El Anatsui: ‘On Their Fateful Journey to Nowhere’

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Africain Art, art and emotion, art practice, art process, art project, art routine, art supplies, art theme, collage painting, creativity, El Anatsui, inspiration, mixed media, process art, spirit in painting

“Sacred Moon”

“Art is a reflection on life. Life isn’t something we can cut and fix. It’s always in a state of flux.” — El Anatsui     

The representation and inspiration of significant events of history has been a long and honored position in art and the image-making process.  Egyptians etched their royal exploits on stone walls for eternity. A battle triumph of Alexander the Great is constantly being fought with the Persians among tiny tesserae of colored glass. Napoleon, in the huge narrative painting by David, is forever crowning himself emperor for life. But how might an artist portray a history that combines a composition of story-telling, fables and primal myths, when language functions as symbols and where traditional cultures are deeply covered by fractured strata of colonialism and post-colonism?

Detail from “Scared Moon” from the “bottle-cap” series by El Anatsui

You have most likely seen the beautiful and glistening tapestries / wall-hangings / blankets of sculptor/multi-media artist El Anatsui. This African artist treats the concepts of transience of physical materials with the eternity of a dream, elegant transcendent translations of distruction, construction and renewal. He uses the ordinary, very humble material of daily existence fluidly presented on a monumental scale.

Artist El Anatsui — muli-media and multi-dimensional

Born in 1944 in Ghana, before its independence, El Anatsui is the youngest of 32 children. Growing up in a household where his brothers wrote poetic lyrics for traditional rhythms and his father practiced weaving in his spare time, El Anatsui’s interest in art manifested at an early age. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sculpture in 1968 and a postgraduate diploma in art education.

“Red Bloke”

El Anatsui has been an inspirational professor of sculpture from 1975 until 2010 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His interest is in transmitting the process of seeing and developing vision to his students to increase their personal perceptions of the surrounding environment and the world beyond the scope of current experience.

From the ‘bottle-cap’ series by El Anatsui

He advocates to his students the following primary strategies for awareness of process and growth of artistic vision in relationship to the opportunity of chance.

• Pull from your personal history for inspiration
• Look for materials to your immediate environment and give them the opportunity to be more than just humble fragments
• Travel when you can and bring all your travel experiences to bear on your work
• Allow for the possibility of something unexpected, new and wonderful to happen

The installation of these works changes with the environment in which they are displayed — from the “bottle cap” series by El Anatsui — “Stressed World” 2011.

Anatsui’s edict for himself and his students is to derive inspiration and materials from their respective environments. He proves that art material need not be expensive. He urges sensitive mindfulness in order to utilize “whatever the environment throws up” — not simply organic materials and natural resources but also the discarded, over-looked detritus of society such as bottle caps and tin milk cans.

“Black River” by El Anatsui

In El Anatsui’s hands, simple materials do not result in simple works of art. His work embodies the idea that when only humble materials are available, their presentation in combined massive quantities multiples a sensation of monumentality.

“Between Earth and Heaven” by El Anatsui

fragment view and detail — fascinating — both from a distance and close view

His famous “bottle-cap” series came from a serendipitous chance find of a bag of garbage by the side of the road.  He looked inside and found a collection of used aluminum liquor caps, destined for recycling and re-semelting.  He took it back to his studio. (And how many times have we artists dragged strange items back to our lair with the thought  “I can do something with this — sometime — but I am not sure just what.”)  Eventually, he started to flatten the soft metals and then to link them, both physically with one another in intricate patterns of colors and textures but also with the history of slavery and oppression where the trade and distribution of alcohol played a pivotal role. These chance explorations became the glowing metal tapestries of bottle caps, draped on walls.

He explains: “All lids are from used bottles. Each represents a bottle of liquor consumed. As individual pieces, they are not linked. But when linked together they become powerful”

Ceramic works by El Anatsui “Broken Pots” series

Though El Anatsui might use sources of traditional natural materials, such as clay. he employs twists on the customary approaches. For example, the series titled “Broken Pots.”

