Maybe a short history first: In 1996, I started a small personal zine of public trust that I called Trustworthy. I cobbled the contents together from my own experiences and observations, from the solicited ideas of people I admired and enjoyed, and from total strangers in the mail. My first foray into personal writing about issues artistic, political, and other was successful from my perspective. It lasted about 20 issues, gained a gaggle of readers and garnered a bunch of feedback, it grew my confidence as a writer and as an artist, and I liked to think that the folks that found a copy of Trustworthy had at least 20 minutes of enjoyment. I would get great letters and I know my little comics and stories made some strangers laugh, think, look around a little.

When I started painting with a frenzy it was because I needed to. I had something to learn from and say with color and form. I'm still figuring that out and I guess I'll always be able to paint the reasons I need to paint better than I can say them (or I could just get off my ass and write a coherent artist statement or spend more time painting).

Below is a sketch I made in New York a few years ago when I couldn't stop thinking

big city slow down big city slow down big city slow down...



I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of this blog, of the reasons why I tend to make my own soapboxes to stand on, of the things that can be learned and can be taught through vehicles like this. Like a lot of the other art bloggers I know (like Tyler and Anna for example) I was glad to see Todd's survey. I learned a thing or two (artists and art people read art blogs...well, ok). But you know, there's a great freedom in not knowing exactly what your reader wants to know. Maybe you out there don't give a crap about my mundane daily existance eeking out a living in a small museum in a midsized city in a sleepy part of the country or maybe you don't care at all about which emerging or emerged artists I think are rewarding to look at...I do care what you think but I'm simply going to continue to make what I want to make and write what I want to write.

Today I spent some good time trying to figure out why people seek out arts education for themselves or their children and how arts ed programs can find those people, and I spent time watching wet leaves curl, and some time drawing sculptures and watching college kids walk around a museum filling out forms. My whole life revolves around art and my whole art revolves around my life, so I'll just keep up here on this soapbox, tying to listen more and help more and make more and...

big city slow down big city slow down big city...

Now all that said, I will take care to add more blog and art links soon, but I'm going to bed now.

take care,
Rachael

I want to do some wandering. While I do not want to add to the misconception that "real art lives in big cities", I want to see stuff that isn't in my neighborhood. Two artists I've seen glimpses of, over several years, have shows in Connecticut and DC this autumn. Sikander's articulate and careful minaturesare rich in plays of meaning and powerful in form . Shahzia Sikander: Nemesis (September 19, 2004 - January 5, 2005 ) is on view at the The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum .

When I first saw Ciao Fonseca's paintings , I was impressed by his choice of colors and a sense of whimsyin the images. Now I'm drawn more to the layers and the rhythm built in. But there is more, too, to the tensions in the paintings, big but vunerable, toned down colors and bold patterns. So I'll look again. It just seems that there is meat on the bones of these paintings.

Ciao Fonseca's work is up at the Corcoran in DC.

I'm not sure what I will get to see but I did spend some considerable time staring at a loaf of bread recently, in wonder, not out of boredom.

Ok, so, that's it for now. I'm off to draw and muck around on my website redesign.

take care,
Rachael

My sister-in-law (is an advocate and activist) specializes in what she calls "johnny letters". Letters to the newspaper to raise conciousness about how people live with disabilities, letters to get some change happening, and help people.

My work is not so important. But this is what John and I read last weekend in our local paper...

Why New Yorker moved to Georgia
I gave up. I have relocated to the South like millions of other New Yorkers over the last decade.
I love New York and Rochester, but I could no longer afford to live there. I was tired of the irresponsible leaders and politicians of New York. I was tired of the high sales and property taxes, as high as six times that of property down South. I was tired of the high state income taxes. I was tired about hearing about the late state budget for the last 20 years. I was tired of the poor job opportunities and excuses from politicians about bringing jobs to upstate.
All taxpayers know that when their incomes go down, they have to reduce expenses in order to survive. This logic escapes our state and local politicians who simply keep raising taxes as revenue decreases, continuing the downward spiral.
I will be praying for New Yorkers, hoping that they see the impending calamity that has been building for decades and do something about it. I am looking forward to my new job, lower state, sales and property taxes, much lower gasoline prices and warmer weather, to boot. This New Yorker wishes his fellow New Yorkers good luck.

MR. BLOWHARD

MARIETTA, GA.
Blowhard moved from Webster to Georgia last month.


<i> And my Johnny letter will be in the D & C this week. I'll link to it when I see it. </i>

Yes, Atlanta we still love ya, but sometimes it's good to shout along with the blowhards. Make a little change. Speak from your gut. Send out the johnny letters and fight the good fight.

take care,
Rachael

Recently I was interviewed by Kurt Andersen at Studio 360 for their show on letters . I had heard they were looking for mail art and got myself inspired to create and send a little piece of joy. My work and our talk isn't in the show but the show is lovely and the ideas are prescient.

Why does it matter what we send through the mail? Why do some artists go to such extreme efforts to send fantastic art through the mail? Why is the process of sending something so scary?

