Printeresting Black: Making Ink at Gamblin

Love this blog post so much I had to share it! Enjoy etching ink being made.
Printeresting Black: Making Ink at Gamblin

Hand-Made Art

I think about what hands do. Especially since my son broke his thumb three weeks ago.

Left, right...

Hands are tools. Tools that hold tools.

What do your hands mean to you?

Mosaic as Inspiration

The Getty Villa is a beautiful place. As a lover of patterns, I was in inspiration heaven. Below are just a few of the images I captured that have influenced and will continue to influence my work.

Recall the small pieces I use to begin to add texture to my paintings.

Tourist Trap for Coffee Lovers

The Royal Kona Coffee Company and Visitor Center - promises visitors a bit more than it delivers. However, they do offer free taster cups of coffee for the weary traveler.

This greets the visitor at the entrance.

What I expected was to see how the farmers take the berry from plant to roast. What I got was a 7 minute video of this process. While we could see the plant from the balcony, visitors were kept away.

View of plant.

A secondary view of the grounds.

 The "Museum" had but a few dusty pieces and no explanation.

I would have loved to smell the coffee roasting or even brewing, but that was not to be. While the Royal Kona Coffee Company has excellent coffee (they allow free sampling), their visitors center leaves much to be desired.

Art for Sale - Half an MFA, Update

Three paintings have left my studio and many are available and ready to travel to new places. Just as I announced last week, the sale is short and deep.

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For one week  – May 27 - June 2, 2012 my work is available at a name your price discount (plus packing and shipping).

Suggested prices are at least:
$25 for small items 10 x 10 or smaller
$50 for medium items 24 x 24 or smaller
$75 or more for larger items over 24 inches in any dimension.

Please contact me for purchasing any of the items shown in the studio shots in this blog page. It would be really wonderful to see my art move into homes and businesses where it will be enjoyed and cared for.

I can also provide better close-up shots of any of the work, just ask. Thanks, I look forward to serving you. Suzanne

suzanneugibbs@gmail.com

Nothing and Everything

Ah, summer reading in the arts or philosophy? What is your poison? The Critic As Artist by Oscar Wilde was my most recent read. I purchased a used version of the book that was printed back in 1997 and it is about 4 x 5 inches - easy to take with me on my recent travels.

The full title is: The Critic As Artist: With some remarks on the importance of doing nothing and discussing everything. How do I tell you, dear reader, about a book that has much to do about nothing. What can I say to entice you to read? 

Is it better to be an artist who reads critiques about art or a critic who looks at art and writes?

I spent well over an hour reading this little gem while enjoying a garden swing in Hawaii on a beautiful morning - yes essentially doing nothing and preparing to discuss everything.

What I'd like to do is present a few key quotes. Maybe then I can build up interest for reading this classic that was originally published in 1888. No, not a typo - 1888.

 A few quotes:

"The opinions, the character, the achievements 

of the man, matter very little."

"When people talk to us about others they are usually dull. When they talk to us about themselves 

they are nearly always interesting."

"Beauty has as many meanings as man has moods. 

Beauty is the symbol of symbols. Beauty reveals everything, because it expresses nothing. When it shows us itself, it shows us the whole fiery-colored world."

"If you wish to understand others 

you must intensify your own individualism."

"The necessity for a career forces everyone to take sides. 

We live in the age of the over-worked, 

and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid."

Do any of these quotes provoke a thought about nothing? Do the topics I bring up here have relevance to today? Please share!

Rags to Rags

The job of the artist has many components. Today I'd like to share just a tiny little job that I do once every 3 to 4 months or so. I make rags.

My bucket was almost empty - that's when I know it is time to fill it.

The best rags art made from boxers, shirts and sheets. All of these are usually made of lint-free fabric.

A Hawaii Garden Visit

Some days are not meant for work. Today was one of those days. I spent the time with my son in Hawaii.

We visited the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook. Between the two of us we took about 200 photographs. I share a small selection with you here - enjoy the eye candy. We did!