“At the time I made the Broken Pots series, I was thinking about the idea of breaking not as an end but as a beginning. ….In retrospect, I regard my process as an exhortation; that things have to break in order to start reshaping.”

Painting by El Anatsui –” Untitled,” 1980s. Acrylic on Masonite

El Anatsui will often use house paint or even poster or tempera in his paintings, applied with house-painting rollers.

“Gravity and Grace” a work on a monumental scale — 145 5/8 x 441 in.

There is no single trajectory in the scope of his approach to art-making. He utilizes found objects and materials, assemblage, ceramics, wood sculpture (natural form or carved and/or burned,) painting, drawing and printmaking — or any combination of all of these genres.

This image gives a flavor of the scale of some of these pieces

He states: “Media which come with history, meaning, with something mean something to me. Not just oil paint from a tube. I can’t relate to that well. I would rather go for something people have used. Then there is a link between me and the other people who have touched that piece.”

evocative found wood sculpture by El Anatsui

El Anatsui also has a nomadic aesthetic.  When he travels, he has no need to bring art supplies with him.  An example of his response to a different, foreign environment is the above grouping of wooden sculptures, executed during an artist’s residency in Denmark. He spied the flotsam of old, scared wood on a harbor sand spit that evoked for him the wayward journeys of forced migrations of colonial slave trade. This grouping, of what we might interpret as human forms, gathers power from a multiplicity of simplicity and emotions.

“Rather than recounting history, my art is telling about what history has provoked.”

A play between substance and space –detail from the “bottle cap” series

El Anatsui weaves story-telling and myths, language and symbols. Lanuage is an important element in his work. Traditional writing uses ideograms, which is a system of linguistic symbols.

His titles also relate to language and oral tradition communication, mythology, literature and/or events in African history. He avails himself of traditional names for designs and composition that cast a reflection on specific historic incidents, stories or proverbs. He also examines the concept of failed dialog that signifies a times in which the text of history remains indecipherable.

I adore his titles.  “In the World But Don’t Know the World,” “On Their Fateful Journey Nowhere,” “Leopard’s Paw-prints and other Stories,” “Neospeak Windows,” “Day and Night Opening to Each Other,” “Wonder Masquerade,” “Well-informed Ancestors,” “God’s Omnipotence,”  “Omen,” “Chambers of Memory” and there are so many more beautiful examples.

“Conspirators” wooden relief with paint

But El Anatsui is notorious for his dislike of titling his work. He describes part of this process: ““I write short poems for titles sometimes. Sometimes they flow forth and sometimes they don’t come at all.” But he confesses:“I don’t know if a title is meaning.”

Unique approach to using a grid — by El Anatsui — “Old Cloth Series” 1993, Wood and paint, 31 1/2 x 60 1/4 inches

Another usage of chance in his art comes in its installation. Most artists will have detailed diagrams about special requirements of installation. El Anastsui does not give such instructions to patron or curator, relying on bringing individual creative sensibilities to the presentation. He acknowledges and honors the flux, fluidity and flexibility of his process.

“Drain Pipe” — an example of an unique installation

As an artist, El Anatsui expands his work to communicate in the world. He affirms: “I’ve been an artist searching my environment for material to work with, and I want it to be material that relates to the people, not something that is different from them.”

“On Their Fateful Journey to Nowhere”

I was fortunate to view the El Anatsui retrospective “When I Last Wrote to You about Africa”  at the Denver Art Museum in the Fall of 2012. The memories are still stunning and stirring.

If you are lucky enough to be in New York City right now or toward the end of summer (until August 4th 2013,)  there is a current exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.

If you interested in learning more and seeing an installation of his work—please go here, where there are several interesting videos — including a wonderful interview with the artist.

Karina Nishi Marcus

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Lessons From Michelangelo — Part 2

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art practice, art process, art routine, art supplies, artist time management, creativity, inspiration, opportunity

“Pieta” by Michelangelo, housed in St. Peter’s Basilica

The scope of Michelangelo’s world is beautifully staggering.  Here is the second post (part one is located here.) on some of the numerous lessons we can gleam from the life of this artist.

