Radical Hope Blooms
It was at least 2 years ago when I digitized a loose collection of my botanical abstract paintings in all kinds of traditional media, and used them for training an artificial intelligence model in Playform. I’ve worked with these images off and on, never really clear on what their outcome would be. Recently, I selected some generations from Playform and blended them in Midjourney, loved what was happening, and then finished them up.
Radical Hope works this way - a trust that a future goodness will exist, despite not knowing how we get to it. 🖤✨
I selected the options available to print these on with a few things in mind - my favorite papers, the acrylic blocks and prints that I’m obsessed with, and some other prints that are more affordable. If you like this series and want to get a print or a few (they look so so good in a grouping!) let me know if I can help you pick out the best options for you.
REPRESENTATIONS
I’ve been working with AI art tools for a few years now, and while I was met with misunderstanding and fear sometimes, now I’m met with it MOST of the time. Even if people want to understand, now they have to UNLEARN and overcome what the media and misinformed audiences have planted into their brains. To be honest, it surprised me when I was met with fear and apprehension about what I was doing - training an artificial intelligence model on a body of my work, and working with the results - because I was absolutely delighted by it! It was so reflective, it fit right into my practice, bringing my knowledge about art therapy, mindfulness, connection, energy… all together. It felt therapeutic (from actually studying to be an art therapist and counselor, and from being a person with C-PTSD, actually in therapy). How could everyone get it so wrong?
I saw the Terminator films too! But I have also realized that I’m an early adopter, I’m someone who gets excited about ideas, and who is generally interested in changing the world to make it a better place. I also strongly identify with the concept of radical hope! I got really down about people being so hateful this year - if you didn’t know, the internet can be awful…
People fear what they don’t understand.
And this backlash has happened before in art history, with impressionism, dada, pop-art, the camera, the digital camera, photoshop, digital art… and now AI, which is probably the biggest change art historically, that most of us have been alive for.
So I really tried to listen, and what I kept hearing was the fear. Not only were people kind of afraid of AI becoming sentient and taking over the world, but they were also very afraid it would cause artists to lose their jobs, it would take over and kill art and creativity, and it would degrade the value of art. Everyone also seems to think all this creative AI was made up by big tech bros with an evil agenda to make money, and completely misunderstand how any of the technology actually works.
What I’ve heard about problems with AI are really systemic issues and total misunderstanding.
Which is why I chose to do the REPRESENTATIONS collaborative project for Taking. Up. Space. this year. It’s so important that people understand how this stuff works, and how to use it, because it’s here, and it’s happening, and you all need to be part of it! How else can you influence its direction?
This project has its own tab on my website, and will be virtually exhibited during May/June of 2023. Click Here to visit the page and learn more.
/describe
There’s a new feature in Midjourney, called Describe. You upload a photo and give the bot the /describe command. It gives you 4 descriptions the uploaded image. I’d played around with it with some images I had saved while testing the new rating system and voting on images from the new version (version 5). It was pretty cool to get descriptions about the art, especially because it links to any artists it mentions. It’s a neat way to explore styles and come up with new prompt mixes. I uploaded my own art as well, and it didn’t turn up artists I thought it might, and turned up some that haven’t influenced my work, but that I could see visual similarities in.
You can test out these new prompts by clicking the 1, 2, 3, or 4 buttons below, that correlate with the prompts above.
For testing these new features, there are places within the community where you can chat about them, give feedback, etc. Of course, someone uploaded a selfie, and the results were quite funny. It made me wonder… and I ended up quite enjoying results of my own 😂
The results were ephemeral, so they didn’t stay around and I didn’t realize it to get screen shots, but I was excited to see the terms “nerdcore” and “health goth” (I’m not sure what that is, but it sounds appropriate), as well as “apron with hair” and “distinctive nose” …. that’s right, all my Jones nose fam out there, it calls it “distinctive”!
But I wonder what “teethcore” is, and what “in the style of focus on joints/connections” even means?