Maybe:

your words, your art, your ideas go out in the world and they are either received or rejected.

because everyone on some level wants a valentine, a friend, a secret admirer.

because we need to connect to others.

because mail is a break in the mundane. When it is not a bill or a solicitation, it is (or can be) a treat.

These projects ( pinhole cameras through the mail , and graceful envelopes --like this one , and Jeremy Adolphson's 4 x 6 collection ) have me inspired to keep sending. Even if my days of making and mailing a 40 page zine four times a year to 100plus people are over, I am still trustworthy .
Ok, that's it. I'm off to read and draw.
take care,
Rachael

Just so you know, Mondays are my days off. My days to wander and wonder and draw some and eavesdrop and spend time in spaces I wouldn't normally be. I consider the looking and thinking that I do on long walks to be as much of my studio practice as I do actually painting. And I wonder how the new environment (it's chilly here, trees everywhere, there's a definite sweater feel and a whole new small town/ medium-big city space) will affect, is affecting my art? I'll gather leaves. I'll draw leaves. I'll go to work tommorrow refreshed and ready.


Here's a lead for the sculptors (below) and here's hoping your day off this week is inspiring.
Take care,
Rachael

Residency
Sculpture Space, Inc.
(Utica NY)


Funded Residencies: Twenty new artists are selected each year and all receive a $2000 stipend to help pay their residency expenses. The selection is made by the Sculpture Space Review Committee and a rotating guest panelist in mid- December. Artists are notified in February of the panel's decision. Primary criteria are quality, originality, and potential for growth. Application must be received by November 1st of each year. NYS artists only: Free housing; $100 transportation stipend.

In exchange for time spent at Sculpture Space, artists are asked to help promote the organization by acknowledging Sculpture Space when the work that they make here is exhibited or published, and providing good slides of their work for our grant applications.

Application Requirements:
Applications should consist of:

No more than ten (10) labeled slides numbered 1-10. ONLY SLIDES, NO JPEGS.
The name, address and phone number of 2-3 references. 8 copies of a slide script with title, date, dimensions, and medium.
8 copies of a brief (half page) Project Description and/or artist's statement.
8 copies of a one-two page resume.
A Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) for return of slides. If you are an international applicant please submit 5 international mail coupons for return of slides.

Include a self addressed stamped postcard if you would like confirmation of the receipt of your application package. Please put your name and address on all materials submitted. Applicants will be notified of the panel's decision in February. Please call if you have any additional questions. Information is also available on our website, www.sculpturespace.org

The Residency: Artists are expected to stay for a full 2 month work stay and are given a key to the studio with access to the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Studio Manager assists with an introductory orientation, acts as a liaison with suppliers, and advises on technical problems by request. Artists are responsible for their own materials, specialized tools, fees for work done outside the premises, and for an assistant should they require one. We are able to help artists keep their expenses to a minimum but residents generally spend on average $1000 per month. Sculpture Space can accommodate a great variety of projects both in terms of materials and scale, and we will discuss each case individually. For the sake of safety a working knowledge of English is highly recommended. A personal visit is welcome and encouraged. Please call to make an appointment.

About Sculpture Space
Sculpture Space is unique in North America for its service to sculptors and the individual support given to artists who come to Utica, NY to make new work. The program currently selects 20 artists per year for two month residencies and has helped advance the careers of over 300 national and international artists since1976. Artists-in-residence are provided with the space, equipment, technical assistance, and specialized resources available in the Mohawk Valley to make sculpture on a scale which they otherwise might not afford and in an environment conducive to experimentation. The public is invited to quarterly work-in-progress receptions at the end of a residency period. The work that is made and first seen in Utica is often exhibited in galleries, museums and sculpture parks worldwide.

Housing: A subsidized three-bedroom apartment is available at low cost ($125 per month) to artists within walking distance of the studio. Shared bathroom. Food is the artists’ responsibility and there is a fully equipped kitchen in both the apartment and studio. No pets are allowed in the studio or the artists’ apartment.

NYS Artists: NYS artists receive free housing plus a $100 transportation stipend.

The Studio is located in downtown Utica, New York, in proximity to light industry and various fabrication shops. The facility consists of 5,500 square feet of open studio, and one 400 square foot private studio for special projects. The space is outfitted with concrete floors, a two ton system of traveling hoists, and extra wide overhead doors. The Artists Office has DSL and a G3 computer; artists should bring their own digital equipment at this time. The 3/4 acres of land that surround the building can supplement indoor studio space in the summer. An outdoor work pad is equipped with a 50' monorail hoist. Depending on the scale of the work, a maximum of four artists can be accommodated at one time.

Staff:
Sydney Waller, Executive Director l Takashi Soga, Studio Manager l Sarah Lathrop, Office Manager

Artists Office: Artists have a separate office with DSL connection.

For listing of equipment or any other questions, please visit our website.

Sculpture Space, Inc.
12 Gates St.
Utica, NY 13502
Phone 1-315-724-8381
Email: info@sculpturespace.org
www.sculpturespace.org


Application Date: 11/01/04


Sydney Waller, Executive Director
12 Gates Street
Utica, NY 13502
1-315-724-8381