Tuesday, May 16, 2006

All KINDS of stuff

My apologies for not having posted in yonks. The creative Block finally Broke, and I have been filling the apartment with fumes in preparation for the Park Slope Studio Tour, which you may attend by following the above link to BWAC, downloading a map and coming on 'round. Or, in case you just want to visit ME (I'm thinking mimosas and homemade oatmeal cookies), the secret is: 16th between 3rd and 4th avenues, middle of the block. (718)768-3236. I'll have a sign up.

Also, Oculus Arts is coming in from Philly to debut some of the very first prints in my living room. They will be gorgeous.

I have discovered some very very awesome NYC art blogs, thanks to Oriane. They are:

Edward Winkleman--some of the most insightful commentary on art, politics, social philosophy and random issues that I've ever read. I am in serious danger of Wasting Even More Time.

Painters NYC--an anonymous painter posts a JPEG of a painting by a different artist every day, and commenters rip it to shreds. Fun, fun, fun. I imagine that some of the snarky flames suddenly appearing on my blog are due to the fact that SOMEONE doesn't agree with me. How we suffer for our art.

Anonymous Female Artist--Oriane says that this girl is the girl we all were in our rebellious art-student youth. I haven't probed it too intensely yet, since I suspect it will make me wince, but the current post is quite entertaining.

My studio will undoubtedly be a Mess for the tour. The key to breaking the block turned out to be Radical Simplicity, and these things take a while to resolve themselves. I imagine this new series of paintings won't be resolved for, oh, a year, five years, a lifetime, but that's the fun of it.

However, I feel compelled to briefly re-state my Artist Statement, due to the abovementioned snarky flames, and just to remind myself. What I am doing in my painting has more to do with reaching a certain kinesthetic affect than in just inventing an image with an intellectual, political, psychological or aesthetic agenda (though these can certainly all be part of it.) I know that the painting is done when suddenly something clicks into place, and the whole thing starts singing at me.

This is the kind of thing that does not translate well to Internet-quality digital images. The vast majority of the content in my work has to do with subtlety and relationship of color, form, texture, medium, layering, and luminosity, all of which are thinly conveyed in a photograph. And when you see them in person, either you get it or you don't. If you don't, that's fine. I do what I do.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ineteresting blog. I shall visit more often.
Regards!

Tracy Helgeson said...

Me too! I look forward to reading through your site and seeing more of your work, which looks really interesting, by the way.

Pretty Lady said...

Thanks, gals! Looking forward to the conversation!

Chris C. said...

Hey, welcome back, Serena! With the lengthy silence I figured either everything was going fabulously or my favorite Brooklyn artist was considering changing careers... ;-)

I wish nothing more than that I could visit your studio for the tour, I confess almost as much for the cookies as for the art but then I am particularly partial to homemade oatmeal. *g* Good luck and have a great time!

I'm much looking forward to seeing the new radically simple work, or at least the pale shadow of it on this flickering screen.

Hugs,

the Dandy

Pretty Lady said...

Thank you, Dandy! It was touch and go there for awhile, but whenever I consider the idea of switching careers, I can't for the life of me think of what that could possibly be. I either paint, or I don't paint and suffer for it.

When the furor dies down perhaps I will send you a care package of cookies. My grandmother did that once and it made me feel incredibly loved.

Chris C. said...

"...send you a care package of cookies. My grandmother did that once and it made me feel incredibly loved."

Cookies have that effect. *s*

*sigh* There are ladies who will attest that I am easily controlled with just one homemade cookie. *blush*