KATHRYNARNOLD

8th Street Studio

My 8th Street Studio and its day to day, or maybe it will be week to week digression on my studio issues, art thoughts, and the duality experience between conceptual/rational and nonconceptual/intuitive. Grid and ground contained all within.

Studio Log

8_3_08

Last Saturday (7_26_08) still a lot of smoke in Big Sur, and driving through the state park seeing how close it had burned to the road, right next to it. The redwoods are ok, but the ferns and plant life, shamrocks are gone. They will be back but the rains this winter will play havoc with new growth taking root.

This smoke was from back burning I think around Carmel Valley which would be east, but the wind direction brought it to the ocean; this is not fog.

It was very sad to see Mount Manuel disrobed as it were and the area around the falls and Ewoldsen trails blackened with no green, the mountains and rocks and trees burnt like roasted marshmallows out of control, and everything closed. All of the National forests around here are closed. because of the fires. One trail I have hiked that goes round the mountain on the way up to some hot springs in Ventana, never had realized the steep fall if there where no shrubs and plants and oaks to catch you. Could not bear to photograph this time, but the next as i must go back. Everything is gone, can see the imprint of these trails - which is actually beautiful - but I still mourning the loss and unable to see the beauty except in retrospect.

Here is a more playful piece, simply titled 'bug in grass' reminding me of my midwestern childhood and the simple direct pleasure upon seeing the june bugs in summer, burying/embedding themselves in the grass. This is acrylic on paper, size 26 x 51. am sure it relates with the key ideas I have been working with with landscape, but just came out! Many tries, many nonworkable images and ideas until suddenly!

7_29_08

Today completed one of the small crane works, hoping one of them is small enough to fit into the somarts artspan open studios show - have to measure. This second one about Ventana Wilderness, the place that was pretty much nullified over the last month and where I hike (Big Sur). Used I Ching, Fire Above and Water Below - will put an image up here soon.

Then went over to an artspan mixeer in portrero, got out of the studio, healthy, and met people, artists, some of the artspan organizers and also met The Shadow. Recently (like very recently!) had been reading his blog and coverage of the SF Artscene, so was amazingly coincidental in a way to meet the writer of it this evening. Check it out (http://shadowsf.blogspot.com/) , it goes back 3 years and gives quite a good interpretation of SF arts, plus it creates SF artscene history in text and image form. With each exhibition he covers, he includes in a separate link, multiple photos of the artists, the pieces and the opening itself. I have so much to learn as i go through the past 3 years! :-)

Paper crane piece completed last weekend, not today. Oil Pastel and acrylic on stretched silk (as in silkscreen) the size 18" x 18"

7_19_08

well, have been working with my images and found one of the studio that might be good to post, may have been taken in June or July, most likely July. It shows some pieces I completed in July and also some work that is ongoing :-) Working still with the landscape/primeval/archetypal/passages idea which has now continued for awhile. The ones are focused on a certain color sensibility/feeling; the colors relating to 'fields' in a way, landscape colors. The size is around 38 x 40", they are oils on stretched canvas. Behind the 2 front works, just visible to the right on the back wall is my 'bug in the grass'. It is on paper and is acrylic primarily. Robert Stanley recently mentioned the midwest and sent a photo of rain on a road with trees, and talked about rain and flowers - this is what I remember about the midwest, bugs like junebugs, crawling in the grass.

7_11_08

Well, none of the below lasted long and it is almost 3 months later! No new website, or revised site, however the 9 paintings are done am pleased with them.. Today I worked with acrylic on paper - black acrylic, but had to leave them on the floor when I left today. oh, and working on 2 acrylic pieces on silk, screens left in 301 when golden gate printing moved out. they are see-through and already have a flat wood frame established around them...wrote ideas in sketchbook today as was flooded with ideas for it and my installation appear works. Saw exhibitions yesterday, more on that later on.

