INTO THE STUDIO

Journal of a Mixed Media Photographer

My Favorite Books of 2012

Dec 15, 2012

by Terry Tempest Williams
Written by one of my favorite authors, this is a book about voice, silence, motherhood, family, loss and creativity. One of the highlights of my year was seeing Terry read from it at Commonweal in May – you could hear it too, thanks to the New School’s podcast.
by Rebecca Norris Webb
It is a rare thing in my experience for a photography book to possess the depth of emotional content that this one does. Rebecca Norris Webb made this series of powerful photographs after the untimely death of her brother, and I could feel her grappling with the edge between the living and the dying in these pictures. Her handwritten text runs throughout the book adding personal and poetic meaning.
by Chris McCaw
Chris McCaw has created a fabulous series of photographs that are simple yet profound renderings of the path the sun and moon make across his paper negatives – literally burning the paper at times with the extreme length of exposure. I love how one of the very first images has a burn mark right through the paper page as if it were one of his prints – it’s so tactile and succinctly describes his process.
by Mo Willems
With two young girls in my house, most of the books I read are for the 2-4 year old. Mo Willems is a master in that category. This is my personal favorite among his many wonderful titles, because he did something so clever in this book that breaks down the distance between the reader and the characters of Piggie and Elephant. I will let you read it to find it out, as it offers a good chuckle for kids and adults alike.
by Austin Kleon
I am always on the look out for a good book about the creative process — this is my pick for 2012. It is light-hearted in size and style, but the wisdom is spot on. One of my favorite bits of insight was the permission to work analog even in this digital age – to work with the tools that best suit your own rhythm. This book is one I am keeping in the studio to flip through whenever I need a little creative inspiration.

Making Mail: Holiday Open Studio Cards

Nov 9, 2012

Relishing the meditative practice of handwriting envelopes, adhering postage and return address labels, and embellishing envelopes with rubber stamps…my next Open Studio card is in process today. I love the tactile process of making mail. It helps build my anticipation for my next Open Studio in Muir Beach on December 2 from 11-5. If you would like to receive a mailed invite, just send me your address.

 

 

 

 

 

Work In Progress: Ocean Music

Aug 24, 2012

This bottle has sat on my studio shelf for months with just an image of the ocean inside, waiting…. Today I finally picked it up, literally dusted it off, and began to form it into the piece you see here. I layered sheet music and a handwritten text about the music of the ocean. I rolled some of the sheet music into scrolls – one in the front, and three in the back. The big breakthrough for me was placing the scroll in front of the photo inside the bottle…I have never tried that before, and I really like the effect – it pushes the photo away from the glass, giving it a little more space to move. I poured in mineral oil so that the elements can move and shift together like they would if they were in the ocean’s water. It still needs to have its lid adhered with silicone, and then I will take a more professional photo, but for now I just wanted to share the progress made today.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how nothing is wasted…there are so many ideas I have for art, so many objects and images I collect in my studio, and all in due time the parts come together to form new art. The trick is patience. This piece reminds me that completion is not a race, but rather a gentle allowing and trusting my own timing.

Art Plus Life

Jun 11, 2012

I am getting ready for my next exhibition called “Art Plus Life,” a group exhibition at a really lovely venue. Commonweal is a center for healing, research, and inspiration in Bolinas, CA. I will exhibiting some of my large-scale mixed media collages from Milagros. In this series, I photographed people’s arms and asked them to write a wish for a positive change or miracle in their life, and then I created a collage combining the two with the intention of creating a visual affirmation of that wish. Pictured here is one of my pieces in the “Art + Life” exhibit – called “Kindness”. And if you look closely at the original you will find the handwritten wish in the forearm, stating “What about kindness becoming infectiously popular – among close relations and strangers – unknown kindness mischief.” I am so delighted to be showing this series at a place so committed to transformation and healing. I hope that if you are in the area, you will get a chance to see the exhibit.

