Just Focusing on the Utopic

Please read Drawing on the Utopic. That's where I am.

Jules de Balincourt's paint pallet pictured above.

What to do about this space?

Studio available in the 526 w. 26th Street Street Building - 650 square feet, $1425/ per month, does not include utilities. Used for small storage. Build out and share possibilities. Long term lease poss. too. Beautiful space.

lots to love about Sharon

Sharon Butler documents free space.

Dusting off "freespace"

Since Pocket Utopia came out of working in the "freespace," I decided to dust off this container for my "freeway" philosophy of making art in order to see what might come next. To begin or restart, I'm reposting an item from Sharon Butler's new blog. Old blog, meets new blog, together with new ideas about working freely.

Sharon is the artist in resident all month at Pocket Utopia. After July, Pocket Utopia will close. I will move on to advise both Kris Graves Projects on his new space and Norte Maar on their various art projects.

Norte Maar and I will work towards setting up a Black-Mountain-like school, called...Pocket U, which will take place in Rouses Point, New York the last two weeks of July 2010.

Here's to letting ideas flow freely.

Reminder

This is a reminder to go over to my new blog. Thanks!

Pictured above is my very new and very temporary studio. You'll find me there and writing here. The new blog will not be an art blog but will be a blog written by an artist.

Moving Day

Today is moving day. I'm moving into a studio for the first time in 3 years, and to mark this occasion, I'm starting a new blog! It's called drawing on the utopic, please check it out for all future posts on all things utopic!

Bag it!

I'm on the verge of a momentous change to the way I make art (and freespace). After 3 years without a studio and working everywhere else, including the basement laundry room, libraries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 60 Wall street public area, and many other spots (the subway, a park bench, and random cafe), I am moving into a studio space, with a door, a lock and air conditioning!

About 2 weeks ago, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts contacted me and asked me if I was interested in one of their studios. I looked at it and said yes (I did ask to see the cheapest one and that's the only one I looked at). It's just for 3 months. If it goes well, maybe I can continue to rent it month-to-month, and maybe I would be eligible or at least I'll be alerted to apply for one of their subsidized studios.

Now, I will take all the drawings out of my closet, out from under the couch, out of my underwear drawer and onto the walls. I haven't had an opportunity to look at everything all at once for a long time. My studio space will be a viewing space and a new, not free, workspace.

At this point, I need to really thank Karina Aguilera Skvirsky for suggesting me to the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. Karina is an amazing artist. She doesn't just offer her fellow artists ideas for opportunities, she makes the first move and suggests artists to institutions that are looking for certain artists for certains things. She understands the proactive power of suggestion. Thank you!

Pieces at Brece's

I ran with my bag-o-art over to Brece's and set up on the floor, working on the cover photos of the New York Times until it looked like I'd been there working for months and I had ink on my face. You've worked on one floor, you worked on'em all!

Like mother, like daughter

Me and my mom drawing. Thanks mom for teaching me to be creative, resourceful and to giv'em hell!

From light to dark to the garage

Before going out of town (I wish New York city was a "town"), I freespaced at StoneFox architects and artspace. It's such a beautiful place, bright and everything is either black or white and the floors charm you with their ccreakiness. It's a grand building and an inspiring place to work. Plus Elissa was installing her show which opens next Tuesday, so the excitment was in the air.

Here at my mom's I drew in bed in the dark using the light from my phone. Then Mike showed me that I could use the dimmer switch on the light next to the bed so not to wake Grant. Funny, I'm not getting as much drawing done as I had hoped. I'm a little dim (witted).

Now I write from inside my mom's garage, in order to get a friendly neighbor's wireless internet connection. Everyone needs
neighbors.

StoneFox pictured below:

The view from the garage:

Making and not making

I can't live without art, without making art. I realized, after not making art for a couple of days, that I'm certainly not a happy person when I don't make art. I changed my categories of creating; my days for making it, my hours of drawing, and the places I make it.

I made a poor decision to work on Pocket Utopia-related things on Saturday and Sunday instead of drawing. Monday morning arrived and I hadn't made any art for two days, and I tried to find beauty in things and it wasn't there.

But now I've sorted things out by making again. I discovered that I've made many drawings on two sides of the same page. Perhaps there are two sides to my personality that of making and that of not making.

Same Place, different drawings

I'm supposed to be redoing this blog, but I just get can't get the overhaul underway. I've been concentrating on actual art-making, and have overhauled all my drawing categories.

