Warming Up to Do Art - Pink Things in My Kitchen

Wow - it's been awhile since I've done some real art, out in the studio, on the press, paintbrush or brayer in hand. I feel rusty and unable. So, I always start by reading a good art magazine or two. (Remember to click on the image to see the yummy pink delicious detail.)

Today it was ArtForum, and a really interesting interview of Kaja Silverman called Primal Siblings, and I find it totally fits in with my tribe - phenomenology. She is interviewed by George Baker about her most recently published book Flesh of My Flesh, which just came out this Fall. She talks about how we are more likely wired to be the same rather than different, and how that subject is explored by painters and photographers. It is something I'm thinking about a lot - always about the relationships between men and women - who are obviously different, but in what ways do we share our feelings of societal pressures, disappointments, elation, relationship. The interview with Kara also talked a lot about Gerhard Richter, who is also influential to me. I am fascinated by his appropriation of photography into painting.

Then, the coffee ran out and it was time to either clean the house (procrastination), or take photos. I saw this slug on the window, which I found at once disgusting and interesting.

Then I got the idea that I should go around my kitchen and take pictures of pink things, in honor of it being Valentine's Day and all*. I love the color of pink flesh. I think it's my favorite, if I had to choose. I thought about this exhibit I saw last week with my good friend Laurie at the DeYoung of Amish Quilts.

There were these splashes of pink in many of the quilts, a different pink than I love, but a scandalous pink for the Amish nonetheless. The docent explained that when buying fabrics from traveling salesmen, the bundles of darker fabrics that the Amish preferred would always have a swatch of the pink in them, to get rid of it. The deal was that they had to buy the whole bundle. I love the idea of them being a little rebellious by sneaking the pink in under the pretense of frugality. Can't you just hear Rebecca saying to her husband John "We must use all of what God provided."

There was a strong Amish contingent in Holmes County Ohio, about 40 miles from where I was born and raised. I remember seeing Mennonite and Amish women in the stores on Saturday as a child. They would drive their horse drawn buggies into the small town square and shop in the local Woolworth's.

I love quilts too, and the quilt structure (grids) is a strong influence in my work, as well as creating several works in a series that differ slightly, just to see the divergences as well as the similarities.

This is my next body of work - exploring those themes of similarity, difference, men, women, self - using see saws and teeter totters, quilts, paper dolls and photography.

Stay tuned.

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* Guide to VD2010 Pink.

1 Two figs from a painting I did in 2003.
2 A first communion favor from my children's stepsister Gabriella.
3 My paper doll, waiting for her new wardrobe.
4 A crush of diaphanous curtain in my family room.
5 Yesterday's collaging event candle for me this year - nutmeg, money.
6 A soft doll someone gave me when I had my twin daughters 25 years ago. You can only see one of the babies.
7 An apple in the morning sun.
8 My favorite gift from CB - a jellyfish in glass.
9 CB's dental impression. This is my favorite shade of pink - fleshy pink.
10 A plastic bag in my credenza.
11 The flower motif on a pillow from my couch.
12 An antique sugar bowl given to me by my mother.
13 A stuffed doll from my sister - An Angel's Work is Never Done.
14 Pink tissues - achoo!
15 A pink marker and the FedEx return label for CB's cell phone.