I think ultimately I did achieve my goals. I expected to do more tests but it turned out that what would be a test was actually art, so I went with it. I definitely think I pushed the concept in a lot of different ways. The most valuable thing for me, the thing that I’m still working through is carving out a space between figurative and abstract. I don’t always set out to make work about identity, but it seems to keep arising. I am fascinated by identity and the way people change in different company and grow through life. I like clothing as an artifact of that process. I want to always be honing my skills with looking and drawing and making thinks look a certain way intentionally but also have unbridled aggressive application that is about materials and the magical things that happen when you aren’t sure what will happen (“Only when he doesn’t know what he’s doing does the painter do good things ~ Edger Degas) This class was a wonderful opportunity to play in the space where I combine these elements in various ways. I think the last project comes closest to what I was hoping to get to. I do think eventually I will work on some portraiture of specific people.
I have a few related projects in mind. One is to do a book (or 2 rather) of portraits (in the style of project 1) of my huge catholic families (86 people in all with just my aunts, uncles, first cousins, and their spouses and kids. That doesn’t even include my 5 dead grandparents.) I see that as being a ways down the road but something to be working on over time, maybe finish for my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary or something in 2014.
Another thing I want to work on that I think I’ll do this summer is a daily fashion illustration of myself. I’m going to dedicate a sketchbook to it and just chronicle my owns style and the way I put clothes together, some days might have multiple ones, but it’s already and intense work load so I may just pick one outfit per day. (the way I dress for work at the baby store and they way I dress to go out to bars and the way I dress to paint are all very different so I’m not sure how I want to organize it or what I want to include.) I thought about maybe having a page per day and then taping in more outfits that hinge the opposite way of the book binding. I also thought about making a paper doll of myself and then drawing all my garments with little tabs as I wear them and then just doing a digital chronicle of my styles by dressing the paper me in the paper outfits. I’m not sure, just something I’ve been thinking about for a while.
A couple weeks ago I took on the role of coordinator of the RVA Drink 'n' Draw meetup group and hosted my first event on Tuesday, Exquisite Corpse Happy Hour (Lori you should join the group and come up for one as I think you only live and hour away!!) The event was to go from 5:30 to 7:30, around 8:15 the last person left and then a bunch of my friends showed up at the bar as I was packing up and a whole second round erupted. Then I was so jazzed (and buzzed) I took my show on the road and got a bunch of drunks smoking cigarettes outside all the bars in my neighborhood to draw some. I ended up with 48 3-part collaborative drawings. One of the members’ daughter runs a gallery and I’m hoping to do an exhibition of our creatures there. I want to have a 1 or 2 more events first and then have a framing party where we collage cardboard frames for all of them.
I took my teaching packet down tot the Visual Arts Center in hopes of getting a job there for fall. Not counting on it, it seems my particular interests in teaching may be overlap in their program currently, but I also said I can sub or take on just about anything if they have someone drop out, so we’ll see.
I also want to take a grant writing class this summer. Multiple people (including Sarah) have advised me that it would be helpful in finding undergrad level teaching position if I have that skill in my pocket, and obviously I know how to write. I just want the tips and tricks on content and formatting. The first grant I want to write is for myself to get funding to maybe either write a book or write a class to teach teachers how to teach color. I really think that we (United States) have the most limited concept of teaching color at all levels. I mean the fact that people are graduating with MFAs in painting and don’t know what PV19 means is quite frankly, preposterous. I want to change that. I want people to know that “red” is a very broad adjective, like “hot”, it’s relative and doesn’t actually mean anything without a bunch more info. And buying a “set” of paints (where someone else has chosen the colors) is the worse investment ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment