here’s someone you should know about….

Posted on November 8, 2011 by

"Thistle" © Penelope Sartori, 2011

My friend, Penelope Sartori makes beautiful dream-like photographs but that’s the short version of the story.

I was happy to have several of her images in the benefit show I just hung, and even happier that they all sold.  I think more people need to see the quality of what some people in my small city are up to in their studios.  Sure, there are the local over-exposed “art stars”- but,  then there are what I would call the quieter, more modest, hidden practitioners.

Trying to carve out  time to make what feels like work with true integrity, depth and poetry to it.  Pen is such a person.  Does she have a website? no.  Does she blog? no.

She cleans houses for a living and has for many years. She will jump at the opportunity to help almost anyone.  She has a heart as big as a Colorado Blue Spruce.  Give this woman a break I say!

She uses film, and then paints on the images after they are printed. She sees the incredible beauty in her garden and patches of growing things.   Did I tell you she uses film?   No computers, no giclee on freaking canvas wraps… the real deal.

Thank you Pen.

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the art of putting together an art show

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

part of the 126 pieces that I was trying to make "cohere"- early in the process

I’ve hung other shows before, even did a majority of the work hanging this one….. but it is daunting to have a specific space, and way more work than optimal to fill it.

Such is the nature of fundraising/silent auction-type shows.   You are not truly curating, not jurying, so it can be a very mixed bag in terms of subject matter/framing/ you name it.

So the task is to make something that looks attractive, while putting it all on the walls.

For some reason, certain themes started to emerge in this group- there were the bird people, the aspen people, the cow/steer/wildlife people, the more abstract subjective landscape people, the traditional realist people…. hmmm am I missing anyone?

Anyway, I managed to find several affinity groups of styles/subjects.  This was handy, since the show spreads through a large main gallery and two small off-shoot spaces.

did I mention it is to benefit a local non-profit land trust?  I also only had two days to hang the work.  Phew.

In a way- it’s tiring, but easier to go at it alone.  With no interruptions (good luck there) and eventually, you find your way.  And… the whole process from sending out the first info to artists to promoting to designing ads and a gallery guide catalog to making sure the wine is poured is all important.

Coordinating other artists gave me new appreciation for people who do this all the time, and also makes me want to stay organized, dependable and professional when on the other side of the picture.

Looking forward to getting my own studio life back in a couple of weeks!

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Beets me….

Posted on October 12, 2011 by

some might dread the coming of winter-

a few weeks of CSA beets waiting for attention

me, I’m actually looking forward to fewer little tasks that need attention-

like harvesting the last of the garden, remodeling the bathroom, and the end of an interesting but time-consuming contract job. Gives me itchy fingers just thinking about it.

In other words… more time in the studio ahead. Why do I get myself involved in so many other things that distract and dilute me?  Can I not say “no” to an opportunity to replenish the bank account, gain satisfaction from doing things myself….hmmm…I like a challenge and being handed a big project.

But the down side is that I’m uber organized, and that translates into sleepless nights occasionally.  The curse of being able to look ahead  I did just read that the optimum amount of sleep women need to live the longest is 6 hours a night- just anecdotal I’m sure, but it gives me some bizarre comfort!  My pledge for the year starting November 10 and thereafter is to only do things that help my art, help my physical health, and help my happiness quota!

(by the way- baked them, and shredded them, made borscht, and might even pickle some!)

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doin’ some drawing….

Posted on September 29, 2011 by

conte crayon , 30x22

This is one of the first of a series of tangled vegetation.

I hadn’t realize how I missed drawing- I was doing a lot of drawing when I taught it for six years exclusively. But then, after leaving, had such a pent up demand to get my fingers into some paint that I left it behind somewhat.  The good thing is- due to materials grants, etc… I have a great stock pile of drawing  and printmaking paper saved up and waiting to be taken out of the drawer.  I may not show my face too much this winter, if things go well.

Conte crayon is a drawing tool I enjoy using. It is so responsive to every move, from bold and dark to delicate and heart-breakingly beautiful- and I’ve always loved using it.

