no leash, no lead

i know – i am all over the map – literally, figuratively, creatively. and in that way, this trip is exactly as i had hoped – allowing me to indulge in the diversity of experiences, to fling open the doors of possibilities and see what comes of it. i do admit though, with the constantly changing world around me,  there are moments when i doubt my ability to stay focused now on any particular track, and fear that my A.D.D. has finally taking hold of me.

but there have been many times in the past, particularly when preparing for a show, when i have used a choke-chain on my work – giving it a decided yank on the leash should it veer to the left or right.

this is not one of those times.

my first solar plate etching

i’ve posted an image from a workshop i took in wellington at the solander gallery on solar plate etching - my first foray into printmaking. i’m hooked, but must wait until i have the right tools to take this technique further. appeals to my abstract mark making side – working fast and loose and seeing what nature (the sun) will make of it.

work, NZ

back to the book pages – combining images i’ve collected along the way (most of these coming from PILOT –  a great art/design/fashion mag out of new zealand) mixing them up gives them a new and different life. working both on the wall and in the book suits different moods and gestures and one starts to flow into the next.

collage, paint, pencil on paper

wanderings on paper, nz

allowing myself these meanderings has meant a new body of works that i wouldn’t have expected. but without any pressure from galleries, etc, i am free to play. at  times i wonder if there’s any kind of rhyme or reason to it all but then i put on my headphones and get back at it…staying curious and as open as possible – always asking myself if freedom is the point, then how really free am I?

in process drawing with collage

detail of wall drawing

mixing it up in NZ

mixing collage and maori-inspired tattooing

still cutting and pasting and drawing – from whatever references turn me on. cut up these earlier paintings, now trying them in different ways. i like the new incarnations and will keep coming back to these book pages altering and building up the complexity.

collaging book pages

for some reason feel compelled to return to the book format with my work so far at NPS. was seduced by some great new zealand design magazines at the auckland airport, and have started cutting and pasting with some of the images, combined with drawing and painting. feeling a bit rusty after 6 weeks away from any artmaking, so now just finding my ground in the southern hemisphere.

collage, pen on paper

new pacific studio, mt. bruce, new zealand

am now 2 weeks into my residency here and life is easy and relaxed. after 7 months in europe attempting to speak various languages, it is a relief to have english as the first language. i’m posting a few of the images of life as i see it in my peaceful rural home.

view from the train heading north from wellington

kia ora - the maori greeting

the house, cottage and studio at new pacific studios

wellington, new zealand

flying over the coast of new zealand

a few images from my days in wellington – have moved on now to my residency and will post soon.

loved this quirky mural on the side of a building

rugged coast of north cornwall, england

must be my anglo-celtic roots, but i love this landscape most of all. despite the driving wind and rain, i walk as much as my cold wet skin will allow, and only turn off the coastal path here in cornwall when threatened with being blown off the cliff. there are a few of us diehards out here in the strongest winds, and only a brit could smile in passing and above the gale force shout “beautiful, isn’t it!”. indeed, it is astonishingly beautiful.

the main word that comes to mind here is “atmosphere”, and there is a longing to define visually something as elusive and ethereal as the word implies. the constantly shifting light changes so dramatically, that before i’ve even reached for my camera, the moment has passed.  but as a short term visitor and not a resident artist, i might be content with musing on the light alone, without needing to manifest anything into form and color.

coastal path, st. ives, cornwall

last days at valparaiso, spain

the days are waning here at valparaiso (paradise valley) which always starts to feel like a mad scramble to finish what i started. it has been an excellent stay here – we are pampered and well fed and cleaned up after – all in the name of supporting the artist and therefore the art.  i encourage anyone to apply here – it is a class act and to top it off, food and lodging is gratis!

i’ve embraced cardboard now as a reliable and economical substrate, and appreciate robert rauschenberg’s comment that there be no hierarchy of materials. each is beautiful in its own way. i will probably mount these pieces when i show them, not sure how yet, but i love the simple and humble surface of the cardboard and will revisit again i’m sure.

this will be my last residency of the year, and from here i will move on to spend some weeks in cornwall and then return to boulder for the holidays. i will chew on all that has transpired these past 7 months and then venture out again after the new year, chasing perpetual summer down to new zealand and beyond.

with huge thanks to the foundation valparaiso – beatrice, pilar and marie-laure ~

acrylic, graphite, toner on cardboard

ramblings on the gypsy soul

some of you have desired to know more about the impact my travels have had on my work and i will endeavor to articulate as best i can. much is self evident – the obvious of the changing landscape in my paintings – the olive groves and cypress trees of the mediterranean, hill top hamlets of southern italy. then the changing materials found locally – old kilims from central turkey, scavenged cardboard and street detritus in southern spain. i am mostly a visual sponge and scan the world around me with greedy eyes.

there are practical aspects of working on a long journey such as this. water based paints and smaller pieced together papers have replaced the the large heavy panels and wax and oil paints i have used in my home studio. and significantly, after downsizing my gallery presence, i feel free to explore my own process independent of commercial commitments. this is key.

to set out on an extended journey in this way, one is never really the same again. in what ways this is true, i cannot fully know while i am still in it, but it has confirmed for me the nature of my gypsy soul. the world is my home and freedom my religion. a favorite quote from jack london reads, “it is easier for me to go down to the sea than to stay on dry land”. this holds true for me both literally and metaphorically, for to live in this way does not feel courageous, only the natural course of this life. i think little of my “things”, and while i miss deeply my loved ones, i also embrace readily the new people in my life. even my ineptitude with foreign languages proves to be no obstacle.

the name of my first residency was called “obras”, in portuguese, which means “work in progress”. this aptly describes the ongoing digestion and expression of this journey – and being more visual than verbal, i will continue to let the work be the evidence of whatever impact my perambulations have had on this one life being lived.

found objects, acrylic paint on cardboard