Hi Friends,
The Paper Crane has moved to a new and improved home. (hooray!)
This blogger blog will soon cease.
So if you would like to keep up to date please visit us at
www.thepapercrane.com
Thanks!!!
Dee & the papercranes!
<3 <3
Maija Louekari
The Finnish textile designer Maija Louekari, whom also designs for Marimekko is one of my most favorite young textile designer working today. I like how much of her work look like actual drawings, are bright and bold. I especially like her wall panel pieces like the tree scene and children's prints for fabric like the elepahnt and flamingo.
Clare Coles
I'm quite mad about the work of Clare Coles
A british wall paper designer based in London, Coles uses very selective bits of vintage wallpaper, embroiders over them with her own drawings and adds them to long sheets of wall paper. They are lovely, rich and delicate. She also has a small line of very sweet accessories and embroidered ceramic dishware. Here are a few images below of her work that I stole from her website, so go check out her website and see it all for yourself!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
A british wall paper designer based in London, Coles uses very selective bits of vintage wallpaper, embroiders over them with her own drawings and adds them to long sheets of wall paper. They are lovely, rich and delicate. She also has a small line of very sweet accessories and embroidered ceramic dishware. Here are a few images below of her work that I stole from her website, so go check out her website and see it all for yourself!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
A trip to Asheville, NC & Penland School of Crafts
I just arrived home yesterday from Asheville, NC where I visited Penland School of Crafts, hiked mountains, sampled the most delicious craft beers I have ever tasted and slept like I've never slept before in the foggy Blue Ridge Mountains.
Some photo's of Penland's artist-in-residence studios, class studio facilities and beautiful grounds. Truly an amazing place to stay and make art in almost every medium from painting, letterpress, screen printing, to ceramics, glass blowing, metals, masonry, woodworking, textiles and more.
I met artist in residence David Chatt
my sweetheart, David.
Some photo's of Penland's artist-in-residence studios, class studio facilities and beautiful grounds. Truly an amazing place to stay and make art in almost every medium from painting, letterpress, screen printing, to ceramics, glass blowing, metals, masonry, woodworking, textiles and more.
I met artist in residence David Chatt
my sweetheart, David.
Cut & Paste
Paper Crane will be getting a bit of a face lift in the coming weeks.
Adding sections for critical essays/art reviews and artist interviews, studio visits and guest bloggers! and will be moving from blogger to it's very own website. Slowly but surely.
Has anyone ever been to Penland, NC? Taken a class there or been a fellow? I would love to hear about your experience, stories, anecdotes, photos, ephemera. I'm hoping to take a visit soon, in the meantime please tell me about your experience and/or any thoughts on craft.
<3 <3 <3
Adding sections for critical essays/art reviews and artist interviews, studio visits and guest bloggers! and will be moving from blogger to it's very own website. Slowly but surely.
Has anyone ever been to Penland, NC? Taken a class there or been a fellow? I would love to hear about your experience, stories, anecdotes, photos, ephemera. I'm hoping to take a visit soon, in the meantime please tell me about your experience and/or any thoughts on craft.
<3 <3 <3
Michigan
Last weekend my friend Michelle invited me and some friends to her Michigan home to do a mini photo shoot. Vanessa, Shanti, Monique and I spent a glorious two days with Michelle and her camera visiting a corn maze, a lovely beach spot, the quiet of the woods, had our hair and make-up done and stuffed ourselves full of delicious food! Below are some shots from our adventure by Michelle Geoga, please visit her photo blog
and website.
and website.
Me & Penny
My friend Michelle took some pictures of me and my dog Penny, these two show off Penny's super cuteness!
Dream a little dream...
Walking my dog in the park today with my friend Janet, coffee's in hand I dispelled a little dream I often fantasize about. I was telling Janet how much I want to take a ceramics class in wheel throwing. Which led to me telling her about how It has been a dream of mine for so long to live in an old country house that has a barn in back that I could convert into art studios and gallery space in the country side, grow a giant garden and spend my days on the farm. I have been trying to get to Asheville, NC for about 8 years now and plans never seem to work out. However in January the Mister and I are headed there for 2 maybe 3 months to live and paint. Maybe someday my little dream will come true...
