Layer 1 - Watercolor

With this series, I cut up a few pieces of Strathmore Mixed Media 400 Series paper and then began experimenting with watercolor. I relish the versatility and the transparency of watercolor paint, and I enjoy playing with brush strokes, stamping, and stenciling. I can quickly add a starting layer without much thought, set the piece aside, grab another piece, and try another color or another technique. With this piece I used mostly vertical brush strokes, and varied the value of the color. I didn't cover all the paper and left some white showing. With other pieces in this series, I stenciled using plastic mesh, stamped with bubble wrap, and painted random lines and shapes. I try to push myself out of my comfort zone and use colors and techniques that I normally don't use.

Stay tuned to see how this piece evolves.

Studio Time

Despite the sheer exhaustion from teaching elementary art, the busyness that springtime entails, and constantly trying to promote the retreat. I have managed to make it into the studio a few times over the last few weeks. Besides working in my journal, I've managed to begin a series of small 4x6 inch layered, mixed media pieces. I enjoy the small size because I can work on several at the same time often following the same basic process but experimenting all the while. Some pieces will grow into finished work, and others will stall and stagnate, but it is all part of the process. I'll reveal more as they develop.