AI is SO weird, and I love that…
Please enjoy these alternate versions of me, generated with all the weirdness that is a health goth, teethcore, dinopunk, socially minded, genderless, extremely gendered, deconstructive, light hearted, master of ink, cripplepunk, humanistic empathy, smilecore, photo taken with provia, woman with purple hair and a distinctive nose…
And, as for the links to artists:
It’s a super cool feature, because I am a nerd who loves art and art history, and one of the first things I geeked out about with AI text-to-image stuff was how much interest is being created in art history, and making it so accessible to people it wasn’t accessible or interesting for before! EVERYONE LEARN ART THINGS!
I wonder if other traditional artists have tried this out with their own work, and what results they got about artistic influences? If you use Midjourney, have you tried out /describe yet?
We have enough.
Expressions of Radical Hope: “We Have Enough”
Every week, I listen in to Midjourney Office Hours. I find so much of it fascinating, and I take notes to update my learning collective people to fill them in on changes, new features, and philosophy. There is a channel on the Midjourney Discord for the “daily theme” - you can choose to get notified when this theme changes or not, but it’s people in the same channel making art on the same topic. Often, this daily theme changes to reflect something discussed in office hours - like robot squid. I usually include some of these images with the update to the learning collective. This week it wasn’t really related, and I felt inspired by all the topics of discussion in general and made some abstract painting images. I try to prompt shapes, colors, styles, and materials I actually use.
I also used combinations of these ideas: new computer science, art history, biodiversity, responsibility, exploration, community, infinite compute power, radical hope, a beautiful future, post-scarcity, and monkeys looking for bananas in new places. (😂 It's always a good time!)
After making these images, I also used the /blend feature to really get something I was feeling. I took this image into Photoshop and used the neural filter Super-Zoom to upscale. Next up, I opened the upscaled image in Adobe Fresco to get painting - the live brushes are really lovely. If you’re a traditional artist working with AI, someone who has painted in Photoshop forever, or a new artist starting with AI-generated images and learning to paint digitally, definitely check it out.
I’m loving the tools that Midjourney has for making art, but also the community. So many acknowledgments of systemic issues and how we can have a better future. So much awareness that we have enough, for everyone. If I could see this community as a sea of people, I imagine many of them have these sparks of radical hope glowing within them… (Now there’s another thing for me to go prompt) 🖤✨
Dispelling Misinformation
I started using AI in my art practice a few years ago. I came across an article about Playform, and joined their artist studio. I had no idea how much I would love it, I was moving towards a glimmer of something catching the light, to see what it was. It felt reflective and magical, and it fit right into my work.
My affections towards technology are at least partially genetic. When I look at the familial lineup of mechanics, tinkerers, technology enthusiasts, information lovers, and wonder seekers, I shouldn’t be surprised. Many of the people close to me weren’t afraid of technology or people or ideas. And I mention this because it did surprise me when people reacted with fear and suspicion about my use of artificial intelligence in my art. (this was even before 2022 and the text-to-image cultural phenomenon)
As of now, everyone has pretty much heard SOMETHING about creative AI tools - but what they’ve heard is mostly misinformation and clickbaity opinion pieces aimed at getting a reaction. As a trained professional artist with a master’s degree, and with education in art therapy, art history, everything studio art, fine art, design and photography. Traditional media and new media, analog, digital, philosophy of art, ethics… and decades of experience, I’m absolutely qualified to speak on this.
I feel like I’m shouting facts into the wind sometimes, but then someone listens in and gets it, and it’s AWESOME. Because these tools are full of wonder, they are great for exploration, reflection, and I believe they have an immense capacity for healing and moving us forward.
One of the things I’m shouting - creative AI tools don’t “steal” other artists’ work and implement them into a kind of collage. That’s not how the AI tools work at all.
To explain in a relatable manner how they do work, I want you to imagine an art student, going with their class, to a museum, to study impressionist paintings. They look, they make sketches, they study them to figure out what makes them impressionist paintings, how the paintings were made, what they were made with, when they were made… they learn the concepts of what makes up impressionist paintings. Now, all of those students leave the museum and go to a painting studio, where they’re told to paint something in the style of an impressionist painting. Do they pull out paintings and copy them? Do they look at photographs of paintings and copy them? Or do they draw upon the concepts that they learned in order to make choices about color, composition, materials, etc.? When they reference these concepts, are they infringing upon some artist’s rights, living or deceased? No.
Another example - If you handed a group of people all some crayons and asked them to draw an apple, they could probably do it. Some might be red, some green, some more round, or some with spots, but everyone understands the concept of an apple. No one draws a bird or even another fruit. Those things are not part of the concept of “apple”, and the concept of an apple is so well trained in our minds that we don’t need an apple to be present to draw one.
Training isn’t stealing, and the original pieces of information that were studied are no longer present after training.
Enchanted AI Art
I’m excited to announce that the Visionary AI Art Learning Collective is LIVE!
Wait, the what what?
Okay. So I met these two fabulous women who were as excited about using AI to create as I have been, and we talked, and IDEAS! They had launched Magical Stock Art, and had been getting requests from people who wanted to learn how to make art this way themselves. …So I’ve been teaching AI for Fine Artists and AI for Creative Expression, and we’ve been testing and figuring things out. It’s been awesome to see people get inspired by the process of creating with AI art tools!
There is also a LOT of hate towards AI art tools being used right now. So let me dispatch it - with the many, many, many conversations I’ve been having, it comes down to fear, misinformation, and systemic issues.
As women, we are legendary at transforming fear into love through creativity and community.
THIS IS THE VIBE!
After I did a residency with a big community component in September, I knew I wanted to teach people how to use AI art tools, and I was already doing it as part of explaining how the heck I make my art. I believe I can make this a little less scary for people! - I genuinely LOVE people, and my enthusiasm for what others are creating is deep and authentic. I also think it’s important for womxn to pick up these tools and show up in this space because it’s crucial that we influence it!
So, I’m leading the Visionary AI Art Learning Membership! And you can join me there!
ON::VIEW Revue
CELEBRATING THE ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE OF 2022
On display: January 13th - February 18th, 2023
Reception: Friday, February 3rd from 5 - 9PM
From Sulfur Studios:
Sulfur Studios is pleased to present ON::View Revue, our Annual Exhibition featuring Artists-in-Residence from the past year. 2022 was a record year for the ON::View Residency Program, bringing artists from around the world to Savannah thanks to the new 5th Dimension Apartment just blocks from the studio.
We welcomed conceptual artist Jon Field from England; printmaker, illustrator and book artist Kazumi Wilds from Japan; rising star painter Tiara Unique Francois from Dallas; Cuban-born conceptual artist Carlos Estevez from Miami. Timothy Harding of Fort Worth, TX challenged traditional conceptions of painting and sculpture with his site-specific painting in the round, and Sue Carrie Drummond of Jackson, MS developed a pop-up artist book focused on issues of domesticity and gender. Artists engaged with the public like never before – from Stephanie Barber’s poetic video dialogues filmed with participants all over the city, to Field’s site-specific merzbau inviting collaborators of all ages. Savannah local Gabrielle Torres took on a giant weaving alive with invasive plants and interpersonal histories, and nomadic artists Monica Jane Frisell & Adam Scher captured Savannahians through storytelling and portraits developed in their mobile darkroom, The Nomadic Photo Ark. From Kazumi Wilds’ centuries-old suminagashi paper-marbling techniques to Jen Palmer’s cutting-edge collaborations with artificial intelligence, ON::View Revue brings together a diverse range of thoughtful, impactful work by each artist made within the past year, as well as providing opportunities for deeper learning through artist talks, studio visits and field trips with students of all ages from schools across Savannah.
The Savannah Storm Drain Project
Where does the water go to when it goes into the storm drain? It turns out that most people in Savannah didn’t know the answer, so the city (Laura Walker the Water Resources Environmental Manager) started this project to raise awareness and help people make the connection. The city has a website here to learn more about the project and view all of the entries and finished murals: https://waterconnectsusall.com
Above: Some images of me getting started - the color palette is definitely mine!
I really lucked out with the location I was assigned, Heard Elementary School - a STEAM school! I had some really great moments with the classes that came to visit my worksite - their understanding of why projects like this are important (and the fact that they’re being taught this) - just phenomenal! So much love for the inclusion of art into everything 🖤 I also had the chance to be part of a roundtable discussion with faculty and students at Heard, and Tamara Garvey of on Art(s) on the Air. Listen to the episode (and the rest of the radio show!) here: Art(s) on the Air -It’s also available as a podcast wherever you listen to those ;)
In progress - I didn’t realize until later that my face got quite windburned! The wind really picked up my 2nd day on this project as Hurricane Ian was heading through (Radar screenshot from my phone - yikes!)
Images of my finished storm drain mural!
Rob Hessler wrote an engaging article for the Savannah Morning News about the project, you can read it here: 'They're our waters': Savannah's Storm Drain Art Project involves community in our waterways
It’s been truly lovely to work with every single person I encountered throughout this project, I’m grateful to do this work, and to get to do this work with you all!
ON::VIEW Residency Finale
I’m so grateful for having been able to spend the past month in residence ON::VIEW at Sulfur Studios! Connecting with people, sharing my process, and how I use artificial intelligence in my work has been a great experience. Everyone comes at this with a different perspective, so I’ve gotten a lot of practice talking about the work and bringing people into my process from where they are.
During the residency, I held open studio hours, inviting people in to participate by painting with me. Participants were given the option of learning a little about how waves are physiologically calming, and creating a waveform painting, or doing a meditative prompt about body awareness and creating an intuitive abstract painting. With 30+ paintings in each series, the works were digitized and used to train two separate artificial intelligence models. These models then generate more work, that is a combination of everything it learned from that dataset. I comb through thousands of resulting images, and work with them further to create a final collection of images and video clips.
Here are some of the intuitive abstract results:
Here are some of the waveform series results:
It was cool to see people come back in for the finale reveal that had worked on the project with me, or checked up on its progress over time. I really liked having all the work hung from the walls as it built up, and still on display with the video pieces being shown on screens in the same space. It really gave a sense of the entire project.
The month flew by! I was too engaged in conversation all evening to get photos with people in them, so here’s one last shot of the studio before I moved out.
There is an NFT to collect for free from the project, and I’ll be sharing more from it going forward. You can collect those here: https://jenpalmerart.cent.co
I’ll also be making more prints available from this work, make sure you’re subscribed to get updates when those become available.
Thanks! 🖤
The Artist & The AI
This is a presentation adapted from a talk I gave during my residency at Sulfur Studios last month, a little about me, my work, and how I came to include AI in my creative process.
( Fast Evolving Tech Disclaimer: The data in the presentation was up to date when made, but could be different at the time of reading this)
21 for 2021
As if I needed another thing to want to do - I just discovered this: https://thepeoplesinauguration.org Which is rad, and of course it sounds like something I would totally love to facilitate within a women’s group. So maybe I will? I have a day-ish.
In the spirit of doing a ridiculous number of things - I couldn’t quite fit my 21 things for 2021 into one list, so I made two lists!
I’m going to borrow a page from a dear friend’s book and be a bit of a tease about this - I’m not sharing a few of my items this year until they’re crossed off!
First up - here’s my personal 2021 goal list of 21 things:
1) Get Vaccinated (I’m on the list!)
2) TOP SECRET INFO
3) ALSO NOT TELLING YET
4) walk more
5) write more (Started going through The Artist’s Way with my friend Jess = morning pages with accountability!)
6) organize my addresses
7) buy more art with my husband
8) get a great quality long necklace chain
9) learn about shipping options (this could go on my other list, but it didn’t)
10) use curable (bought it for the year, have done some meditation and writing exercises so far)
11) unsubscribe (I get too many emails, and it overwhelms me)
12) take my vitamins
13) stay hydrated (found DripDrop - tried it, it helps, and I ordered more!)
14) Protein (I’m supposed to eat as much protein as a young male athlete - and have it every 2-3 hours - it’s difficult to remember to get this into my body)
15) EMDR (continue weekly sessions)
16) Check up - check in with Dr. about Fibro-status/treatment/support (had my appt. last week. Update in 6 mos)
17) Get Eye Exam (figure out if Dr. is seeing people yet? RE: COVID)
18) Get new glasses!
19) Dance more - I’m so missing all the time with my family and our spontaneous dance parties.
20) have more mom/sister/friend/family dates
21) Plan something fun for our 40ths! (yes, the hubs and I both turn 40 this year - GASP!)
Artist 21 for 2021:
1) Write about my art
2) Update statements
3) Send a newsletter every month
4) Grow my email list (See Above!)
5) make a 2021 + beyond vision board (a physical one to put up where I can see it every day - it’s currently digital)
6) make a visual resonance vision board (a physical one to put up… it’s currently digital)
7) Do a digital portrait series (I have my first few people in mind, and have these divided up to do 1/month)
8) Learn more about using Adobe Fresco on my iPad
9) Learn more about using Adobe Illustrator on my iPad
10) Learn more about using Procreate on my iPad
11) Make stickers (sigils)
12) Make photographs
13) Explore digital collage
14) Use Pinterest to promote my art and interact
15) Get artist photos done (headshots and styled)
16) Participate in THRIVE
17) Participate in YAH Women In Art
18) Update my VIDA shop at least quarterly with new designs
19) Do projects with materials from Oh, Scrap!
20) Meet most of my quarterly goals
21) Collaborate
My word of the year this year is Resilient - and in that spirit, I’m choosing these things as part of my growth and flexibility. It’s been insightful to note my lists over the past few years, and my word/phrase of the year. I can see how I’ve progressed and how things have grown and changed. I often think about the practice of gratitude and our culture that teaches us to desire so much. There’s a quote somewhere about remembering, what you have today is what you wished for in the past. I find it worth remembering that, reflecting on what those things were, and remembering all that you have and have done… I’m driving again. I found community. I’ve dedicated myself to doing the work of healing. …I love goal setting when it’s from the heart and for the highest good. I love when my friends and family share their goals with me so I know how I can support them. I enjoy when we are vulnerable enough to share our dreams with each other, and support each other in achieving them, even the silly ones - especially the silly ones.
If you want to join me this year, I’d love to hear your goals!
Being sensitive, holding space, and radical hope.
For a long time, I would be disappointed by people for their actions. I couldn’t understand it and I always felt let down by their behavior, as incongruous to how I saw them. Not all that many years ago, I realized that this is because how I saw them was incongruous with how they actually were - and that my mistake is inherent in how I use what I see. How to put it? I’m sensitive. Not just in the way that got me made fun of growing up, but also in the way that I have access to other pieces of information that aren’t exactly within the “normal” range of experience. Some of these things are categorized as psychic and/or empathic abilities, like being able to actually feel what someone else is feeling, in my body. And all of this information can be really confusing and overwhelming - especially when it’s all tangled up with trauma and unhealthy dynamics. But back to what I came to understand about my experience of other people, I realized that I am able to tune in to who a person really is, and I experience this knowledge at a feeling level.
There are ways of knowing that are intuitive, and the more we learn to use them, the more we come to understand about ourselves, our relationships, and our world. I think that artists are in tune with these abilities in different ways. Learning that I have a strength when it comes to claircognizance (knowing) and clairsentience (feeling), has been very helpful to me. Now, when I meet people, I know that the sense I get of them has more to do with their greatest potential than the level they actually operate on. I’m able to stay out of situations where I, because of my empathy, obliger tendency, and familial relationship templates, would be blindsided and taken advantage of. I know more of a difference between who I am, what I’m feeling, and who someone else is. That might sound crazy, but if you’re able to pick up on all kinds of information and don’t know how to/ can’t process it, it can be VERY confusing.
To parse out all of this info that’s coming in, I needed to put boundaries in place. I needed to have help and support creating a practice. It has to remain in place this way for me to just feel semi-ok. Lately, it’s hard. I want to hit pause on everything and just paint and process. Just staying grounded and mindful is much of my self-care.
