Katsup

So it's been quite a while since I've posted what I've been up to as far as painting goes, and I figured it was time. I know I blogged a few years ago when I was in Painting II about working with fabric and painting the folds and shapes, etc. because I remember the post about being a still painter, and that comment came from the fabric paintings in that class. Anyways, so at that point it was purely observational. They were merely studies, despite whatever lame meaning I attached at the time. Which is fine.
This little yellow painting happens to be my favorite from that series I did a year ago for Painting II. The other three were too embarassing to put up.



But despite them being just studies, they got me to Painting III, where they evolved into more. And so at the end of last semester when our last project was just to have a series of at least three of whatever the heck we wanted to paint, I turned to fabric. I started by folding and twisting and shaping scraps of old canvas into little sculptures that I then painted from. And throughout this process I starting thinking about the fabric and the little sculptures as location, as place. And as I came up with these locations they all seemed to pertain to my childhood, which I thought was fun.
So this first one is actually my favorite. There are like three different paintings underneath this one. I struggled a lot with this location, but once the concept and the image came together it came fast. So this is the couch. When I was growing up we had this green, tweedy, comfortable couch. And one of our favorite things to do was to take the cushions off and make human sandwiches. We would just squish eachother between the cushions while we watched cartoons. It was great fun. So this painting is my vaugue memory of that dimly lit living room with stacked couch cushions and the happy pressure of being on the bottom. yep.



So this one for me was remeniscent of the big rocks my siblings and I would play on at the park. They were just these random, huge rocks at the top of the hill with this huge crevasse we crawled in and out of. There was something magical about a huge rock. Even when we went hiking as a family, if there were ever any big rocks near the trail we had to climb to the top. I don't know, maybe it was just me, but I loved rocks. So all of that, is basically what this painting is.
Though I will say, I'm not actually wild about this painting. It could use a lot of work. Plus it photographed wierd.



Well, this last one here is more of an idea than an actual place. When I was a kid I always loved the idea of having my own secret spot. Like the Secret Garden or something. So every few weeks I pick a bush to squat behind and called it mine. I never really found that secret spot, but regardless I held onto the idea of having that little nook tucked away somewhere that was only mine. That place to sit and be by myself and plan adventures like all the cool kids had in the movies. So this painting is that idea. Almost like a secret little fabric cave with the warm cozy light inside. And like all the others it needs work, but if I'm going to be realistic it's never going to get done.



So that was the acculmination of my Painting III class and what I hope is the start of my continuing self-discovery, etc. Though my doodles of fabric in my sketchbook are starting to morph into more cloudlike shapes. I'm not sure what that means yet. Anyway, but one thing I'm really excited about pertaining to my mission, is forgetting myself. By taking a year and a half to forget myself entirely in the work, and to be unselfish and just serve, I'll better understand myself, so that when I get home from my mission I'll know better who I am as an artist.
Anyway, I've concluded that I need a better camera so when it comes time to photograph my work it doesn't look so wierd.