Sandra Stowell Binary
Have you ever tried to develop a more elegant or more striking signature?
Sandra Stowell Binary V2
Surely we all want our signature to better reflect our personality, style and skills?
And an artist’s signature should enhance, rather than detract from, the art work. Many artists admire the Chinese chop or seal, and may create their own.
So recently I have been considering my personality. One of my aspects is my “geek” nature, manifest in my computer science background and continued use of computers. Hence this new idea for my signature: my name in a vertical column of binary code.
Some version of this experiment may become my “chop”… or not! But it will need to be a smaller, more discreet version of course. More work is in my future.
Binary Grasses
Talking about your own art work is difficult for many of us, for several reasons. Some of us feel that talking about your work may construed as bragging. We may be taught that it is rude to share personal information without being explicitly asked (and of course it is also rude to ask personal questions!) Some of us are just not especially articulate, and it is particularly hard to speak extemporaneously (so practice!) Some of us don’t think about our art in terms of words, and we may be reluctant to do so. We may fear that analyzing our work will alter it, and not in a good way.
But sometimes it seems desirable to use words. If you want to sell your work, words can help: you are very lucky if you can rely on someone else to sell your work for you!
Also thinking about your art can be helpful. While I choose to avoid defining my style or individual works using accepted categories of art history & theory, I think words may help me focus, and to choose the next direction for my work.
Recently I latched on to a few key words that seem to characterize my approach. Now I want to think about using these words to describe my style:
I cannot imagine siting down in front of view or lovely photo, and then dabbing in trees according to a formula “as seen on TV”. There is no joy for me in that approach. While it does frustrate me when I have a concept and no idea how to realize it, ultimately this is much better than knowing exactly how to proceed: it keeps me engaged and interested. And as I work on a piece, and I find that I need something different, I look around and reach for any suitable tool or media to do what that work needs at the moment. I improvise, and that is satisfying!
I may have a concept, and I may start drawing an object which fascinates me visually, but my goal is not to reproduce that object on my page or canvas. Rather my goal is to produce a satisfying art work: one which gives me a small thrill of pleasure and satisfaction when I look at it. I do not try to change you, or the world, but just myself a little tiny bit.
Tangled Twigs VIII: Here there be Dragons
This piece started continues my Tangled Twigs series, but with a very different twist. Inspired by the theme of the upcoming juried show at a local gallery, I decided to emphasize color and fantasy. I am not comfortable working with either!
I don’t plan to enter the show at Northwinds Art Gallery, being a bit sour on juried shows at the moment, but I did need to find a way to proceed with this drawing. I was stuck, and perhaps winding down on this series, so here there be dragons!
Grasses V, mixed media on art board
This continuation of my texture meditations started with embossing & black conte crayon, then graphite pencil. It was very dull, but I did not want high contrast black & white, so I added a little color.
I used colored pencil (including metallics), pan pastel, and for the extra touch you cannot really see in this image a three colored silk threads…
This tangled twig drawing on paper evokes a nest of snakes … and it is getting more interesting. At first it was soft, delicate and irritatingly bland…
Tangled Twigs VI, maybe finished
I worked on it but my efforts to add & improve were failing, so I set it aside. Returning to it now, I am bolder with changes. The large ghost leaf/nest is a new major addition, and it has more contrast, and more but less vivid color.
Curly Twig Tangle VI, early draft
I don’t love it, and wish I had chosen different colors, but it does work better. The lower image is a scan of an early draft before the recent work.
Unfortunately the muted purple Prismacolor pencil I used is one that bleeds vivid magenta with spray fixative! It took a lot of work to mute that ghastly effect. I need to test my colors for this problem: it seems several purple shades do this, and there may be a few other colors that separate and bleed!
Thinking about work for a show, and I find all of these works were completed Aug 2012 – Jan 2013. So I seem to be fairly productive in my new studio!
Finished work completed in the past six months!
The images are not to scale: sizes vary from one 9″x12″, several in between size, and the largest is 24″x18″.
This is not everything. I completed a few smaller drawings, my 2013 Sketchbook for Arthouse Coop, an altered book, and even a relief print I rather like.
I may have some the above work on exhibit at 1012 Coffee Bar in July.
Altered Book: Game of Stones
I completed this project last month: an altered book that I like!
I took an altered book workshop some time ago, and made a few attempts at that time, but did not like the results. I gave up on books for a few years, but books are big part of my life. I read all the time, and I used to think my dream house would certainly include a library! It would have books floor to ceiling with a rolling library ladder, and maybe even sliding panels of bookcases to provide additional shelf space.
But reality is different. My first dream house had some office space for our home business and a very nice guest room, which soon became my art room. I get rid of most books after reading them in order to have space for art. My (second) dream house features a separate spacious art studio for me, and a smaller art/office space for my husband with only a small multi-purpose guest space.We still have bookcases with reference books & books to be replaced after reading, and no library! Priorities have changed.
Game of Stones: No Rules
I still want that rolling library ladder, but now I want it for access to the two storage lofts in my art studio!