Here are some sweet photos of Penland School of Crafts barns;
Here are some sweet photos of Penland School of Crafts barns;
Something old, something new.
This is a drawing I started a few years ago and put in the back of my closet and forgot about. I recently re-discovered it and began working on it again.
Over the last few days I have re-drawn, painted over, added in and mixed mediums.
Here are some photos;
I started out like this:
a little of this a little of that
and then I changed it and now it looks like this:
Animal people-masquerade party-fairy tale-pretend-play ??? tell me your thoughts please??!!??
Over the last few days I have re-drawn, painted over, added in and mixed mediums.
Here are some photos;
I started out like this:
a little of this a little of that
and then I changed it and now it looks like this:
Animal people-masquerade party-fairy tale-pretend-play ??? tell me your thoughts please??!!??
Interview for Proximity Magazine
Hi Friends,
Check out my interview with Thea Nichols for Proximity Magazine here.
Check out my interview with Thea Nichols for Proximity Magazine here.
Recent paintings
The paintings I have been working on over the past few summer months are essentially maps of places I have lived or visited. These paintings are abstract representations of the mapped places through color and the colors are essentially the way I felt or perceived the place at the time. For instance grey could equal confusion, green could equal moments of clarity, yellow could equal light and easy, reds, fuschia's and magenta's almost always represent myself because it is a color I have favored and been drawn to almost my whole life.
The Pool
I painted the pool after a day spent riding bikes and swimming at a city pool with one of my best lady friends and my boyfriend. We rode through my neighborhood to the pool. The day was lovely and sweet. The colors are emotive reactions to my surroundings and my home. In this painting I am represented by pink, Elizabeth green and David orange (the colors of our swim suits)
Meadville
In December 2008 my Father had knee replacement surgery and I flew to his home in Pennsylvania for a few days to help him transition from being in the hospital to home. One of the markings (to the bottom left) is my father;s home followed by a greyish path to the hospital that is a few shades of blue and then on again to the next hospital where he did physical therapy (the mark in red and orange.)
Ukranian Village
Ukranin Village is a neighborhood in Chicago where I lived in several (ok 3) apartments during my mid twenties.
San Fransisco
I visited San Fransisco for the first time this year with my other best lady friend Elizabeth. We were on our way to Northern California to see Elizabeth. I was taken by the city's vibrancy and colors. I found it amazing the way the fog rolls in in the morning and then lifts by noon to a sun-lit, blue sky. Kind of how I generally feel from morning to noon.
Greenpointe
Greenpointe was a neighborhood I lived in when I spontaneously moved to Brooklyn for a short time. At this juncture I was at a turning point in my art and in my life and wanted to take a risk and find a new direction. I'd thought NYC would be the place for me. It turns out it wasn't.
Logan and Kedzie
Presently a great deal of my life takes place near this intersection.
Neighborhood Map
A map of the neighborhood I live.
The Loop
The Lopp is Chicago's downtown and up until recently I worked there and frequented the art institute and the theater often.
Elk Grove
A map of my street.
Blue Lake
In the Spring I spent some time in Blue Lake California with Elizabeth and WHitney, my best good pals. It's a small town surrounded by ocean, forest, redwood tree's and waterfalls. Elizabeth is in a masters program in theater there. This is a map of some significant places in the town.
Palmer Square Reconstruction (work in Progress)
Palmer Square is a little spot in Logan square that I have adored since the beginning of time. I have always wanted to live right off this cute little park and over the last 3 years it has been under construction and is now finally open again. This piece I am struggling with and it has many layers of paint under the green. Like the park itself, Someday it will be finished.
(detail)
A look inside my studio
Gouache tubes, the medium I use to make these paintings.
Me and Elizabeth having fun on the weekend
The Pool
I painted the pool after a day spent riding bikes and swimming at a city pool with one of my best lady friends and my boyfriend. We rode through my neighborhood to the pool. The day was lovely and sweet. The colors are emotive reactions to my surroundings and my home. In this painting I am represented by pink, Elizabeth green and David orange (the colors of our swim suits)
Meadville
In December 2008 my Father had knee replacement surgery and I flew to his home in Pennsylvania for a few days to help him transition from being in the hospital to home. One of the markings (to the bottom left) is my father;s home followed by a greyish path to the hospital that is a few shades of blue and then on again to the next hospital where he did physical therapy (the mark in red and orange.)
