studio visit magazine

It finally arrived after months of waiting! New American Paintings just premiered a new publication titled Studio Visit Magazine, and I am one of the artists featured in it. I love New American Paintings, so I was really excited to see how this new book turned out.

diane christiansen

I first discovered Diane Christiansen's work back in 2002 in New American Paintings. I've followed her work ever since. Her paintings always seem so dead-on to me. Flawless in their own way. I love the weightlessness of the way she lays on the paint, and the contrast of the figures and how they anchor the canvases.

Just got back from Nashville, TN... and stumbled upon Hatch Show Print, one of the greatest letterpress print shops in the country, and whose work I've admired for years! I bought a really great poster and some deluxe postcards. Nashville was a great city, and really took me back to my Texas roots... which I have only started to connect with in recent years. Everyone we met along the way was such a character, people were really friendly and proud of the architecture, legacy and music that Nashville is so famous for.

* I forgot my camera so photo is from virtual tourist.com

nyc: chests of drawers at flea market, artist self promo on side of bus stop

nyc spring

I was in NY this week for work again, and was ecstatic to race over to the Whitney to see the Bienniel. Much to my dismay, the Whitney and the MOMA, as it turns out, are closed on Mondays & Tuesdays! All was not lost though, as I went across the street from the MOMA and saw an embroidery show called "Pricked" at the Museum of Arts and Design.

An artist whose worked I've liked for years, Ghada Amer, had some pieces in the show (her artwork is above, middle canvas.) I had never seen her work in person before, so that was exciting. There was some really great work in the show, most artists whose work I had never seen before, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Artwork above: 1.Nava Lubelski 2.Ghada Amer 3.Tilleke Schwarz

ship is sailing

My initial inspiration for this blog was to have a platform in which I could articulate ideas, brainstorm, share the progress in my studio and post images of my paintings. The name of my blog: "a painting life" signifies for me the central focus of my life as an artist... even though I don't have the luxury of devoting all my time toward my painting career... it is the part of my life that I feel the most connected to.

As of late I feel I should start another blog, "a working life." Unfortunately, the past year my days/nights/weekends have been eaten up by my day job-which has become much much more than a day job. I packed up my studio last spring and moved all my paintings back home again... where they have sat collecting dust for many months now. It breaks my heart to feel like my ship is sailing away, but alas I feel like I need to be a responsible adult and save for my future/our future. When I pass by my stacks of paintings, sometimes I don't even see them... they just blend into the background. Other times I feel a sharp pang, a longing sadness to be with them again.

I feel now that I'm floating away from my painting life, getting further and further away from the shore, veiled in fog and mist. Hopefully the wind will send me back soon.