week 7 meeting summary

Tuesday Richard and I video chatted for just under 2 hours. Again we talked about what needs to be done on each piece. I few i resolved as we talked. He downright loathed the head in the yellow one so i eliminated it, and added some more of the clover print tissue and it instantly looked better. I think i'm going to let go of the idea that there has to be a figure. He's been saying all along that the figure doesn't need to be literal. I know that's true, but i'm getting caught up somewhere between execution and intention. So i think if i let go of trying to have a figure in every composition, i can let some of these be done without a figure ever emerging. With that I think I'll even change the name of this blog.

We also talked about and did our linking game of art, including, Brian Rutenberg, Howard Hodgkin, Prunella Clough, and Damien Hirst. Last week he introduced me to Julian Schnabel and then when I got on the airplane there was an article about him in the sky magazine!

Another thing I mentioned last week has really gotten me thinking. It started when  Mark unintentionally started me on this anti-filter bit. He said that most successful artists have a person language through which they speak, and that once found, one can say anything through that filter. That bent me all up because I agree, but would really hate to stop going down all my paths. I have always thrived on doing everything I want to do and I don't like the idea of taking my hand out of any of the pots. Then last week I told Richard I was thinking of taking this class the John C Campbell Folk school. Then I was talking about it with my sister who was visiting and I feel like I had a bit of an epiphany. Maybe my voice will be the culmination of all of my many billions of projects. I've always had this fantasy of building leaded reliefs that can be viewed lit by the front and/or the back. These pieces could be used as structural stained glass is, or just hanging in window, or hung on a wall with space for light to travel behind it. These pieces would include stained glass, fused glass, painted glass, and clay sculpture, and if I get into it, more metal than just the lead holding all the pieces together. I know how to do structural stained glass, and I have done some silver and other metal smithing. I have a glass kiln, I've done fusing at the folk school and a little on my own. I really enjoyed painting glass in college but haven't had the supplies to get into it since.My mom's a potter so I grew up playing with clay, but i havne't yet done anything as fine as I envision in these. In the folk school class i could make human body parts that could be used in these relief stained glass collages.  I feel like this class is about compositions. It's about letting the materials speak, so essentially these are like little portable blue prints. It's important to keep my composing skills sharp and fresh and moving forward so that when I do get all the parts of this fantasy project together, each piece can come together organically and not feel contrived or labored over. Obviously this fantasy is more of a sculpture project and not entirely appropriate for my academy endeavors, but I think realizing that fantasy is not only attainable, but also a way that all of my different voices can come together has really take the pressure off of finding that consistent voice.