Ukranian Village
Ukranin Village is a neighborhood in Chicago where I lived in several (ok 3) apartments during my mid twenties.
San Fransisco
I visited San Fransisco for the first time this year with my other best lady friend Elizabeth. We were on our way to Northern California to see Elizabeth. I was taken by the city's vibrancy and colors. I found it amazing the way the fog rolls in in the morning and then lifts by noon to a sun-lit, blue sky. Kind of how I generally feel from morning to noon.
Greenpointe
Greenpointe was a neighborhood I lived in when I spontaneously moved to Brooklyn for a short time. At this juncture I was at a turning point in my art and in my life and wanted to take a risk and find a new direction. I'd thought NYC would be the place for me. It turns out it wasn't.
Logan and Kedzie
Presently a great deal of my life takes place near this intersection.
Neighborhood Map
A map of the neighborhood I live.
The Loop
The Lopp is Chicago's downtown and up until recently I worked there and frequented the art institute and the theater often.
Elk Grove
A map of my street.
Blue Lake
In the Spring I spent some time in Blue Lake California with Elizabeth and WHitney, my best good pals. It's a small town surrounded by ocean, forest, redwood tree's and waterfalls. Elizabeth is in a masters program in theater there. This is a map of some significant places in the town.
Palmer Square Reconstruction (work in Progress)
Palmer Square is a little spot in Logan square that I have adored since the beginning of time. I have always wanted to live right off this cute little park and over the last 3 years it has been under construction and is now finally open again. This piece I am struggling with and it has many layers of paint under the green. Like the park itself, Someday it will be finished.
(detail)
A look inside my studio
Gouache tubes, the medium I use to make these paintings.
Me and Elizabeth having fun on the weekend
How to become a full time artist and still live like a normal person
Every single day of my life I think; How can I paint full time and still live like a normal person? By normal I mean eating real foods instead of pb&j, have health insurance and still be able to pick up the dinner tab with my boyfriend once in a while.
Considering a number of possibilities from a plan b grad school degree, opening a gallery, and shit part time jobs I think I am finally beginning to figure out the way.
Firstly, get a studio even if its a room in your house, make a space that you can work in and is completely dedicated to your art. I have finally rented my first space that is not at home and it has made a huge difference in my work habits.
Make a plan! Map out your goals and where you see yourself in a years time write it all down and look at it often, make it flexible.
Act! If you are not happy with something, figure out what is not working and get rid of it. I believe when you start making movements toward what you want in life, the world opens up. One way in which I am looking to paint full time is by searching for artist residencies. Looks good on the resume, you can meet other artists and exhibit work. Print out applications for artist residencies and send them in. What do you have to lose? Many give the artist a stipend and pay for accommodations. Residency searches can also be modified based on a persons particular interests and needs. For me, I am looking for one in which I can bring my dog along with me.
Get a website and update it often. Send out your updates to your mailing list. This keeps people interested and up to date on what you are working on. Don't have a mailing list? Start by emailing friends and family and ask them to pass it along. Add potential galleries and other artists to your mailing list.
It is amazing how receptive and open people are.
Start a blog. Document your process and progress. This also gets you thinking critically about your work and opens it up for others to offer suggestions and encouragement.
Balance. Make sure that you are balancing your studio practice with quality well being. You cannot create art well if you do not nourish your body well. So feed yourself delicious simple things and try to make it a priority.
Start small, you can't move mountains in a day but you certainly can work toward it. Decide what is most important to you and cut out the things that are not necessary, that you can live without. If your like me and you hate to shmooze, don't. Your website and blog can speak for you. Keep a dialouge open with other artist friends and have them critique your work now and then. I prefer one on one or two one one meetings, I tend to invite people to my studio to see what I am working on amd offer thoughts or just talk.
Be willing to take risks. Nothing is ever gained by remaining stagnant.
Considering a number of possibilities from a plan b grad school degree, opening a gallery, and shit part time jobs I think I am finally beginning to figure out the way.
Firstly, get a studio even if its a room in your house, make a space that you can work in and is completely dedicated to your art. I have finally rented my first space that is not at home and it has made a huge difference in my work habits.
