PAFA MFA1: Week-11-12

 Since the Hurricane a few weeks back it seems things have been a race to try and catch up as the semester clicks off to the last four weeks and our final crit week before the full faculty.  Unlike my last year in the undergrad program this first semester has never felt fully comfortable as far as my schedule. I never felt like things worked out as I hoped and I realized my last year a in the Certificate I had no classes as I had completed my requirements. This semester everything ends up being a split-day, or a whole day where I don't get to do any work at all. I never get two days of just painting or drawing other than working on the strip. But I know next semester that will change when my storyboard class at Uarts is dropped till next Fall. But my bitching aside I do feel that I have gotten a handle on some things I really want to explore more and so much of my frustration is probably due to that--I just want to draw and paint.

Exploring my own personal mythology as it were, the tenuous nature of things, entropy and the difficult to codify, the mythology of the house. I have also really fallen back in love with drawing and want to spen a lot of time exploring drawng again as well as painting. I think for the last several years as I became a better painter and that became my main focus I sort of left drawing just for my comic work. But having the Drawing Seminar and really getting into the drawings of Andrew Wyeth as well as Edwin Dickenson I feel really energized about drawing again. Its so simple, you, a pencil and a piece of paper. The drawing above is the latest big drawing I completed of on of the abandoned  houses out off of Route 1. I have many more drawings planned of these abandoned homes as I continue to explore the current theme I am working through.

 We have also had our mini-Open Studios in school. These are just a way for us to see what each other are doing and the big, school-wide and open to the public event will happen next semester. It was fun to walk about and see what some of my fellow MFA and 3rd and 4th year students were up to. There are artist doing just about everything I think except video as PAFA just isn't up to speed here with facilities to let you do that.

 Michael Moore's Drawing Seminar continues to click along. Some weeks the side talkingand the humor get really great and I enjoy the side talk and joking a alot. I think this is something that is often missing from the art experience. It can't all be wearing black, smoking cigs and drinking and moping. I know for myself humor is a huge part of my life. I think its connected to my joy and ability to be serious about not being serious. I am serious about art and life but you must be able to burst the bubble of self importance as an artist...I think at least for me it helps the being self critical aspect that is so important to growth.

 I also find the gestures and poses people get into endlessly fascinating. These moments are what I hope to capture in paintings or drawings as well.

 Here are some more pictures from the Open Studios. There are people doing all kinds of things, some silly, some serious, some.....

More pictures from the 9th floor and the gang studio.

Here is another drawing I did in pencils as I watched the election returns with my fingers crossed. Its in a B pencil on Strahmore and I just started with the coke bottle and let te drawing grow out without planning it. I am finding this process of just letting the drawing grow organically a turn-on at this moment. Below you can see my studio at the moment, I call it my "Submarine Studio". I have two sides, like in an old submarine movie, a drawing side and painting side and work back and forth. I do really miss my old studio on the 4th floor, and look forward to getting a better studio next year, but for now I'll have to make due and end up working at home a lot more.

My friend Kathrine checks out the work on my wall outside of my studio and a few fellow students check out what I have going on inside. Everyone comments on the amount of stuff I have in my studio--I know!

Over the Thanksgiving break I plan on working as much as I can, I still have a 20 minute presentation to finish for my Writing and Research Seminar with Kevin Richards so I need to get that cooking to!