Michelangelo Lesson: Always Continue your Art Education
Michelangelo Lesson: Learn from the Greats

“I am still learning.” — Michelangelo

“I regret ….that I am dying just as I am beginning to learn the alphabet of my profession.”

When Michelangelo accepted the commission of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, he knew he would have to learn many new skills.  He thought he would have to master painting (which he abandoned as a teenager, when he discovered sculpture.) He would have to learn the technique of “buon fresco” (which was difficult enough, but he knew he would have to develop methods for fresco arching overhead.)  And he would to specialize in curvilinear perspective, for the vault was curved and the viewer would be 65 feet below and looking up (which is why some of the figures in conventional photography look distortional.)

Michelangelo was a great admirer of the classical sculpture of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  It is said that he personally witnessed the excavation of the statue ‘The Lacoön.”  The combination of the sensuous forms in this sculpture plus its mountmental scale are said to have influenced both his sculptural compositions and the entwining of humans forms in the Sistine Chapel.

Although the study of human anatomy could bring torture and even death, Michelangelo was know to be a skilled anatomist. He considered the study of this forbidden subject to be fundamental to the structure of his work.

One of the wonders of art-making is that there is always more to learn, that the journey of creativity never ends.  We artists no longer risk death in furthering our artistic education — so take a class, sign up for a workshop, or purchase a book on a new techniques that fascinates your imagination.You might wish to make a great artist, living or of the past, your mentor — or you might immerse yourself in an specific era of art history to apprentice yourself to lessons their example might impart to you. We need to develop and maintain the spirit of experimentation and exploration in the scope of our work.

The “David” — iconic work of Michelangelo

Michelangelo Lesson: Use Lavish Materials Lavishly
Michelangelo Lesson: Use the Materials You Have

“The more the marbles wastes, the more the statue grows.”

The above quote derives from criticism that he was wasting stone in his method of sculpting.

Michelangelo was know to travel great distances to supervise the quarrying of his marble and to attend to special transportation so that his materials were not damaged during long journeys on rutted roads by donkey cart. He also meticulous care in the preparation of paint for the Sistine Chapel.

But Michelangelo also took over the tall marble (over 11 feet) for the “David” which was originally started by another artist plus there was a flaw in the stone that was thought to be impossible to overcome.

The only waste of paint is when it remains snugly in the tube, for it is a cause and effect function that the more paint one places on the palette — the more one will paint.

Although many artists take into account the duration of time they might wish for their works of art to endure, and purchase the best quality of materials, few think as far in the future as Michelangelo, whose Sistine Chapel just celebrated 500 years. Nevertheless, it is ideal to have the best possible opportunity for survival under current circumstances.

Some artists have no care for any conservation of their work. I knew one artist who in effect wrote on the back of a painting something in the order of ”let it rot” to any future conservators — viewing changes and decay as part of the creation process..  But each artist must measure the quality of their raw materials and their philosophy of longevity of their work.

“Sybil” — drawing for the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo’s shopping list and drawings for the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo Lesson: Draw More —

“Design, which by another name is called drawing . . . is the fount and body of painting and sculpture and architecture and of every other kind of painting and the root of all sciences.”

“Let whoever may have attained to so much as to have the power of drawing know that he holds a great treasure.” 

“Draw…, draw – draw and don’t waste time!” 

“Believe it or not, I can actually draw.” 

Drawing in the Renaissance of Florence and Rome was considered the prime source of visual virtuosity, the main source of exploration into nature and essential for the advancement of knowledge. During that period, drawing was considered the first step in painting and in other works of art and science.

Michelangelo was a compulsive drawer. He was enamored with the process of drawing.  It was not until he was in his 50’s that he produced what he considered finished drawings (which makes all the “Presentation Drawings” — included in Part 1 — given for educational and emotional reasons, all the more remarkable.)

