STUDIO PROJECTS
Synonyms for Nearby
In September 2018 I made 30 daily photographs using my iPod camera. All of the photos were square format, not filtered or edited in any way, and taken in my home and around my community, I used this month to take a closer look at the things nearest to me.
Abstraction
In July 2019 I made daily non-representational paintings. Each of these paintings began with bits of painted paper glued to the canvas, and then I invited myself to respond to those shapes and colors.
Dog Collages
In January 2019 I made daily images using hand-painted papers, found papers, origami paper, and magazines, and I focused on something near and dear to my heart: pet dogs. My 30 Days of Dogs project was a way to observe and cherish my own elderly lab mix. Pets simply do not live long enough, especially considering how much space they occupy in our hearts. Using bits of ephemera for the images seemed appropriate. The work is neither precious nor archival. It can be loved and enjoyed for a time, and then it, too, will pass on. Thus, my lighthearted, playful artwork about dogs is also about love and mortality.
Flowers
In January 2018 I created 30 small still life paintings in 30 days. With Robert Henri's "The Art Spirit" as my inspiration, I tried an experiment in memory and indirect observation.
Notes on Noticing
Text of video:
This year [2018] I've been repeating to myself: notice the things you notice, which is more difficult than you might think. There are a lot of voices in my head about the things that I should notice. "Should" in air quotes. And that's really not my business. Those are other people's subject matter. These are some of the things that I notice. It's what I liked to look at when I was a kid. And somewhere along the way, unconsciously, I decided to look at the things I should be looking at instead. Finally, now, I feel like I am mature enough to pay attention again to the things that excite me. My things. So I look at things like this with childlike wonder.
Value Studies
In January 2017 I created 30 small value study paintings in 30 days. For each one I used only titanium white and one other color (either burnt umber, burnt sienna, or ultramarine blue). I chose those colors because they are traditionally used for underpainting. Typically I lean heavily on color in my artwork, so this month I asked the question: can I make strong, effective images without color?
Memory
In January 2016 I created 30 daily paintings. All of the paintings were based on my memory of a grove of pine trees not far from my home. As the month progressed, my memories and impressions changed, and the project surprised me by becoming less about trees and more about the way human memory functions.
​