Wrinkles have been catching my attention lately.
(click on the image for larger view)
They look and feel like evidence of an experience. Proof of comfort and living. They’re also proof that it may be time to change the sheets (:
11
Feb 10
Rewiring.
My husband and I have been making some adjustments in our home office area. That means more wires everywhere. I’m not a fan of wires. They are clunky, messy looking, full of clutter…
Massive amounts of Internet wiring become a blue roller coaster curved composition.
10
Feb 10
New Project, New Perspective
I have been working from home for a while now (even my day job is telecommuting from home), so my house has become many things. It is where I spend most of my life these days. In an effort to be more appreciative of the beauty that surrounds me, I have decided to photograph my house, home, office, environment with an aesthetic eye. It is almost forced awareness or something to that effect.
I feel that many of us, myself included, take several things for granted on a daily basis. Photography always opens my eyes to otherwise unnoticed compositions, light, positive and negative space.
This project is in newborn stage, so I don’t really have all the answers yet. It has been boiling in the back of my mind for a while, so I think I’m at the point of just “doing.” I feel once I have a small collection of photographs they will lend more information. Until then, here is my first photograph.
Please click on the image to see a larger version.
I don’t think there is a better way to start this project than with my daily companion, Neko. She likes to sun bathe and reminds me to take breaks when I forget (which is most of the time). Today is not so sunny, so she has just planted herself in the middle of the living room floor hoping the sun will find her soon. I hope so too.
I will be filing the photographs I take under the category This Domesticated Life if you want to follow along.
03
Feb 10
Experimentation
I have started experimenting a bit with my screenprinting. I am trying to design purses around a screen print. Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I thought what could be better than a heart? I also had the screen already made and laying around, so it was great when I all of a sudden decided yesterday that I wanted to screen print on the next purse I made.
The best thing about experimentation is that it always leads down a path you have never been. I gathered a great many new ideas in my head yesterday evening as I sewed my lopsided purse and pouch. Check them out and let me know what you think.
My purses are available for purchase at my etsy store.
02
Feb 10
The Red Balloon
So, I have just started a new print series that I am really excited about. I forgot how much I love printmaking. In an attempt to fully embrace the whole artist that I am, I have decided to just do whatever I feel like in the studio each day. If I feel like photographing, I’ll take a walk and do that. If I feel like printmaking, than I will start carving and if I want to make a purse, well then I will start sewing. You get the picture.
These last few weeks have been filled with finally starting and completing some print series work that I have had on the back burner for a while.
One in particular project is called “The Red Balloon.” I just finished printing the first of I don’t know how many different prints for this series. As you may have guessed, the print involved a red balloon. It also involves a young girl and will eventually involve a young boy (a few prints down the road). Anyway, I wanted to show the first print of this series.
As always, my prints are available for purchase at my etsy store.
25
Jan 10
Winter in Alaska – Linocut Print Series
A couple of months back I spent about two weeks in the Great White North. Most of my time was spent indoors staring out large windows. I was lucky the scenery was easy on the eyes. I did snowshoe a few times and get to venture down a trail that seemed to only have about 2 other visitors. When I arrived back home I had several vivid visual memories.
I’m excited to share my 5 print Winter in Alaska series. Most of my prints from the last 3 years or so have started with a photograph. This is the first time in a long time that a print has been influenced by a memory. It’s a huge departure from my installation and project based work and I am loving it! I told someone the other day that I’m trying to fully embrace all 8 Lauren’s that live inside me.
I’d like to introduce you to one of my Lauren’s. The printmaker.
There are 9 originals of each of the 5 prints (except the sun at the top of the page – there are only 8). I will be selling both the originals and an unlimited edition of giclee prints at my shop. CLICK HERE to visit The Print Studio.
18
Jan 10
I’d consider it a success.
Well, yesterday my very supportive husband and I made the trek out to Point Reyes Station to see my work along with all of it’s new artwork friends at Gallery Route One.
Here’s my artwork!
Portrait of a Mother and a Father
Linocut print on a Mirror
I was happy to see that my work was among some of the best artwork I have seen in a group show in quite some time. The show was extremely crowded, but I worked up the courage and elbowed my way through the sea of artists and found myself in a short conversation with Kenneth Baker. He was cordial and cracked a few jokes to lighten the nerves I’m sure both he and I felt. I have stepped up one more step on my ladder to being comfortable in my role as an artist.
Sunday was a great day.
On another note:
In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. I would like to share one of my favorite photographs of him.
Photographer Paul Schutzer took this photograph in 1961.
photo courtesy of time.com
12
Jan 10
He likes me, he really likes me!
I just heard some great news from Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station. I have been accepted into their Annual Juried Show; this year the Juror is San Francisco Chronicle’s Art Critic Kenneth Baker.
The opening reception is this Sunday, January 17th from 3pm-5pm.
If you don’t have plans, now you do (:
The show will run from January 15 – February 14, 2010 – so if you don’t have a chance to get to the opening, check out the show some other time you are in the area.
01
Nov 09
I am becoming a photographer again.
This week, for the first time in 5 years, I scheduled a time during my day to go outside and photograph. This used to be my life. My camera came everywhere with me and captured my life and the lives of others I saw along the way. I stopped loving photography during my undergrad studies and have had a shaky relationship with it ever since. But, after photographing two of my friend’s weddings, I am beginning to remember why I loved photography to begin with.
It is almost like I need to practice at not taking it so seriously. I had to go to art school to learn how to technically take photographs and now I have to almost unlearn all of that–in order to take away that pressure to take the perfect photograph. The best advice I ever received from a photographer was (I am paraphrasing) “Take as many photographs as you can because you will be lucky if you get one image out from one roll of film.” 1 in 36 is apparently the average for a talented photographer. The digital age makes it a great deal easier to take a ton of crappy photographs in order to find that one gem. And, reflecting on that advice today, what I really think he was getting at was, just take it! Don’t think, just photograph.
I could not just take it last week. I had a really hard time photographing. It’s like I lost my touch. It used to be automatic for me. I didn’t think, I just pointed and clicked. It was straight from my gut. That’s what I love about photography. It can be so genuine and honest if you approach it correctly. That’s another part of me I will have to find again.
Photography used to allow me to look at a scene as though I had never seen it before. I was like a 5 year old at the circus for the first time. Instead of pointing my finger in awe, I was pointing my camera and recording that composition I framed in my head. Where did that photographer go? And can I get her back?
15
Sep 09
Space changes perception.
Wow! I just got images back from my most recent solo exhibition at the Wiseman Gallery in Grants Pass, Oregon. It is truly amazing what space can do for an artwork and concept. The installation was done so well, I’m glad there was great care taken in producing a lovely “mini” exhibiton of my “I’m a Terrible Morning Person” Project.
I wish I could have made it to the actual space to see the exhibition. I think the huge amounts of space left between the works and the fact that walls separated some of them really changed the vibe of the whole show. I would have liked to see first hand what the work was saying to the viewer. This is why I love showing my work in as many places as possible; it keeps morphing into something entirely new.
Check out the images and tell me what they say to you.