In Michelangelo’s drawings one notices his use of the paper. Variations on a theme often crowds every inch of the page. One receives the impression that perhaps he was so engrossed in the process of drawing, following the fleeting shadow of vision,  that he did not wish to stop to find another sheet. Or perhaps he simply wished to make efficient and prudent use of his supplies, for his drawings were mainly considered personal and private and were jealously guarded.

Now days, drawing has fallen by the wayside as an important endeavor.  But we are also freed to have drawing as a separate art form, as many artists paint directly on the surface without the intermediary step of drawing.  And we are no longer tethered to representation but can roam into the realm of personal sensation and vision.

Michelangelo plan for a secret library

Michelangelo Lesson: Muster and Master Time 

“There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.” 

“Genius is eternal patience.”

Michelangelo was sensitive to the amount of time given in one’s life. Problems with time management and procrastination are not unique to artists, but perhaps we artists experience these dilemmas of the passage of moments more acutely.

There is a season in the creative process — particularly upon completion of a major project or endeavor, when we need to lie quiet as a fallow field in renewal and replenishment,  Some artists also refer to this phenomena as “filling the well (of creation.)”

But at other periods — there is the incursion of the duties of daily life that intrude upon time needed for our studio practice.  There is also the mirage termed as “artist’s block” when artists maintain they are simply incapable of creative work because of the lack of inspiration.

We artists need to distinguish between these various manifestations of problems with time management. We need to honor fallow periods as a phase of the creative process, while simultaneously, even subconsciously, begin the naissance of our next work.  And the demands of the everyday will always expand to flood and chock every minute of our lives.  For that aspect, we need to schedule studio time and keep that appointment sacred for our creativity.

For those who feel “blocked” and bereft of inspiration — remove that word from your artistic vocabulary. The universe is resplendent with creative energy.  Start on anything, anywhere, play-mess-around-doodle — do something for a specific period of time, even if it is only for 15 minutes.  At some point, usually very quickly, you will feel the creative fire to continue and the brush of the wings of your angel of inspiration.

“Piazza del Campidogilo” — designed by Michelangelo

Michelangelo Lesson: Develop a Unique Approach and Perspective

“I dare affirm that any artist… who has nothing singular, eccentric, or at least reputed to be so, in his person, will never become a superior talent.”

“Already at 16, my mind was a battlefield: my love of pagan beauty, the male nude, at war with my religious faith. A polarity of themes and forms – one spiritual, the other earthly.”

Michelangelo seemed to always have a personal twist in his work.  He was commissioned to have only 12 figures for the Sistine ceiling — but he composed a suite of over 300 figures plus the tromp-oeil of architectural details.

With the “David,” he did not represent the traditional triumphant warrior David after the battle, but the shepherd boy before the fight with a giant, with the assertion of determination in his gaze along with a subtle hint of hidden doubt.

Have a vision of the scope of your potential — explore your contradictions. It is not merely a case of finding one’s unique style but includes an expression of the mysteries of creation and dreams.

The “Slave” or “Prisoners” statues

“The Dying Slave”

My journey with the richness of Michelangelo has expanded the scope of my vision — and also my inquiry into the “Lessons from Michelangelo” which will grow into a third posting to come.

I invite everyone to add their own personal lesson that might be distilled from the work and life of this iconic artist.

Karina Nishi Marcus

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Lessons from Michelangelo — Part 1

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Michelangelo’s “Phaeton” from the “Presentation Drawings”

Inspired by my research for my post about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, I have been ruminating about his connection to the 21st century with lessons presented by this iconic artist.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) is considered to be one of the two artists (the other was Leonardo da Vinci, his rival) cited for the very creation of the Italian Renaissance. Considering his prodigious quantity  of work in many fields during the length of his long life, there is also added a huge volume of correspondence and surviving sketches. He was a versatile painter, sculptor, draftsman, poet, as well as an architect and an engineer.

I have not numbered these musings about the variety of lessons inspired by the work and life of Michelangelo as I did not wish to create a sense of hierarchy. Each person will choose (or not) from among the lessons those that are important and insightful for their particular motivation and revelation.

