Day 14 of #marchmeetthemaker is “how you learnt”. I attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I studied Printmedia and Painting and Drawing. I got my BFA in 2009 and my MFA in 2011. I feel very lucky to have had the experience, as it was a great one!
(January 31) My husband told me to not talk about the weather anymore, but it’s freaking cold! I have to apologize to the people waiting for packages this week. Mail services is limited because of the temperature. I also haven’t had child care all week, so my communication hasn’t been the best. I hope to catch up when my husband is home this weekend. Thank you for your patience.
Painting is not just jumping in and painting, and voila!, it is a masterpiece. Any artist will tell you, there is a lot of prep involved in each project before it is made.
I start by finding a subject. I have a collection of specimens, and if I don’t have an actual specimen, I will spend days scouring the internet and looking through my book collection. I also take a lot of photographs for source material. I need to have a good feel for the subject, and I need to be able to visualize what the subject will look like in the painting. This takes research.
I like to say that I am a little like Larry David. I don’t like to write the script down before I start. An important aspect of my process is improvisation. I have to be able to visualize the subject of my painting before I start. But once I start, I respond to the piece with intuition to create the external composition.
Then the fun starts. Painting and adornment with 23k gold leaf. I will do some process videos in the near future and go into more detail about that soon!
I have been feeling under the weather, so, regretfully, I have not been in the studio in a while. I hope to be in the studio soon. I have a lot of new work in my head, I just need to get my hands dirty. I thought I would share some oldies with you in the mean time. Tell me what you think.
Originally posted in 2017.
This was originally posted in 2017
This is my first video! This painting was made with ink, salt, alum, and silver leaf. I love the process of making these pieces, so this is my attempt to share my love of the process. The song is Waltz in A minor by Chopin, performed by Aya Higuchi. It is a special song to me because Chopin is my favorite composer, and I have performed this song at several performances (back in the day). Thank you for viewing. Please note, this artwork has sold.
Originally posted in January 2017.
I am really happy with how these turned out. The gilding (silver, gold, and copper leaf) is incredibly hard to capture in a photograph, and these photos do not do any of the pieces justice--but at least you can get an idea. The paintings are rather intricate, and fun to look at up close. The gilding pops from far away, and during different times of day. I love that an artwork can change with time. That seems to be a big part of what I am interested in.
You can purchase these works in my Gallery.
Originally posted in January 2017.
I am sharing this piece because I painted the moth 2 years ago. It sat on my (self proclaimed) "wall of failures", incomplete this whole time until I decided to add the Penrose triangle. I have been captivated by impossible shapes ever since I studied Gerhard Richter's Impossible Object series at the Art Institute of Chicago almost 10 years ago. I am happy to be exploring this subject in my own work.
