A Feature on, Etsy Art Blog:

This week, one of my pieces is featured artist on Etsy Art Blog. The piece is titled, "things that I remember" and is part of the latest 48x48 series on gratitude.

The Etsy Art Blog shares an interesting piece of art found on etsy.com. Featuring creative and thought-provoking work. Over 80 artists have been profiled.

Intimations : 6.26.10

Intimations is a documentation of emotional reactions to events that have occurred in my life. This

body of work is a series of 15 monotype prints that were created one piece a week. Each piece

contains secrets, statements, and utterances, which I only became aware of during the creation

process. The work deals with memory & connecting emotions to a moment. It is self-exploration. It

is the place we are forced to go in order to claim healing and empowerment.

A repeated concept in the works on paper, as well as the 48x48 series is, “gratitude”. With a

thankful heart, I created the 48x48 pieces, in recognition of my father and grandfather. They

feature images of objects and materials that were frequent sights in my childhood. When I re-

connect with these arbitrary items, I remember safety.

My process includes a method called, auto-matic writing, where I subconsciously journal to find the

place my mind is dwelling. Many of these writings have been torn from my sketchbook and are

incorporated. I think generally everyone can relate to subconscious honesty and authenticity. I

hope that one can view the series with sensitivity and awareness of the human condition, and in

that sense, might relate, and have a dialogue with the work. I believe we all have a common story,

and, in part, all things are relative. My hope is that when confronted with the work, one is obliged to

remember their own condition, and in essence, have compassion.

Why Conceptual Art?

The essence of abstract expressionism is conceptual art, meaning that while principals and elements of design are considered in the composition, the concept in most cases is far more important than the aesthetic qualities of the piece. Concept driven work can be loaded with emotive content.

My recent series of works on paper are documentations of emotional reactions to events that have occurred over the past few months. It's an archive of self-exploration.

?Why should anyone find this significant? Because, as people, as a unit, as a society, we can ALL relate.

There is a narrative that I'm offering. If the viewer will take a few moments to become aquatinted with the work, I hope they will find a genuine human connection with the piece. We have common conditions, emotions, and reactions. There is an opportunity to understand, relate, and take comfort.

life:

Definition: person's experiences

Synonyms:

attainment, behavior, circumstances, conduct, development, enjoyment, enlightenment, growth, hand one is dealt, happiness, human condition, journey, knowledge, lifestyle, participation, personality, realization, suffering, trials and tribulations, vicissitudes, way of life, world

my life in art

My recent body of works on paper, (monotype screen prints), are a reaction to daily occurrences in my life. They are literally a visual documentation of feelings, thoughts, and emotional content as a result of my environment and circumstances beyond my control. You can read my narrative, and the past 4 months of my life in this body of work. This particular piece is violent and full of hate. All I can say about it is... don't fuck with my grandma.

I'm obsessed with time because I want to keep you with me

Don't leave me I need you.

This piece is a reaction to my grandma's recent diagnosis with minor pneumonia. She is better now. But I was frightened and desperate that day, and thankful for all she's done. A brave woman, with 10 children, my grandma now has 40 (give or take) grandchildren. A hard life, she loves us sweetly, and sacrificed her life long for all her family. She is a hero and an angel. My godsend. I have no doubt she saved my life, and is owed all of my gratitude.

I'll fix it

I'm sorry you're in this place. If I could I'd fix it. I want you to be safe. I'm sorry you're worried. But I always love you, I want to protect you. And I really wish I could fix it. We have our love, that makes it worth it all. I'll fix it. Sweet sweet sweet little agony, I take what you have for me. We all want you to change.

I want to make it right, everything, everyone I love, I want to take care of. Blessing and a curse, because I need control, I like to know what the future holds. I agonize over loving dear ones and making us comfortable. But I just love them.

this is not just a bear...

I still sleep with him every night, and have since I was four. Someone special gave him to me. I keep him on my bed, I kiss him before I leave for the day.

I realize keeping this old object might seem a little juvenile, but the truth is, I feel like these things can carry and keep energy. I feel loved and cared for, and protected when I have this bear, and I remember the feeling of my granddad, whom I miss with every fiber of my being. I cherish that bear, like I cherish his memory, and when I feel desperate, I hold my bear tight and close to me.

I was attached to him as a child, my dependence developed immediately upon opening a preset, Christmas 1986.

The print above (16x20 on Fabriano) accommodates an image of my bear, repeated 3 times, (for a better composition and significance of representation), in addition to faded ladders and text, (which was a free write in graphite directly on the paper). I love to practice free-writing exercises when producing artwork, it offers me a distinct direction and awareness to where my heart and thoughts are. The free-writing always surprises me when I read over it, sometimes I offer secrets to myself! This piece describes the roses I take to my grandpa's grave, and an invitation for him to visit me while I'm alseep- I like to think that my dreams of him are occasional visits, I hope they are.

things that I remember

I remember piles of wire nuts on my dad's nightstand and in his pockets. I recently acquired some, and they sit in a container on my coffee table.