Make a plan! Map out your goals and where you see yourself in a years time write it all down and look at it often, make it flexible.
Act! If you are not happy with something, figure out what is not working and get rid of it. I believe when you start making movements toward what you want in life, the world opens up. One way in which I am looking to paint full time is by searching for artist residencies. Looks good on the resume, you can meet other artists and exhibit work. Print out applications for artist residencies and send them in. What do you have to lose? Many give the artist a stipend and pay for accommodations. Residency searches can also be modified based on a persons particular interests and needs. For me, I am looking for one in which I can bring my dog along with me.
Get a website and update it often. Send out your updates to your mailing list. This keeps people interested and up to date on what you are working on. Don't have a mailing list? Start by emailing friends and family and ask them to pass it along. Add potential galleries and other artists to your mailing list.
It is amazing how receptive and open people are.
Start a blog. Document your process and progress. This also gets you thinking critically about your work and opens it up for others to offer suggestions and encouragement.
Balance. Make sure that you are balancing your studio practice with quality well being. You cannot create art well if you do not nourish your body well. So feed yourself delicious simple things and try to make it a priority.
Start small, you can't move mountains in a day but you certainly can work toward it. Decide what is most important to you and cut out the things that are not necessary, that you can live without. If your like me and you hate to shmooze, don't. Your website and blog can speak for you. Keep a dialouge open with other artist friends and have them critique your work now and then. I prefer one on one or two one one meetings, I tend to invite people to my studio to see what I am working on amd offer thoughts or just talk.
Be willing to take risks. Nothing is ever gained by remaining stagnant.
Un related to art...
A pause for an art break---
I just can't help posting photos of my pets. They are so cute and sweet!
I just can't help posting photos of my pets. They are so cute and sweet!
My boyfriend is an amazing painter!
He painted this piece below and gave it to me! It is my most favorite out of all of his new work. Thank you David!
The Ceremony, Acrylic on Canvas 22" x 44" By David Keel
The Ceremony, Acrylic on Canvas 22" x 44" By David Keel
July 13, 2009
A long, long day in the studio today. Painted over a lot of things I did last week. Usually I paint slowly and stop frequently for long periods of time to stand back and asses the work. Today though I worked tirelessly, only stopping to asses briefly. My experiment is to leave today's work and come back tomorrow morning with fresh eyes and see what needs to be done. I worked on two pieces today and made some color changes; making them more chromatic but sparingly and with more vibrancy in the varying hues. I walked away feeling like I would not be sure how i would feel about these changes tomorrow morning...
a visit to AIC, Cy Twombly and Joan Mitchell
My own paintings have shifted towards that of landscapes, places remembered and depicted as abstract topographical maps. Upon my own painting I have been researching the work of Joan Mitchell and Cy Twombly, whose paintings though vastly different in content are both equally expressive and have certain parallels in style. For instance Mitchell's 1955 paintng entitled No. 5 and Twombly's 1962 Leda and the Swan. (the title in Twombly's piece I assume is taken from the Greek Myth of Zeus appearing to Leda in the form of a swan, to seduce her.) Twombly unlike Mitchell uses line as a way of writing and creating a language. (Text often incorporated into his canvas --the lower right hand corner shows text scrawled.) Twombly is known for, and shows well in this piece his use of thick, frenzied, energetic line work. Expressively intertwined, vaguely recognizable images appear here and there. And the luscious pigments and graphic contrasts of lights and darks further this idea of seduction. Mitchell's No. 5 is as expressive and her use of color notes appreciation of beauty or that of nostalgia, a portrait of a place conjured or remembered. Her visual language is often more poetic, more about the brush stroke and quality there of.
