Art Chick Shtick

pre-heART of WinTer

Glitter, Garniture and other Tricks

So about that freshly stripped table..

Shockingly, I ended up painting it.

I really was going to vinegar paint it but all of my dry pigments are in New York. 

So while I was paint-shopping at Sinopia I noticed they have some cool stuff in their clearance section including Iron Glimmer from Morocco.  I probably need some, afterall if you're going to use an iron oxide god knows it's always better when it's from Morocco.   

(If you have no idea what to do with Iron Glimmer from Morocco stick around because as soon as I get my hands on some pigments I'll do a demo here.  I'll do demos here occasionally as time allows.  This blogging is really cutting into my naps)

I know the table looks hideous now but just wait.

Honestly I think most of what I paint looks hideous until the final days.

Case in point:

By next week they'll look less Edward Gorey-inspired.

Frightening, aren't they.  They look like me in the morning after I've been up all night painting.

Actually it is kind of like looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning.  Well, maybe it's just me but I cannot survive without a small boudoir-type lamp in the bathroom.  I can't say enough about how much my disposition improves when the first image I see of myself is in low, chiaroscuro-esque lighting.  Try it if you don't believe me.

I'm not saying it makes you look ravishing or anything.  But looking less freaky first thing in the morning can seriously set the tone for your entire day. 

I swear I look like this if I don't do the lighting trick:

So instead of doing the final-finish paint job on the table I'm getting myself back on track with my stuff, for the HeART of WinTer show which is like next week.  I'm so seriously not ready.  As per usual.

And now it's time for make up for me then glitter and garniture for these girls...

The Benevolent Tutor...or How I Charmed Will Barnet

"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards"             --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

If you were actually in the right place at the right time do you think you would realize it?  I didn't realize I had been there until many years later so this post is about the importance of being in the right place at the right time. 

And I mean it's very important so listen up...

The summer before my first epiphany I spent a great deal of time wandering the streets of NYC.  Early mornings on the weekends were my favorites.  A warm bialy from Kossar's was reason enough to get up so I'd head out the door for coffee and usually would not return for hours.

Let’s be honest, getting up early on the weekends and hitting the streets isn’t the easiest thing in the world but it was on one of these warm summer mornings that I met the man who was to be my greatest influence. 

By the way, chickie babes, we're talking like 30 years ago--and he wasn't Lewis Carroll.  I'm not that old.  Not quite. Very funny, but thank you for asking.

Back in the day (late 70's), I had absolutely no aspiration to be a painter--I honestly did not like being in painting studios or even being around painters--I was filled with total contempt and disdain--yuck!  The attitudes of the "2D" or two dimensional students (painters, print makers, paper people) were so stiff, so lofty, so linearally abstract that I found it difficult to carry on a conversation with them.  Sculptors, glassblowers and the rest of the "3D's" are generally more playful, rowdy and you know, fun. 

But I was very attracted to one painter's work and would go back to look at his work often.  One morning I was surprised to find out that the older gentleman sitting next to me was the artist himself.  He, too, was staring at the paintings, because that's what we painters do--kind of like looking in the mirror. Ah-so! Now I could interrogate him...

I remember standing close to the paintings with him, looking closely at his under-painting that was still quite visible and asking him why there was so much pencil showing?! why was the paint so thin? why? why? why? 

And he would patiently do his best to elucidate and to get me to stop making up so many rules about art! 

I was young, an ingenue!, and loved being in the city--what did I know?--I thought I knew a LOT if not everything.  His  work was a world apart from what was being shown in the hip galleries--courageously bright, bold work that everyone would emulate in the 80's. 

Except him.  And because of him, of course, me.

He made certain I kept the questions about painting coming but told me to draw--"forget about the paint for now."

And PS, I didn't paint for at least 10 more years. 

So I met with him occasionally throughout the summer.  In the warm mornings--before the galleries opened. He was always dressed casually in a dark suit--so unintentionally elegant.  I liked that about him.  If you want to know the truth I think it made me pay more attention to what he was saying. 

At the time I knew I really liked his work and he was really great to be teaching me so much about stuff I had never thought about.  But I, with my great plans for changing the world with my architectural designs, didn't exactly realize what an important person I had the good fortune to know. Perhaps he was charmed by my mid-western innocence although I suspect it may have been more that he was shocked at my impertinence on top of my general ignorance of painting!