“The Punishment of Tityus,” 1532, by Michelangelo.

Michelangelo Lesson: Work Hard at Hard Work —

“If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.” — Michelangelo

“If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius.”

Michelangelo was a hard worker and he focused on each of his many and varied endeavors. Today, people tend to think of him as a “super-artist”– an artist with magical powers that are otherworldly and not repicatable. But as Thomas Alva Edison observed — genius consists of one percent inspiration with the additional  of ninety-nine percent of perspiration.  A more accurate assessment is that Michelangelo worked incredibly hard every day. He worked in pain. Working on the Sistine Chapel was  a brutal experience for him because the scaffolding 65 feet above the floor was curved. He had to work with his back bent and his chin pointing toward the ceiling. The paint dripping into his eyes ruined his vision during that project. Yet he continued to work almost every day.

Michelangelo is truly great — but the essence of his many successes derives from his adherence to the continual application of effort despite circumstances.

Ask yourself if there is a method to learn to love to work and to increase your effort in your art and life while still honoring your self-care (more on this in another lesson.)

“The Dream of Human Life” — part of the “Presentation Drawings”

Michelangelo Lesson: Dedicate Yourself to a Big Project —

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” — Michelangelo

“I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” 

We currently live within a different economic structure than during the Renaissance.  There are no powerful patron families to support artists and their art education (such as the de Medici family palace where Michelangelo, as a teenager, first started to sculpt,) nor political potentate popes (Pope Julius ll who commissioned the Sistine Chapel and later, between 1535 and 1541, Pope Paul lll ordered Michelangelo’s to paint his version of the “Last Judgement” over the altar on the back wall,) nor proud city-states to order a commanding statue (the city-state of Florence with the statue of “David.”) An artist might argue that if it not economically feasible to dedicate one’s time and materials to a large far-reaching project or concentrate one’s work to explore within a grand theme.

The best quality in our economic situation is that we are not “under another’s thumb” as Michelangelo expressed in one of his poems. We generally do not have to deal with the changing whims of powerful patrons. We are free to formulate our personal, unique direction and discretion in our work.

Try musing upon a variation of a goal setting tool — is there a big project that you would be actually be astonished if you completed?  You do not have to set that as a potential goal, but it might help start you to consider a broader range of possibilities.

Our current culture has accustomed us to instantaneity, micro-wave rapidity, and results in a general sense of impatience — that things take too long and ought to be resolved within the span of an hour television program.

Michelangelo, at 23 years old, carved the “Pieta” in two years.  He chiseled three years on the “David.”  The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel entailed a labor of four years.

Some times a masterwork simply takes time — and there is not a shortcut to accomplishment.

“The Risen Christ” — also considered to be a part of the “Presentation Drawings”

Michelangelo Lesson: Find Your Inspiration in Your Work

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” 

This quote comes from a story from the period of the carving of the “David.” A child asks Michelangelo in effect what was he doing. So, I believe that Michelangelo was uttering a metaphor about his own creative life.

Consider that your inspiration may lay within the scope of your work — rather than some variety of external mythic source of inspiration.  Many people mistakenly believe that inspiration is some outward outside source over which one does not have control.

You may come to see that the angel of inspiration is inside you. It is our responsibility to explore how to free this angel.

“The Rape of Gandymede” — from the “Presentation Drawings”

Michelangelo Lesson: Maintain and Honor Your Standards

-remark before stripping a whole section of the Sistine Chapel he was working on…
“If the wine is not good, then throw it out!” 

Early in the painting of the Sistine ceiling, Michelangelo had troubles with a mold that started on some of his already completed panels.  There is a debate if this was the reasons of the positioning of the damp building near water, or Michelangelo’s inexperience with the media of fresco painting, or some combination of the two factors. He was strongly discouraged about starting again from scratch. But Michelangelo asserted his own level of standards with the quality of his work.

