career day, every artist is a piece of the continent

Let’s just say that I think any person who aspires, presumes, or feels the calling to be an artist has a built-in sense of duty.    Patti Smith

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Michelle Dock, Gallery Coordinator at Tempe Center for the Arts, invited me to speak at Career day. Friends of TCA, and one woman in particular (whom I met that morning) Robin Trick, sponsored and organized the morning event.  Approximately 100 students from Tempe Union High School District attended the “visual arts” themed talks.

Tempe Center for the Arts

My take on participating in Career Day for the Arts goes like this…

I have a continuing series of blog posts titled No Woman is an Island*;  the posts are about the people and/or organizations that purchase and/or support my work. After my experience today I can also add-on… Every Artist is a piece of the Continent*.   Creative endeavors depend on a whole chain of people, each of them specialized, creative, and willing to move energy… ideas, material, money… etc.  That larger, more complex picture and its process, is as valuable as the solo artists studio process.

This morning we learn about one particular big picture: The Tempe Center for the Arts. Today I get a view of the variety of ideas, work, and workers that had to come together to create this building. Their purpose was clear, because the buildings purpose was clear.  I can simply say that without architects, engineers, contractors and specialized construction crews … my work might not be hanging here today. And without Robin Trick, owner of restaurant House of Tricks, we would not be gathering together this fine morning, to share our work with this group of young people. Without vision, great ideas, and a working and organized structure…life could be pretty dull and slow to move.

The keynote speaker, John Kane, an architect from Tempe’s Architekton begins the event. He  addresses the students in the main theater of the TCA. I listen to Mr. Kane as he talks about how the great building we are sitting in came to be. He talks about the designers, engineers, contractors, various construction crews, and the artists who contributed their skills. There are many wonderful details in this space, and he expresses that all of them have a purpose.  He makes it clear that there was an idea that sprung everything forward.

And we learn that within those ideas there was always a challenge to meet. He explains how those challenges affected the design process and outcome. For example, the TCA sits right under the flight path of airplanes leaving Sky Harbor. No one wants random noise as part of any arts event, unless of course, it’s deliberate. I learn about… attenuation, a related specialty concerning sound. Fascinating. Mr. Kane noted three forms that  influence the final designs of the building: One is the Stealth Bomber (sound bounces off edges and angles differently than it does other forms apparently), and the other is a Conquistador Helmet. I forget the third, because the visual connections of these two is so very clear as they come up on the screen (so sorry I didn’t get photos).

… wondering if the students are appreciating this opportunity to be hearing all of this ….

Afterwards the students are taken in three separate groups (guided by FTCA volunteers) to listen to 3 separate short talks by local artists and administrators that included: myself in the gallery (in front of my work – which is currently on exhibition), artist Laurie Lundquist, who was part of the team of people who designed the bridge outside the TCA, Public Art Coordinator Maja Aurora, and Gallery Coordinator Michelle Dock.

Michelle Dock as I mentioned, is the Gallery Coordinator.  She’s also an NMSU alumni (as am I). During the introduction lecture I ask her how long she’s been at TCA. A year before it opened, she replies.

Maja Aurora, the Public Arts Coordinator (City of Tempe) whom I know from the Dam Art Movement  ”DAM-IT” (a bladder burst…long story…artists were given pieces of the rubber to…be creative with. I have 2 pieces).  Maja pulls out her cell phone to share the Tempe Public Art website with us. She explains…you have to click on “Public art self-tour” http://www.tempe.gov/arts/publicart/ And she shares a Public Art Archive Website (enter “Tempe” to see the photos she’s included) http://www.publicartarchive.org/

…and artist Laurie Lundquist. I had a moment to connect with Laurie, whom I didn’t know.  She’s the artist on the team that designed the Pedestrian Bridge that sits right in front of TCA. She shares a bit of the public art process with me. Are you the designer of that bridge? What is your role as artist?  (I don’t have a lot of experience with public art but I’m curious.)  I am one member of a large team. I am an artist, but the process includes a whole bunch of people.  I come in with ideas and sketches, and others have input into what will and will not work. We have lots and lots of meetings.
Click here for info about the construction and some of the bridges facts.

I won’t get to listen to their talks, I head to the gallery, where I’m due to speak, in front of my work.

I enter the space, and…well…sort of forget I’m supposed to be talking about my career. I see my paintings, and I decide to talk about them. Artist as career seems awkward, it’s really my life. Fortunately  I always give a little background when I talk about my work so I do mention my education, and why I continue to stay in Arizona. Arizona has supported me in my work as an artist, I explain.

