A very visual blog link

http://thatsinkedup.blogspot.com/


T.Parker, check her postings out [she's a great printmaker and teacher in her own right].

Hi Terry!

~tcb

Alex Katz

From Salle, David. How to See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking about Art

One more post on this wonderful book.  Laid out in 4 sections, each sections containing a number of insightful essays, they are: How to Give Form to an Idea; Being an Artist; Art in the World and Pedagogy and Polemics.

This is from the first essay, primarily on Alex Katz:

Every major artist is an amalgamation or synthesis of diverse sympathies and influences. De Kooning, for example, combined, among other things, cubism and surrealism, Ingres, Dutch still-life painting, the nudes of Rubens, Picasso’s line, Mondrian’s structure, the Accabonac landscape, jazz, and the energy and angst particular to his time, place, and personality. There is a fairly direct line from de Kooning to Katz himself. They share some traits, such as a workmanlike approach to the practice of painting, a lack of sentimentality, and ferocious intelligence. With Katz, the bouillabaise includes Jackson Pollock, Matisse, billboard advertising, the movies, Japanese screens and woodcuts, modern dance, fashion, and poetry. Once asked to name his favorite artists of all time, Alex started his list with Jackson Pollock and ended with “the guy who made Nefertiti.”

Salle, David. How to See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking about Art (p. 20). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition. 

Really just break down and buy the book.

~tcb

Ah, what to say

For starters I've been obsessing over the election since the conventions.

You may understand, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

After the swearing-in of the new President, I too took an oath: stop obsessing and get on with life.

Enough.

Moving on, I've started doing some reading and reviews of the many 'art to do' notes i've made during this period.

The readings:

David Salle's 2. to 1.How 3. See  [crazy title].  This is a book by an art critic who wished to change the conversation about art, to lose the academic/gallery speak and converse on art and artists the way artists talk among ourselves.

That idea kinda' hooked my attention. A longish introduction followed by a number of essays is the basic structure.

Gems I liked from the introduction:

[Quote marks omitted]

1.    The most convincing works tend to be those in which thinking is inseparable from the doing.

[if you're a process artist like myself you should dig that]

2.    Nothing I can say is going to improve how it looks.

3.    The right idea, one that is in productive sync with one's talents, can unlock a whole worldview. If that idea is also part of a sensibility that is forming and spreading in the larger culture, or zeitgeist, a multiplier effect comes into play, and the art will resonate strongly with the viewing public.  We will feel that it express us.

4.    Art is more than a sum of cultural signs: it is a language both direct and associative, and has a grammar and syntax like any other human communication.  The act of paying close attention to what someone made, in all of its particulars, is what stimulates an authentic, as opposed to a conditioned, response.

5.    The wall label might inform you that the work is about the artist's investigation into the semiotics of performative strategies, while you find yourself wondering if the cafeteria food is any good.

[i so love that one]

6.     Form is the raw material, and style is the forge.

[as a derivative thought I recall a lyric ". . . style is just another word for limitation. . . ']

As I come across these on further reading I'll post more.  I find the thinking generated by reading books like this helps place and reaffirms my internal dialogues; new art has never come out of reading such stuff, that's not the point, it is instead creating the mental studio that in it's self allows new directions for me.

~tcb

Beth Carson, Illustrator

LInk to a friend living in the UK - her blog

enjoy!

~tim

Movie Review

Yeah, something different, movie talk.

The film, Sweet Bean, a 2016 indie [Japanese-German-French production, yeah, crazy right] that is a slice of life story.

Most generally a film review actually talks about the story, and I find I can't do that as it would totally ruin it for you. So I'll only give the bare bones such as Netflix does.  Sentaro, the cook manager of a small doriyaki pastry shop - tiny, walk up window and only 3-4 indoor seats; the 76 year old Tokue who is hired by Sentaro to make the sweet bean paste used in doriyaki [what he has been using so far is paste-in-a-can lol] and so develops the story.  Who's story is this, the middle school girl who virtually lives off of doriyaki hand outs from Sentaro, Sentaro's story, or Tokue?  Each have their own perceptions, past and present and each story is told with just enough information that we feel like we have understanding into each person.

This is a gentle, naturally paced film that slowly reveals secrets and sadnesses.  By naturally paced I refer to the pace of conversation and observation, the normal movements of film are minimal and non-obtrusive.

I really like this movie, it drew me into a . . . hmmm, a mood, a sympathy that has become strongly a part of me.  At least 12 hours later it still haunts me, how many films have you seen lately that touched you?

Check it out, it is a great 2 hours.

Speaking of films, has anyone noticed that odd line-up of movies on Turner Classic Movies this week through to the election?  Fail Safe, 7 Days in May, Dr. Strangelove, and the like.  Watcha' trying to say Mr. Turner?

Notes, Journal et cetera software

Someone called it the best application you didn't know you had already.

Microsoft's OneNote and OneNote 2016 are very useful [you guessed it] for note taking, but also collecting data from the Internet.  See this for comparison: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-s-the-difference-between-OneNote-and-OneNote-2016-a624e692-b78b-4c09-b07f-46181958118f

Data like: articles, pages, addresses and so on, then as you grab them they organize into your folders.

I've begun to use it for ideas and research for some artist book works, my ideas and also what others have done, for buying supplies for later and other relevant sites.

The basic OneNote is free for all devices, drawback perhaps is limited to cloud storage,  The OneNote 2016 has more internal organizational options and save to cloud or local storage - however it is part of the not-so-free Office package.

So specifically what I'm doing:

- ideas, drawings and design elements [like fonts] for my next art book

- a folder with pages of suppliers for paints, inks, paper: you can grab their pdf and insert it directly to a page, you can pull a item/price list from a web page [or the whole page].  Think about how Dick Blick organizes items and prices, just drop that sucker into your folder.

- a folder with processes listed, directions and my observations  I'm starting to scan in my gravures and make notes with the images.  I lose paper notes like crazy so this should totally fix that prob.

- a doodle folder [yeah if you can draw on your machine you can draw into OneNote].

If you're using the cloud storage, then you can save lists, photos to/from your smarty phone or tablet.

I've got the free version as I don't use Microsoft Office, but the free OpenOffice from someone nicer ;)

So far I feel so warm and fuzzy being organized

cheers,
~tim

Storage for photopolymer plates

I've been doing a lot of work with photopolymer plates, particularly with the 4x5 inch size.

So, I've plates sitting everywhere wrapped in paper and realize it's not such a great way to store these dudes.

Archival storage for these plates should include:

1. no pressure on the engraved surface, so vertical [edge-on] rather than flat.

2. given that this is an emulsion [polymer plastic] layered onto steel, then de-lamination must be considered.  Temperature and humidity control occur to me.  An airtight box with silica gel to moderate humidity.

3. low cost and available

After looking for a number of weeks what I've found is the OXO Softworks POP container.  The one rated as 2.6 qt will fit 4x5 plates edge-on, with extra space at the top to close this airtight gasket-like seal; about $16 here in Albuquerque.  Thinking thin sheets of acid neutral paper between each plate.

Kinda' nifty.

Now the search for storage with those 8x10 plates....


Can't believe I'm so far behind on my blog writing.  Ah, summer, blame it on summer.

~tim

PS anyone with other solutions be very glad to hear about them.