I didn't need my altitude sickness pills. Landing in Quito (9,000 feet above sea level) has yet to cause my body any kind of stress. It's just a lovely piece of land in the clouds. Day 2 and I'm already rolling my r's with the sweet satisfaction of having improved my Spanish by 100% since my arrival. Although, this percentage is still pretty weak as it hasn't yet brought me into the world of subjunctives. It's all still very much in concept. So don't get the wrong idea: I'm still a rookie.
To make things even more exciting, my room is on the top floor of a house with a huge private terrace. I have full access to this and the view is killer. The city is surrounded by mountains and scatters of forest covered by Eucalyptus trees--I can almost smell them from the terrace. I think I may have found my artsy spot. Let's hope the work rolls out just as smoothly as my rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr's.
Some unfinished pieces to remind me of where I left off before my South America sojourn. I will be traveling for a month, and have deliberately started work on some canvasses that will remain in my San Francisco studio, and will serve as foundations for when I return. I've got a plan to keep my artistic momentum up while traveling. My tools have been packed, my mind at ease, and my spirits high for what's to come my way--both physically and creatively. Next post will be from my bedroom in Quito, Ecuador :)
concrete feet 9"x12" acrylic, water color, indian ink on paper
spin cycle 9"x12" acrylic, gouache, indian ink, water color on paper
I have been running amok with my inks--in a very good way. I've been letting go of whatever primordial mark-making compulsions I have lurking within, and the result has been an interesting cornucopia of lines, patterns and layers of color. This is all still very much part of the new series I began in February, and I am only just beginning to make sense of it as it evolves into a coherent body of work. This new series can be found on my website here.
Here's a new illustration I created over the weekend and added to my online ETSY store. The trees are from an ink study for my painting series currently underway.
Sleepy Trees 8.5"x11" giclee print
Part of working differently for me is delving into the practice of creating more studies before hitting the larger canvasses. My work so far has been largely based on plant life and organic structures, which I am experimenting with on paper using inks and water color. The studies themselves end up becoming complex compositions that can stand on their own. Here's one in progress....it will eventually be filled with color and even more line work.
As much as I'd like to turn myself into a machine and plough through each canvas à la assembly line mode, it just isn't the way I work right now. This may change. I think it all depends on what you're working on--different projects may require different systems. But for now, the only system I can think of which I am utilizing is the "wait-for-paint-to-dry" system. The rest is game, and subject to my on and off inner light bulb. You know when you turn a light switch on, and instead of bright lights, you get a dancing sort of glow from the bulb's filament? That's what's going on in my head. A back and forth kind of tango torture.
I have one whole week left before I leave for Ecuador for a month. I've left this week to focus on establishing solid foundations on each canvas, to build on when I get back. I have ten canvasses, and I'm not sure this is going to happen realistically. But I'm going to try!
While in Ecuador, I plan to work on paper with my pens and inks. I cannot afford a holiday from my work right now, especially since I've been working rather slow in my quest to forge an entirely new direction. It's a fragile time, and I refuse to get distracted. My hope is that being somewhere new and exotic will bring out a side to me that can't be stimulated from a place of comfort and the all-too-familiar setting of home.
I thought I'd share the mess that is my studio currently. Messy is good, as long as it's purposeful. I'm trying to push myself to experiment even more. I feel like I am still in the safe zone. I worry about time and my lack of resources.....but these are just superficial traps. It is only I who will get in my way.
I didn't need my altitude sickness pills. Landing in Quito (9,000 feet above sea level) has yet to cause my body any kind of stress. It's just a lovely piece of land in the clouds. Day 2 and I'm already rolling my r's with the sweet satisfaction of having improved my Spanish by 100% since my arrival. Although, this percentage is still pretty weak as it hasn't yet brought me into the world of subjunctives. It's all still very much in concept. So don't get the wrong idea: I'm still a rookie.
