The Importance of Peanut Butter & Studio Tour!

Peanut butter. Always keep it in your studio for quick protein, unless you have a nut allergy... Then don't. Though I don't have it currently, I recommend organic and/or natural- less sugar and honestly tastes better than this Planters' crap I have right now.

This weekend was... Well, I can't come up with a more professional word for it, so we'll go with crazy. The Graduate Art Association hung a really great looking show (more photos this week, I'm so excited!), I cleaned my studio (as well as a terrifying prop room), and started a larger painting.

Also, the most important part: I finally figured out exactly how to put my paintings into words. The artist statement is real, dear readers. It's real, and here it is:

My work investigates the relationship between absence and presence, and how these separate entities work together to create memories in the human mind. These recollections allow us to hold onto important moments in our lives; much like the photographs and keepsakes we gradually obtain to remind us of occasions that matter.  In my paintings, I choose to work with objects of daily use that are not traditionally viewed as valuable, and compose them via repetition, obstruction, and various stages of resolution to persuade the viewer that these objects are of a more precious nature, much like the relics we collect for the same purpose.
 In my paintings, I hope for the viewer to take with them a quiet understanding of the impermanence of life; that every moment counts, regardless of its significance, and that before we know it, it’s gone.

I'm still going to continue to tweak it as time goes on, but for right now, I'm working towards keeping it simple. Before I choked that statement out today (seriously, it flew out of me faster than I've ever written a statement in my entire artistic career... I have a Bachelor's Degree, WHY AM I SO BAD AT STATEMENTS.)

I'm feeling good. So good that I also got around to taking some proper photos of my studio! I love to share what's going on in my life, including the space I work/essentially live in. Here goes!

This is the most important part of my studio- my easel and palette. What's really awesome about this part of the space is the easel itself- my grandfather built it for me last year, and I'm in love with it. Handmade ALWAYS trumps manufactured- it's unique, and made with love. That matters. It's also huge- that painting is 2x2', for some perspective.

Here's a photo of the painting- I'm excited about this one. I think the four little studies I did this week are REALLY going to feed the content of this piece.

That fabric, though. I'm planning to recreate a painting aI did last semester with it, as well as my mud-covered Doc Martens. It's gonna be a good time.

UNICORNS AND KITTENS ARE DETRIMENTAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THIS STUDIO. Also, magic legs.

If you haven't got one, buy a copy of Gray's Anatomy. It's wonderful- and no, I don't mean the television show... I've never even watched it.

So there we be! I work in a great space- it's not too small, and not too big; it's just right, which is exactly how I'm finally feeling about the direction of my work; and that's what matters, right? Right.

Until the next blurb,

C.