Joan Mitchell, No. 5, 1955, Oil on canvas, 69 x 68 inches
Cy Twombly, Leda & the Swan, 1962, oil, crayon, pencil on canvas, 75 x 78 3/4 inches
Cy Twombly Untitled III, 2005-2007, Acrylic on Wood Panel 243.8 x 365.8 cm
Cy Twombly, Untitled 2001, Acrylic, wax crayon, pencil, and collage 48 3/4 x 39 in. (124 x 99 cm)
Cy Twombly, Untitled 2001, Acrylic, wax crayon, and collage 48 3/4 x 39 1/4 in. (124 x 99.5 cm)
Joan Mitchell, Sunflowers 1968-1969
Joan Mitchell, City Landscape, 1955
I know I have posted and written about this painting by Joan Mitchell before, but I keep coming back to it. Entitled City Landscape, this piece is a fantastic all-over painting, a style in which Mitchell is known for using in her mature career--much like that of Jackson Pollock. It is energetic, and chaotic, alive and pulsating, conflicted and anxious much like the city itself. Iconic in it's replete style, the chaotic, chromatic center is reminiscent of the hub of the city's downtown and the subdued more neutral, monotone blocks of color that outline the perimeter of the city are like the Suburbs; the outskirts---quieter, slower less exciting blandness that exists much like the colors themselves. It has been noted that to Mitchell white represented despair, loneliness and emptiness. The grey, in this painting represents these ideas to me.
As I viewed City Landscape at The Art Institute of Chicago yesterday, for the third time, I noticed that perhaps Mitchell did not prime her canvas but applied her oils directly to the linen. In City Landscape, it is markably noticeable how one can visibly see the layers; what came first and how each layer lays on or next to another color. Not necessarily competing to be noticed but each on it's own individual path, passing the other colors in haste. The size and expression of Mitchell's brush strokes are also noticeable and something to pay attention to when studying this piece.
*Also noteable is the placement in the Gallery next to DeKooning's 1950 painting Excavation and across from Jackson Pollock's 1953 Grey Rainbow. I really like how this room was curated. Excavation does remind me a little of Mitchell's 1951
painting Cross Section of a Bridge.
Dekooning's Excavation 1950
Jackson Pollock, Grey Rainbow, 1953
Joan Mitchell, No. 5, 1955, Oil on canvas, 69 x 68 inches
Cy Twombly, Leda & the Swan, 1962, oil, crayon, pencil on canvas, 75 x 78 3/4 inches
Cy Twombly Untitled III, 2005-2007, Acrylic on Wood Panel 243.8 x 365.8 cm
Cy Twombly, Untitled 2001, Acrylic, wax crayon, pencil, and collage 48 3/4 x 39 in. (124 x 99 cm)
Cy Twombly, Untitled 2001, Acrylic, wax crayon, and collage 48 3/4 x 39 1/4 in. (124 x 99.5 cm)
Joan Mitchell, Sunflowers 1968-1969
Joan Mitchell, City Landscape, 1955
I know I have posted and written about this painting by Joan Mitchell before, but I keep coming back to it. Entitled City Landscape, this piece is a fantastic all-over painting, a style in which Mitchell is known for using in her mature career--much like that of Jackson Pollock. It is energetic, and chaotic, alive and pulsating, conflicted and anxious much like the city itself. Iconic in it's replete style, the chaotic, chromatic center is reminiscent of the hub of the city's downtown and the subdued more neutral, monotone blocks of color that outline the perimeter of the city are like the Suburbs; the outskirts---quieter, slower less exciting blandness that exists much like the colors themselves. It has been noted that to Mitchell white represented despair, loneliness and emptiness. The grey, in this painting represents these ideas to me.
As I viewed City Landscape at The Art Institute of Chicago yesterday, for the third time, I noticed that perhaps Mitchell did not prime her canvas but applied her oils directly to the linen. In City Landscape, it is markably noticeable how one can visibly see the layers; what came first and how each layer lays on or next to another color. Not necessarily competing to be noticed but each on it's own individual path, passing the other colors in haste. The size and expression of Mitchell's brush strokes are also noticeable and something to pay attention to when studying this piece.
*Also noteable is the placement in the Gallery next to DeKooning's 1950 painting Excavation and across from Jackson Pollock's 1953 Grey Rainbow. I really like how this room was curated. Excavation does remind me a little of Mitchell's 1951
painting Cross Section of a Bridge.
Dekooning's Excavation 1950
Jackson Pollock, Grey Rainbow, 1953
Summer reading list!
Reading:
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
There are many different illustrated covers of this book and I really enjoy the varying styles. I love this story of desire and loss and have been really enjoying this book to the point where I am still thinking about the characters when I'm not reading it. It was also made into a movie.