The idea of radical hope has been getting me through. It’s been so important to me at the core, and the more I contemplate, the more I realize that radical hope is at the very foundation of who I am. It is tied to the reason that I sense people’s potential state, not just the current one. It’s the reason that I can know, absolutely, in my bones that something is righteous. (Not that I am right, but that a concept has a righteous feeling, I think about it, and my body just knows). It’s like having a sense of direction, knowing which way is North. I’m just orientated to a different set of parameters that is intuitively defined, and the concept of radical hope is a compass.
Radical hope is essentially having hope in situations that have absolutely no hope. Radical hope is wise hope, not toxic positivity. It is a hope that doesn’t deny the reality of our suffering, but chooses to see it all, and take action.
Writings by Joan Halifax, Rebecca Solnit, and Jonathan Lear explore this subject further. I find the concept of radical hope to be in alignment with Catholic social justice teachings, and present in the punk rock community. It’s active. It’s defiant. It’s also very present in post traumatic growth, where there is space, often uncomfortable space, between what happened, what is, and what will be. It is in this space that we may act. This is what my work is all about. Holding space for the truth and the capacity to transform it. Radical hope.
What a great realization to have.
I have known that the work I do is about holding space - for people in portraits, in installation work of shrines and imitation relics. There is repetition of information, movement, shifting of forms. These constants have existed, and I can only see them now that I look backwards through time and media and a plethora of projects. I’ve focused on the beauty of an individual, seeing what makes them true. I’ve created experiences - literal spaces to be in, and prompted an ignition of radical hope in the face of systemic injustice. I’ve made bowls filled with intention and set them on fire. I’ve sought community through my work, connection to others to create a shift. I’ve tried time and time and time again to capture visually, something that I know in my bones, that I feel and experience, that is completely invisible and goes back to the concept of space. It is wild how filled with radical hope it always was, and how I lacked the descriptive words to say it. I have them now.
My work is about radical hope, and I want to share that with you.
January What?!
Where did last month even go?
My dad used to tell me that time only went faster and faster as you got older. HE WAS RIGHT. Apparently year 38 doubles down?
Between illness and family things, I feel like I haven’t spent much time on my projects.
HOWEVER - I have gotten into the studio in little bits, submitted work to multiple opportunities, and taken lots of notes. I spent time at a home show for my day job, and found some artists there. We bought a piece from Katrina Vogel and hung it in the living room.
Speaking of hanging, I helped hang the Women’s Work show at You Are Here, which was a great experience, it had been a while since I’d hung an entire room full of art for an exhibition, and Phoebe Walczak at You Are Here was a delight to work with! The show was great!
I didn’t get to record the new podcast episode for the Dynamic Feminine yet, but I managed to work on more than a few things on my 20 for 2020 list:
We got a treadmill, so I’ve been walking more.
I’ve worked on getting 20 good rejections, so far they have either been accepted or I’ve not heard back yet. I’m feeling excited about the opportunities that this is bringing!
Ran a marketing campaign (towards growing my email list - it’s gotten me more scam emails so IDK)
Did preliminary research on multiple things on my list - reading, listening to podcasts, writing, observing, planning…
I’m also feeling pretty good about how I’ve handled the pop-up demands on my time and energy: like, family needs, or OH CRAP, I need something to wear this weekend and have to go shopping (I don’t have spoons for that!), or getting a new doctor this month and dealing with some urgent health things. I also started a personal Instagram because I’m missing my friends and family on my feed @jenpalmerart. So now, you can find my personal account (sure to be full of my animals and family) on Instagram @hey_jenny_wren. Keeping connected with people I love is the reason behind my wanting to get my addresses and birthdays in order, so this was a step in the same direction.
Curate is definitely the appropriate word for the year! What are you doing to embrace your passions, goals, or theme of the year?