I share with the students that as an undergrad student I studied metalsmithing and ceramics. And as a graduate student, my areas of emphasis were drawing and printmaking.  I didn’t actually start painting until I left the academic setting. Painting is now my primary concentration. I ask if they want to hear about the work on the wall.  I share content, form, and process.

Because I’m  process oriented I appreciate their curiosity in this area.  I discuss the mediums: Casein and Egg Tempera.  The egg tempera gets them…well…the yolk does actually. What kind of yolk? Chicken? Duck? How does one separate the egg yolk from the egg white? (funny they should ask, click here) Is that all it takes, pigment, water and egg yolk? I do talk about stretching and framing, the work my framer does for me. He does his work and I do mine, I explain. I discuss materials and a bit of the cost. In particular, the cost of the egg tempera itself…which is hardly anything…the egg part that is. One female student comments that sounds like a great profit margin! …there’s lots more involved, I say with a grin, I do all-right.

I mention influences, and give some personal background… they ask great questions. Before it’s all over I’d speak to three different groups and briefly connect with a separate group of visitors from Canada….the gallery is a full house today, and Michelle Dock…is looking calm and collected.

The morning ends with lunch in the Lakeside Room.  Turkey or Vegetarian sandwiches are the choice.  A student invites me to sit at his table, so I do. Everyone at the table ranges in their interests: engineering, photography, architecture and graphic design. Did they realize how much they’d just experienced? Yes. Our conversation starts with architecture, followed by graphic design, moves into western theology vs. eastern philosophy and ends with them showing interest in the arts ability to pique curiosity and thoughts about their future…. excellent.

When all is done I recall the last thing I’d heard John Kain say as we left the theater to move to our individual areas. He said that the Tempe Center for the Arts was designed to last at least 300 years. That’s a long time.  While talking to the students about my work, I noted how long-lasting egg tempera and casein both are. When I make something I think about it being here for 100 – 200 years….maybe longer should I be so lucky.

Examples of the mediums I use go way back to the 1st century, in the case of egg tempera. We also know casein was used in ancient Egypt. Something as solid as cement, steel. stone, and wood, and something as fluid as egg tempera and casein.. can have lasting impact if put together with intention. Buildings, Art,…and the people who make the stuff…and have the ideas….push the boundaries and connect generations.

Current exhibit: Mixing It Up: Building an Identity  closes on Jan.28.  That means you have one more week to see it.

*No Man Is An Island-John Donne

in studio

”There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophies.”                                         Friedrich Nietzche

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I’ve had the good fortune of spending the first few weeks of the new year in the studio. The new work is more involved than ever. This composition is abstract, and will become more so as it progresses.  I won’t lose the figure completely, but it won’t be the first thing you see.

Thinking about the body and mapping, among other things.

early stage

current stage

new work on paper, mixed media, 96 x 60"

…the new series tentatively titled  Nothing Is In Stasis.

joshua rose, a look back and a look present

Perhaps I am just in awe of everything when I settle down to really look at things.  Joshua Rose

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Book of Hours (the first set), 2002

Looking at Joshua’s thirty year retrospective, the first thing I note is the incredible energy contained in all those many years of art making. The word practice comes to mind - thirty years of steady practice.  A lot of life springing off those gallery walls. The variety is rich, exciting in color, shape, form and intensity. Some works are loud, others are quiet, most is large, some – very small, and some are surprisingly realistic though much of it abstract.

Photo from 30 Year Retrospective

Photo from 30 Year Retrospective

Photo from 30 Year Retrospective. These two vertical paintings, Joshua notes, are "Homages to my parents and the smaller one is an early portrait of Jacklyn (his wife) from grad school."

Joshua Rose is an artist based out of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Once upon a long time ago, he was my graduate school advisor.  I can’t say I’ve known Josh for many years. A more true statement would be to say, I’ve known his work for many years, at least 20. We reconnected in 2007, when I was invited back to NMSU, as a guest lecturer.

I recall arriving on campus, and soon I was standing in his (still) familiar office, in the art department. He showed me some of his paintings that had just come down from exhibition. They were leaning on a wall. The paintings on canvas were very different from what I’d remembered while a student. His work was large, that hadn’t changed. Everything else about them appeared new though…light texture and patterned dots that moved in colorful swirls. Even in the dimly lit office, I could see the light in them. It changed as I moved (They changed, as I changed). They’re iridescent … reflective. Is that…glitter? I say out loud. Yes and some metallic paints, he responds. He smiled and quickly noted how strong they’d shown in the gallery, under good lighting. I saw some sort of excitement move through his body as he said that.

