Sometimes it just feels good to sit and make shapes and forms in the stoneware, particularly when I’m struggling to find a direction for my work this semester. I have two themes I have been exploring for my classes and the final Post Baccalaureate show this spring. The first is thinking about memory and home, the second is the coexistence of man made structures and nature; the common thread might be the passing of time. When I was making these forms, I was thinking about objects that somehow evoke a memory but also just the form itself – its height, its shape, its texture.
I attended the opening of the Justin L’Amie’s work at PDX Contemporary. I love these watercolor and gouache paintings of flowers and vases. This is a detail of a piece called “The Collector”. They are on the smaller size and have both great detail and abstract shapes. The colors are beautiful and there are little yellow dots everywhere; I think I will re-incorporate these dots into my work too. They seem festive, like bubbles, and circles are often a powerful symbol in any case. I’m drawn to Justin’s images I’m sure because of my attraction to flowers and floral patterns as decoration. Perhaps for my final pieces for this semester I will show flowers as a marker of time; I feel they convey a sense of transiency.. This may also explain my attraction to still life paintings – often famous for their symbolism of time (and decay) though my attraction is not to the gruesome or morbid side.
I’m starting to think about what interiors I’d like to work on this semester. I’d like to create at least 6, as I envision 3 rows of two rooms or 2 rows of three rooms on a wall to represent the interior of a house. I’d like to think of spaces that have particular memories for me and perhaps focus again on an object in that space to highlight this memory precisely (as I had in my earlier work). This weird stair interior is an early study of an interior space but not a particular room; I’m just trying to see what that might look like. In this case, I think it needs more mystery such as a cracked door or more of a landing but I do like the strangeness of this view – highlighting an area you might not typically consider. Possibly, I will think about corners, outside spaces and unusual or forgotten spaces as starting point. Or, think of spaces that were filled with life but perhaps are not any more; again, a reflection of time passing.
This is an attempt at creating an outdoor space; a covered porch between two parts of a house like a breezeway. I don’t think it’s successful in creating the exact space I wanted to because of scale and lack of information but there are parts that I like. I think the forced perspective of floor and window work, the geranium pot helps as a focal point and the interior room are has some nice elements but I don’t think you can read it all as a whole. There could also be another slab with the view painted on it that you would see as you looked through the ‘breezeway’ which I think could be beautiful. Just not sure how to connect the two.
The photograph from Maine was the inspiration and I still believe it would be a wonderful painting.
I think it’s a good study (and they are fun to make) and I’ll try again. For spaces, it will be imperative to have clear sketches of the ideas and the perspective I want to enhance.
A fun show at Eutectic Gallery called ‘Sugar’ featuring the work of Dirk Staschke. These are super realistic recreations of decadent desserts made of ceramic on gold-plated steel plates and stands. I’ve looked at and studied Dirk’s other work that are still life paintings but in 3D (ceramic). From a distance these still lifes look like paintings but then as you get nearer you realize they are sculptural and the back of the piece is as interesting as the front; the back is the exposed structural components – art in itself. The pieces in this show are from a single piece exhibited before but now pulled apart. Not sure what I think about that – the entire piece was so strong together but I suppose it’s easier to sell parts?
SUNDAY.
No photograph today. Spent the morning at the studio beginning a very large piece and realizing that I am not sure about how to do at all! I do believe that getting the base set will be critical. The scale is so different from what I am used to – it will be a challenging exercise for sure. I have been thinking about floral decoration and what it might mean. I am drawn to the beauty and looseness off lowers and I also like the contrast between their form and the forms that they are usually on, in or around. To me flowers and plants represent the passage of time. I’m thinking, too, of the photographs or images of trees or vines growing up and around objects, usually man made. I’d like to think about floral surface decoration on my ‘rooms’.
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