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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 17

My son's sneakers.

Is motherhood an art form?
Discuss.

In the book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell discusses "The 10,000 Hour Rule" — saying it takes that many hours of practice to master a skill. I have been a mother for 141,120 hours and I am still learning.

The image of "mother" often conjures up cliches of minivans and soccer games, so the importance of motherhood is easily diminished. As a mother, a human being has come out of your body. Amazing. You are handed a soul wrapped in skin, organs and nerves that you must guide into life, yet he is the teacher and you are the apprentice.

I've been pondering the thought, "Is motherhood an art form?"
I say that I am a mother and an artist, but perhaps they are one in the same. I define "artist" as one living life with awareness.  It is a state of being which cannot be defined by the number of canvases one completes. I know many a painter who doesn't live life with awareness. They create hundreds of paintings, but they are not artists.

Are all mothers artists? No, but motherhood has the potential to be elevated to an art form if it is done with awareness — taking the time to be still, listen, look at your child. To study their subtleties of dark and light. 

The child is the canvas. The mother, the painter. The child brings forth his own unique palette and mother must take care not to mix his colors into her own hues. The artist must know restraint. 

After many years of work, the masterpiece is sold — handed over to another so the world may experience the complexities of this creation. You let go, hoping you have done your best work, praying that another will study his soul — where darks make lights beautifully intense — and be forever changed. That is the purpose of art. That is the purpose of motherhood.

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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 16

Hare-Raising Thought
A poem inspired by a rabbit that visits my yard. 
He breaks my heart.

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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 15

SPRING FEVER 

I have Spring Fever. So, yes I have been procrastinating, or rather creating in a different way. I seem to want to clean and organize the house and be out in the garden. And that's it. Of course, this is all coupled with end of year chaos in my son's schedule and having a husband traveling for business. So what's an artist/mother/wife/director-of-domestic-operations to do? Find art in the everyday.

My sculptures titled, Bushed. 

Homage to Calder

This was a complete accident. My son made me the necklace when he was in Kindergarden. I recently came across it again and taped it to the wall. Just loved the way it tangled itself and the cast shadow. Google Calder if you don't get the joke. http://www.calder.org/life/historic-films He's very cool.

My Modern Art

I did do one very productive thing this week. I designed an art card for my dear friend Luke DeLalio. He is having a gallery show at Ripe Art Gallery and has created these awesome paintings. Very inspiring. Someday I will paint again with something other than yogurt.

Now off to the dentist. AGAIN. Woohoo!

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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 14

"In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat who will ignore him." 
— Dereke Bruce

I was pondering the bliss an artist feels when creating and sharing with others versus the worthlessness one feels when you start to wonder, "Why do I bother creating art? I could be working out instead." (Yeah, right!).Five minutes later I serendipitously came across this quote nestled in a pile of papers. A friend had written her e-mail on the front, and unbeknownst to me a quote on the back. I received the paper several weeks ago, but it made it's presence known at just the right time.

And now, I move forward! I'm contemplating another design initiative (while continuing on with all my others projects, of course). I have partnered with another artist and we are brainstorming. It would have us venture off into creating artistic spaces — domestic, retail, or theatrical for cients who want to upcycle their own furniture and accessories. More to come on this, but if you want a sneak peek, go to #artfulspacemakers on instagram. Or get a quick glimpse of a home decor vignette below. 

This vignette sits on my book case. I used a wooden horse that was my Dad's, and several art books with the dust jackets removed to reveal their cloth covers and gold lettering. My painting of a seahorse sneaks in on the left, maintaining the "horse" theme.

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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 13

I have been listening to the book "Just Kids" by Patti Smith. It is the story of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their evolution as artists (Thanks for the loan M.B.!). I listen on my daily drive to my son's school to make that time more valuable. It has been a tremendous help for me to see behind the curtain of fame and learn what their process and struggles were as young, undiscovered artists. It makes me understand how an artist must create regardless of sales or recognition, and that success only comes after much hard work and the luck of being in the right "circles". I don't think I'm in the right "circle" out here in suburbia, more like a square. I try to remind myself that true success is being able to share my work — to have someone see it, read it, and react to it. Without that, I am in solitary confinement.

