Nose Candy: Paint Diary

Hello Kittens! There's gold leaf on the ceiling and green acrylic on my sweater-- getting new pieces ready for "Kitschmas" a group invitational exhibition we're hosting in a few weeks. The theme for this show is Kitsch: the gaudy, the gross and giggle inducing. It's been liberating being able to really experiment and get silly. Here is the progress of my totally tasteless contribution:

My process always starts with a photograph.

Next, I start "carving" out the figure with broad strokes--most of the under-painting is still exposed. The patterns really needed to pop--I'm finding myself being inspired by fashion magazine spreads and obnoxious dubstep remixes. It could be weirder. So, I pushed it further--

One gold-leaf unicorn horn and a snort of silver glitter later, I came to this. It got gross...and I'm pleased. I've never made a painting quite like this: it's tighter, smaller and stranger than anything I've made in recent history. I'm excited to see where the tacky train takes me. :}

Creative Gravy: Sticks and Stones

It's a balmy 4 degrees today. Overnight, frost fairies visited apartment #5, taking liberty to etch all of the windows. I love the patterns--they catch the light so beautifully! I'm pretending that I live in a cathedral. :) But enough about the cold! I've been buzzing around the studio (finally!) returning Order to chaos. Finals really did a number on my organization! I spent yesterday wrangling oil pastels and finding proper homes for paint brushes, every one getting a good cleaning. I've also managed to get a few new etsy wares posted, something I've been just itching to work on! My brother was a sweetheart, giving me a much needed ride to Micheal's to get new paints and a gallon of gesso. I L.O.V.E. the feeling of brand new paints! You feel recharged, like you could make anything! Normally, (Art Snob Alert!) I would mix my own color variations, but sometimes a girl has got to splurge! I helped myself to some fushcia, a little lime green and a bouquet of varying violets, lavenders and a to-die-for royal purple. Alright, enough babbling--let's get to the Gravy!

Brain Baster: Making Creative Gravy
Part III

"Brigid" Molly Roberts 2008

So at this point, your studio is your sanctuary and your creative cauldron is bubbling with prompts. Now it's time to give the knuckles a crack and let your fingers do the walking! These are short easy-as-pie exercises that are meant to help get your body, mind and eyes all on the same page. These may not be techniques you want to use solely to make pieces, but then again--maybe you do! :) Even if you are not an artist or even remotely interested in drawing this exercise proves to be both mediative, liberating and gleefully grubby! A perfect way to shed stress and get out of the holiday hum-drums.

Gravy Maker #6: Sticks and Stones

Sometimes we have days where we're sure our hands belong to someone else. Our self-talk is grouchy and we're convinced our fingers or pens or hips are being stubborn just to spite us. Tension is a killer. This exercise is designed to literally loosen your creative muscles through movement.

You will need some, all or any of the following:
Sticks (both long and short), little stones, shish kabob skewers, old silverware, old yarn, feathers
a bit of charcoal, pencil, crayon, pastel, tape and a spot of ink or very viscous paint.
To work on, large pieces of newsprint, tag board or old newspapers work well.

This works best when you take your work surface and make it vertical to you--so tape whatever it is you'll be drawing on up on a wall or place it on the floor. (Make sure you have the floor or wall covered with some rubbish paper!) Now, the fun part. (FINALLY.) Take your crayon, or charcoal or pencil and tape it to the end of your stick. (If it's too cold where you are to go stick hunting, a long paintbrush, knitting needle, ruler or even a long kitchen utensil will do the trick.) Make sure it's secured tightly as you don't want it to wiggle out mid-drawing. Hold it in your hand, feel the weight--does it feel awkward? Perfect! You're doing it right. Now that you have a silly looking drawing wand and your paper is a good distance from you, it's time to get creating! Draw a picture of yourself, your pet, your studio, your favorite food, something you wish for or just make marks that reflect how you feel!