Crafting a Life, Part 3

Crafting a life takes numerous trials and errors and a lot of practice. Much like painting.

Studio Study, Acrylic on Paper

A few weeks ago I began to research my thoughts on Craft and why it has held such low esteem in the Art World. These things are true as I continue to ponder them from two previous blogs Crafting a Life and Crafting a Life Part 2.

Tools and Material Use

Using tools as additive and subtractive methods of painting. A continuation of my recent blog post Patterns on Patterns.

Drink Coaster Art Exhibit

I discovered an Art Gallery just minutes from my home that is chock full of fascinating things going on. CSUF Grand Central Art Center is in downtown Santa Ana. Later this year they are hosting a CSUF Grand Central Art Center re-purposed drink coaster art exhibit. Entries are due June 6. Here is my entry:

Suzanne Utaski Gibbs, 2012, A Smidgen of Pink, 
3 x 3, acrylic, hemp string, and paper on coaster.

What's with the Getty?

When I think about my trip to the Getty Center in Los Angeles all of what I remember is the museum itself and not the art on display.

Getty Center view of cafe from above.

An Object of Beauty

I finished reading the book An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin and it is very entertaining with just enough truth about the capital letter Art World tossed into the mix. Art is not all it seems to be there is a huge amount of savvy business tricks and quite a lot of corruption going on out there.

As I ponder the twists and turns of the book one thing comes clear, the "persona" that an artist, art dealer, art collector, and art consultant takes on is as much a part of their success as their knowledge and passion on the subject. Being unique in some way is all about being remembered and being seen, because if you think about it the art is what is usually being looked at.

I think about my art world persona all of the time. Currently, I am in graduate school studying for my MFA. I have professors telling me to "make up better stories" or "leave that out." 

I hear the truth in their words, but the truth inside of me has begun to scream louder. My hope for myself is that I find a stronger voice of my own in my second year of grad school. I want to graduate as me, not who they want to mold me to be.

I digress. The book: An Object of Beauty is a worthwhile read. There are pages and pages of Art World anecdotes and artist name dropping – I enjoy the images that pop into my head as I read. Especially since most of the name dropping is of famous painters.

This book is entertaining. Much like any summer novel. You do not need to be an artist to enjoy the story.

Art for Sale - Half an MFA

I have completed one half my Master of Fine art degree at Claremont Graduate School. Being half way finished is something to celebrate.

It is also a bit of a problem. I have an inventory glut. Here are some shots of Orange Oak Studio trying to devour my new work. It is clearly not working. There is art everywhere!

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Crafting a Life, Part 2

These things are true as I continue to ponder them from a previous blog: I crafted as a child. I designed as a livelihood. I make art because I can. I made art as a child. I paid my bills by design. Crafting a life. Artful living. 

Thinking about craft and life and politics and art and what happens is; I remember parts of my childhood. In the past, I have done cross-stitch pieces, quilting, sewing, puppet making, art with yarn and fabric, card crafting, knitting, clay, batik, macramé, plastic model airplanes, you name it I’ve tried to make it with my hands. 

An Original Suzanne Utaski, created in ceramics class 8th or 9th grade. Inspired by Goodnight Moon.

Patterns on Patterns

I have some new work happening in my studio. The work is a combination of collage, painting like a house painter and painting as a print maker would.

Studio Shot - Suzanne Utaski Gibbs, 60 x 24, Acrylic, paper, canvas on panel.

Blog on iPhone

Seriously I can! Here is this mornings reading.

All on my iPhone. Crazy!

Art is Not What You Think It Is

Art is Not What You Think It Is - a new book by Donald Preziosi and Claire Farago. With a title like this I had hoped to read the book and come away from it with an answer - if it is not what I think it is then what is it? Art is: Insert pat answer here. Unfortunately that is impossible.

Sewing, 24 x 24, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, Suzanne Utaski Gibbs, May 2012

Pentimento

A pentimento is an alteration in a painting, as evidenced by traces of previous work.

