The last couple of years brought on hints of hope and renewal and also quite a bit of misery; one event was when I had to move out of my house after my divorce. This was a home in which I lived: during the births of my kids; cooked and cleaned up after millions of meals; celebrated my kids; cleaned up after babies and dirty dogs; loved and cared for my husband; cursed my husband; danced to ear-popping loud music; chased away coyotes and bats and squirrels and birds; decorated for every birthday and holiday; laughed my head off and sobbed my eyes out; played; slept; screamed; worked; didn't work. 20 years of memories.
So when I moved out to my little place I was determined to establish a home again for my kids - I didn't have all the stuff, I just had me and some personal mementos and my wonderful kids - somehow it began feeling like home immediately despite the pretty radical change. The other house is still occupied by my former husband and it still contains much of my artwork and other bits and pieces left behind - all the paint colors, the furniture, piles of dvd's and cd's, spots on the chair, fireplace, scratches in the floor, out of tune piano, kids' height charts....all oozing with memory. When I see the house, I feel a feathery tweak of sadness - then it's done. I'm very sentimental too. So, on to new and different paintings!
And the reason I am blathering on like this is because my work looks like it might be influenced by this - linking the idea of what is and where is "home." Who knows, maybe that will morph into bowls of fruit or sex or hairdos...
When I start a new season of work, I like to sit with a pad of paper, begin with a word (like "rock") or simple idea (like "a heavy rock or lifting a heavy rock" - I know, it sounds stupid) and then scribble down as many words as I can, really fast/without editing or thinking or pondering; just scribble away without stopping until the page is filled. Of course there are repeats and words that have nothing to do with the original idea but the exercise leads to all sorts of ideas and imagery.
I did this a couple of months ago after starting a bunch of rock and wall drawings. Some words that I remember scribbling down were: heavy, lift, fall, mend, cold, strong, crumble, roll, damp, wall, etc. I came up with a full page of words in about a minute and they pretty much guided me with the new series I'm doing. It's a fun way to begin if you are stuck. Johnson O'Connor calls it "ideaphoria."
(I took that test about 30 years ago and scored very high in ideaphoria..hope it doesn't mean I shoulda been a writer.) Here are some things that are starting:
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