I'm forever indebted to my dad, who was the father he didn't have to be. I'm forever thankful and have the greatest respect because he loved me when he didn't have to. Thank you, to my dad, who provided safety and stability in my life.

These photos are inspiration for works ahead. Funny how there's so much more to some little orange object, means nothing but it's function for everyone else, but for me, it stimulates memory, respect, and gratitude for the hardest working man I know.

The tacks are also a memory, not so pleasant though.

SIX11 CREATIVE

I'm totally stoked about this upcoming exhibit at 611 Creative with Natalie Miller. I have loads of new work, and new concepts I've been exploring. It'll be interesting to finally see a body of my work in a "legit" gallery space. Furthermore, I think the space really lends itself to my work, especially the latest "concrete" series- modern and somewhat minimal.

I don't know Natalie, but I've seen her work at a few local events, and it's really beautiful and whimsical.

Thank you to my pals, Amanda & Dylan Bradway at DNA Galleries, for the invite. If you aren't familiar, DNA is a very hip gallery space in the Plaza District, packed with artful delights and locally made goods. They have some rad gifts, apparel, jewelry, prints, accessories, cool things for la casa, and my personal favorite, the Oklahoma T's. . .

Saturday, February 27th, 7-11pm

More on Concrete

This piece, (still in progress), "I bring you red roses because they were your favorite" is 48x48 concrete, acrylic, prisma pencil, graph paper, graphite on board. The above images are sections of the painting in detail. I thinned the concrete out to a thick soupy texture, and painted it on a damp surface.

I've learned a lot in the past few weeks about concrete products, sealants, and bonders. What I've found most effective for my work is, epoxy! I love epoxy. After the painting is complete I coat, or paint epoxy in areas of interest and concern. What I dig the most, is you can draw into the epoxy, subtract it, ad it, build it, it's totally interesting and it's become part of the media.

I included the photo above of the silk rose, because this rose is from my grandpa's grave. I take him red roses every week, because they were his favorite. I replace the sun-faded roses with a new batch, which I stock up on from the "Dollar Tree", and keep in my car. My grandpa ran a concrete construction business, thus my determination and obsession with the material. I know many of us are close to our grandparents, but mine played major parental rolls in my life, and they have a most special place in my heart.

Concrete Details

For my next series, I'm experimenting with concrete on canvas, as a major element in the painting. I haven't been able to find any examples of this, I'm finding that the concrete doesn't like to adhere to gesso. Guess I should've known...

On the subject of media, I've had several suggestions from my piers, to use other elements in place of concrete, i.e. plaster, calking, wax... While I try to always welcome input and suggestions, I feel like I have to conquer this concrete "thing". I specifically chose this media for it's personal, sentimental value to me. In addition to my memory and story, I'm interested in the color, the grey, the cold, the stone-hard qualities, and the cracking, crumbling, expanding, organic qualities of concrete. I think of squares and rectangles, I see lines, I see basic geometric elements and space studies, (and Dolese trucks).

DNA Longboard Show!

Oct. twenty-third 7-11 pm GO SEE awesome artwork and check out a unique gallery/shop. All works are done on longboard decks, offering a fresh and unique take on "surface"!

Above is an image of my deck design, blueprints are adhered and geometric shapes are cut into the surface to create tid bits of negative space. A graphite drawing of the interior of the Florence Cathedral is highlighted in areas of architectural interest in the transparent red/orange. I wanted it to be transparent so that you can still experience and follow the line-work on the deck, lines that extend and wrap around the pre-existing lines in the blue prints. Also attached are two photographs, playing on industrial vs nature, and the beauty of opposites.

every day you save my life

Every day you save my life: 30x60 mixed media on wood

A present for my husband on his birthday: oil on wood, photographs of my husband and I, and one of our wedding day. Also incorporated, a letter from my husband on our wedding day, a feather from the vineyard where we wed, and image transfers for textural surfaces. We are celebrating our 1st anniversary this weekend!

Kaboom

I was only looking for the good apples: 30x30 mixed media on wood

Kaboom: 30x30 mixed media on wood

For me, beautiful represents a time. A simpler place and time when ignorance means peace, and family means protection and normalcy. I am taken back to a time where normal meant all things familiar and consistent, like the smell of freshly hung sheets on a clothesline, and the taste of fresh tortillas with butter, finding the good apples, and exploring the ally behind our green house.