How was your January? Let me know in the comments or send me a message <3
2019 reflections & 2020 visions
For the past couple years, I’ve been playing along with Gretchen Rubin, Liz Craft, and the Happier Crowd when it comes to my new year planning. I love this time of year, when our energy is drawn inward and the mood is set , in this part of the world, for slowing down and reflecting on our lives, and figuring out what we want moving forward.
I also pick a word or phrase for the year - inspiration, or a general reminder of what I want, when it comes to things that aren’t on that list. I really needed to get good at setting boundaries, so it’s helped me figure out if I should say yes or say no to something - does it further my overall vision for my life? I think it’s a really powerful tool, which is why my word for 2020 is “curate”.
Last year, it was “embrace being multi-passionate”, which was all about me just being who I am, and having a variety of interests, from painting, to photography, music, social justice, podcasting, reading, beading, and playing Magic: the Gathering. One gain I got from this focus, was noticing how these seemingly different things overlap, and seeing my own patterns elevated through my interests and how I pursue them. Social justice and art - DUH, social justice and Magic: The Gathering? ABSOLUTELY! Through this lens, I got to see my strengths and really think about how each of these things brings more happiness into my life. I also got comfortable with the idea that I’m allowed to do this. So this year, I’m further embracing that empowerment with the word “curate”. Part of saying yes to all that stuff I love was saying no to other things. Which is ok, and I’m allowed to do that. WHOA! Apparently this struck me as vital, because here’s the definition of my word for 2020:
curate
noun
Chiefly British. a member of the clergy employed to assist a rector or vicar.
any ecclesiastic entrusted with the cure of souls, as a parish priest.
verb (used with object), cu·rat·ed, cu·rat·ing.
to take charge of (a museum) or organize (an art exhibit):to curate a photography show.
to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content
Let’s check this out…
person entrusted with the cure of souls - healing, caring for the health of, ridding of detrimental factors
taking charge
organizing
sift through and select
POWERFUL STUFF. I am in charge of the care of my soul. I have the duty to rid it of detrimental factors. I say what’s welcome, what stays, and what goes. Holy boundaries, Batman. (I’m super proud of myself for getting to this point, BTW!)
In 2019, my list of 19 things included a bunch of health goals, finance goals, and creative community related goals. There are a few things I haven’t completed, like organizing everyone’s birthdays and current addresses, and getting the storage space cleaned out to make my encaustic studio, but I did a lot of things this past year that I’m happy about because of that list - like finally participating in book club! I did hard things, like paying off a huge loan, and going to all my appointments (2-3 a week, usually). I visited a Buddhist center, became a THRIVE member, and found YAH Women in Art right after too! I looked at a lot of art! I also played a lot of Magic Arena (even though I only made it through Platinum one season), worked on my oracle project, started a podcast with my friend Jess, launched this website, and ordered that perfume I’ve wanted for the last decade. I looked at campers, got new brown boots, and tried RASA, (adaptogenic coffee alternative) - I love it! I still don’t have a photography project I’m passionate about, but I've pitched a few ideas for grants, and that’s a step. I might scale back that project so I could do it in some form? Maybe? It’s going on the 2020 list!
I’m still thinking over a few things for 2020 (I’ve got a day!), but here’s the list so far:
get 20 rejections
put photos on my website
save down-payment
explore digital painting and illustration more deeply
do block printing
walk 20 in 2020
write consistently
make postcards
do a photography project
podcast with Jess
have a really good artist statement
make new business cards
explore my visual language
plan some day trips (Serpent Mound, Polymath Park…)
find tiny earrings
collaborative art projects with Alicia & with Meghan (It’s happening, it’s on my list!)
organize addresses and birthdays
acquire white tortoiseshell glasses
clean out storage - set up encaustic studio
find a good framing solution
I quite enjoy the whole dreaming up of possibilities, don’t you? What are your plans for 2020? I encourage you to make a list and play along! It gives us a unique opportunity to recognize and support one another. Jess and I will be discussing our lists on the podcast, and checking in throughout the year on our progress - we’re both Obligers, can you tell?
OK folks, I love you! Well wishes for 2020!
Delicious and dreamy and only a little spooky...