“Art Plus Life”
June 23 – September 21, 2012
Opening Reception: June 23, 3-5pm
Commonweal Art Gallery
451 Mesa Road, Bolinas, CA 
curated by Jacqueline Mallegni and Claudia Chapline
Artists: Bob Demmerle, Linda Gass, Mary Daniel Hobson, Elizabeth Jameson, Daigon Lueck,and Maud Zimmer

Image Info: “Kindness” from the series Milagros, 28 x 10″, mixed media collage, $1750

Spring Open Studio & Garden Event

Apr 10, 2012



Today I am working away in the studio getting ready for my next Open Studio happening Saturday & Sunday, April 28 & 29, 10am-4pm each day. I’ve prepped the art materials and I’ve prepped the garden with the help of a great lawncare expert I found at https://www.lawncare.net/service-areas/illinois/, it’s never looked better!
I always look forward to these events for a few reasons…

1) I get the opportunity to share my art and process in person, face to face. Having events like this in my studio makes it easy to show my working methods, techniques, and sources of inspiration. I love the feedback, good conversation, and sense of being connected to others who appreciate creative work.

2) I get to collaborate with my wonderful neighbors, Wendy Johnson and Peter Rudnick who host an Open Garden and Plant Sale at the same time. Wendy and Peter used to run the gardens at Green Gulch and are masters at farming and cultivating the soil. Hosting this event with them enhances the feeling of neighborhood & community.

3) It’s a family friendly art event. As an artist and a mother, I love that this event integrates those two roles. My young daughters are here with me, kids come and play outside, and there are art supplies for them to explore. Last time, children painted pots at my studio and then took them over to Peter and Wendy’s for soil and seed. I think we will be doing that again this time.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, it would be lovely to have you come by for tea and treats, fine art, and springtime plants. See details below.

Muir Beach Open Studio & Spring Plant Sale
Saturday & Sunday, April 28 & 29, 10am-4pm
1795 & 1815 Shoreline Hwy, Muir Beach, CA
Click here for directions

“Femmescapes”

Apr 6, 2012

It was a wonderful surprise this past week to get an email query from a Mills College student about this piece pictured here called Nocturne. She is is helping to put together an exhibit from the collection of Lenore Pereira & Rich Niles which will open on April 14 in San Francisco. It is really delightful to hear out of the blue that my work is going to be shown publicly. Once a piece sells and leaves my domain, it finds a new home and depending on the circumstances, I may not even know where that is. This mixed media collage now dwells in some great company in a private collection focused on contemporary women artists. This exhibit, called Femmescapes, “explores the relationship of a woman’s place in the environment, woman as environment, and the environment as woman.” It features artists including Ann Hamilton, Louise Bourgeois, Lisa Kokin, Ana Mendieta, and Kiki Smith – wow!

Nocturne was created in 1999 as part of my series Mapping the Body, in which I explored the emotions & experiences housed within the body. Here I layered kodalith transparency over sheet music (a Chopin Nocturne), torn paper and skeletonized magnolia leaves. Nocturne depicts that chrysalis state right before flight – the egg hatching and wings ready. While making this piece, I was thinking a lot about the experiences in life that crack us open – both the joyful ones and the very painful ones. That cracking can be quite uncomfortable, but ultimately yields access to a new territory within oneself…a new sense of self…a new internal rhythm or hum.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to see this exhibition, here is some more information:

FEMMESCAPES
An exhibition featuring work from the collection of
Lenore Pereira & Rich Niles curated by students in the
Mills College Museum Studies Workshop
Opening Reception:
Saturday, April 14, 2012, 6–8 pm
Exhibition Dates:
Saturdays & Sundays, April 15 – May 6, 2012,11am–5pm
Location: 70 South Park, San Francisco, CA, 94107
Learn more by clicking here

Image Info: Nocturne, ©1999, kodalith and mixed media collage, 13 x 11″ framed, edition of 10 (sold out)

 

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