His name was Will Barnet. Mr. Barnet.  THE Will Barnet. 

I sense his influence in my work, if not in subject then in mood, and know he is why I paint the way I do. And what my propensity for drawing is all about. And I know how really lucky I really am that somehow I was in the right place at the right time...

...even if it was only because I really like bialys. 

 

THE RUMORS ARE TRUE! my MiXed meDia Necklaces will debut at The heART of WinTer 2008

`It seems very pretty,' she said when she had finished it, `but it's rather hard to understand!'

(You see she didn't like to confess, even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.)

`Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas -- only I don't exactly know what they are! 

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Old images of my paintings are the centerpieces of my NEW Mixed Media Necklaces that will debut at the HeART of WinTer show in early February.  I don't have files of all of my old paintings but there are plenty to choose from. 

If there is a painting in particular that you would like on a necklace please get in touch with me(not likely) or the ever-more-accessible Jen O'Connor--I am willing to customize a little but I can't do true custom orders without getting nauseous...

The centerpieces are mixed media on stainless--the backs are cool papers and everything is oxidized and really pretty in that old jumbled way I love. They look like paper in the images but they're actually very,very solid--I had to go through several orders of metal to get it the right thickness--not too thin but not so heavy that give you a headache.  There are brass castings from vintage molds, escutcheons, old transit tokens and important "stuff" I've been collecting for years, semi-precious and otherwise cool stones and old czech beads, and whatever else I can get my hands on that has some kind of Bohemian chicness.  The oxidized, solid brass chains are all different styles--different lengths are fastened together with more objects d'art.  And the fasteners are mostly pretty cool oxidized copper or brass swirls and toggles but I am trying to get some others that are old and you know, just something that looks like something I would use--so stay tuned! 

Tasie grabbed a few when she was home for the holidays and reports that they're a hit at Sundance.

Obsessive Creativity Disorder: We can hardly control ourselves!

"My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!"    --Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic

Do you ever find yourself in the midst of a Obsessive Creativity Disorder -style creative frenzy and suddenly do something so bizarrely normal that no one believes you did it?  How often do you ask yourself, "What was I thinking?" 

Sophie and I cleaned out the armoire in the room-formerly-known-as-the-dining hall.  I'm not saying that this doesn't happen often but this is the armoire Joe Thomas was found in--alive--after he had been missing for three or four days.

--insert image--

In another highly controversial act, something else as equally uncharacteristic occurred:

--insert image--

I stripped the paint off a table.  True story.

Understand that this is groundbreaking.  Ornate Bavarian dinner plates, full services of silverware, centerpieces and requisite food is more likely to be painted on the table top than to have something colorful removed.

Babette's Feast has been on my mind for the past week--possibly fueling some sort of Gustavian fantasy where my life suddenly becomes cool, ordered and serene.  And my upholstered furniture is all professionally linen-covered and frumpled. 

Professionally frumpled.  Now that's some kind of goal.

And the wood furniture is stripped and waxed or painted a rainy Scandinavian grey.

Is there a possiblity that I have Seasonal Affective Disorder and I'm secretly getting depressed?

Who am I kidding?  I think I'll get Bob to finish stripping it so the surface is even.  And then maybe I'll vinegar paint the table top next week. 

Something more vivid and compelling than grey.

Last month at the Country Life Gallery in Warwick, NY, I had a conversation with Cheryl Kuhn about grey--it's her favorite color!

and PS, Joe's armoire is now filled with paint and I donated the armoire's former contents, a bunch of the fabric and yarn, but I'm not giving up my stash of Noro...never!

The Original Orange, Curry & Cardamom Smart Cookie's cookie recipe

What a nice, cozy, rainy day.

I'm so thankful the kids are finally back in school.  I mean really--I'm being honest here.  David, Jacob and Sophia are back with their friends, Tasie is in Utah figuring out how to look good while snowboarding, and Adam is home from Seattle...and back to ignoring me as per usual.