Does it look awful? Are the lines wobbly? Then you're doing an amazing job! This isn't about masterpiece making, it's about being aware of your body and paying attention to the Beauty and personality of the marks you're making.

Now try dipping your wand in a little ink or paint and explore what sort of marks it makes. Try tying a bit of yarn to the end of the wand, leaving an end hanging off like a little tail. Dip the tail in ink and try to draw with that. You can create beautifully wispy and unexpectedly expressive drawings with this technique. (This works best when the surface is placed on the floor.)


Try dunking little stones, marbles or beads into ink or paint and roll them around on the paper. You can drop them from above, skip them across the surface or cradle the paper and encourage the stones to rock back and forth. Use forks, skewers or old spoons to sketch. Maybe your fingers want to get in on the action too--or maybe the soles of your feet would like to take a dip? It's an experiment! Work with colors you love, colors that resonate with you. And then try working with colors that make your nose scrunch. You never know, it might be a love affair waiting to happen!

When practicing any of these exercises make a conscious effort to remain relaxed.
Don't worry if these are not works you'd proudly display in a museum.
It's supposed to be silly.
Don't try to contrive and control the scribbles. If they wander, let them wander.

Leave room for Happy Accidents to occur.

If anyone actually tries this exercise, send me a picture and I'll post our pieces en masse! And if you try any techniques not mentioned here, let me know! These are exercises I hope to use with students in the future--any constructive suggestions or comments are always welcome. Tomorrow, I'll be posting more creative calisthenics to help get your Gravy grooving!

Until then--

Sticks and Stones may break my bones, But Oooh Damn do they make darling drawings!
Happy Experimenting and Merry Making!~*

Backbends: 3 Experimental Books

This is the story of a Girl and her Bone Folder. *Sigh* My studio has been crawling with renegade smudges of rubber cement and paper scraps. But after much folding and scribbling, I recently finished up a batch of experimental book forms:

"A Good Wife Knows Her Place"

This is a jacob's ladder book composed of 12 small collages on book board. The text comes from a 1955 Good Housekeeping article that draws out a list of rules all "good wives" must follow. The instructions range from "Let him speak first, his topics of discussion are more important." to "Always greet him with a smile to adequately express your desire to please him." I paired the text with vintage imagery of circus performers and contortionists to attempt to explain a frustrating lifestyle of constantly jumping through hoops to please. I enjoy this form because it can be read both forwards and backwards and acts as a toy that actually must be "man handled" in order to read. Acrylic, gesso, found papers, colored pencil & oil pastel.

"12 Sleeps"

This is a petite book--it's pages only slightly larger than a silver dollar. To make this book recorded my dreams for 12 nights, typed them and printed them on opalescent vellum. The box that houses it is collaged with dream interpretation text and coffee filters. I wanted this to be an experiment in sequence, so none of the pages contain any punctuation. This way each dream record bleeds into the next in one continuous sentence reminiscent of the way real dreams progress. The translucency of the pages allow the viewer to see a ghosted image of the next dream. This book can be read in a continuous loop as it doesn't matter where you begin reading the text, you will eventually complete the cycle.

"Dear Johnny

"Dear Johnny" is a maze book that makes commentary on celebrity obsession. The book itself is a grainy recycled card stock that has been generously coated with gesso and vine charcoal. The pages are full of the somewhat disturbing rantings of a crazed fan. In the beginning, the writing is fairly benign and the handwriting is small and reserved: "Dear Johnny, I've seen all your movies." "Dear Johnny, I'm your biggest fan--I'm sure lots of people say that, but I mean it." As the viewer turns the tiny pages the writing becomes more progressively larger, more frantic and manic, "Dear Johnny, I'm bleeding to death in my sleep." "Dear Johnny, we were mean to be, you just don't know it yet." It ends abruptly. The treat however is when the book is unfolded completely, you are greeted with an image of Johnny Depp as Sweeny Todd. :

This one is my personal favorite. :)