Consider ways to maintain and cleave to your own standards of quality, presentation and preservation of your work, or even if there are ways you might increase this reality.

” The Fall of Phaton” — from the “Presentation Drawings”

Michelangelo Lesson: Create More, Critique Less

“Critique by creating.” 

“Why do you send fools to judge my work?” 

“It is necessary to keep one’s compass in one’s eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.” 

Michelangelo maintained his own standards of finishing and even an early quest for perfection. (His understanding of seemingly earthly perfection changed over his many years of experience in art making.) But he knew that the process of creation was fundamentally different from the process of judgement and the function and timing of a critique.

Many artists mistake their own ongoing critical views of their work in process as a function of creating.  They are actually two separate entities.

ideal Face — likely from the “Presentation Drawings”

Michelangelo Lesson: Simplify to Express the Essence

“Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.”  

“With few words I shall make thee understand my soul.” 

In the progress of the sections of the Sistine Chapel, one can see how Michelangelo simplified the number of figures to impart the drama of the section of the story of Genesis. He learned to communicate the essence without extraneous additions.  In his later sculptural work, he changed his orientation about finishing.  His “Slave” sculptures still emerge slowly from the element of rough hewn rock and are all the most expressive.

This relates to the adage of “Less is more.”

Think how you might refine the various components of your art, to trim the extaneous to better focus your vision.

“Archers shotting at a Herm”

Michelangelo Lesson: Discount Doubt —

-to his assistant…
“I am no artist – please come and help me.”  — Michelangelo

“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.” — Michelangelo

We all may have bouts of doubt.  Even Michelangelo had doubt.  He doubted he was capable of the task of painting the Sistine Chapel, but undertook the commission despite his misgiving about the entire project. He created an enduring iconic environment within the arched vault of the building that continues to overwhelming inspire viewers.

But just because doubt might show up at the door does not require you to then entertain it and ask it to sit down for supper. Remember that you are in the same league as Michelangelo — the league of artists and those engaged in the constructive creation of new realities and future dreams. You posses both similar limitations and possibilities.

“The Pieta” — another “Presentation Drawing”

This is Part 1 of possible lessons inspired by Michelangelo.  Part 2 will appear in the next installment.

I am positive that there are many more lessons other than the ones covered in these posts.  I welcome any and all additions to contribute to the treasures of Michelangelo.

Karina Nishi Marcus

(Michelangelo’s “Presentation Drawings,” created in the 1530’s, were named because they were created as gift to a young Roman aristocrat who was learning to draw. Drawing was a respectable accomplishment for an Italian aristocrat. These were a sort of love offering by the artist who was then in his 50’s to the teenager renowned for his beauty and cultural refinement. There still exists a documented series of correspondence, including poems, between the two.)

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Caerus Artists in Artrails Open Studio — This Weekend and Next!

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Artrails: October 13-14 and 20-21

The world of the studio is often cloaked from view, a private reserve of creativity. The Artrails Open Studio program allows an intriguing look into an artist’s life — not only to see a wide scope of their work — which facilitates a deeper entrance into the artist’s universe — but to discover mysteries of their materials, to glimpse into their art practice by visiting their studio and surveying the set-up, or to pose a question about their process and philosophy. We celebrate our Caerus artists who dedicate their energy in the undertaking of opening their studios and extending their generosity to promote the dialog between the general and artistic community.

For more information and to view the map to the various artists studios — please click on artrails.org.

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Karina Nishi Marcus
Studio # 119 on the Artrails map

by Karina Nishi Marcus

Caerus co-founder and abstract painter, Nishi has been participating in Artrails for 18 years.  Her studio is located in a historic Naval Air barracks. Come see her lyrical, innovative and intuitive abstract paintings.

3840 Finley Ave., Bldg. 32, Studio #225

Santa Rosa, CA 95407

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Lauri Luck
Studio # 110 on the Artrails map

by Lauri Luck

This is acrylic painter Lauri’s second year in Artrails — but this year, she is showing off  her new, large, sun-yellow-floored studio. Her vigorously brushed paintings explore the unique cross-connection between the humanity of canines and nature.

