Flow in the Studio and a Commonplace Book Entry

When I recently found my commonplace book, the one I began keeping years ago and then neglected for probably at least a decade, it was stuffed with a few newspaper clippings and torn bits of paper with entries on them. I picked this one up off the floor where it had fallen and found the short quote from the artist Carrie Mae Weems suited my sentiments perfectly....still, after all these years. I wish I'd said this, but I'm glad she did:

"I want to make things that are beautiful, seductive, formally challenging and culturally meaningful." -- Carrie Mae Weems

The Art of Wonder, Suite 2, no. 4

The Art of Wonder, Suite 2, no. 5

The Art of Wonder, Suite 2, no. 6

I've gotten behind on my plan of ending each week with a studio update posting, so this should get us caught up. Above are a few more pieces from the second suite of mixed media drawings from the Art of Wonder Series. As you may remember from earlier posts, there are 3 suites of 9 drawings each....27 in all. I'm slowly adding them to my Etsy shop, so you can find these there, if you like, by following the links. 

But, as far as an up-to-date update, the works below are from a new series that started late last week almost of their own accord. I'd been working on some pieces that I'd thought of in my head and tried to execute and things weren't going so well, which is the usual way with me. Working that way, from a preconceived idea, is always a bad idea and comes to nothing but frustration. I felt nothing for them--they were clearly forced and I was just plain trying too hard to make something work. So, I called myself back from the field, so to speak, and went back to my beloved Japanese paper. I grabbed a few pens and began making dots. As I worked mindlessly, I realized within minutes that I was completely happy, the chatter in my head....all that second guessing, had stopped. I began to wonder as I watched the piece unfold....what can be said with a dot...or a series of dots?

Flow Chart no.1

Flow Chart no.2

Flow Chart no.3

Flow Chart no.4

After the first one felt finished, I realized it was like a map, which made me happy because I've always loved maps and have wanted to make map-like works. You've not seen any from me, because once again, if I try to make a map of sorts, it just doesn't work. The secret for me is not to "try" to do anything, if that makes sense. Once I understood the map-ness of these pieces (there are six by now), I tried to think of a suitable title for what was clearly a series in formation, but I came to understand that these pieces were a kind of record of the experience of flow....not thinking, just the act of making and letting my hand move where it chose. And so, I guess they have to be known as "flow charts."  I'm curious to see how the series will evolve....as long as the flow lasts! I'll share more later in the week.

Hope you have a fine week...creative and inspirational! Cheers!

Flow

Here's what has been slowly building up over the last few days in our neck of the woods...or perhaps I should say...on our bank of the river.  The snow came down lightly, sometimes imperceptibly, for several days and by now it's pretty impressive.  Quiet and still, the perfect time for winter meditation! My cold is a bit better day by day and I found some energy to get into the studio yesterday, where I was relaxed enough to actually make something happen.  No....let's rephrase that.  Here's how it worked.  Going through my little stack of Japanese paper, eventually I relaxed enough to let something happen.  I started out by trying to make something happen, but The Observer part of me is always present in the room and sure enough, I got called on the carpet, so to speak...."you are trying to make the same drawings you've made before...you're just trying to repeat your success"....and moments later "you're now trying too hard not to make the same drawings you've made before...say what there is to say at this very moment with the most elegant means possible"....and that's when the flow began.  But I was definitely much of the way through the paper before I got there.  It's a process, it's always a process.

Once that flow starts, well things do start flowing pretty readily and the desk quickly turns into chaos, as I pull out thread, beads, buttons and then try to find a needle somewhere on the painted surface of that desk.  Here are a couple of quick shots of work in progress....some from the trying too hard stage and some from a point some moments later when I began to listen to The Observer.

It's good to be feeling fairly well again and I'm looking forward to the flow of time in the studio!  Hope your week has started out well!  See you tomorrow for A Walk Through The Universe!