Monday, October 11, 2010

New work in progress: 'Curl'


For now I'm calling it "Curl." (Now that I'm taking progress shots of my paintings, I have to give them some sort of working title so I can make a folder... damn you technology.) Finished dimensions will be about 44"x36" I think.

I like the linear/gesture quality at this point. Not what I had originally envisioned, but now I don't really want to lose it... The constant battle between the image in my head and what comes out on the canvas. I wish I knew more what I was doing when it comes to the figure, on an anatomical/technical level. Should've paid more attention in figure drawing (or kept in practice after the class ended). I've been thinking I really need to start getting myself to the Hipbone every now and then.

In other news, I finally broke down and bought a roll of pre-primed canvas with my last Blick order. This is my first painting on it. No complaints so far, except that there's less procrastination I can get away with... Feels pretty heavy duty, so we'll see how it stretches when we get there.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

On Femininity

A friend of mine, who identifies along the transgendered spectrum, wrote in a recent piece that he intends to physically transition in the next year or so. I have been aware to some extent about his progress in that direction (and have a love and affection for him that is, as I have told him, "outside of gender," something I really can't say about anyone else I have known) but for some reason this timestamp, this statement that he's not just going to float about in the middle between genders, has thrown me for a loop.

I think it is because it comes crashing up against recent understandings I've come to have about my personal affiliation with femininity and its role in my artwork.

I've never considered myself particularly feminine. An only child to a father who I suspect would have been much more comfortable having a son, I was raised somewhat like a son. Not to say that he denied my being a girl, but we bonded via power tools. He is the reason that I have an extensive power tool collection today. My mother raised me pretty gender-neutrally as well -- I suspect that, in her mind, being a girl child equated to a very painful experience, so she was conscious not to pass that on.

Jump forward to the current day, my artwork is arguably one of my most feminine expressions of self. Lots of pink, and flesh, and sexuality. Looking at the subject matter itself, it's very much about the physical component of being female: female genitalia, breasts, the consequences inherent in a uterus (birth, cramps, blood). Only sometimes does it break past the purely physical into something bordering on societal: excessiveness versus voluptuousness (fat is a very culturally baggage-laden subject, especially where it intersects with the feminine); the binding or hanging of the flesh, which can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, whether gendered, relating to the 'human condition,' socio-economic, emotional, etc.

A work in progress. Ostensibly having to do with the heart, but just as much (for me, at least) about menstrual cramps and the sort of reoccurring, copious blood that is part of the female experience.

So now, mentally juxtaposing our two versions of femininity, my friend's and mine, I don't know what to make of it. His wardrobe is far more feminine than mine; my sense of femininity is mostly related to the anatomy over which I had no choice in being given. Like if you could blend us up and edit out the incongruous parts, we could be a 'complete woman' in both gender expression and biological senses.

Maybe I shouldn't make anything of it. Maybe that's the point of all this, to show me how irrelevant these culturally-loaded terms can become in the face of very real personal experience. How diverse personal experiences really are, and how insufficient language is to express them in their fullness and nuances.

But this friend of mine would probably have something to say about that -- he is a writer, after all.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Little synaptic sparks of memory

I've had quite a surge of inspiration/impetus to paint lately, but of course, the nature of such things is that they ebb and flow, wax and wane. And now it has waned a bit (in part because I have new painting ideas, but must gesso more muslin to get started... puts the brakes on a bit).


Tonight, to fill the void of inspiration, and the time between coats of gesso, I've gone back to working on the second Hemlock Semiconductor commissioned painting. I feel like it's going in a really nice direction, one that I didn't have much trouble picking back up on even though it's been a little bit since I've touched it. Plus, I have to say I welcome the technical challenge of this one in particular. The transparency, slight waxiness, and internal structure of the quartz still has me baffled -- I'm currently just glazing layers of semi-transparent color and hoping that something strikes me. And the polysilicon ingots, though much more of a predictable geometric and solid shape, still make me think hard due to their changing angles and the sheen of their surface. I've always had a hard time with surfaces and sheens in paintings; all of my textures come out the same. But I'll be very surprised if I haven't improved that particular skill by the time this one's finished.

Blocking in the silhouettes of the furthest-back ingots, I got a memory flash of Charles Demuth's "My Egypt," which I once wrote a paper on for Art History class. Something about the current flatness and linearity of the ingots, and their shape, similar to grain silos, and the general verticality, I suppose. Clearly not very similar paintings, but the connection made me smile.