2371 Gravenstein Hwy South

(Studio behind Renga Art Gallery)

Santa Rosa, CA 95472

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Sandra Maresca
Studio # 74 on the Artrails map

by Sandra Maresca

This is Sandra’s first year with Artrails, but she has participated for many years in other open studios.  Her multimedia acrylics and oils depict emotional narratives, often utilizing animal personages..  She also fabricates small, soft sculptures using fiber, clay and other fascinating materials. Come and explore her different perspective.

16120 Watson Rd

(1 mi N of Main & W of Armstrong Woods Rd)

Guerneville, CA 95446

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Many Bankson
Studio # 25 on the Atrails map

by Mandy Bankson

This is Mandy’s second year with Artrials. Her acrylic abstract paintings emphasize pattern and line, interlaced by rich colors. Visit her studio and be lured by into an unknown beauty.

4809 Wagon Wheel Ln

(Cross Street Baird Road)

Santa Rosa, CA 95409

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Donna DeLaBriandais

Studio # 40 on the Artrails map

by Donna DeLaBriandais

For 23 years, Donna has been a part of Artrials.  A plein air painter, she specializes in oils and watercolors.   This year she is showing all new paintings, with only a smattering of previous artwork.  Discover the charm of her garden studio nestled in an oak grove.

2927 Old Bennett Ridge Rd.

(Off Bennett Valley Rd)

Santa Rosa, CA 95405

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Nancy Dempster

Studio # 17 on the Artrails map

by Nancy Dempster

Painting: abstract, drawing & mixed media

461 Sebastopol Avenue

Enter Alley from “A” Street

Santa Rosa, CA 95401

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How to Approach the Blank Canvas

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art process, art supplies, canvas preparation, creativity

Artist Hans Hoffmann with blank canvas / http://www.pbs.org/hanshofmann/

“The important thing is somehow to begin.” — Henry Moore

Facing the white blank field of a fresh canvas can be a sticking point of starting a painting. For a few artists it is their “bête noir,” their black beast veiled in white.   Some artists can become flustered and suddenly need to sweep their studios. Others find that something important must be attended to immediately and without further delay and the beginning of this work will just have to wait.

One might imagine that the obvious advice would be to just start with something – some color or line or gesture, something to sully the pristine surface.  But I have an alternate philosophy on the preparation of surfaces as the courtship phase of the work.

If you stretch your canvases or make your own paper perhaps this approach would not be necessary and even redundant..  With the thinness of commercial canvases in this modern era, it is even more important to apply your own coats of gesso. I like at least three additional layers. With commercial grade canvases on which the gesso is sprayed – you never know if your canvas might have the watery portion.  You do not want the paint to seep through to the back (this consideration is even more important for oil painters.) Adding layers of gesso increases the weight of the canvas and help it last years longer.  This step even helps protect the eventual painting from accidental tears.  With commercial paper, you may wish to rinse the sizing from the surface, which changes it absorption range.

There is now a vast array of gesso that comes in colors.  Try experimenting with a black-surfaced canvas.  It evokes an entirely different orientation, one where you are pulling the light from the depths of the canvas rather than laying the atmosphere or image on the surface. There is also a buff titanium colored gesso, which gives an earthy connection, a middle-grey one the forces a high value range as well as many other colors. (Daniel Smith Art Supplies has a beautiful gold gesso.)

Preparing your surfaces allows you to personalize your direct contact with the surface. Such time in preparation grants you time to get to know, on an intimate level, the surface and can start your creative process. You dream instead of despair.

One of the factors that might cause one to hesitate beginning on the whiteness is the nature of surface memory. With the visual arts, the history of each mark, every change, any alteration of color, shape, the deviance of a line is always with us. I imagine one of the differences between the literary and visual arts might be that while a writer might start with a single word or prompt – it would be a simply process to delete the beginning impulse and impetus. With the visual arts, every mark carries its particular history – even if one might erase seemingly completely that first gesture, there remains a trace on the surface, a pale ghost whose shadow nevertheless influences and effects the proceeding work.