White-River

Today, as I begin to put this post together and narrow down images to include in it, the word yoga keeps coming to mind. Yoga – the union between body, mind and spirit. I also think of the elements: earth and fire in the early work, water and air in latter work. I mention to him it somehow all reminds me of the ‘Eight Limbs of Yoga’. Its’s all there! he says.

I look and think for a good long while. Here’s my impression of why Yoga (the Limbs are  Sanskrit)…

The body of work I’m focusing on here is personal and yet universal, the titles and compositions allow me to feel this.  They imply years of practice and involve the present – that’s the Yama and Nyama.  The control in the work, suggests several things, but especially a balance of logic and emotion – that’s Pranayama. The more recent works feel effortless, though I know they’re not. Josh comments on the process of multiple paint layers, the first with dots and the geometric ones with taped edges, all are quite time-consuming. No doubt. The paintings themselves are vibrant and physical - Asana. Not only can I sense the concentration, I’m drawn into it, I look closely – fostering awareness would be Dharana. Pratyahara, controlling of the senses – most certainly, they captivate. Dhyana, the art is meditative and all about devotion. I don’t have to say more do I?

9 am-2002-9x6

9-pm-2002-9x6

(2002)
The two art works above, are the first appearance of pieces titled Book of Hours. I’m especially drawn to them (the series is the first image in this post), they appear like relics. I appreciate all the subtleties. The irregular edges give me the hint that they are on hand-made paper. The size impresses me as intimate, a form of journaling perhaps. The methodical dots, and the grid formation are reminiscent of time. Lights and darks, days and nights – he’s marking time.

I ask about the reference to time in the titles of the Book of Hours (older – above, and newer- below). I did not do them at any particular time of day but resolved to do 24 paintings that hung together as “a show” since they take a few days to do (even the small dot paintings) the name i.e. 9PM, is simply the name of the painting. 

(2011)
Though time has passed and the work appears different, these larger newer 2011 paintings are a continuation of Book of Hours. A serendipitous moment occurs as I upload these next photos. I hear birds chirping in my yard, I see the birds in the compositions.
For more of this series, click here.

5 am

5pm

Joshua’s words: The current work is in many ways an extension of what I was doing with the dot paintings. In those works I was thinking in terms of a crude understanding of quantum physics where particles can be waves and vice versa depending on when and how the observer looks at them. I was and am intrigued by their dual nature. Of course I am not a scientist but an artist and can therefore mix it up with all kinds of different ingredients to suit some inner fancy. Science has to follow laws.

3 am, Acrylic on Canvas, 24 x 24", 2011

12 Midnight, 24 x 24", acrylic on canvas, 2011

Below are 2011 works. For more of the series (still in progress), click here.

ZigZag, 36 x 36", acrylic on canvas, 2011

slipknot, 36 x 36", acrylic on canvas 2011

He calls the next set simply 6 x 6 inches. I could have pulled numerous ones, it was hard to make a choice.  To see this series click here.

2

8

He continues… The new geometric work is about similar things to me (as the dot works) except that lattices and lines and geometric shapes take the place of the dots. It is as if I decided to use a different level of atomic organization as the ingredients for the stew. Instead of particles I am using fully formed “elements”, crystals, molecules and the like or what the dots might come together to make at a higher state of organization. Instead of waves, wavelengths that denote color within a framed allusion to a deeper space; instead of referencing rivers, they reference structures and window reflections and human created architectures of impossibility.

9

When I look at my work it is about “path” and not the external accretion of “meanings”.

Anf that’s what I resonate most with, that’s the yoga.

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Joshua Rose is represented by Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, in Santa Fé, NM.

You can see more of his work at his website joshuaroseart.net.
He also has a couple of blogs. One includes his poetry…
Joshua Rose: Musings, Memories and Other Stuff
…and the other includes his photographs.
Daily Snaps: Photographs, Joshua Rose
He’s a creative character for sure.

a personal note:
After receiving the first set of jpegs for this post, I find myself feeling nervous.  I feel like a grad student, preparing for a seminar class and Josh is professor again. Am I prepared!? Snap out of it, I tell myself. Yeah snap out of it! Joshua says, That relationship ended the day you graduated (20 years ago?) and since then we are two artists swimming in the same wide ocean…

…to clarify… I never studied painting with Josh.  I was a drawing and printmaking student. He was my advisor and I met with him regularly. I appreciated his direct and practical nature. During a critique he told me… Payne’s Gray and Burnt Umber make a richer dark. He suggested I get a few paints, try Golden. I did take a class with him my final semester called ‘Methods and Materials’. He introduced me to pigments (color). Consequently I credit him for giving me a love of Egg Tempera, Casein and Guache.  And here I am now, twenty-one years later, a painter
…swimming in that wide ocean…and it’s Cobalt Blue.

