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, Part 2, Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson

The work of Michael Wilkinson at Blum and Poe. His work transformed the gallery space in a most unexpected, bewildering and wonderful way. Even the ceiling started to feel like it was part of the artists conception of the overall atmosphere. I will say no more. Let the photographs I took do the talking for me. Enjoy!

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson. Lego Cube.

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson, sand.

Michael Wilkinson, felt.

Michael Wilkinson, wood pole.

Michael Wilkinson, mirror material.

Michael Wilkinson, I found an abstract image in the work.

Michael Wilkinson.

Michael Wilkinson.

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!

Review: Daniella Woolf

Unbelievable! The cover of a magazine jumped out at me today. My encaustic teacher Daniella Woolf from a workshop I took about a month ago at R and F Paints is featured as the cover artist in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, a publication for collage, mixed media, and artistic discovery.

Way to go Daniella! So excited for you. I want to work with you again, soon!

Suzanne Gibbs, 2012. Pick Up Stix. Encaustic.

I started the above art work when I was in class with Daniella. Since then I submitted it to Studio Visit Magazine and it was juried in by Jonathan Greene for publication this winter.

I cannot thank Daniella enough for her  teaching and encouragment. With her help I have brought my work to a new level.

In the artist profile article in Cloth Paper Scissors, Barbara Delaney writes that Daniella Woolf uses her own unique combination of artists techniques to keep herself focused and grounded to making not only more work but coherant work. I'd like to share with you the three tips that jumped out at me from the article:

1. Morning Pages
2. Containers 
3. Ideas flow from a bigger force.

Morning pages was an idea coined by Julia Cameron. For the past 18 years or so, beginning with a workshop I took in Eugene, OR, I too have found myself working back and forth between using the morning pages technique and abandoning it. Often, it is most helpful when I am feeling stuck.

The containers idea, while not new, is becoming increasingly important to me as I develop my practice while earning my MFA at CGU. I have been making art for the past 30+ years, more if I count my childhood. I am off and on again with my production. I am beginning to realize that I have often dropped away from my creative work when I loose sight of containing the ideas that flow through me. I LOVE the containers idea!

Basically, containers means setting parameters BEFORE beginning a series of work. I would like to attend a workshop on this idea alone. Instead, I will try to channel Daniella and remember that I can produce a more cohearant body of work by roping in some part of my practice. The container could be the materials, the size of the work, the colors I use, or any other parameter that feels appropriate. If you, dear reader, have any ideas on this topic, please share.

Finally–the work comes from forces larger than ourselves. The larger force is different for everyone, but many would agree that it is out there. Thanks for reading and most of all Daniella, congratulations and thank you for your awesome work!