Art Chicago, Thomas McCormick, and Sunshine!

Hey everybody!  I've been super busy working on my "crafty" side this week.

Check out the OneStrangeBird and LadyBird shop for all my hard work.  I think I'm getting better at this thing...at least I hope.  (Now if I could only make some sales......)

This whole "life as an artist" thing can be spiritually and financially tricky.  I have been swinging back and forth emotionally since I quit my day job.  I will say that having time to make stuff every single day is/has been a goal that I have reached!

Big news!  Art opening at Thomas McCormick gallery tomorrow night.  I am so excited to get my work out into the world...

This guy will be there.

Happy Spring!

Department of Beautification Report #2

One Strange Bird

Oh, Schiele...I wish you would want me

Sometimes I feel like a big, dumb bunny

From the photo archives

My camera is broken and in the shop.  Sad news.  It has made me realize how much I've come to enjoy talking photographs and being able to look back on how the work is evolving (or regressing).   So I shall rely on words and my digital hard drive to get us through this week.

Let me try to explain in words a slight breakthrough I had around 11 p.m. last night:

1. I need to keep doing what I'm good at.  This is not necessarily repeating myself, but following ideas through until I feel they are exhausted.

2. There is nothing wrong with being interested in caves, the ocean, the forest, and mountains.  (and I don't need severed heads in the water to be relevant)

3. Spirituality is inherent in nature, there is no need to spell it out.

4. I am older now.

So in lieu of process photos, here are some studio photos from the archives:

Grad school studio at UIC summer of 2007

Undergraduate studio at University of Missouri St. Louis circa 2006

Undergraduate studio at University of Missouri St. Louis circa 2004

Undergraduate studio at University of Missouri St. Louis circa 2005

Stretching 7 X 8 canvas in the front yard Humbolt Park studio

Portrait of the artist as an angry painter

Studio at the Zhou Brothers building 2008/2009

Studio at the Zhou Brothers building 2009/2010

Studio at the Zhou Brothers building 2009/2010

Nicole Northway solo show opening, Escape Route

 at the Contemporary Art Workshop October 31st, 2008

Circa Now 

Wishing I was still on "Tico time"...

Costa Rica was absolutely amazing!  I am sunburned!

We got to go to a cloud forest in Monteverde and the ocean in Montezuma.  We went hiking, zip lined through the canopy, and went scuba diving.  I think I am still buzzing with everything we saw: monkeys, tarantula, coati, fish, strangler figs, heron, dolphin, and on and on.  Not to mention the people, cities, and places.  Here are some photos that I have/will use as references for new pieces. 

So...I'm feeling slightly lost again in the studio.  I have definitely ruined the piece I have been working on for months.  (So frustrating!) I haven't ripped it off the stretcher yet because I am hoping I can salvage it in some way.  I have been working on smaller pieces, just to test out some colors, techniques, and ideas. I think it is a good way to see what might stick.

Here is my wall of smalls.  Most of the ones you haven't seen are in progress still.

Also, here is the next layer on "Vomit" painting:

Lastly, I am very excited to say that I will have some newer works at Thomas Mccormick Gallery on April 30th, the weekend of Art Chicago madness.  Also, Escape Route will travel to a museum in China!  If only we could travel with it.  

Also in the works for next fall is an opening in Meg Duguid's purse (Clutch Gallery) and an opening (illuminated only by blacklights!) in November at Hyde Park Art Center organized by the super fun Chris Kerr and Paul Nudd.

Spring Vomit

A new big painting in its "underlayers".   This is the beginning of my non-blue period.   We are going to the rain forest in two days, so I'm hoping for some inspiration.   I started it on the floor with liquid inks and acrylic.  I then started to layer oil on top of it.    Happy Spring break everyone!

A n

From the window, to the wall

I guess if I'm going to hit any kind of wall, I would prefer it at least to be rainbow colored.

Merde

I always forget that I need to trust the process on days like today.

 This week I was freaking out most of the week preparing for a studio visit.  Oddly enough, I have become a very private person and have rarely allowed people over to the studio post grad school.  I have become quite protective of my in-progress works, because I tend to get de-railed so easily.   I started this blog as a way to try open myself up again.  The studio visit went well and was very refreshing.  I was treated as if I was the authority of my work and got a lot of positive feedback.  I was also exposed to a very different type of visit than I am accustomed to, one that doesn't turn into a critique.  It was a strange feeling to have someone trust me and the work and just ask questions.

So...Since I hadn't been in "production mode" all week, I tried to overcompensate today.  I believe I may have actually ruined Empty Gesture for good.  I also mutilated several small pieces I had been working on. Lastly, I tried to start new works that ended up forced and wobbly in a bad way.  Some days I just try to keep pushing through the bullshit.  I probably should have just stopped.

One of the most frustrating things about being an artist is the inconsistency of the creative process.   Some days I can make 15 beautiful water color drawings in 3 hours.  Other times, I work for weeks and everything feels like meaningless garbage.  The main issue is that I'm a junkie for working and stubborn.  These two things lead to many frustrating, messy, and uninspired days in the studio.


I also doesn't help that the sun has been out for about 5 hours in two weeks.

So in lieu of showing crap here are some funny sketchbook pages from the archives: