Okay, so it’s technically day two, but this is the first day of painting. I painted for 10 hours today, and this is what I’ve accomplished. It’s going pretty well, but the morning was spent wallowing in self-doubt. I managed to pull myself together by mid-afternoon. Here it is:
On Monday, I give my students their final exam, and on Tuesday, I leave for a freelance painting gig in Milwaukee for two weeks. The bulk of my time will be spent on painting three murals; I’ll also be in meetings to finalize the artwork for three beer labels for a new brewery. I have been working on this project in my studio since mid-March, and so I am mighty amped to get going on the work. I’ll be blogging about my progress from Milwaukee, so check back throughout the coming weeks to see what I’m doing.
Even though I’m getting better at it, it’s still anxiety-inducing to plan out all my supplies that I may possibly need throughout the job. I can buy many of the odds and ends on site, but trying to anticipate what tools I’ll need from my studio is what I worry about. I like to be cost-effective and thorough, plus I hate feeling out of sorts.
I plan on posting the artwork I’ve made for the beer labels once everything is finalized, but here’s a nerd’s-eye view of what I’ve done so far, which is five file folders worth of drawings:
See you in Milwaukee.
Tonight is the Gallery Night opening of “The Modern Landscape,” an exhibition at Luckystar Gallery, 207 E. Buffalo St., on the third floor of The Marshall Building in the beautiful Historic Third Ward of Milwaukee USA. Openings are good. They act as mental bookends. After this, I’ll continue with the series some more. Adding new things. Subtracting others.
Openings are good too, to see old friends and colleagues, former students, collectors, family: the whole lot of ‘em. It’s always good poke one’s head out of the studio every now and again. Gauge the temperature of stuff and things.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Eugene Sobieski, the son of the former owners of John Sobieski Wholesale Meats in Detroit. He saw the painting online and wrote to tell me how nice it was to see a painting of his parents’ store. Art matters.
See you tonight.
Luckystar Gallery, 207 E. Buffalo St in Milwaukee, will be including my paintings in an exhibition beginning January 21, 2011. Until then, these paintings will be in the gallery available for viewings. If you are interested in buying any of these works or wish to inquire about the purchase prices, please contact the gallery at luckystar.studio@gmail.com. Or you can call the Bridget or Gene Evans at 414-223-2215.
Charlie Dicus just posted this video on his Tumblr and it is incredible. In the 90′s, three of my friends, Jen, Anna, and Sarah lived a pink house called The Pink House. Sometimes they made funny videos, often using parts or all of their wardrobes. You may not think it’s as wonderful as I do, but it totally gave me feelings. Enjoy.
The other day, I found the photo from which I made this painting tucked back in a drawer in my studio. It is one of the few snapshots that I have that survived the flood back in March. I used this photo to make a mural for Stonefly Brewery in Milwaukee, but I like it so I used it again for this painting. I remember when I took it. It’s from the Third Ward of Milwaukee, and I took it on my way to grade some drawings at MIAD. It reminds me that I miss teaching.
I’m heading back to Milwaukee for another round of mural making. I am doing four paintings on wood for a building exterior, and one painting on the wall of The Nomad, a beloved Milwaukee watering hole where I happily tended bar for six years. I’m really excited to do all this work. I will be dutifully blogging about my process, so check back every day to see my progress.
Also, the volcano is erupting again! Well, at least spewing ash. You can click on the link to the live webcam here. It’s fun! It’s educational! It’s geological!
See you all in Milwaukee!
I traveled by air
to stand on ladders, to paint.
Time to fly, to sleep.
So here I am in Milwaukee, and this is a picture of the mural I have been hired to “remove.” This bar/restaurant is undergoing a much-deserved makeover, and this mural (about 12′ 20′) I painted eight years ago won’t really fit anymore. Back in the late nineties/early aughts, bars and restaurants wanted big, bold murals. Those now seem a bit out of place, so I love the idea of getting rid of this.
This is how I’m “removing” the painting, by painting the bricks to look like bricks. Milwaukee is home to a specific kind and color of brick nicknamed “cream city brick,” and that’s what I’m re-creating. Eight years ago I painted the mural in that spot because there was some industrial paint on the brick that couldn’t be sandblasted off. So that’s why the only option is to paint it. I see a brick wall and I want to paint it brick…
All day long as I was working on this, some bonehead dude would pop his head in asking, “So, whadda ya gonna paint there?” When I would say that this is what I’m painting, the brick to look like brick. They would invariably look at me, look at the wall, put their shoulders to their ears and walk away.
This is where I left off at the end of the day on Monday, and I will finish this up today. I think it’s coming along nicely. This is some for real fool the eye business up in here. And so, back to work! I’m not the biggest fan of working on scaffolding (I look a lot like a drunk surfer) but oh well. I’ll post pictures when I finish the wall. I love using paint! To cover things up!
Painters aren’t really mobile artists (except for taggers, I guess) but I’ve gotten pretty good at being a traveling craftswoman. Here are most of the supplies I’m bringing with me to Milwaukee. Other supplies, like my sign painter’s paint and thinners and such are holed up in friends’ basements out there. I like working on site. It’s my chance to play Office. You know, waking up, leaving the house, and going to work in a building with other people.
Have a great time watching the Oscars. I love spectacles and enthusiasm. Go Kathryn Bigelow!