May 30, 2012
What is about an old wall that’s so exciting? I’m having fun playing with wall textures. It’s a challenge to convey the process of slow aging; to make a painting of an old wall look like the result of a natural process over time. My intentional mind gets a bit stressed when I ask it to create something that looks unintentional; it feels like I’m asking it to walk the edge of chaos.
Well, not really, paint is wonderful stuff. You can scrub and scratch it and it only gets better; well, most of the time.
Both are part of a new series of 5″x7″ mixed media works on mounted paper.
The theme of the series is “things found hanging on the wall”.
May 3, 2012
I went to see Sharon Payne Bolton for the first time yesterday in her Benicia art studio because I liked what I saw on her website well enough to invite her to teach at La Cascade. Her studio is in the historic Arsenal district, home to one of the best artist communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Upon arrival I was swept up in a warm welcome by a 6 foot tall goddess wearing apron, army cap and goggles. Sharon was working flat out to get ready for the Benicia Open Studio this weekend (May 5 and 6)as well as filling the role of Mother to her 3 year old son and graciously showing me her art and studio.
Sharon Payne Bolton
I had seen Sharon’s artist books online, but was unprepared for the impact a total immersion in her art environment would have on me. She has created an space which acts as a stage upon which beautifully arranged collections of vintage artifacts and partly finished pieces mingle with finished works of art. Giant speckled eggs, glove forms, calipers, old books etc are displayed like museum pieces in cubby holes along the walls. Each cubby hole is, like the room itself, a theater housing visual elements awaiting their cue to come to life as works of art.
Sharon’s small artist books are miniature versions of the room, each page a tiny cubby hole. I’m returning for Open Studios this weekend because there’s no way I could take it all in yesterday. If you can make it, don’t miss studio 930.
Sharon's studio
Cubby holes with artfully arranged elements.
March 22, 2012
I’m not sure what gets in the way of talking about my own work, but I think I’ve found the solution………YOU!
I want to thank all of you for your imaginative, lively and insightful comments. Because I’m inspired by all of your comments, I want to send each of you a little “thank you” print. So all I need is your postal addresses.
What gets in the way of your talking about your work? This is something we were supposed to have learned in art school, but it was so long ago that I no longer know how to do the “art speak.” I don’t think that’s the problem anyway. For me it’s more about the difficulty of translating from image making mind to word making mind. I’m curious about this affliction from which so many artists suffer.
I relish your comments. Not only do they inspire, instruct and entertain, they make blogging fun.
