Often, in assessing my day, I will consider a good one by saying "well, no one got hurt." Today, in my little world no one got hurt. My talk went well (i.e. I didn't babble like an idiot and I did stop to look again at the painting), I managed to answer most of the frantic phone calls at work, I found time to eat my lunch, and all of my fancy new art supplies came in the mail.

Things are good then. But there's such a lingering sadness over the Tsunami situation. I heard a powerful commentary by Annie Dillard on NPR this morning that stuck with me all day. So many people got hurt.

I often think of scale in terms of art and size but it's so easy for me as an American to forget the magnitude of this tragedy...how many others lives and deaths are just dots in blue water...

Vija Celmins seems appropriate here.



More people hurt, more people missing, more people traumatized seems like more reason to make art to me, to help others, to connect as human beings in this big messy world.

More soon, but again, take care of yourself and others,

Rachael

and Dad, I love you, nice to know you are reading

The past two days have been a tremendous blur of activity at work. Good stuff but busy. And then at the end of the day I spend a bunch of hours trying to pull this graphic novel project together and a bit of time trying to sharpen my ideas about the talk I'll give this week and then some time just spilling paint and moving a pencil around to ease the stress and calm my nerves.

Big thanks to Jennifer at simpleposie for the canadian art links, see the exciting new section to your left and feel free to send me more to add.

I got my Art Papers in the mail today and felt a tinge of missing the ATL but mostly I wondered why they won't cover the south like kudzu. Once they did, now ArtPapers is so diffused as to be...um...boring. I promised I'd be honest. I used to love the artist's projects pages in ArtPapers and when I first moved down south that was the only place to learn about contemporary art in the south but now like most art mags it's ads, blah-blah-blah-ticles, reviews of shows that are over over and more over, and ads. Barbara Schrieber had a good living the art life/survival series of articles for a while but if they're gone so is a big chunk of relavent content. I have faith that that magazine can find some sparkling new perspectives, some real relavent ideas, and some distance on the market. The glossier it gets, the farther away ArtPapers will be from the non-glossy lives of those folks who make art in places like Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Charleston, you know, those places that aren't big and aren't apples. People do make art in places that aren't on subway lines...

Ok, that's me and I'm off my soapbox to paint again. Like I did last summer. Sorry.

take care,
Rachael

Well, now, three days into this new year I am newly aware of why the figure has been creeping back into my work. No doubt it's because I am thinking, drawing, writing and working on a graphic novel project (a pretty good list by Andrew Arnold of 25 graphic novels to start with is here and from the past year here ). My project is an old idea turned new again, a way to breathe mew life into an old narrative character back to the world, and as always, an excuse to make up stories and draw pictures.

That's an old Janet. New Janet's a bit older, a bit wiser (maybe), and a bit more tricky to pull together. I think part of the problem is that I am more concious of what I'm doing. The content will probably be better but the process is tougher, rougher, messier, and it takes more more more time.
Oh, and Franklin's recent post about his decision not to pursue a phD in art history reminded me of my own moment of truth a bunch of years ago. I walked away from a phD program because I was having a lot more fun drawing comics than sitting in the library. I wonder, hope, think that maybe there could be a way to branch the deep thinking of academia with the passion of creating and all in a way that can communicate with others. More on this in future posts probably. But I gotta get back to my funny pages, not so funny right now (Ed's up in a tree and Janet'd depressed, how funny is that?).
take care,
Rachael

and for Elise, here's an example of a sneaking figure from a few months ago...

My public radio station played a This American Life episode about words and included was a powerful, poignant, fascinating reading of a Fears of Your Life book. This was a project sponsored by Creativity Explored which has just become my favorite non-profit art organization of the day. OK, I don't know a thing about them, really, but I am impressed with the images, and the concept, and the wonderful idea of connecting and communicating through art.

I'm off to paint and think and sort out some of the reasons why figures are sneaking back into my paintings. It's cold and they have no place else to go? Maybe.

take care,
Rachael

This big bad new year is off to a smart start, I hope. Ours began in a little bar in Toronto talking to a musician about the red state/blue state debacle and W. We couldn't say a damn thing about Canadian politics because we are Americans and simply don't know jack about our neighbors to the north. Arrogant sons-o'-bitches that we are, yet, we resolve to change. We will get to Canada more, we will check in on doings more important than hockey, we will tune in on the CBC and pay attention to the arts scene next door. With help, no doubt from Sally and Marja-Leena and other Canadian artists and bloggers (feel free to comment if you know some, I'm hunting down more Canadian art knowlege sources). What do borders mean in the arts anyway? If something interesting is happening within 300 miles (or 482.80 kilometers) I wanna know about it. I am truly convinced that creativity, resilience, and resourcefulness (art habits) cross borders even if specific national or local situations are different.

And since it is the new year I am getting nostalgic about old friends, old haunts, old ideas, and old sketchbooks, I'm hereby linking to an interesting show coming up in Ottowa which feautures the work of Rachel Echenberg (an image from a performance of hers is below).

Rachel's haunting one-minute monuments, empathetic public performances, and interactive performances worked their way into my brain when I first met her way back when she was at Sculpture Space in Utica. (Which reminds me to urge you to add "apply for and go on a residency" to your resolution list if you happen to be an artist of any flavor. Not only to residencies give you amazing, magical time to create but they also take you from your everyday and plant you in a creative community where you will invariably influence and be influenced. This is creative cross-pollination and without it we get...forgive my bread metaphor here...stale. End lecture, begin searching this list of artist run organizations for places that would have residencies.)
Oh, and Modigliani at the AGO was a disappointment (although the Albright-Knox's Servant Girl ( you can search her out here) looked stronger in context and the drawing area was/is an absolutely fabulous idea) but Henry Moore is rich and rewarding to stare at and the new-ish (new to me, but I haven't been there for 10 years) installation is well lit and made to be drawn, seen, and felt.

Actually, forget the whole 300 miles thing. I want to see it all. This country, that country, the more art being made, more art being seen, more art being discussed the better. On this I am resolved.

Take care (of yourself of others),
Rachael