Be still, my pastel goth heart. I was working for hours the other night, a little on one piece, a little on another. Starting some layers on a bigger canvas, but not really getting into the flow of any one thing. That’s just how it is. Sometimes, I like a piece, it’s not finished, but I’m sort of afraid to ruin it because I’m not sure what it needs yet. So I let it sit, and think about it, and see if anything ever becomes overwhelmingly evident.
I knew what I wanted to do with these when I started them, but they were so pretty in their sherbet and salt water taffy colors that I knew I needed just the right thing to seep down through. I’ve really been liking the fluidity of alcohol ink, and how it can move around the textured forms more freely, and transparently than the other fluid mediums I’ve been trying. But the seeping couldn’t be taken back… but I did it, and it was exactly what I wanted. <3
These paintings remind me of the deep dark nights of summer in my youth, sharing my grandma’s sherbet, with it’s sweetness and refreshing tartness. The warmth and the cool coming together. The damp grass, the lightning bugs (in Noctilucent). As an adult, the breeze and heat and sand on Tybee Island, eating organic peach sorbet from the farmer’s market - just before I had a major breakdown. (in Sherbe(r)t Nocturne). These pieces contain the physical sensations of moments of joy, and the contrast that is brought by illness, pain, and the intermingling of these that define family and being human.
goals + growth mindset.
One of my goals has been to write a good artist statement. I’ve been trying to do so for like the past year, and haven’t been able to get it out. After trying to force it for months, I realized, I can’t just sit down and write this statement. I had to change the goal. So now instead of trying to master craft this statement, I’m just writing about my work, ideally every day, and seeing where that takes me.
Even though my current work ties back to things I was making in the early 2000’s, it’s not a clear path. I reminded myself that to come to my previous artist statement, I went through grad school, I defended that work with those words and came out on the other side. This is not the same. I’m doing something slower, more kind, and rewriting scripts that have been with me for at least a lifetime. This art work is about the work I’m doing. This process is internal and external, and incredibly difficult. My art process is part of it, inextricably, and I’m learning how to be my authentic self and share that.
Having a growth mindset helps me acknowledge that attaining the goal isn’t always the, umm, goal. I’m going to write more on that soon, as I’m really excited about reflecting on the year and planning for the new one - but for now, it’s back to my private art ponderings.
Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper.
In the flow with alcohol ink on yupo paper.
Oh my gosh, I’ve been really enjoying making work with alcohol ink on yupo paper. I’d only previously used alcohol ink with encaustic medium. I liked it then, and have missed making encaustics, which is one reason why I wanted to try working with these otherwise. My encaustic studio has been out of commission since we moved here - just before Christmas, and this will be the 3rd Christmas here - clearly, I need to figure something out to get my encaustic studio space going again. (Rental - carpet- and I get wax EVERYWHERE)
In the meantime, I’ve heard buzz about yupo paper. I was all, what now? But it’s this synthetic “paper” that works really well for alcohol ink. It doesn’t absorb the liquid, and you can just keep working on it. I made the mistake of using my regular heat gun - too hot, don’t do it - a hair dryer is just fine. I see why everyone is all yupo, yupo!
Over the past few years, my work has developed to have these lines, that are usually informed by the shapes of the paint under them. I got really excited about the way the ink moves to the outer edge of the shape with alcohol ink, and the way you can put the alcohol on it to make it spread out more, carrying it further. There’s a lot of play with alcohol, and a lot less ink than you’d imagine. So, I’m getting these shapes that are part of my language, with a new medium. *SWOON*
LACHRYMA LINEAGE
I KNOW I’m this super-sensitive, emotional creature, but sometimes, waves of emotion still take me by surprise, which is what happened with a few of these pieces I’ve been working on. I hope that you’ll feel them too. <3 I’ll be releasing this series, along with the one featured above, to my email list first - they’re all affordably priced 5 x 7’s, so get thyself on that list below!
Do you like to try new things? If you’re an artist, have you ever worked with alcohol ink or yupo paper? Tell me about your adventures in the comments!
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