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it’s all in a name

Posted on September 11, 2011 by

So… for the last year or so, I keep coming  across the word “eponymous” – particularly when referring to designers’ and creative folks’ companies or lines of products……

(seems like everyone and their cousin is a “designer” of some kind now- it appears to also involve a lot of celebrity types)

I consider my vocabulary to be pretty broad, but it’s not a word I’ve ever used, and yet I kept seeing it.   (Assuming it meant- widely available, or well-known, or popular)…. How come I got this far in life and have never used this word?   Frankly, I’m getting tired of seeing it being used as a descriptor.

So today, I came across it again, and decided to finally look it up -

who knew it just meant a thing named after a person!  So instead of people saying “self-named  -  or even not bothering to always qualify the subject – it’s the go-to word.  Might mean that more people have started little businesses named after themselves…..

hey, come to think of it, my art business is “eponymous!” Yikes

Perhaps everyone is so consumed with marketing themselves and what they do, that they want to make sure you know how to find them!

Mea culpa… but please!  Do not ever refer to what I do as eponymous!

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ideas (and other things) fermenting…

Posted on September 8, 2011 by

Now that I am painting a bit more, I find myself being pulled towards a change in the subject matter and destination in the paintings.   I was realizing that when I made a rather abrupt shift a few years ago, it was in part driven by what I wanted to investigate, but also the sense that my earlier paintings were not….. here it comes….. “marketable” – at least not in these parts or wherever there were galleries that had taken on the work for brief periods of time.  Hence, I have a lot of compelling, award-winning, critically acknowledged paintings that are still in my basement.

I think I got off-track -  trying to anticipate what would be agreeable in certain venues- ie: health care/hospitality/ etc.  Rather than just doing my true work.  Sometimes they blended with one another- but I have often found myself in this odd territory between traditional landscape/representational painting and contemporary/non-objective/conceptual work.   Perhaps this comes from my strong inclination to manufacture spatially convincing, believable worlds that are beautiful, fictional and technically challenging, and hopefully a bit unsettling or mysterious. Whatever it is, there is bound to be a shift in the work when you move, even if it’s just a couple miles to a studio at home.  Once I am finished with the busyness of summer, and other commitments, I am looking forward to more consistent time, buried in the basement, seeing where all this will lead.

Oh yeah, and there’s a gallon or so of sauerkraut for Reuben sandwiches later!

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Fort Collins Art in Public Places Transformer Cabinet- Done!

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

I’ve posted images of the two cabinets I worked on this summer- under Public Art… now on to other ventures. Stay tuned for news on the Art for Conservation show I’m curating for Legacy Land Trust this fall.

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when spam is lost in translation…

Posted on August 19, 2011 by

anything's better with bacon!

here’s what you get-

a recent selection of bizarre comments from my wordpress account…(my underline)

“Yup, that sohuld defo do the trick!”

“You couldn’t pay me to iognre these posts!”

“If you’re looking to buy these atrlcies make it way easier”

“You keep it up now, udnerstnad? Really good to know.”

(by the way, good job filtering out these creeps, WP folks!)

so, then I noticed….. there seems to be just one word totally mangled in most comments- intentional? or just  realllllllly  bad English? they are actually quite entertaining sometimes!

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teaching myself new tricks- woof!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by

just signed up for a twitter account, after going to an Arts and Drafts session with Alyson Stanfield. Will this be a good thing? Will I start writing in Haiku? Will it make my thinking more pithy? stay tuned

@erskinestudio

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ruh roh….

Posted on August 16, 2011 by

Does this ever happen to you… you bring some piece of work home and it gets stored, and then you bring it out, and it gets the thrashing it deserves?

I think I’ve been mulling over the work that I did this past year or so, and feeling like it lacked some kind of courage or freedom… like everything was too controlled and contrived.  Starting a new painting in a new environment (see previous post) ie: my basement…. I am probably now being influenced by the fact that I have more physical space to move around in.  Maybe before, I was thinking about being “tasteful” or something equally insidious…

Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I either need to start over, and get a new direction, or give this one a bit more ooomph!    So I went and started painting into it again…. not a new phenomenon- I am historically someone who reworks things … alot.

I think I miss the sinister, moody and seductive qualities of my earlier industrial paintings.

And maybe there’s a way to find that but with vines/botanical instruments, we’ll see.

I want to try and get back to just painting what interests me, not what I think will appeal to anyone else.  Now that I have a stretch of the summer with no commitments, it could happen.

 

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