Thursday, October 28, 2010

Blogging for You and Blogging for Me

I have been blogging since May 2010 to the World-Wide Ether, just trying to get a feel for the process and the commitment. Having a wandering commitment hasn't served me well. Like learning a new skill or technique or, more to the point, learning to use the "new technology", blogging has been a challenge.
Since blogging is a self-driven activity, it has been very easy to avoid...until now.

I have signed up for an online course, Blog Triage, which #1, I paid money for, and #2 requires homework completed timely. Why? I needed the incentive to proceed.

Fresh out of the gate, our fearless class instructors Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris, have started with a basic question: who do I want to visit and read my blog?

Initially, I am writing to keep friends, family and collectors up to date on my work and my activities. By providing a glimpse into my world as an artist I want to share the influences, the inspirations and some of the challenges that are addressed in the final product, the actual art itself. I believe that this kind of information will enhance their experience of viewing not only my work, but the work of other artists.
As time goes by I hope to broaden my audience and connect with curators, other artists and art professionals who would support my work.

In my initial post, A Painter Speaks, I wrote about my focus for this blog, which is informing viewers while informing myself. I would like to become more proficient in verbalizing about my work, both orally and in the written word. Since composing with words is far more difficult for me than composing with shapes and colors, this blog will hopefully engage the reader in some measure while it engages me in a different language of expression.

Monday, October 11, 2010

I've Missed Painting

Is it the fall air? I've missed painting. The stand-up kind. I had a discussion not too long ago about working methodology. For several years, I have worked with encaustic and it is most agreeable to work with the work flat, that is, parallel to the floor. The arm/hand movements are necessarily short and contained. After all, the wax cools so quickly that a short stroke is all you get, unless you heat it and move it around. Oil painting, though, is so different. The strokes can be however you like them to be. And if you change your mind, well, you can just do it differently. And I am a "stander" when I paint.
A couple of weeks ago I began some encaustic paintings on Claybord, smallish ones, 12x12". Before I realized it, I was dancing with the paint and an electric spatula...all over the surface. It was fun!!


© 2010 Kathryn Dettwiller Desktop Stack, Encaustic on Claybord, 12 x 12"

For a good while, I have made contained work. Easily contained on the surface of the board. But these, wow, these spilled all over the edges and I used some thread to visually rein in the shapes. To contain the bedlam of color and shape, I put a tiny thread fence that is useless. 
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Visual Clutter...Ugh

It seems that everywhere, visual clutter is overwhelming my eyes. From electrical lines to billboards to roving vehicles, my eyes have no place to rest. Even in my studio, piles of books, files, papers, compete with racks of supplies. I feel like I'm drowning in STUFF.


What to do? Clean up, straighten up, and throw out. I have begun to attack the weight of things, both done and undone. My desk area is straight, and I'm leaving it that way each day when I turn out the lights. That's a small step in the right direction to lighten my load.

I am having a closet built to hide all of my supplies. I have stripped the walls of those  myriad printouts of sayings, of cartoons that spoke to me, of photographs and assorted other visuals that make my eye dance. I like the empty white walls. It is peaceful and inviting. Soon, the whole room will be like that!
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Friday, July 30, 2010

Today's Menu: Take it or Leave it

A while back I chatted with Jane Braddock on the phone. We compared health notes, as we both had had some major hospitalizations, and we concluded that we were fine and healthy now. She invited me to her home for lunch and more conversation. I couldn't refuse!

Jane is a good cook and a hostess with the most-ess, despite this plaque over her cooktop:



If I had invited her to my home for lunch, I'd probably have given her a sandwich. But Jane grilled salmon for me. I am really lucky!
And it was yummy.

Jane graciously gave me the first class tour of her wonderful home. It is chocked full of fabulous art from her friends, her travels, and her African collection, not to mention her own work. Impressive does not fully describe it!

Next came the studio... Jane and Birdie. 

















 And in her living room...a large diptych. On the left is a painting from her Shakti series. It is married with a newer work, Sweet Cold, from her text series.



You can see more of her fine work at http://janebraddock.com

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Friday, July 16, 2010

More from Martha Christian


Martha sent this updated photo of the tapestry with this note:


"Hi, Just to prove I finished sewing slits and blocking the "rough" version!"
Martha


Isn't it spectacular?
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Sunday, July 11, 2010

A Monumental Masterpiece

I know very little about weaving besides warp ( the vertical strands) and weft (the horizontal strands that rhyme with "left".) But on April 25th, I was invited to Martha Christian's studio to witness the cutting of her tapestry from her 80" loom. What a treat for all of us who gathered to be a part of the process. Her studio, dominated by the loom, is a spacious room over the garage in her home.

 Isn't this a HUGE loom?

After sampling the refreshments and chatting with the other guests, we listened to Martha speak a bit before beginning the cutting and tieing procedure to remove the tapestry from its birthing place.

Martha Christian is a tiny person. The photography makes her seem much larger than she actually is.

Here she is talking to us about the process. She holds the cartoon drawing of the finished work. The "cartoon" is the design of the work. 


A closeup of the loom with lots and lots of knots


Lots and lots of string  



That must be cut precisely and knotted


To free the tapestry from the loom
  
 
   

Then, it took several people to move and position the tapestry on the wall where we all could see it better. That "we" included Martha herself, since the weaver doesn't get to see more than a 6" swath as she weaves.



Martha with her creation

explaining the connections
And the completed work
The wools are wildly intense and saturate the senses. It is magnificent in color and scale,
don't you agree?



Last week Martha sent me this photo of the tapestry blocked out on the floor

with this note:
"Finally I finished sewing the slits. Now the tapestry is pinned to the rug pad and ready for steam pressing. Wish you were here to crawl around with me.  Martha"





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