Early Morning Immediacy, Art Making on the Run.

3/15/13

Early Morning Immediacy, Art Making on the Run

Artists need “studio time and space” to create their work… but I depends on HOW each artist defines that. I remember thinking when I was 10 years old that I would one day need a studio. In fact, I would need one that looked just like Picassos. I thought this simply because I was exposed to an image of one of Picassos studios. He must have been in his 60’s at this point, but that was my first awareness of where artists were supposed to work. I think that we retain a lot of information from our childhood this way until we question it. If we dont, we are running an old program on default. I like living my life by design. I do have a physical studio that I create work in on a regular basis, but I also create an equal amount of my work while Im on the run, in between day to day work related tasks and so forth. I take advantage of the “waiting rooms of life.” You know, that half hour of time in between classes, before or after work, or during lunch. Time management plays a huge role in my life. Not only that, but also dictating exactly what I will do with my time. I have goals, objectives, and intentions. This is necessary for my week to week ambitions. My passion for creating art seems to out weigh almost any other activity. That does not count family and friends time, or the time allotted to exercise and eat right! Lots to juggle, but with practice and a small investment of discipline, I believe anyone can achieve this. So, what about these works below?

Process

The 6 pieces below consist of 5 collage based works and 1 animated GIF. The collages are all at the size of 8.5X11. They are arrangements made up of cut out fragments from screen prints and stencils, as well as colored paper and some hand style lettering. I spend a few hours each year creating images specifically for screen prints. Some of these prints are sold as limited editions, and some of them are created for the purpose of creating collages and “paste ups” onto various surfaces. I work in a diverse range of both large and small screens. I love screen printing and cutting stencils because they allow for me to create multiples. These prints serve as my go to resource for content while on the run. The images are usually cut out around the contour line of the subject itself. I spend about 1 hour each week doing this and storing the images in a folder that I take with me each day. At all times I generally have with me an x-acto knife, a pair of scissors, glue sticks or rubber cement, a pencil, a fat drip marker, and various forms of paper. This all fits neatly into an over the shoulder mail bag style carrying case. The materials can be taken out quickly, arranged and glued down with in minutes. I then scan or photo document the images and edit them in photoshop. At some point of the day I will share these images onto my social media platforms. This series of works has developed into a book making project that I will soon share. Over 500 pieces have been created over the last 2 years in this format. The nature of the process itself has helped me redefine the context of “what and where the studio is.” As well as how art can be made and shared in the energy of immediacy.

Self expression is fast and furious, I resonate with that.

The GIF happened last, and Im sure there are more on the way. I love the immediacy of photoshop and a still image can become more in about 5 minutes and 5 layers.