My personal method of working is to paint in layers while attempting to leave some of what was before in the final work. Oftentimes I paint a painting knowing that I will paint over it.

The painting that got put away for a while.

Art as Community Engagement

Pearls come from an irritant that gets into an oyster shell as the oyster tries to protect itself it grows a beautiful pearl over time. An artist that I greatly admire works with women to help them heal from an irritant in their life - domestic violence - from bruises to battery, emotionally inflicted pain, or sexual abuse and more.

Tiny Pearl.
Image from Internet search.

Studio Visit - Laura Karetzky

While I was in New York recently I had the opportunity to visit the studio of a former classmate Laura Karetzky in DUMBO. She hails from my Carnegie Mellon University days (1980's). I would have loved to photograph her her studio - but ALL of her work was new for an up coming show and she did not want the public to see the work - yet.

Laura works on the second floor in a studio in the back corner of an old brick building on Jay Street. When I walked in, there was a large bank of windows straight ahead overlooking the Brooklyn bridge with just a tad of the river in sight. Underneath the bank of windows was a couch and some chairs, where we sat to talk. To the right of the entry she had two easels, one with a large painting in progress. To the left was her desk and a second in progress painting on a wall.

On the wall just inside the door I could just as easily have been looking at a gallery wall as a studio wall because several smaller scaled paintings lined the wall all in a perfect neat row, gingerly telling their stories. In the middle of the room was the largest glass pallet I have seen to date (about 6 x 4 feet) with a second table nearby with brushes carefully lined up and organized by size and shape.

Down the hall into the studio was floor to ceiling shelving holding all sorts of necessary items to run a successful studio practice; Packing supplies, back up paints, tape, books, and more. A shared sink was a bit of a walk down wide hallways near the shared restrooms.

I had a delightful time catching up with Laura and hearing about her escapades of life after college. Thank you so much Laura for having me into your studio. I look forward to visiting you when the beautiful, detailed new secret paintings come to the West Coast to be viewed by the public at Lora Schlesinger Gallery in Santa Monica.

Painting 2 - Final Show

At the University of LaVerne the students are required to hang a final show of their work to present to the faculty, friends and family. Having been a Teaching Assistant to these novice, yet determined painters I was able to photograph their work as they prepared for their final show.

Flowers and Leaves - materials of life

Human Rights - especially women

I recently visited the temporary exhibit: Women Hold Up Half the Sky at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

View of ceiling - uplifting notes from museum visitors fill the sky for the women around the world.

Travel to Brooklyn Yeilds New Source Material

Urban decay, urban structure and urban pattern fascinates me and regularly informs my art. New York was an excellent place to get inspiration for future art pieces.

Subway Tunnel

Minus Space in DUMBO

Yesterday was an adventure. I traveled from Manhattan to Brooklyn via 2 subways to visit Minus Space Gallery and Matthew Deleget at Front Street Galleries. The current work on view is by Gilbert Hsiao. The show title is Jump and Flow. Please contact Minus Space if you have any additional interest in viewing the work of Gilbert Hsiao.

Art in City Hall

Sometimes I share my work to be hung in public places. Currently three of my works can be found in Claremont City Hall. Thanks for viewing.

Xone, Xtwo, Xthree - 24 x 24, acrylic, paper, canvas, oil on panel, Suzanne Utaski Gibbs

Xone, Xtwo, Xthree - 24 x 24, acrylic, paper, canvas, oil on panel, Suzanne Utaski Gibbs

While these look white and pale on a white wall in a narrow corridor they appear more complex yet subtle in person.

Crafting a Life

Crafting a Life

In the following paragraph I will tweeze out some phrases from the first section of Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art. With each phrase I will attempt to turn it around and inside out. The idea is to look at the information presented in a construed and roundabout way.

CGU OPEN STUDIOS A BIG HIT!

Open Studio images from April 29, 2012 hosted at Claremont Graduate University. An excellent event and a great way to meet artists in their working spaces. These are images of studio spaces listed with artist names. Join us next year!

Travis Novak

Particia Burns