Today I have decided I am immoderately fond of anything with cardamom so let's bake cookies!  The cardamom thing hits me about once a year then after that forget it--the smell really becomes nauseatingly sweet and bitter like old perfume.  The cardamom thing has something to do with sweater-weather.  Sweaters have somehow mysteriously scattered themselves everywhere while the cookies are baking. My serger is on the kitchen table and I'm making black cashmere leg warmers for Tasie--extra long.  She says she's freezing but has learned to make a new Chinese soup so she's happy...and cozy, too.

I don’t want to make any rash generalizations, but it seems that every time I eat cardamom I feel different--like I'm in a psychadelic cardamom-influenced creativity abyss.  Has anyone else experience this phenomenon?  I think I'll call this one into Art Bell...

The Original ORANGE, CURRY & CARDAMOM SMART COOKIE's cookie recipe

2 c unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 c baker's sugar
1 tsp curry powder and a pinch of salt
3 tsp cardamom
3 1/2 c flour
1 orange-worth of grated orange peel 
1 c chopped pecans...or almonds but I like pecans
1 c confectioner's sugar to roll the cookies in

Cream butter and 1 1/2 c sugar and spices in a small bowl. Sift flour and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to mixing bowl.Stir in nuts and orange peel.

Form 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough into a ball.  Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for at least 15 minutes but no more than 17.  Let them cool a couple minutes then roll the warm cookies in the powdered sugar.

If you can't find baker's sugar just use confectioner's sugar.

<<<My good friend and fellow artist chick, Bonnie Taylor Talbot, owns the original one and only SMART COOKIE painting. 

FOLLOW UP TO POST:  I, uh, didn't make dinner because I ate so many cookies!!!  (everyone survived)

the heART of WinTer

It could happen to you: Learning the Graceful Art of Balancing in High Heels

This painting's title was something about entertaining the neighborhood kids but I think everyone knew it was about a lot more than that.  Part of my job is of course entertaining the kids, if not the neighborhood, but what I'm constantly working on is the little issue of priorities and balancing eveything that's going on in my life.

I was going over my game plan for 2008--I mean that's what we're supposed to do while the football games are on, right?  Dick Blick always has a big sale on canvases in January so I was looking at how many I bought in 2007 so I could come up with a rough idea of how many I should buy.  Since Sephora also has a way to check your past online purchases I checked there and found that I had bought more at Sephora than at Dick Blick!  Of course I feel I had to since I really can't paint without that Urban Decay glitter liner!  That's gotta be a priority, right?

My number one favorite purchase from 2007 was the pair of brown velveteen Betsey Johnson platforms with the 6 inch heels. (From the Betsey Johnson outlet--not paying retail makes them even better) I wore them to the NY International Gift Fair so I was taller than Debbee Thibault--but she's still thinner and so cute!

So my questions is, Do things from Sephora and the Betsey Outlet count as art supplies?  I don't mean for tax purposes because I'm not talking dollar ammounts but in terms of balancing things in my mind I'm wondering how much these things affect the kind of art we do.  What are art supplies?  What would happen if I bought my studio shoes at oh, say L.L.Bean for example?  How would my work be affected?

Think of where you do your work--I have two really fabulous studios (one in Woodstock, NY and the other here in Ohio) but I spend more time painting in bed in my "chamber of inspiration" ( I had to think of someway to convince Bob that it would be a good idea for me to paint in the bedroom). 

Do you work at the kitchen table?  I LOVE painting on the kitchen table with all the kids running in and out--but my paintings get really BIG and chaotic-looking.  My work is seriously affected by the decision to make my painting comfyness more of a priority than how much paint I get on the bedding.  Painting in a big studio or in the kitchen of chaos versus painting in my bedroom is like the difference between shouting and pillowtalk or between singing loud and out of tune versus telling secret little stories.  I honestly like doing both, not that everyone appreciates the singing nor the occassional wad of gesso on their stockings, but the effect on my work is tremendous so it had to be a priority.

I'm not sure when and how this all started but it works so in terms of priorities and balance I think for now I'm going to stick with my current routine:  get up early, pour a glass of ruby red grapefruit juice followed by a red bull, spend way too much time in the bathtub and even more time putting on my makeup (applying mascara is like my time to meditate--it really centers me).  Get dressed like Miss Mary Mack and grab the high heels.  Take the kids to school, make a pot of tea and get to work.

If I don't do these things I don't feel like myself.  I end up taking a nap and wearing bunny slippers.

True story--what's yours?