Read:
The Pharmacist's Mate By Amy Fusselman (the cover illustration is by Marcel Dzama!)
Hideous Kinky By Esther Freud
The Children's Hospital By Chris Adrian (I loved, love, loved this book!)
The World According to Garp by John Irving
To Read:
The Object Stares back; On the Nature of Seeing by James Elkins
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
There are many different illustrated covers of this book and I really enjoy the varying styles. I love this story of desire and loss and have been really enjoying this book to the point where I am still thinking about the characters when I'm not reading it. It was also made into a movie.
Read:
The Pharmacist's Mate By Amy Fusselman (the cover illustration is by Marcel Dzama!)
Hideous Kinky By Esther Freud
The Children's Hospital By Chris Adrian (I loved, love, loved this book!)
The World According to Garp by John Irving
To Read:
The Object Stares back; On the Nature of Seeing by James Elkins
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Red Wing Black Bird Attack!
The other day I was riding to the studio with David East on Grand Avenue right by Smith Park. On this particular day I decided not to wear my helmet for a change, it was hot and I wanted to feel the wind through my super short hair. Riding along peacefully, thoughts meandering, suddenly something is grabbing and pecking at my head! I scream!! Duck my head down--is all I can do, I have no idea what is happening! David turns around to see a bird attacking my head. I pull up to him and startled beyond belief, start to cry (that morning i found out I may not have a job, talk about a bad day!) A man from across the street jogs over to us and says "I saw the whole thing! Not even 15 minutes ago that same bird attacked a little boy and knocked him right off of his bike!" David said it was most likely a red winged black bird, a territorial bird that is known to attack humans that come anywhere near them or their nests. Read more on this viscious bird that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds here
These paintings are gouache on paper. I have entitled this body of work Topographies because they are topographical maps of places remembered. Of course they are not literal maps, I choose to represent certain parts of these places abstractly through color. Here is just a small sampling of what I have been working on;
The Pool
Detail
Ukranian Village
Detail
Lake Mish
Logan & Kedzie
This is my cat Jackson lounging in my closet, the life of a house cat is so sweet.
My other cat Audrey, meanwhile has had a hard night of sleeping soundly and comfortably and is curing it by more relaxation.
My studio walls are filled up with the topography paintings (I am running out of room!). It's been a very natural process to make them, some kind of weight was lifted when I stopped "trying" so hard. The plan I have been formulating all along has been to have them photo'd and framed at the end of this glorious summer, warm, weather and send out submissions to galleries. I keep asking myself, is a gallery the way to go with these? Is a gallery still a platform to show art? The idea of the gallery, to me, feels like it's shifting and changing, something new is emerging, though it always ebbs and flows and artists adapt. I think about how my work will be received and I wonder more about the ebb and flow?
At present, and in my own personal opinion, my paintings are the most mature work I have made in my career to date. They are honest and nothing more simply than exactly what they are. There is no hidden meaning in the colors or the composition. They just are.
If anyone in Chicago is interested in doing a studio visit with me, I love them and would welcome the company. Please feel free to drop in or drop a line this summer!
The Pool
Detail
Ukranian Village
Detail
Lake Mish
Logan & Kedzie
This is my cat Jackson lounging in my closet, the life of a house cat is so sweet.
My other cat Audrey, meanwhile has had a hard night of sleeping soundly and comfortably and is curing it by more relaxation.
My studio walls are filled up with the topography paintings (I am running out of room!). It's been a very natural process to make them, some kind of weight was lifted when I stopped "trying" so hard. The plan I have been formulating all along has been to have them photo'd and framed at the end of this glorious summer, warm, weather and send out submissions to galleries. I keep asking myself, is a gallery the way to go with these? Is a gallery still a platform to show art? The idea of the gallery, to me, feels like it's shifting and changing, something new is emerging, though it always ebbs and flows and artists adapt. I think about how my work will be received and I wonder more about the ebb and flow?
At present, and in my own personal opinion, my paintings are the most mature work I have made in my career to date. They are honest and nothing more simply than exactly what they are. There is no hidden meaning in the colors or the composition. They just are.
If anyone in Chicago is interested in doing a studio visit with me, I love them and would welcome the company. Please feel free to drop in or drop a line this summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