Beautiful, was a time of ignorance and oblivion… no concern for money, addiction, liability, divorce, or health.

By contrast, KaBoom. A time of angst, panic, and frustration. Both of these pieces are dealing with time and cycles, and the changes that occur, for me, some have come and gone far too early.

poor bird

36'' x 36'' mixed media on wood: acrylic, pencil, blueprints, paper, found objects

I found this bird nest under a tree in my yard one day after a storm. I was sad because I thought that the babies must have fallen in the storm too, but I did not see any dead baby birds in the yard, and I felt better. Then, I when I picked up the nest, I examined it, and became absolutely engaged in it’s structure. It was really intricate, durable, and was completely intact after falling 20 or so feet in the storm. At that moment my compassion for little dead birds, and sad momma birds turned into wonder and amazement and respect for this tiny cradle.

Somehow a small bird knew how to gather the myriad materials for this structure. Somehow this bird arranged scores of small pieces of twig and grass and weed and bark, weaving them together with such precision that the nest is still sturdy and secure after the storm. Considered in this light, this little bundle of dried vegetation is really a small miracle.

Dates To Remember...

36x36 mixed media on canvas

Finished a new painting called, "dates to remember":

Still inspired by the drive East on 66, the colors and textures are very much the same as "east-bound", a painting I finished just days before beginning this one. So, I think I was still in this earth-tone/dirt/grass/wind/ kind of mode... But during the time I was working on this piece, I was feeling a little sad about the kind of life changes that take place naturally over time, and the effects of loss, divorce, marriage, birth, etc. - and the way these things take a toll and can make our lives better and worse. The way a baby can make our lives mean something, the way the loss of our loved one can leave us responsibility like we've never known... and divorce makes everything complicated and destructs an entire family- but my recent marriage gave me reason to have faith in love. So included in this piece, are the dates on which life-changing events occurred in my life.

East-Bound

(unfinished) 48 x 48 mixed media on wood box, acrylic, blueprints, pencil, and metal

detail:

detail:
detail:

The drive down Rt 66 east-bound in Arcadia is one of the most charming and peaceful drives ever. It's beautiful any time of year, and it's exceptionally conducive to creative thinking. My husband and I love to take this drive on Sundays in fact, we wed at a vineyard just off of Rt. 66. There's also a tiny "abandoned" building that sits on the north side. All that's really left of this tiny structure, is it's mortar and stone, and the moss that grows along the sides of it. I'm intrigued by the colors and lines in the stone.

Here are some of the images that inspired this piece:

love for the line

I've Been Trying To Reach You: diptych, mixed media on 48 x 48 wood boxes

[photo, blueprints, acrylic wash, pencil, balsa wood]

I'm fascinated by lines. I use linework in most every piece. Lines have unlimited uses, they can be instructional, directional, they can have an endpoint, they can be eternal, they are either real, or representational. Lines have the instant ability to guide the eye, and for an artist, it's a handy tool I often use to guide the viewer. In contrast, lines don't have to lead to anything- sometimes in my work, they are everywhere, like my busy little head.

I love the line.

the roof interior of the red round barn in Arcadia, Ok. on Rt.66:

I think my interest in the line goes back to childhood. I grew up around blueprints and construction. The men in my life, had trades that involved architecture and blueprints, drafting and mathematics. I didn't discover this fascination until my early 20's. But now I'm obsessed with it.

Sol LeWitt was a little "intense" with his relationship with lines. These are some inspiring wall drawings. LeWitt would actually write instructions for his massive drawings, so that any draftsman could reproduce them. It's incredibly mathematical, and architectural, some pieces are for individual spaces, linking points and lines to architectural detail and elements within a room, or wall, or specific space. very cool:

considering conceptual art

I often describe my monotypes as "conceptual". People ask me all the time, what does that mean... it always kind of surprises me. But I realize that conceptual is a vague term, fitting for it's definition. Thesaurus.com states these synonyms for the term "conceptual": imaginary, notional, theoretic,theoretical, visionary

Here's my take, I'll start with the process: I write all the time in my sketchbook/journal, thoughts, nonsense, word excersises, my sketchbook is like a log book of things in my head. And from there I find the place my mind is drifting, the images and colors, phrases, and textures that take me to a place I've once been in the back of my mind: could be a feeling, a memory or a dream. How does one portray these feelings, things intangible, and tangled up thoughts... in this process they begin to take a form. That's it, that's my inspiration. I play with textures and layers in the prints, love mixed media. I like to attach personal photographs, torn sketches from my sketchbook, stuff like that. Things that invite the viewer to that place also. Ultimately, the idea and meaning of the piece is then more important than the actual image with-in the piece. Here are some of my monotype prints.