I identified with their need to be eclectic with their art. I always saw that as a fault of mine, I like to dabble in many different creative projects instead of staying focused on just one, but they were the same. Robert Mapplethorpe used to weave necklaces. I ventured off into embroidery this week using a Hair-Raising Thought I transferred onto linen. 

And then I played with various transfer/collage techniques to develop ideas for The Face Book project. I don't know where I am heading with this, but experimenting (aka: making mistakes) is the only way to reveal which way the compass points.

Barrette Girl has a passion for reading, but not returning her library books, so I purchased old library checkout cards to create a background for her. I photographed them and then created a double-layered transfer. Not quite working yet. Need to keep experimenting to find my way.

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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 12

Overdue

I took a week off from blogging so that I could clean my house and get ready to have family over for Easter. Ya miss me? Wait. Don't answer that. 

Reflecting on the last two weeks, I realize I don't have much to show, but I can tell you two things. The character descriptions of Barrette Girl and Duke (See entry 10 & 11) have led me to write a full blown love story which may result in a handmade story book. I can't share that yet because it's in the incubator stage. It needs to gain some weight, but stay tuned. 

The other news is that Barrette Girl and my Pretty Pigeon photograph are on display at The White Weathered Barn in Greenport. I am thrilled to have my work officially out in the world. A validation like that is worth a million bucks to me. (Shout out to Rena!)It's the coolest store. I highly suggest you check it out and then have lunch at the Blue Canoe as you watch the Shelter Island Ferry go back and forth. I wish I were there now.

But enough daydreaming. My reality is I sit in a fuzzy bathrobe bathed in the light of my mac. Other than writing, it's been a lean time for my visual art, and I am very frustrated with that. Time. Time. Time. It slips through my fingers as I put a chicken in the oven and do the 5th load of laundry. My work occurs in between the moments of my life. Otherwise, it doesn't happen. And some weeks, like this week, it is just a few sketches knocked out while drinking a cup of coffee.

Before Coffee

  Tattooed with Truth

 Pushy Lady Shopping Next to Me

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paintings & procrastinations

ENTRY 11

Laundry Prison
Instead of fluff and fold, I feel fluff and old.
Living more the life of a maid than an artist lately, but I do love to have a homey home for my family.
Always trying to figure out how to strike that balance.

Being Mom.
Standing nervously at a closed door, straining to hear my son's NYSSMA performance—I become a living, breathing stereotype. After weeks of driving to lessons and ordering extra strings and the right sheet music, I believe I earned the right, thank you very much.

All a Glow

After the meter was turned off on my Mom Taxi, I decided to "fill the well", as they say, and wander through Anthropologie. Love this display of dried oranges and lemons. I'm eager to try this myself. So beautiful!

So what's that you say? 
Oh, right. I'm supposed to be sharing art. Right, right. Well after a delightful routine mammogram and food shopping, I have returned to my studio 
(really just a corner of a room, but let's ignore that fact.)

Experiments in Framing
Playing around with framing up Barrette Girl and the shot of last week's pretty pigeon. Just waiting on more prints to arrive tomorrow and I will add them to the mix.

My work on "The Face Book" continues.
I have continued dreaming up the lives of Duke and Barrette Girl as they meet working at MaxMart. (Ya know, the big box store with the tagline, "GO TO THE MAX!")
I now introduce intimate details from the life of 
Duke Francis Stein:

The Incarnation of Duke Francis Stein

Duke’s mother, Margaret Stein, died when Duke was eight. He often visited her grave where he would refer to her as Regret Stein, an inside joke with himself. His attempt at making light of all their lost opportunities. It wasn’t enough to fade the sadness tattooed in his eyes. He lived with his Aunt Lu, a chain-smoker with a passion for reality TV. He prefered to be alone, but lived a textured inner life. A poet clothed in a cashiers smock, he scratched out spontaneous phrases on the back of forgotten MaxMart receipts, and thrust them into his pocket to be smoothed out later that evening. A book housing backward receipts could be found on his bedroom floor, the binding cracked from the added burden of paper and tape.