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

11_28_08

Well, I have been revising the website for http://www.kathrynarnold.com and hope to have the new site up in 2 weeks.

No publicity happened for my Pieces of Spring exhibition, and will be in an ArtSoup 18 in SF December - March with my piece titled Chance. And am particpating in an auction in San Jose for Works Gallery that happens in December.

However, looks like the Tryptych exhibition is not going to happen as i received an announcement for the next exhibition and it was not me. The 'last to know' experience. I had been looking forward to it, but am ok with it, should have known since it did not happen in September.

Since Open Studios have been tremendously busy and hope to have more time in the studio after next week.

10_11_08

I have been pretty busy in the studio plus delivering works to various places to exhibit. The following is and has been and hoped for happening. In the stduio I have been working on the large paper installation and also printing some limited archival editions of my digital work and photographs. This has been great fun to see how they look. I especially am into 'my work in new york' series.

My studio is open October 25 and 26, 2008. Please email for more information.

Auction, Coalition for Homelessness, SOMA Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, August 2008

SOMA Cultural Center, Artspan exhibition, San Francisco, CA, October 2008

West Valley College, Art Faculty Exhibition, Saratoga, CA., September/October 2008

"Pieces of Spring" at a cafe in the Haight. More information soon. San Francisco, CA, November - December 2008

Exhibition at Tryptych, SOMA, San Francisco, CA, date unknown at this time.

9_6_08

This is the fourth in this installation series.

Here it is, 2 views. The black and white one is the bear, but actually is a non linear book. The pages are displayed all at once and can be rearranged. I am working on each page separately right now, still have to come to grips with the text aspect. Note it has some text bubbles :-) not my original idea!

Completed naming the passages series, or the ones I had completed, except a few of the large ones. But at least most are named.

9_5_08

Last weekend drove to Big Sur to allow myself to experience and record how it is now. If you can imagine, these mountains were completely green. In the thrid image, maybe you can see the trails on the mountain to the right (Mt Manuel is to the left). When we hiked it, it was so green. Second image is one of the trails that they have opened, eerie, dusty, completely burnt. Here and there there was a bright new fern, became a signifier of hope. The redwoods by Bir Sur State park and pfieffer withstood the fire, with the help of huge amounts of fire retardent and water from the ocean.

8_17_08

I feel that i have unleashed a bear in my studio. Yesterday while working recognized I am going to need to work on each of these 100 piece sections individually and will need to take them down, one at a time. Questioning if the text on this book should be poetic in nature or straightforward - 'this is this, this is that, this is what it means ' . Today i just cannot go in to see it or experience it; it is like wrestling with a wild animal who has attacked. Maybe next time, I will shoot it, and post the image up here, but at this moment cannot even bear to do that. (are these puns!!!)

Sometimes it is so difficult to work. Tres difficile (spelling and accent marks)

On another note, the idea came to me on a new series called 'textile fragments'; perhaps inspired by the dead sea scrolls exhibition up at the legion of honor museum, or maybe by the textiles from afghanistan/turks up at the De Young. Guess where these textile fragments are going to come from?

Working on web site but want to drive to Big Basin. Found some of my private collector's information and i am sending them good energies and appreciations for wanting to house a selection of my art. They mean so much to me. And also reviewing the various galleries and consultants i have worked with; they also have lent me support in my years as an emerging artist, which I still am.

8_15_08

So today did some work on my large 100 page nonlinear book, has so far to go. Should be able to tackle it again tomorrow. It is pretty large, 100" x 100" so actually no wonder it is taking so long.

Working with softening the contrasts of value and it seems to be assisting. Thinking of attaining/reaching an ethereal softness or glow to create additional inference.

Here are some images on the floor of the studio (from a few weeks ago). I am interested how much it looks like a garden and gives me an idea for an installation - paths in between the pieces.

8_13_08

Back to work on this large nonlinear book and hope to begin to resolve it today. Some issues of fineness and quality coming up. They matter to me - the idea of a viewer having some sort of aesthetic feeling/experience is very important to me in my work, even if it is relying on conceptual framework. Thinking about this, and examining why this quality is a value to me.

Heard Federico Herrero speak about his public art piece last evening; he is an artist from Costa Rica and the talk occurred in an informal setting outside in Portrero, in front of his public artwork mural. Will put more in here soon on that; they let me take photos so will post one also. Very tropical lush colors and strong intuitive approach - the speed and approach as he described it remind me of the late Keith Haring; perhaps both being from urban art settings. Felt the whole scene including talk arrangement very creative.

Maybe learn something from this - if one looks at the idea of nothing being purely coincidental. Here I am struggling with this large work, attend a small lecture where the artist formulates his intuitive process, which is usually the basis of all of my own work, perhaps this is showing me the way to go.

8_12_08

Am back! am back from where you might ask! It is true, when one is mainly connected by phone and email, no one really knows WHERE you might be. I will post a photo at some point in time! maybe this evening. Saw and experienced some of the largest trees in the united states, vacated beaches, like a primeval forest with giant ferns. and silence/ a sense of quiet that does not exist around here.

I am hearing an artist speak at 5 PM, last name Herraro, a Costa Rican artist who is part of the CCA passengers series. He will be speaking on his work which is inspired from murals, graffiti and I think he has done a public art work that I will get to view.

Today, am continuing on this large 100 piece work on paper. The map underneath gives an indication of the work's meaning, it is as if I am creating a symbol of existential meaning - which does not exist! However, I am doing it, putting on images and some small collaged objects onto this map, and creating maplike contour lines, perhaps will photograph it later. have had thought of creating an overlay of transparent or translucent paper that will give the definitions (as text) to each personal symbol - what each means to me. Not sure yet how it will be held together. Also, many of the sections have word bubbles, that I could put text in, or maybe not. Depends on the fact there may be too much; too much info for a viewer to sort through (Mozart's idea of too many notes). Do not have 100 personal symbols yet - I feel vacant; what means anything exactly and perhaps the sense of nonattachment to images and objects, but surely not. So far I have a copper penny, one folded crane, parts of text and images for the artwork LOUD, part of a yellow oil pastel, part of a daytimer with the word december and small calendar, a paperclip...maybe some small photographs I have taken could do the trick as they evoke memories, just not sure that they could be considered personal symbols.

Have been reading Henry Miller Big Sur and the Oranges of Heironymus Bosch. I am not a literary critic but am very interested in the people who lived at Big Sur through this one person's interpretation.

Have seen all of the museum exhibitions; and realized at Legion of Honor a week and a half ago, how unfamiliar I am with their collection.

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.