Culver City Field Trip, Part 5, Andrea Cohen

What do you get when you combine an artist with plaster and bubble wrap? Some really funny in-side-out sculptures, that's what. Lately I have been using bubble wrap to paint with. Chuck Feesago has also been using bubble wrap in the creation of his work. I wrote about a recent show he was in.

On this field trip I saw some sculptures made out of the negative space of bubble wrap. All this has me feeling that we may have a need for a Bubble Wrap art exhibit. It may sound too simplistic, but maybe not.

Suzanne Gibbs, 2012. Pop It. Acrylic on found plywood made with bubble wrap prints.

Chuck Feesago. At University of LaVerne Harris Gallery

Chuck Feesago. Detail.

Andrea Cohen

Andrea Cohen

Andrea Cohen

Andrea Cohen's work can be found at the Walter Maciel Gallery in Culver City.

Culver City Field Trip, Part 4, Charlotte Smith.

These paintings are beautiful. I have never seen anything like them. Made of layers of acrylic. Mostly dots and drips. Charlotte Smith's work can be found at George Billis Gallery in Culver City, LA.

Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith. Detail.

Culver City Field Trip, Zhu Jinshi

Below are my impressions of the following art. The work is by Zhu Jinshi and was on exhibition at Blum & Poe earlier this year.

The number one aspect that has stuck with me and has decidedly made me feel it is worth mentioning in my blog, is that Zhu Jinshi uses A LOT of paint. I do believe these pieces will take upwards of 75 years to dry, if they ever do. They are created in oil and range in size from13 x 8 feet to 24 x 24 inches.

They are very ugly. However, the work did make me think about the materiality of paint. What can paint do? How heavy does paint become in large quantities (the canvases were sagging from the weight in most instances)? The paint appears like lard mixed with sand or dirt in color on canvas. In parts the paint looked like swollen flesh. These paintings are insanely bloated. Other than the fact that they hang on canvas on a wall, they may as well have been sculpture made of paint.

Yes, this is all paint!

Go See It–LACMA Visit

My family and I went to see the art work "Levitated Mass" on July 7, 2012. Or as well call it, "The Big Rock at LACMA." Nicknamed, "The Rock." Upon first approaching it my younger son said, "So what is the big deal with this rock, the Egyptians moved a lot of rocks, maybe even bigger than this one, without any trucks." He was not in LA during all the news coverage, so he really did wonder, what is the big deal?

He has a point.

As a family we approached the art piece as do many other people by walking down the ramp towards the rock. We stood under the rock for a few seconds. We looked up and noticed that it is bolted to metal strips on either side of the deep ramp. We began walking up the other side of the ramp. While moving away from the boulder we turn around a few times to look again. We took some pictures.

My Husband and Son.

The Bolts under the Rock.

Other Families.

It is funny. When we arrived, the rock did not feel or look that big to any of us, but as I view these pictures I realize that yes, the scale is rather large in comparison to the people in the photographs. The images are right out of my camera. No special lens. No Photoshop. As my older son mentioned while we ate lunch after viewing The Rock, "You know that rock was pretty amazing."

I opened the Los Angeles Times news paper today, Sunday, July 9, 2012 and Levitated Mass is on the front cover. I moved to The Guide, Museums section, and again The Rock is mentioned. This time by critic, Christopher Knight. Basically everyone saying, "Go See It." I would be remiss if I did not mention Michael Heizer, the artist who conceived of this project.

Is Michael Heizer a super hero? Didn't Superman move rocks to save the city from a dam bursting or a nuclear power plant from being demolished? Will Levitated Mass save LACMA from infrequent visitors? Is anything sensational any more?

Our family saw The Rock–um Levitated Mass–and we had a wonderful day. We also viewed Chris Burden's Urban Light. We took some requisite pictures.

We ate lunch off of a truck. We went to TINI–a wondrous store. We went to KR3W–a swell store. We also visited the Original Farmers Market to eat some ice cream. The Grove is nearby. What I am trying to tell you is, go ahead and see "Levitated Mass" because there is so much else to do in a 3-6 block radius. You have nothing to loose.

Did I mention the La Bea Tar Pits, The Craft and Folk Art Museum, and Galleries near LACMA called the Miracle Mile Art Walk? Obviously you could also view a temporary exhibit or a permanent installation at LACMA while you are there. The adventure took a whole day and there was something for everyone in our family.

Happy Wednesday: A Tie-Dye Adventure

Happy Summer. Happy 4th of July.

My oldest son wanted to tie-dye shirt and a pair of socks. I acquiesced. I had not used tie-dye in approximately 16 years. Coincidentally when I was pregnant with him. 

Unfortunately, I was too wrapped up in the experience of working with the kids to take photographs of the process of applying dye to the shirts and socks we made. However, I can show you the results. They are stunning, and I am bragging. We had so much fun!

Colby modeling Front of one of the shirts.

The Back.

Here are a few shots of the rinsing out portion of our activities.

Each piece was wrapped in a baggie overnight to soak in the dye.

This is the same one as shown above on Colby.

The bucket we put the rinsed pieces in to carry it to the washer.

Colby even did a button-down shirt. It looks fabulous on him!

I'd be remiss if I did not give a shout out to the Jacquard Tie Dye Kit  that made all of this possible. Thanks Amazon.

The kits recommend gloves for a reason. Colby had red-orange hands for a few days after the project was complete. In many ways this project felt like a vacation at home. Cate Prato wrote about this same idea in this article in the blog Cloth Paper Scissors.

I hope I have inspired you to try something new or something you have not done in a long while. You might just have fun!

Also, please write about or add pictures when you try a fun arts and crafts project at home. Thanks!

7 Photographs

Showing you what I see.

The other day I decided to look for things I do not typically look at in my own home. Using photography I show you what we normally overlook. I took a hundred photos on my mini field trip. I share 7 here.

I uncovered patterns and a visual language or graphics within my home. I searched for the places where connections occur. Often decay or debris is the evident transition.

Top 9 Alternative Art Supplies

Alternative Stores for Supplies

Making art does not always mean a trip to an Art Store. Often I take Artists Dates to some of the following idea generating alternative supply stores:

Thrift Stores - ideas and cheap materials abound, pots, storage units, furniture, men's shirts

Goodwill Stores - same

Salvation Army - yep, good stuff for art

American Cancer Society Thrift Shops - a bit more upscale than Goodwill usually, but you never know what you can find

Salvage Yards - my favorite, but good ones are hard to find, sadly I do not live near my favorite salvage yard any longer, if you live in Northern California check out:  Heritage Salvage

Dollar Stores - I have known artists to buy canvases here on purpose (a cheap surface), also containers, tape, glue, random hardware, wire, or even strange made in China toys to re-appropriate

Fabric Stores - who says you have to stretch canvas bought at an art store, what can you do with alternative fabrics?

Local Consignment Shop - one of my favorite consignment shops sells buttons by the jar full, they actually hire special needs adults that cut the buttons off of unusable clothing and sell the buttons for about $7 - $9 a jar, sadly I moved away from this jem of a store in Napa, CA

Kristen Bradford, 2012, Installation at Claremont Graduate University

eBay - well, you never know what you might need, 100 porcelain kitties, eBay would be a good place to start

I would love for any local Los Angeles peeps to tell me of their favorite Alternative Art supplies stops - I am new here and need some direction. Please comment and share.

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.