Visitors

Already there have been several visiting artists here at the Studio Center. The first one was writer and poet Dave King. He gave a reading from his book "The Ha-Ha" as well as two poems. Frankly I am not much of a poetry kind of girl, but I liked the excerpt from his book and bought a copy afterwards, which he signed. He came to writing rather late after a ten year sojourn as a painter in NYC, followed by a successful business which he sold and then a degree from Columbia in writing. He spent nearly two weeks here, mostly working with the writers, but I was able to chat with him at a few meals and he made time to visit a number of the artist's studios, including mine. Oh and I bailed out on Night Studio to start his book. I liked Night Studio but since I arrived here I had trouble keeping with it-too much art talk maybe? Anyway, I am liking The Ha-Ha, although I am not having much time to read.

On Monday evening, painter Julian Hatton gave a slide presentation of his work. I had been aware of his work for awhile and was very happy to find out that he would be a visiting artist during my time here. His talk was very interesting and I enjoyed hearing how his work has progressed over the years. And I almost fell over when he mentioned his home near Oneonta NY, which is just 45 minutes from where we live small world. (Further conversation in the dining hall the next day revealed that he has a place in NY that is literally around the corner from Doug's showroom in Soho. We had a good laugh over the coincidence of being dual neighbors.)

On Tuesday, he visited my studio where we spent most of the time talking about the paintings that I felt were the most unsuccessful. Great. The figures, of course, were the ones I was unhappy with and he agreed. Great, again. We took the elements apart though and discussed the various directions that I could take them. And after he left I was completely confused about what to do next and so I frittered away the rest of the day doing nothing productive at all. Later on after dinner, we talked again and he clarified a few points that he had made during the crit which was helpful, and he also gave me some information about applying for a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, which is on my list of things to do when I get home. And the next morning I woke up with the a clearer head about the direction of the figures and got back to work on them. Julian was here this past week and I have enjoyed talking with him further. There is much socializing at meals! Anyway, he will be having a solo show at Elizabeth Harris, opening March 13. I might try to go if I can manage to take another trip so soon after getting back home.


And the sculptor, John Monti gave his presentation on Tuesday. I liked much of his earlier work, which were wood forms and then later on he did these huge concrete forms which I also really liked. Lately he has been doing brightly colored plastic forms, and while I don't care for those much, I do appreciate the progression he has made. John visited my studio this morning and most of his opinions were quite the opposite of Julian's. He thought that the figures had a lot going on and that many of the elements were working. He did say that he thought my technique was getting in the way and that my paintings (meaning the landscapes) looked too "polished" and we debated that issue for a bit. I see his point, I guess, but while I do think that my landscapes are quite developed, I haven't really considered them to be polished. Mostly because I still really love my process, and am still challenged by each painting, by the subject matter as well as the technique. Anyway, he was very encouraging about the figures, especially the ones I had pursued since my meeting with Julian, so I was able to get right back to work without any sort of angst. Heh.

Good thing too, because I was fading fast this morning. The very social David Grozinsky invited everyone to a wonderful Valentine's party in some little town a few miles away. There was a great band and petticoats for all of the girls, well and for a few of the boys too. Since I don't drink anymore, I don't dance anymore, so I filled the memory card in my camera with amazing photos of the swirling skirts and the bright lights. After we left the party, around 11pm it continued on at the resident's lounge and before I knew it, it was almost 2am! I am way too old for all of that it seems. I had to get up early for my meeting with John Monti and I was really hurting. Sheesh! I took a nap before dinner and will try to get back on a better sleep schedule, kinda tough though with a house full of kids that I clearly cannot keep up with!

Doug and the kids are coming up tomorrow and while of course I will be glad to see everyone, I am feeling oddly put out by the intrusion of my family life into my life here. It will be fun though and I suspect we will be doing a few touristy things for the next few days. I will try and post on Monday evening.

Have a good weekend!

Routine

First I have to ask, what the heck is going on out there? I just checked my stats and daily unique visitors have doubled since I have been here in Vermont. Wow! Are my ramblings actually interesting? Huh. I feel like I should be a bit more entertaining now, but alas, I am too tired tonght.

Thursday, February 7: I went to the studio right after breakfast and puttered around until figure drawing class. I worked in black charcoal and really enjoyed that. I also focused a bit more on the model's face and am pleased with the results (the drawing looks better in person). Well, more or less anyway. After lunch (salad, cheese and the best crusty bread ever) I went back to my studio to put the color on the landscape and barn underpaintings that I did on Tuesday. They turned out ok, but I am not entirely happy with them. I am thinking my landscapes may need to be painted where they originate from? Maybe the hills, roads, fields and barns that surround my home and studio can only be best expressed there. A concept to ponder, I suppose.

Mid-afternoon, I took a walk with Karen and Stella, two women whose studios are in my building. They are both very nice and we all have much in common so there was much to talk about. And it was so nice to get outside and get some exercise. We got back to the studio and all went back to work until dinner, which was an American classic; meatloaf, baked potato, peas and carrots and a chocolate brownie for dessert. After, I checked my emails and then we walked over to the lecture hall to here a reading by visiting author Dave King. It was really enjoyable and I bought a copy of his book, which he signed for me. He was very nice to everyone, asking questions about what we do, where we live etc. I went back to the studio, did a quick glaze on the figure underpaintings and then went back to my house, fully intending to go to bed early. However, when I got there, a bunch of the other residents were in the front room talking, so I grabbed my knitting and joined them. A few other girls got their knitting and even though nearly everyone was practically a different generation than myself, I really enjoyed the evening. They are all very funny, smart and creative, so much so that before I knew it, it was almost midnight, way past my bedtime. I decided not to set my alarm and to sleep in but I woke promptly at 6am anyway.

Friday, February 8: Off to breakfast, which was oatmeal today. The breakfast alternates each day, either oatmeal or scrambled eggs and bacon. There is also always a variety of bread, yogurt and fruit available. I spent the morning preparing a piece of canvas, so that I could work on it on the wall. It turned out very badly, all wrinkly and poorly stretched, so I have to fix it tomorrow (um, just one of the reasons I don't like canvas-stretching it!). Lunch, (the visiting author wisely situated himself at our table, full of pretty painters, including moi, heh, and he was good lunch company) and then right back to the the studio. Sensing a pattern here? I spent the afternoon putting color down on two of the figure paintings and I have to say that I am not very pleased with them at all. In fact I was pretty frustrated. I went outside to take a break and bumped into a girl named Val, who came in and looked at them. She had some good suggestions, then we decided to take a walk down to the post office so she could do a few errands and so I could take a break. When I got back the good daylight was gone so I wasn't able to take any pictures of the paintings. I will take them tomorrow and when I post next time I will describe what is going on. And what isn't.

After dinner (do it yourself burritos and banana chocolate chip cake for dessert) I went to see Val's project in her sculpture studio (which I will post pictures of when she'll allow) and we talked about it for quite awhile. I am happy to find that I can still actually talk about art when I see it and I am feeling really good about expressing myself here, even about installation art, something I often have trouble connecting with.

Anyway, despite my frustrations today, I am bursting with enjoyment about being here. I love my routine, I love my new friends, I love my temporary studio and I love the whole atmosphere. I even love being so tired that I can hardly get to my house that is just next door to the studio. I am definitely coming here again.

Hear that Doug?! Let's just plan on this being a yearly thing.....

PS. I will post more info about the other artists who are here soon, along with links. Some of them kick butt!