A quick post about other artists

I found artist Sophia Wallace online recently completely through happenstance and had to share this video of her recent art project: Cliteracy.  I love how such a simple idea can speak so loudly.  Cliteracy is solely about text and ideas, but this woman is also a beautiful photographer, so visit the link as well!

CLITERACY: 100 Natural Laws, by Sophia Wallace 

Also, Lisa Carrie Goldberg is here at Sparkbox in residence with me this week, and she's been doing all sorts of fun DIY projects/at home science experiments.  The other night she made this: and I had to force myself to stop playing with it

Ontario Part 1

I have just concluded my first week here in Picton, Ontario.  The town is lovely and the people have been so friendly!  Their warmth feels a lot like the southern hospitality I know in the states. The print studio here is such a great space, and I should post some more pictures later of my workspace.  For now, although I don't have a lot of studio pics, I have been obsessing over an app on my phone called "Vine" that lets you create and post looping videos.  So I do have a few of these:

       

For this past week I have been the only resident here, but tomorrow two other girls are coming in from Toronto.  

Also this past week Chrissy and Kyle (the owners of Sparkbox) did a workshop for high school art teachers in the area.  I'm so glad I was here to participate because it was a "Kitchen Lithography" workshop where we used cheap materials to make Litho prints.  You just wrap aluminum foil around plexi glass and draw your image with a sharpie, lithography crayon, or graphite, then stick it in a vinegar bath.  I even have a little instructional book to bring back with me so I can try again when I get home.  

These images sum up pretty well what has been happening here for the past few days.  Next week I'm sure I'll have more Vine videos and new pictures of Sparkbox! 

I just received these Molotow markers in the mail, and after much anticipation they certainly did not disappoint!  I've had my eye on them for the past few months and finally ordered a few from DickBlick to test them out.  Some of the color swatches on the website were slightly off, however, I am still more than satisfied with the quality of these paint markers.  They are the most opaque markers I've ever used and make it so much easier to draw directly on the surface of paintings.  (Although, with most of my supplies out of reach and temporarily in storage, I'm predominately drawing and painting on paper these days)

I'm preparing for a short term residency in Canada during late March through mid April.  Aside from putting these new markers to good use, I will also be working on some printmaking projects and exploring relief.  Ordering new supplies and sketching ideas for this trip have both gotten me excited and I'm really looking forward to visiting Spark Box Studio.

Happenings

These past few weeks have been enjoyably productive despite my spatial restrictions.  I just finished reading Sex, Art, and American Culture by Camille Paglia, and am eager to start Vamps and Tramps this week.  Paglia is an incredible writer with an unbelievable grasp of history and knowledge of popular culture.  (I love her emphasis on the importance of both because they each need and influence each other)  She is radical, progressive, controversial, aggressive, and really just interesting to read and listen to. Seriously - go look up some interviews on youtube after reading this.  I just discovered her recently, and I really appreciate her value of a genre's need for ongoing self-critique.  This is just one of the many issues she has with contemporary feminism.

My good friend Elizabeth Arzani and I are working on a collaborative series and it is really starting to come together.  She and I have very different working styles but both of our voices and experiences are apparent in these paintings.  Interestingly we will both be moving away from North Carolina at the exact same time this summer and will end up on complete opposite ends of the country.  To continue the series she and I will be mailing artwork back and forth.  We met this past week to unveil some recently finished pieces to each other.  Soon there will be a few pictures up on the website!

On Friday I had the opportunity to attend an opening held for two of my talented friends - Lydia Goldbeck and Morgan Hamer at Baku Gallery.  Their color palettes really complement each other well and the show looks awesome.  I love that all of my old classmates are out supporting each other.  I think their show is up for the rest of February, so if you're in Charlotte you should definitely stop by North Davidson to see it. 

In-betweens

Currently I am in limbo.  I am on the brink of many life changing events but my issue is exercising patience in awaiting all of the excitement.  Temporarily I am without a real studio to work in (among other important missing elements in my life).  Being in this space of so many “in-betweens” leaves me really grasping for any inspiration I can find and any new medium I can explore to keep my work habits consistent.  A refreshing visit yesterday to an amazing fabric store satisfied some part of my inspirational cravings.  There were an endless number of patterns, beadings, textures, colors, and tools.  This dilemma of working within a restricted space and my recent acquisition of a Louise Bourgeois catalogue have both drawn me to the use of fibrous materials.  I've been attracted to Bourgeois' work for a while now because we deal with similar themes referencing the body and sex.  She also had an amazing ability to manipulate so many different types of materials in a way that could always feel organic.  I think I may be channeling her spirit a little with my new crochet projects.  Although painting and drawing materials are my first love, there is something soothing and seductive about the motion of crochet and the way it lends its forms to become sculptural.