I am now doing new drawings on different days, even if it is in the same old places and I'm writing about it on the same old blog. The result will be different.

Pictured above, a found sculpture in the laundry room, surprises abound!

Libby has built me a bench

It's part of Libby's show, but I feel like Libby built me a bench to freespace on! Thanks Libby!

Idea becomes art

About a year ago, I received my first blog-related fan letter from an artist named Libby Hartle. Tonight Libby's solo show opens at the Pocket.

For the past six months Libby has been working at a table in the back, walking to and from the space, collecting detritus and turning it into cast paper sticks. The sticks have become nests. Her drawings, made at the table, now cover the wall. Libby has even created a seating area that extends out from her work table. I feel very fortunate to sit there and watch idea become art.

Packed up

I'm watching Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, a strangely appropriate film for packing and planning my weekend away working.

Free bird

The weeks and free spaces have been flying by and now I am getting ready to go away to a weekend artist-residency. I've been planning this work-escape for 6 months and now it's here. Before I go I promised the Center for Books Arts a cake design and now I want to mention their upcoming fundraising event. It's time to pack my bags.

brownies and merlot, text and helvetica

I think little G's preschool reads the blog because Mike was grilled by the head teacher about little G's whereabouts on Friday! Busted!

Pictured above is a group of art enthusiasts watching the Chuck Close movie. The best thing about the picture is Fred's face peeking out of the lower left corner. We learned that night that brownies, egg creams and popcorn goes well with merlot. Also pictured above is a collage of a possbile new form.

It's Monday and I'm continuing my new form, new week experiment. Tomorrow, Tuesday, brings my attention to my text pieces and I've decided to draw them in helvetica. I watched a convinicing film on the font and I'm sold. As the filmmakers describe the font and it makes sense to me using it as a drawing tool, helvetica has a "neutralism." "It doesn't have a meaning in itself. The meaning is in the content of the text and not in the typeface."

New forms, old theme

I just spent about an hour trying to buy gel pens online. I'm working on new forms. I think I need to try out the pens in a store. I cancelled my orders. I watched a great movie last night at Fred's about Chuck Close.

Grant and I skipped preschool today and went to look at art in Chelsea. CRG gallery had an exhibition of Jim Hodges and due to the delicacy of the work there were 2 guards. Grant asked one of the attendants for a flashlight, which was a totally appropriate question. The work looks so much better online then it does in person. I think right now all work in Chelsea galleries looks better online (which is the opposite of gel pens).

A headbutt to the nose...

Monday morning mandala:
new rulers:
new work area created from one of my old perches:
Me, Libby and Brece working:
New York Times cover drawings:


A headbutt to the nose can really ruin your whole day, but before that, I was facing a Monday morning of mandala making and contemplating that way of thinking-mental mandaling.

C. G. Jung wrote that the mandala, with its mid-point, represented the self-it's expressions, reflections, dreams and memories. With Jung in mind, I have probably made over hundreds of mandala collages.

Before mental mandaling and collaging, I joined the other artists working on Sunday at Pocket Utopia for an afternoon of art-making and that way of thinking-creating as central and working communally. Freespacing, with it's Pocket Utopia counterpart, has become the way I work. It's the mental re-appropriating of managing mothering, art-making, and salon supervising that's tough. Where's my center? And what form does all that take?

More often then not it seems like it's all responsibility as opposed to reflections and dreams. I think Jung had full-time help and never changed diapers. Mandalas don't cut it (of course, I had to make hundreds of them before having this realization). A new form is required. I need a form that encompasses the cover of the Times, rulers and responsibility. Next up, experiments in and with new and different, reformed, informed and all encompassing forms of selfhood (folded, presented, performed, baked, butted, and drawn crooked).

Filling up

The above drawing is sketchy and blurry and sums up my week, but I saw some good art this week and listened to an awesome lecture by Robert Storr on being an artist. The lecture can be found on ItunesU and it's free! ItunesU is an amazing resource, MOMA has some great lectures on there too!!

I saw some great shows this week and now have a new route of walking and looking in the far West Village and then I head into Soho. I first went to Gavin Brown's enterprise then Michele Maccaronee, on over to Harris Lieberman, into Soho to Peter Blum, and ended up at the Drawing Center. All shows were exceptional, I even stopped for a coffee, and actually sat down to drink it. I arrived back at Grant's preschool with time to make more blurry sketches.

I also posted a new drawing on the Fine Art Adoption Network. Blurry sketch looking for a stable home.

For some reason the Harris Liberman link isn't linking?