A Very Busy January

It might appear that I haven''t been up to much in January, but quite honestly I have been very busy.  I have been piecing together my show for the Studio which opens on the seventh of February as well as putting together notes and lesson plans for five different classes between two different schools.

I have been very pleased with the way that my current projects have been going.  I have been a bit more free with my concepts which has proved quite beneficial.  I determined that I wanted to try as hard as possible to do as much with index cards that I could.  It has been a good way to provide myself with limits in order to focus more on how the content could shift and change.  I found myself quite opposed to this idea of rule setting when I was in graduate school, but now I am beginning to see the point behind what my more educated professors were suggesting to me.  There really is more freedom to exercise when you have picked a control.

After I had loosened up a bit with the index card creations, I began to work on a few wooden pieces that would work in the same manner as the original index card pieces.    Once I had set my rules with the index cards, the transference to a new ground was a much more open process. 

The index cards have made me more open to being honest, wearing my thoughts and feelings as a badge, and enjoying my own personal metaphors.  I have previously tried to find ways around this in my art, choosing instead to make visual jokes with "funny" characters.  I've grown tired of this, however.  This show has been immensely important to my development as a creative. 

I am looking forward to future developments that this index card series may lead to.  I am also interested to see how bringing the more painterly strokes into some of my wooden grounds will change and or work the some of the other works.

Peace
-Mike