Charles Demuth: "My Egypt," 1927, oil on composition board, 35 3/4 x 30 inches

Friday, August 27, 2010

George Saunders on allegiance to one's style

A writer-friend of mine, Casey Plett, turned me on to this project a classmate of his at Columbia is working on called The Days of Yore. It's a collection of interviews with various writers (and a few artists, musicians, etc., but mostly writers) about the days before they were famous/acclaimed and whatnot. It's fairly run-of-the-mill content-wise, but has this 'talking shop' feeling that is generally lacking from more public-interest type interviews. After all, it's writers talking to writers, so the combination of articulative skill and a deep connection with the creative process results in a pretty successful finished product. (I feel like I get more out of these writer-to-writer conversations than I would get out of an equivalent artist-to-artist interview specifically because of the skill of articulation that writers necessarily have... We visual artists are not necessarily the best of wordsmiths, let's admit it.)

Anyway, the most recent installment, interviewing George Saunders (who to be quite honest I've never heard of) included this statement, which struck me as being particularly relevant to my current style/subject shift: "...At any given moment, certain styles are going to seem more urgent and truthful. So the trick is not to get fossilized in something you’ve already done, out of some sense of allegiance to 'your' style."


In the most recent manic, figurative painting phase, I've been painting frantically at night, listening exclusively to Floater's Stone by Stone through headphones (headphones give a much more thoroughly insulated feeling than speakers in that they block out all ambient noise -- footsteps of A headed for the bathroom, dog nails across the wood floor -- and allow me to be contently straight-jacketed inside my own head), photographing the stages of each painting diligently, but otherwise avoiding looking at them. Especially in daytime. During nighttime, I've decided, my mind accesses this whole other part of itself, and the resultant mind-hand coordination is way more direct.

Not that it means I have any idea where it's going. That's the motivation behind not looking at the work except when I'm working on it. Trying to not second-guess myself. Trying to let my gut have its way with the world.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Toward a new figuration, I suppose.

I may be working figuratively again. That is, if I wasn't already before...

I'm still not clear on the nomenclature regarding style in the art world. Does figurative mean that one's work necessarily involves the figure? (The human figure??) Is all other work dealing with things from reality simply representational? What about work dealing with things that don't necessarily exist in reality, but could? Is that surrealism, or is that an art-historical term reserved for Dali and crew? Perhaps it's a matter of capitalization, surrealism versus Surrealism.

Anyway, I may be painting figuratively works with people in them for the first time in quite a while. I've been having the urge to, but putting it off or denying it because "I don't paint figurative work." But I paint from my gut, so those urges are all I've got. If I can't listen to myself, that doesn't leave me with much.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Brick and blue: a studio palette

The studio has been in some state of remodel/redesign since I moved in. No surprise there. Recently I've been working on pulling up the carpet (lots of carpet glue; slow work) and painting the floor, and generally making the space feel lighter and more finished. Hemming and hawing over colors...

For a while, sections have been a pretty strong yellow. "Butternut Squash." The thought was that, since it's a basement space with very little natural light, it needed some pretty intense color therapy to not be a depressing cave. But it turns out, it's just too overwhelming. Oppressively yellow.

Once again I start collecting paint chips. I have a whole ziploc baggie somewhere with probably a full pound of little cut out samples, but I have to start fresh for each project. This time around, the focus was mainly on blue... with a few samples of persimmon, coral (a color that's been on my mind for a while now).

The floor is going an almondy, warm white. Something bright, but not stark, with a satin finish. With only about a sixth of the floor (if that much) painted so far, it's already brighter, feels more like a legitimate space. But in need of color.

My attention has lingered frequently on the remnants of the old chimney that comes down through the middle of my space. My dad says remove it; it would open up the space so much more. And that's true, but there's something about it that I love. Between that and the dark, exposed beams, it becomes my own little (underground) New York warehouse art loft. (I've been looking for ways to restore it that don't involve caustic chemicals... have yet to find anything satisfactory.)

So, from there, I've come to a potential palette of antique brick and some sort of pale, warm or dusty blue. Not too primary, not too teal... something nuanced. Then, to Flickr for some inspiration in that vein:

Brick'n' Blue

seafoam brick

New

Red Bricks and Blue

bricks, seafoam green and windows

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Screenprinting for the DIY Bride - April 3rd

I'm teaching a small hands-on workshop on silk screening your own wedding invitations, and there's still time to sign up!

Wedding costs can really add up, and invitations are no exception. In this class, you will learn how to use silkscreen printing to make your own hand-printed wedding invitations. Get exactly the invitations you want – at a fraction of the cost!

In the first part of this class, we will discuss materials. What do you need? What can you do without? Which corners can you cut and still get a good final product? And where can you get it all (plus, how much of it do you already have)?

In the second part, each participant will get hands-on experience with the entire printing process. You will leave with a variety of cards and sample invitations, the experience and confidence to start on your own wedding invitations!