I had an art instructor named Howard Brodie, who was also a courtroom artist-correspondent for television news-programs, who reported that if he did not feel his first mark was authentic, he would toss the whole sheet of paper. This appeared very extravagant to poor art students, though now I recognize and admire that there was certainly a high price to be paid to adhere to his principles. But I do not agree.  The record of the search is also fundamental and enlivens the surface.

If you have difficultly confronting a blank canvas, take heart. There is the tale of Jackson Pollock and his process when commissioned to produce a huge painting – a little over eight feet in height and almost 20 feet long. He was intimidated by the size and scope of the project.  He removed a wall in his apartment-studio (I am sure his landlord loved that) to accommodate this enormous stretched canvas and then he sat down.  He sat in front the vastness of white and looked.  He continued this action for six months – he did not do any other work.  Then, after everyone thought that he would have to return the advance and that he would never be able to confront such a huge undertaking, he completed the painting in a frenzy within a 24 hour period.  There is a classic debate – did this painting burst forth in a matter of less than a day—or did it take six months. I veer toward the six-month side.  Ask yourself if your reluctance is a case of elaborate procrastination or if the scope of active musing is an essential step for you to proceed.

I close this musing with a quote from the great abstract painter Milton Resnick (one of my touchstone artists):

“What do you bring as knowledge to a blank canvas? How do you begin?”

Karina Nishi Marcus 

Art Tools: Use What You Got (okay, okay, “have”)

Tags

acrylic mixed media, art supplies, catwoman, collage painting

Tools! Papers, mediums, paints, collage pieces.  Brushes, scissors, glazes, rulers, stencils, rags.  Do you spend time slavering over artist supply catalogs?  Do you know the inventory of your local art store better than the employees?

Karina Nishi Marcus and I often joke  “If I just bought the right brush, I could solve the problem in this painting!”  All it takes is that one enchanted brush, or a new, magic color, which would make it all better.   We always think that the right tool, invariably a NEW one, will make all the difference.  I’m guilty as charged.  I bought a sander yesterday.  I do like power tools.

This brings us into shopping, not artmaking.  I have noticed that the more I shop for supplies, the less I make art.  As soon as I start making art daily, my cravings for art tools and materials subsides.  Does this sound familiar?  Dive into what you have, with one caveat: throw old, gummy, sticky, smudgy stuff away.  No, you won’t use that flyspecked paper.  No, that garage sale frame just won’t cut it.  Free yourself from the worn and cheap.  You won’t use the student-grade paint.  I made this one up:  Paint is only wasted if it’s in the tube.  Squeeze it out liberally and use it up!

What’s your most-used tool?  Your most unusual tool?  Your most desired tool or materials, the ones you want from the art catalog? How about virtual tools?  I’ll talk about my tools in the comments section later, because, right now, I’m painting.  And after all that, remember to use what you got, already.

The Call of Caerus: Prepare your Studio

Tags

art project, art supplies, art theme, artist time management, creativity, self-directed artist residency

When you enter your studio space for your Caeerus art residency, it should be clean and stocked with your desired supplies. Before you step throughout the door, muse a moment that this is your studio anew, without your personal history, ready for you to pursue a new pathway to new discoveries in your work and beyond in time. Treat this space as if you are entering it for the first time and working in a new locale.

Gather the art materials you will require for the duration of your residency as well as prepare your surfaces and attend to any other aspect that might be entailed in your project. Figure out any additional needed resources. (I will have a coffee maker.)

One of the benefits of having your project or theme set before you begin is that it allows you enough time to ruminate about its scope and to gather your ideas as inspiration and motivation for this intense creative period.  Are your supplies sufficient for your new theme or project?  What about those supplies you have always meant to buy or order, but haven’t gotten around to before?  What about books for the journey?  Is there a new arrangement of your studio that you’d like to try?

How will you prepare your studio?

Karina Nishi Marcus