... and some close-ups

This is how some of the "post-it" screen prints turned out. To clarify; the yellow/pink post-it notes are screen printed as well ... In this post from October you can see what it looked like when I was playing around with the post-it notes (that time I had just screen printed laughing faces on post-it notes and was moving them around).

I know it sounds a bit complicated ... and yes, it has been a bit complex.

test-mounting

I managed to get the same print repeated in a diagonal, but I didn't notice until I saw the wall on this photo. The feeling is so very different when you stand there - in reality - next to all those prints. You notice other things.

playing around

there are som many possible combinations. I was thinking this way of working could be perfect for a commission for a preschool. I would love to make something that's not supposed to be outside. You can make so much more for the same amount of money and you don't have to think about vandalism in the same way - or the weather...

showing size

I've been trying out different ways of showing the size of my art pieces when taking photos (or in the case of the upper photo; the size of the hand tufted Christmas tree I made for home - which is not an art piece). For me the size is obvious, of course, but not to others. For example I recently found one of my big drawings (1 x 1,5 m) pinned on Pinterest with the comment that it was from my sketchbook. And of course it could have been that small. Many times it doesn't even help to write the size - people don't look or they just assume. Like with my huge watercolour paintings; I've been offered to exhibit those paintings in really small places because they just assumed they were small - even though I had stated the sizes ...

Anyhow, it doesn't always look effortless or natural when you try to add something - like yourself (and being the photographer at the same time it is just guessing and many trials before getting it right).

documenting

Last Friday I had a little photo session in the studio documenting everything I tufted last year and the screen prints I made in December.  This time I had properly prepared by filling all the holes on the wall and by re-painting it. Last minutes I got the impulse to paint a bit of the the floor too, something which turned out to be a good decision! I was also very happy about the the white but totally darkening blinders I nowadays have in all 4 windows in my studio - so easy to just pull them down for a photo session. 

Step by step I might be getting there; the perfect studio.

Summing up 2014; part 2

2014 was also the year when I learned many new techniques/materials; welding and metal construction, textil printing, hand tufting rugs and laser cutting. I find it very good to try new materials when I feel stuck with my art, but that was not the only reason I learned these things.

summing up 2014: part 1

It's almost the middle of January 2015 already, but in order to properly be able to start the new year I have to leave the old one behind - and what better way to do that than summing it up?

2014 started out as a very hard year for me with my own art. I had saved up some money (through commissions/teaching art) and had the time for concentrated work in my studio ... but everything felt utterly pointless. I was even considering giving up art, something I can admit now when it has passed. It wasn't until the middle of May that I really felt creative happiness and purpose again. I had decided to stop painting - which was very traumatic for me as I've always considered myself to be first of all a painter - and started concentrating on the process of drawing and erasing. Still working with laughter, but focusing more on the ephemeral part of it.

I then continued to work with the creative process and the making of art itself - as something that make up an important part of the art piece - with post-its. It felt great - I was getting so much into my work again. I finished the year by screen printing a series of post-it laughters. 

I'm still in that good place and looking forward to continue my work. 

now with artist statement

Yes, I finally did it - I wrote an artist statement I'm pleased with!
go check it out >

screen printing

So now I've started screen printing the series of post-it laughters. It has been - and still is - a long process arriving at those final 10 images. All together 3 months full time work I would say… at least.

printing post-its

After two days of test printing post-it colours and trying different approaches on layering and shadows - I finally felt I knew how I wanted it to be. This week I will first print one of the images in the series - to make sure I got the right size of paper etc, before I go for the other ones. All in all I will print at least 10 images with 4-5 layers, so I've better think before-  not after.

new website up and running!

My new website is up and running (actually it has been for some time) - the only thing missing is my artist statement (coming soon).

Check it out >>

still laughing

It's been almost nine months and she is still there. I'm amazed that the thin rice paper and wheat paste glue haven't either dissolved or let go.

sticky notes - to remember

more post-its

another wallpainting project

 Last week I lead a wallpainting project at a school - or maybe I should say two projects?
The school kids under 13 had the theme "pixelated" and worked in their part of the school. The older ones had the limitation to make their sketches out of coloured paper - in order to simplify -  like in the wallpainting projects I've lead the other years.

work in progress

I'm having a small exhibit with only screen prints in March 2015 … and thought I had plenty of time. But it turned out that the gallery wanted an image for the invitation already by the end of October! So now I just dive straight into it!

working on my artist statement

I found a shortcut, so now I don't have to write my artists statement myself! I solved it with the help of the arty bullocks generator.

Should I go for:

My work explores the relationship between gender politics and romance tourism.

With influences as diverse as Caravaggio and Joni Mitchell, new synergies are manufactured from both traditional and modern structures.

Ever since I was a student I have been fascinated by the ephemeral nature of the human condition. What starts out as vision soon becomes corroded into a dialectic of defeat, leaving only a sense of decadence and the possibility of a new beginning. As momentary phenomena become reconfigured through boundaried and personal practice, the viewer is left with an insight into the possibilities of our era.

or 

My work explores the relationship between the body and midlife subcultures.

With influences as diverse as Kafka and Roy Lichtenstein, new insights are crafted from both opaque and transparent textures.

Ever since I was a teenager I have been fascinated by the theoretical limits of the moment. What starts out as contemplation soon becomes manipulated into a cacophony of distress, leaving only a sense of dread and the possibility of a new reality. As shimmering replicas become frozen through frantic and personal practice, the viewer is left with an insight into the inaccuracies of our existence.

???????

not just pink

sometimes it might seem like I'm just working in pink, but the truth is that recently I've gotten more black, white and grayish.

I'm still very busy getting photos ready for my websites… (why does it have to take so much time?)

documenting the finished rug(s)

I'm finally working on my new websites. I'm very happy about finally getting there, but it sure takes time! Not only do I have to take a lot of decisions, I also have to retake some older photos I'm not so pleased with.

- and then I have to take photos of my new work too, of course!

learning something new