I'll be bringing everything we need to start printing. Just bring your crafty self!

Saturday, April 3rd
12-3pm
Cost: $45.00

Contact the Portland Paper Zone to sign up: (503) 233-2933
1136 South East Grand Avenue
Portland, OR 97214

Saturday, February 20, 2010

From Endings Come New Beginnings

I finally finished my commissioned painting. After months of hemming, hawing, loving, hating, holding on too tight, procrastinating out of fear of messing it all up, and taking leaps -- and despite predictions to the contrary -- it's done.

And I made a video so you can see it come together!



But now there's the trepidation (and excitement, of course) of a new blank canvas.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Spring Cleaning & Truck Fund Sale!

As I had mentioned previously, I'm again working on reorganizing, rearranging, and cleaning out my studio. An early spring cleaning to go with the early spring we're having 'round these parts.

Then this weekend, the transmission in my truck tried to jump ship entirely. So, 120 miles and a tow dolly later, it's in the shop until scrape together enough to have it repaired.

Both of those motives have resulted in a massive clearance sale of a ton of work from my student days! Coffee, Egg and CigarettesI've listed quite a few pieces on my Etsy storefront, and will keep doing so as fast as I can dig them out and get them photographed. Your chance to own a Carly Bodnar original at a steal!

Some of my favorites...

I'm also offering bulk discounts and reduced total shipping for purchases of more than one sale painting.

Plus, if you haven't been to my storefront in a while, be sure to check out the paintings and drawings that have resulted from my collaboration with New York City writer Casey Plett!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Oh, February, how you fly!

February's been trucking along at full speed so far!

On Super Bowl weekend, I printed up a set of wedding invitations for a bride in Texas. They were a customization of my country sunset design, and involved a gradient that was making a little nervous, to be honest, but they came out great. I'll have full pictures in a few days on the Phaedra Paperie blog but til then, here's a little peek into the printing process.


Then, I got back to the work of remodeling/reorganizing my studio. I know it's been a long time since my Remodel: Part 1 post, but it's an ongoing process. My studio has vertical beams that run down the middle of the space, and the remnant of the house's original chimney, which makes it hard to make the most of the space. Boxes and piles have a tendency to collect along the dead space around the beams. So I took that area and turned it into a work surface with storage underneath. It's not yet what I would call clean, but now at least I have a well-lit place to do small paintings, drawings, pen and ink, etc. without having to clear a spot and sit on the floor.


Capping off the month so far, yesterday I had Kate from Katie Joy Photography over. She's an up-and-coming photographer who will be shooting her first wedding in only a couple of days, and just got a new camera. We know each other from our day jobs, but it was great to interact with her on a professional level. I needed some professional/head shot type photos, and I also wanted to get some action shots in the studio. We looked through a few, and they looked promising -- the studio shots especially looked great. I'm so excited to see all the shots!

Friday, February 5, 2010

February Goals

Ok, so December wasn't a great month for getting things done, and January struggled a bit, too. But I pulled through at the end. (I'm including the first couple days of February as part of January, because it makes this list look a lot better.)

  • Submit to galleries that have January submission dates. Done. Well, to one. The most important one. (There were two with January dates, and the other I'm not as into, so it's cool.)

  • Send image of HSC painting to client. Discuss money, shipping, timelines, etc. Sent image and discussed money. Had previously talked about shipping, and touched on it again. Did not discuss timelines, because they're my nemesis.

  • Photograph valentines and get them out into the digital world. Mostly done. Sunlight has been scarce, but I did get a good photo day right at the end of January. I sent out an email or two about them, and put them on my Etsy, but never did a big email, and still haven't blogged about them.

  • Make confirmations for Bridal Screenprinting class and finish syllabus/materials list. Made confirmations -- the 27th of February at noon -- but still need to finish the actual work part.

  • Get laptop repaired. Got a new laptop for what it would have cost to fix the old one! Yay!

  • Give my truck some love. An oil change, maybe a new turn signal light. I filled the air in the tires (much needed) but still need an oil change and a turn signal.

  • Finish sewing projects for other people that I've had sitting around for way longer than is reasonable. Apologize for keeping them so long. Not done. I'm a jerk.


Ok, enough with the half-hearted accomplishments. On to February's goals:

  • This month is going to be mostly about finishing things I've started. A bulleted list, in no particular order, will suffice:

    • HSC Painting: gotta get it out of my studio

    • Sewing: shirts

    • Sewing: cushions

    • Class planning: materials list, order materials, syllabus, assemble necessary bits

    • Cards: blog about them, damnit... maybe do the card section of the website, too

    • Knotical Invitation Suite: print it, photograph it, post it

    • Gloriously Awash In Sin blog: post something, for crissakes

    • Taxes: this requires me to make sure I've caught up on all my bookkeeping...

