Still Making Waves

Paper in Moonlight ©evertson 2009

This is the latest in my series of "tissue waves". Starting my layer

buildup in Photoshop is a long exposure night shot with moonlight.

With the camera left in place, I caught a morning shot to layer for

additional color. In the first two in the series I cut out the background

to focus on the water-like quality of the paper; this time I left a

window to add a suggestion of light source. I built another layer of

water drops although I was a little conflicted as to whether this one

was about paper or water - water won out. There are a few ways

to make drops but I use the noise filter then blur filter, then

thresholds to produce a size and density I like. Bevel and emboss

provide the dimensionality although I adjusted blending modes

and opacity to keep it subtle.

Companionway style ladder built for Sue Graham of Niantic, Ct

Thank you to commenters on my woodworking in my "other job"

post. One of the hardest things I've faced as an artist is avoiding

the mental burn off of working a second job. I certainly had an early

string of either crappy or demanding jobs that left little time or

energy for art. The companionway ladder above was a commission

to access a quirky space the homeowners wanted to turn into

library storage. One of a kind woodworking commissions

require some creative solutions but fill a niche and provide a

comfort zone to pursue my fine art.

I mentioned Art Ravels last post and then I discovered that she had

given me kudos the same day. I won't follow Woody Allen's advice

to not join any club that would accept me. Did I mention she has great

taste in all things art ;) ?

Things We Do

Table

Jafabrit had a very interesting link to an essay by Alain

Beriot on Being an Artist. His major thread concerns the

difference between the business of art and being an artist.

I spent some time re-reading the section concerning audience.

Who are you creating for? Yourself? Everyone? Or can you

learn to be discerning; can you recognize that everything to

everyone isn't possible.

Edgar Degas L'Absinthe oil on canvas 1876

I build cabinetry and furniture to make a living. In fact most

people seem to prefer to recognize what I do for money as

what defines me. A quote from Degas in Beriot's essay seems

to sum up a general artist's malaise. "Your pictures would have

been finished a long time ago if I were not forced everyday to

do something to earn money" Leaving aside Degas' politics and

personality I have to wonder what that other work was?

Stools

Mostly I enjoy the cabinet work that makes money; I enjoy even

more when I exhibit my art. I just don't expect to see a pot of

gold there. The dialogue Corrine opened in Jafabrit's Art found

resonance with me as I try to balance "being an artist" with not

wasting time pursuing false leads and dead ends. Just don't ask

how the recession is effecting my cabinetry; suffice it to say I've had

a bit more studio time.

I've also had more time to explore other art blogs and I'd like to

point out Art Ravels as a fresh perspective from a perceptive

observer of the NY art scene. Follow the link; I don't think you'll

be disappointed as you follow her to various museums and galleries.

Paper Waves

Tissue Wave II ©Evertson 2009

A second in my series of crumpled paper waves. Like so many

inspirations this began as an accident of light. I walked by

a window and morning light hitting some packing

material gave it a peculiar water-like feel. I spent less than

an hour with it until the light effect passed. Most of those

photos were lost in my hard drive crash but this was one

that I had backed up. While I wait for the light to manifest

again I'll continue to play a bit in photoshop.

The Great Wave Off Kanagawa Hokusai

The "original wave" and still the best after countless

printings and reproductions later is Katsushika Hokusai's

ukiyo-e print from the 1820's. This print is one

of Hokusai's series "36 Views of My. Fuji" The series is

a masterwork of light, subject and composition.

Not the End of the World?

Total desk confusion

There is nothing like a hard drive failure to cause one

to evaluate life's priorities. I awoke Monday morning

to a giant blinking question mark on the computer

screen. I tried everything; mouth to mouth, chest

compressions, those electric paddle things and the

calls to tech support to some guy in a hut on the other

side of the planet. Finally the long drives to first one

Apple store (your hard drive is dead, but we're closing

for two weeks of renovations) then another (they got it

done by Wednesday night). I tried to fill my grief by

dragging an old iMac out of the closet but it was sooo

old and tired. Luckily I had my art backed up as well

as most of my writing. I did lose two years of photographs

and all my tunes. My next purchase? Forget that stupid

blinking check engine light, I need a second hard drive

and auto back up software. You just have to get your

priorities right ;)

Author Author

East Hampton Public Library's 898 Literary Review

More serendipity from "On the way to making a postcard for 'A

Book About Death' I wrote a story" story. Shortly after I added

that piece to the right margin of my blog I saw a newspaper

article asking for submissions to our library's new literary

magazine. So I did, then promptly forgot about it until yesterday

when browsing the stacks our library director, Sue Berescik

handed me an impressive, sixty page, hot off the press copy.

