Long Shots

Were you ever in a muddle?

Didn't know how to get from here to there?

Then you met someone, or several someones and they offered to take your hand?
Form will follow function, just give it your best shot. That muddle will make sense to someone. "I can help with that." Sweet words to my ears. You see my plate is full. "Ahh, not a problem. We've seen this all before. Now come on to the party."

Suddenly that long shot doesn't seem so overwhelming. Outsourcing. May be the answer to long shots. Brush...needs more of me. Here's the thing with artists. Because we can see how things are done, we think we must learn how and do them all. We're so smart that sometimes we are stupid that way. Staff? Can't afford it. Assistants? Do I look like I am Jasper Johns? Tech? Have you seen my eyes glaze over when I look at code? Writing? Working on it. Marketing? Shh, secret weapon. How do we juggle all those balls in the air and still keep creating on a larger scale? World domination? No, just my little part of it. Long shot? Yes. Are we going to find out how? You bet. I am making the map right now. Now shh, brush is calling, there's wine to chill and some naughtiness to be found...you too. Get to it...Sometimes we need "naked"( More on that later) naughtiness... Make me smile.

Naked In Public?

Yep. That's what they said. Personal...yet not too much. Then someone said the naked lady was too much. Huh??? So of course in my own special rebellious yet enlightened way...said that's what I post today. Naked ladies. Well, we call them nudes. Figure studies. The human form is a lovely thing. There's a difference in being a stripper and being an artist's model. In my field, this is how we learn to articulate. Not words. Visual essences.
I said to Kelly yesterday, "Show me a line and I'll tell you the truth of that moment." We were talking about the value of being fluent with a pencil, a skill set we both own. Kelly's work is multifaceted, but the fluency is there in the bones, even when the pencil mark is not going to show. The doggone good at it shows through in every other thing. You can tell the truth of my moment in this drawing. So strip down in your field. Get basic. What's the number one most important part of it? Get naked with what you do, regularly, and do it even better. And people, smart people, get that sometimes showing a little skin is exactly what we need.

It Begins With a Puddle

Not too much to see. Unless you think potentiality.



Blue. Cobalt blue. Some water. A sable brush. And me.



Do you see a sky? or a river bed? Or something not yet formed? Look at the edges so freshly wet. And traces of potent blue. I see the beginnings of all things, of tidepools, constellations, even a heartbeat.



Here's some line. A little ink. A bit of pencil. Two more essentials. Every puddle I have waded, every river, ocean or stream that flows through my fingers, every raindrop on my face...can be touched again. Brought to life with resonance.



No, doesn't look like much. A few simple tools.



And then add me.

This is for Michael Martine.

First Rule- Don't Panic

I panicked. But the actual first rule is show up. I showed up. And panicked. Don't panic is written on the GUIDE. You know the guide don't you? "Don't panic and carry a big towel?" I figure the towel is for mopping up big messes. Or napping after. Or wiping off all that chaos that threatens to make my painting life just one little light traipse through Hades. (or for cleaning all those plucked chickens.)



Here's the noodle of twine from yesterday. Yeah, not very bad. Cause I didn't photograph the real mess off camera. Because the real mess is sometimes in my bicameral brain. Here's part of my method: I gather lots of info, source material, do research on anything really important to me, keep an admin notebook and checklist, all for my left brain. It needs this. My right brain is light years ahead. Straining at the leash saying come on come on...just do it...you don't need those words...pick up the brush and let me out. We'll get there. Right brain does not always know when to come in though...rarely hears my whistle . Forgets to eat....sounding familiar? So left brain tries to take care of right brain. Right brain has been winning lately though.



This is left brain asserting itself. Tidying up loose ends. Making sure the compass is set in the right direction. Making the map. Checking on the practical stuff...like clients, invoicing, shipping, and getting new work, being able to speak intelligently to the tech guys, looking up White Wolf's World of Darkness. ( more on that later)



This is left and right brain having a conversation. Picking the source material for a big new commission. ( more on this upcoming on the clients with no imagination)



This is left brain saying to right. See you get to go big. They want one like this only four times bigger. Right brain is by the door panting, leash between teeth. Come on come on. Left brain is checking...panic is subsiding..loose ends? almost done...okay just a minute... I'm coming...augh...where's that towel?

72 Million and a Ball of Twine

That's how it started. If you stay up on Contemporary Art markets, you know that Qatar is on the hunt to furnish their new Contemporary Art Museum. They are armed with cash. Lots of it. They are getting Rockefeller Rothkos (72 million dollars US ) and people like Peter Brant are taking a few goodies out of their extensive collections and cashing them in. Peter wants to buy a paper mill. So he's selling his Ball of Twine, a Lichenstein. Estimates are at 14-18 million for it. See this photo? This is my ball of twine. And you will note, no where near it is 14, 18 or I would totally faint, 72 million smackeroos



Deliverables.( Self Made Chick) That was the second unhinging word, or was it core message? (Garr Reynolds) Bodice ripping copy ( thanks Sonia), an exercise in gripping copy; "Pain body", a useful new concept handle from Eckhardt Tolle; And writing as it should be ( thanks Ace)...all contributors to my unease... you could call it growth...I am calling it a pain in the brain today. Yep. It's organizing Monday and it is a rowdy unruly crowd.



This Zen Garden is calm. Contemplative. Easy. I must get back to it. If you look at the notes in the first photo, my stepping stones are fighting me hard. Jumping up and down, "Me first, No me first, no me first"....which is why I pulled out my ipod, to quiet them down. It's a messy Monday and my reach exceeds my grasp. Hmm, is there a business pain body as well as a personal one? Will the right brain and left brain ever reconcile? Will I get out of my robe and smack them around? Hm, Idea Sandbox helped me with the list. But I think it was rigged...and 14 million for a Ball of Twine? I wonder how the folks in Qatar feel about Zen gardens? Get Sothebys on the phone. Yep, it's Monday alright. Repeating now the mantra of MITs....( most important tasks...ommm) Don't make me come over there...grrr...they're at it again. Gotta go.

The Function of Form

Although form is technically mass and volume (the painting as a whole), here representation of form is essential...as navigation.



Clues and ticklers. Not too much, Just enough. To guide you through.



Look at the important edges where two forms kiss. The meeting of some edges. That's where I'll be working next, to make this painting "pop." Just some chosen ones. Ones that serve the whole.

We're creating a zen garden. A place to meditate. So the path of kisses will lead to timelessness.

A nod to Naughty Friday? Oh yes...find another human form and plant some kisses of your own. Why? Because I said so. And besides art and life should always intertwine. (Yes, I see that...and I'm not taking it out. Embrace it. Make me smile.)

Vibrations of Color

Rock, water, stone and wood, need nuanced vibrations. The kind tertiary colors can give.



When you see violet your eye wants yellow. The same with red and green. The reverberations between them both incite and neutralize



Where you see a cool color, look quickly for a warm one. We need the heat to feel the cold.

Physics serving art. Stirring my emotions.