Cadillac Ranch

We drove through Amarillo on our way up and back down from Colorado. I didn't know much about Amarillo. In fact I thought it was a tiny tiny town. Turns out it's pretty big! Probably bigger than the town I went to college in and definitely the biggest town we drove through on our way to Colorado. Conveniently it's halfway there. Anyway, about the only thing I knew about Amarillo is that it's the home to Cadillac Ranch. On our way up we got into Amarillo after dark and then the next morning when we were leaving it was storming something fierce. So on the way home we had to make sure we stopped to see the Cadillacs. And it was perfect weather!

Cadillac Ranch is an art installation just outside of town in the middle of a field. It is totally open to the public and spray painting is allowed, and encouraged. It was made in the 1970's by a group of artists and funded by Stanley Marsh 3, who actually just passed away this past month. He owned the land it's on, and actually had to move the installation a few miles away from it's original location because the growing city of Amarillo was approaching. They had everything moved and put just as it was, including all the trash. I could talk forever about this (remember that Bachelors of Fine Arts I have?), but lets just say I think it is very cool for a variety reasons. It looks cool, the idea is cool, the interaction is cool. I like it.

We found a can of spray paint that still had some juice left in it and made our marks.

Why yes, I did spray paint a cat. Our tags are long gone by now. Apparently they painted all the Cadillacs the original colors not too long ago and they didn't last 24 hours before they were spray painted up again.

My inner art history nerd was in her happy place. It's a neat thing, and if you're in Amarillo I highly suggest checking it out, and bring some spray paint!

And that's all folks. The end of the vacation posts! Back to reality and the usual programming of very sporadic posting.

The rest of our vacation here!

Back in the painting game

Today I started painting again. And boy did I miss it. It felt so good to be back at work with a brush in my hand. The good news is, I still know how to paint. The bad news is, my apartment smells like a canvas puked up oil paint everywhere, big time. But it's worth it. I painted for almost five hours and loved every minute. It's been too long.

Preparation

 

What you paint on is just as important as (if not more than) what you plan to put on it. I take pride in building my painting surface from the ground up. I build my own stretchers, I stretch my own canvas, and then I prime them just the way I'd like it. It may take a heck of a lot longer, but it looks a thousand times better than those crap stretchers you can buy at Hobby Lobby. Plus, just because it's not the center of attention doesn't mean it's not art. It's the backbone of your piece, it's literally holding everything together. Why not build it the best you can? Set yourself up for success.

It's been a long while since I've built a canvas, and it was nice to get back into the groove. I can't explain to you how good it felt to have paint on my hands (and everywhere else on me) again. It's been too long. And it's so great having a studio space at home. While I was gessoing (priming) my canvas this little lady was hanging out with me, being extra cute:

You can't beat that! Painting at home with my cats. It's a good thing I'm married, because that sounds like a spinster in the making, eh?

So my canvas is built, stretched, primed, and my painting is sketched out. I am ready to roll! Unfortunately I wont be able to work on it until next week. Until then it is sitting in my living room, looking all bright, white, and new, begging to be attacked with color. I can't wait! Let's just hope I remember how to mix colors. Blue and red make green right? ;)

Art and aquiring a studio space

Remember when I went to school for art? Remember when I got my BFA in painting? Sometimes I forget too, it's okay.

Fall 2009

Fall 2010

Two of my favorite paintings featuring two of my favorite people. Those were the days y'all.

I haven't painted in a good year and a half, since I graduated college. I was burnt out and needed a break, plus I lost my studio space. I've filled that creative void in my life with cooking, sewing, and just making anything and everything I can. For the post part, as long as I am making something, I'm in my happy place.

However, I do love painting and the need to do so again began itching in the back of my mind a while back. I mean shoot, I have a degree in this nonsense! But I had no place to paint and was broke (still am). BUT, I had hope and was determined to figure out a way to paint, slowly but surely. And it only took about a year, but PROBLEM SOLVED Y'ALL:

Check out my studio/the ugliest corner of our living room. Ready to roll. It started with the bad ass easel my dad and I built together. Then we got a tarp and some all weather carpet to lay down (because painting is messy, especially when you're me), scrounged up some old furniture in my dad's barn (chair and a couple tables), and then this week I got the last and most crucial piece, a miter saw. Because you can't paint without a canvas and I refuse to paint on those things they sell at Hobby Lobby. Building your own is the only way to go in my book.

Pretty much my favorite thing ever. I love it. I've wanted one for years, but always though it was too crazy or I wouldn't have the space. NOPE! We made it work and now I have my very own miter saw. And it has laser sight. It's amazing.

I also reupholstered the chair we got at my dads. It was a little real funky from being in the barn for who knows how long so my dad pressure washed it for me and it was like new again! Almost. It still had a musty smell and I knew I was going to get paint all over it, so I covered it in this green pleathery material. That way when I spill paint on it I can just wipe it off!

It went from this:

To this:

Exciting stuff huh? Seriously though I am EXTRA excited to get to work. All I need is to stretch some canvas over my newly built stretcher and I'm ready to roll. By the way, check this baby out:

2.5 feet x 5 feet, she's a beaut. I've never built a stretcher this way (long story short, I've never used the cross bars for support, but since my wood shop access is limited I had to get creative), but it was fairly easy once I figured the math out. Man, I love building stuff. Just because you don't see this part of the canvas doesn't mean it's not and shouldn't be beautiful!

So be prepared y'all. Hopefully in the very near future I will have in progress painting shots to share!

Dream schemin'

I'm itching to paint. After a 6 month or so hiatus from art, I'm ready to get this party started. After I graduated I was very burnt out. My last semester was rough; I had artists block, wasn't happy with what I was making, plus I was dealing with health issues (when will my body get with the program?). But I obviously had to crank the art out for school, so I did. And like I said I wasn't happy with it and kind of had a negative attitude towards my work. I was getting a lot of conflicting feedback from teachers/students, and was listening to it all far too much (oh the woes of art school). So after I graduated I needed a break, and I took one. Haven't painted or drawn, aside from doodles in the ol' sketchbook, since then. Now I'm ready for the break to be over. I am ready to paint for me, what I want to paint, regardless if it turns out to be a giant flop. And I'm very interested to see how I function outside of school and the pressures it provides.

But to do all this, I need a few things first. An easel for starters. And of course we don't really have the extra cash to buy an easel (or art supplies for that matter, but we'll get there) as they are insanely expensive. So, when we do have a little extra moola, I am thinking of building my own easel with help from my Daddio. I haven't talked to him yet, but he's a big fan of projects (I wonder where I get it from), so I'm sure he'll be game. I've found these plans that this kind man, Benjamin Grosser, has put online for all of us starving artists to use.

This is the desired outcome. I'm hoping we can achieve something similar.

The plans look a little complicated to me. But I'm not really familiar with carpentry. My skills go as far as building canvas stretchers, but I think we can do it especially since my Dad is a construction pro. And I guess we'll let Brendon help. I think he took wood shop in high school, but I've watched him hammer nails and it's a little scary. Maybe he can just watch.

So that's my next big project. And if it were up to me I'd start it tonight, I love making things! There's been a creative void in my life and I'm ready to fill it. Eventually I'll get this studio at home thing down, just need to figure out how to keep the cats out of paint.