4_20_08

I have been working with my inventory of images and am revising with a major overhaul, kathrynarnold.com. But mainly, due to the fact i continue putting that off, I continue to work on the set of 9 paintings in the studio. I will take some shots next time, but they are actually far from being done with the exception of two.

I am developing a possibility of getting connected to the South of Market Art scene. It is right here in my 'backyard'. I visited the various sites and studios on friday evening to get a sense of what was what, and site 301 may be the hottest place to be.

Along with that so many other details to take care of; decided for example, to participate in open studios this year. Also to begin a blog of the current art scene I guess as seen from an outsider, which does seem to be myself at this moment.

Anyway, the series I am working with each have something related with color (that is very specific!) and are at that place where I have the choice of making them spacious with floating movements, such as a leaf might be seen on top of a puddle, or how an underneath current brings up the things from underneath. Is it an allegory or metaphor? Not that I want it to be - desire poetry as with all of my work.

I will be placing some works into the SFMOMA Artists Gallery sale that I deliver in less than two weeks. Weighing what to put in - perhaps one of the most beautiful works I have ever done. It is an older piece that however conveys the same sense of desire/ what is it, loss and desire, that is seen in many of my works. I lose something and then want to recover, reclaim, relocate, connect with - all that has been lost that was meaningful or had potential to be full of meaning of existence for myself. Is it the romanticist vein in me or is it the need for existential meaning - I guess with sense of loss that is not existential but drives me on to connect new and present moment. But that driving, does it keep 'it' from happening?

Saw video on utube with Phillip Johnson - he states it is about that moment of love and experience - love is all...John Lennon said it best - Love is all you need. For Real.

4_1_08

Today felt one with San Francisco, integrated, understood and accepted the art setup, realizing my expectations were not the same as what exists. So letting them go. Going to move forward and exhibit my work; having a break from teaching has reconnected me, had almost forgotten.

We have two new businesses in the building, Hansan or it may be Heysan, looks like a startup with a feature like IM for cell phones and then the second business, can't really figure out, called Layered Intelligence and then something related to Health Systems. They may be the people working on placing medical records up online somewhere. On the web it appears they moved from Greene Street, where my consultant Jan Casey is now (or close) to our building; they also may be a business that purchases innovative companies, how interesting they are directly across from Heysan. Other businesses in my building at 301 8th street are Margaret jenkins Dance Lab, Gamma Go, Prelinger Library (doing the bookscanning for Google), a Ceramicist Dental Business, and artist coop under David Greenstone that has about 5 or 6 artists, conceptArt.org is there, another group of artists who are all related to 3D animation in a way, Shan Shan Cheng who does public art, Inner research that is a Tai Chi place, and an architect firm that does something like internet/wiring architecture. There is a photographer, Studio 202 and then one other business who I never see. I think our building is full; California Carpets is below still and has expanded into all of the ground floor.

2_3_08

I completed 3 5' x 7' pieces; had been working on them it seems for a year. These are connected with the ideas of passages, more on that earlier in this studio log and more on that later. Here is one of the new works and then the other 2 below that - I am excited about the development of line, and the line effects creating spatial reasoning of sorts, and yes, am working with an extremely high horizon line, think it references Northern European atmospheric landscapes/romanticism play, and the ground being full of 'stuff'. More on that later :-)

Will be working in the studio a lot more this week and during this year. Began 3 new smaller works along this same theme and will be also be completing the 2 installation works that have been in progress, seems like for years.

1_06_08

The beginning of the year. I worked in the studio all last weekend through New Year's Day. Walls almost ready and then I should be able to share the space. Worked on large grid pieces with grids, just waiting for the consensus with the idea in myself for what goes there. Next time I am in will work on large 5 x 7s. Rain has been so crazy plus cold temperatures keeps me somewhere else. I am redoing kathrynarnold.com, creating a mailing, and getting images ready to send to consultant in Philadelphia/NY. I am considering printing some of my digital work and should find that out soon but don't know if I want to do that expense. Yesterday went to ocean. Holding pattern. Delivered work to exhibition last week but missed the opening last Thursday.