    • I feel like I'm missing something... I'll add it when it hits me


  • A separate goal, but one that I hope will help the above, is to wear shoes when I'm working at home (as opposed to just being at home... ah, the challenge of trying to work and not-work in the same space). I've noticed that wearing shoes makes me more productive, perhaps solely for the fact that it keeps me from getting too comfy and curling up to nap on the couch. I wonder if that's just totally weird, or if other work-at-home-ers have found this out, too.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Inspiration for February

My trainer posted this on her blog, but it has some seriously wide-ranging relevance. I'm taking it as my motivational/inspirational point for February.

I love what he says about talent versus skill, backup plans, being realistic, and obsessiveness.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Shipping Container Pipe Dream

Raw and gravity-defying
I've really been digging shipping container construction lately. I like the aesthetic, industrial and sort of a la Brooklyn / Williamsburg artist warehouse lofts when it was still all rough, before the developers got ahold of it.


Actually made of shipping pallets and trailer homes, respectively.
I really like the aesthetic of the buildings by Infiniski, a company operating out of Spain and Chile. Their whole focus is on the re-use of materials... containers, pallets, etc. I love the way they maintain the aesthetic influence of the original material. Probably my favorite is their "Forest House" on their site (which is all flash, so I can't pull the image). Go look at it!

I also like Lot-Ek's CHK (Container Home Kit). Scalable and flexible, with lofts and catwalks to boot.

Lot-Ek's Puma Building. The front is very similar to their CHK design.


And I really love what Canadian Designer Kieth Dewey has done with his Zigloo home. He really maintained the industrial elements, even using chain link in the interior and salvaging stairs from another industrial building. Plus, he has an extensive photo gallery of various phases of building.
The Zigloo's front steps


Despite the quantity of imagery available, there seems to be very little in the way of how-to information. Shed and Shelter has a pretty good list of companies who actually do things related to shipping container (or ISBU: Intermodal Steel Building Units) construction, rather than individuals or small groups who have done one-time projects or experiments. I just found out Google Sketchup has a whole section on container housing. I'll probably be browsing that a lot...

But of course, lack of information hasn't kept me from designing my own dream studio made out of containers. Nowhere to put it yet, but hush, reality. Dream a little dream with me...

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Way to go, paper!

(Via Facebook --> Craftzine --> All About Papercutting)

(Via Zuzutop) Totally worth a click the the original article to see all of the amazing paper awesomeness!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Sneak Peek!

Just a little sneak peek of something I've been working on for Phaedra Paperie...



January's coming along nicely. Some successful printing, a few wedding orders in the works, frequent lattes, and a new laptop in the mail. No complaints!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

January Goals

December wasn't such a great month for getting things done...

  • Finish HSC painting! Still not quite done. But close.

  • Continue not wasting my life away in front of the computer. Good so far.

  • There are a couple of local galleries whose submission period is during January, so I need to get my packet ready to go. I always 'mean' to submit, but let my procrastination/fear/anxiety get the best of me. Not this year. (Oh please, oh please.) Didn't do it, but I'm going to, I promise.

  • I have a stack of artist registry forms. Once I've got packets together for galleries, it's not much more work to submit to some artist registries. My official goal will be getting 6 of the 8 I've printed out actually sent. Didn't do that either. May or may not do it.

  • I promised some people prints of my work forever ago and never followed through. Get those ordered/sent so they'll get them in time for Christmas. Did it. So at least I feel like less of a jerk.

  • I'm going to be teaching a class (through Paper Zone) on screenprinting wedding invitations in January after the Portland Bridal Show, so I need to fully outline the class syllabus and handouts. I can finish them in early January, but the hard work will need to be done before the last minute. Did it somewhat. Still needs finishing, but very do-able.

  • Photograph Valentine cards. Prepare publicity email(s). Nope. Gets moved to January.

  • Create mural proposal or OSU Engineering department. (Not sure this is going to happen; it will definitely have to take a backseat to the HSC painting.) Didn't happen. I'm ok with that.


Most of this month's goals are unfinished things from last month.
  • Submit to galleries that have January submission dates.


  • Send image of HSC painting to client. Discuss money, shipping, timelines, etc.


  • Photograph valentines and get them out into the digital world.


  • Make confirmations for Bridal Screenprinting class and finish syllabus/materials list.


  • Get laptop repaired.


  • Give my truck some love. An oil change, maybe a new turn signal light.


  • Finish sewing projects for other people that I've had sitting around for way longer than is reasonable. Apologize for keeping them so long.