It was an impulse to make the submission but seeing it in print

yesterday afternoon put a smile on my face :) I was even more

pleased when I sat down and read the other poetry and short story

submissions. I write a lot in my journals, it did take a while to

construct and it was a bit like my mixed media, but not. I think

I was most pleased that I didn't let my inner critic tell me

not to bother.

Sleepless

Tissue Waves Evertson © 2009

I fell asleep dreaming of water last night. (I spent studio time on

photographing tissue paper waves yesterday.)

Then suddenly I was being tormented in a Hieronymus

Bosch painting.

I may need to re-boot my brain from this existential mode

if I want to get anything done (or get any sleep).

Odds and Ends

I've been having a bit of fun with Oddcast's PhotoFace

demo. Just a distraction from what I should be

working on. (like the essay I mentioned last post) You

can upload a photo and the program performs a

little animation for you. A little creepy but fun; I

just had to give "The Scream" a try.

Sink or Swim

Swimming the Witch - Medieval woodcut (note innocent person in foreground)

I'm off onto magic for awhile. I've been taking graduate

courses at Wesleyan University since 2003. Why I do

this is a mystery although I started as a way to get

up to speed on digital media arts. Its morphed into

history, sociology architecture; essentially everything

I wished I had time for back when I was getting my

MFA. I'm up to my eyeballs trying to write a final essay

for a fascinating course in Miracles and Magic in the

Middle Ages. Of course now that I'm well into writing on

patriarchy, misogyny and rural communities I could be

writing a great paper on the role of art in defining magic.

Pact with the Devil - Medieval woodcut

While slightly off track from primary readings, I've been

finding some fascinating art. I fear as a whole the artists

may have proven the adage that a picture is worth a

thousand words. As stereotypical images of witches

became more available the hysteria that led to hunting

witches grew. Although I believe artists are much more

in tune with modern witch hunts I am less than optimistic

that our culture is anymore civilized than our Medieval

ancestors.

Best Face Forward

Thailand - Cast Buddha head (collection of the artist)

My last couple of posts have touched on my belief in

ignoring group think (ie friends and family) when it

comes to what goes into your art. Unless, of course, it

is a collaboration. I also believe we are more likely

to be inspired when we spend more hours making

art. An artist waiting for inspiration to hit is a

musician that doesn't practice. Our work is our face

to the world.

Pond - Photocollage by Ian Evertson

I'm backing into a topic that was inspired by an e-mail

exchange (cousin of a friend) concerning whether

attending Berklee College of Music would give their

son a fallback career. Our son attended Berklee and

she wanted the 411 for their college decisions. The

short answer is yes they do, they offer many music

career paths. But my long answer concerned commitment

because like the visual arts, music takes talent, luck and

work, work and more work. No school can prepare you

for an arts career. I hope I didn't put nails in the kids

music coffin. Our son is doing just fine because Berklee

didn't kill his dreams. He works hard at his "other job"

but has a lifetime ahead to work even harder on those

dreams. If you have interests in photography, music

reviews, slam poetry and zombie sightings check out

our son Ian's new blog. It can be a tough road with an artist

father but at least his mom is a mental health professional.

Applause

Right Handed Applause (©2009)

What keeps artists going? It certainly isn't the money,

fame and glamour. Why do we make art? Matthew Rose

(he's organizing the "A Book About Death" exhibit) claims

that "I like the hours". Certainly about the best

explanation I've ever heard. I'd wager most of us

somehow just knew at some point that making art is

just something we do. Probably something most of us

wouldn't give up even if we were offered that 'real job'

that our relatives or friends may sometimes suggest we

find. Instead we struggle after working the unreal job

to find the hours necessary for the 'work' of art. So why

make art? Well - somebody has to do it.