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2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

a visit to the el paso museum of art, featuring margarita cabrera

I remember the El Paso Museum of Art when it was on Montana Street, in Central El Paso. The white, classic columned building was hard to miss. There was an order about it that clearly stood out on the long, mostly residential and some business lined street.

El Paso Museum of Art, In days passed

Now, the museum stands as a cement clay and cobalt modern construction, in the heart of colorful and chaotic downtown El Paso. It’s only a few blocks from the U.S. –  Mexico border. The location feels just right for an art museum.

El Paso Art Museum, Today

It’s surrounded by historic and architecturally significant buildings. The museum site itself was once the Greyhound bus terminal. I have memories there, of waiting for my dad to come in from his UNM days. Now, it’s all about the arts. For me, it’s generating more valuable memories. I park at a distance and appreciate walking through the area. Living in Phoenix now, a newer city, I appreciate that downtown El Paso architecture is grand, detailed, full of age, variety, and colorful history. Though there are many changes in the area,  it’s still very familiar to me.

The museum is full today. I spot a family as they leave. The father says loudly, That was a marvelous experience! Yes, it was! the children respond. Through gesture, mother agrees. Are they shooting a commercial, I wonder, as I look around for a camera man. I note the young, middle-aged and old. I see the Mexican, American, German, Oriental. I understand the English, the Spanish, and the Tex-Mex. I’m in El Paso, Texas. Though Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell are showing, I’m here to see Margarita Cabrera‘s work.

Coffee-Maker

Margarita Cabrera-El Paso Artist
Until August 2013, the El Paso Museum of Art will feature eleven artworks from the last ten years by  Monterrey, Mexico born artist Margarita Cabrera. Cabrera first became known for her soft-sculptures of commercial products such as coffee makers and blenders manufactured at US-owned maquiladoras in Mexico to serve as reminders of the labor involved. In time Cabrera’s concern for the role of laborers who build American products outside the United States outgrew her interest in the objects themselves, and she began to organize projects that involved the work of artisans from immigrant communities.

Arbol De La Vida

I love Cabrera’s Arbol de la Vida, John Deere Model 790. I learn it’s the result of a project involving the creation of a life-size replica of a John Deere tractor in clay, the “tree of life” for many workers in the agricultural community. Cabrera`s cross-cultural perspective allows her artistic practice to involve the political, social and emotional aspects of two distinct, yet closely connected cultures.

detail

detail

Lovely copper butterflies make up an installation titled The Craft of Resistance.  They cover one wall and go up to the ceiling and sprinkle onto parts of the second floor staircase. The work explores the impact of border politics on Mexican craft-making traditions. The piece portrays the metamorphosis of Mexican tradition, history, and culture as a result of the current maquiladora-based economy.

The Craft of Resistance

detail

In Cabrera’s series of soft sculptures , threads left exposed serve as a reminder of the labor involved in the manufacturing. Sagging vinyl imbues the work with an anthropomorphic quality that references the harsh nature of worker’s realities.

Mini-Hummer - 2006

On and Off

Vocho Quilt #2, 2001

The work is strong, visually and conceptually. Consequently, again I note and appreciate that the museum is full on this day.

I walk upstairs to follow the butterflies and to get a few more photographs. I come across an area where museum-owned work is shown, including some local El Paso artist’s work.

…a few other artists

The Last Call, 2009

Above is a digital photograph by El Paso’s David Quintanilla.  Of course, I know his “Boycott Hate” campaign, which is in reaction to the AZ Immigration law.  I’m pleased to be reminded of him and see his work in the museum. It’s not owned by the museum, it’s borrowed.

Below is Carol Feuerman‘s very realistic swimmer titled Summer / Verano.  The figurative work is part of the museum’s collection. I’m allowed to photograph it, but not touch. I want to touch…the spills of water, the tube, her wrinkled feet…damn.

Carole Feuerman, Summer/Verano, Oil on Resin, 1945

Below is Harry Geffert‘s large bronze sculpture (and detail) called Mantime. Both work and title amuse me.

Harry Geffert, Mantime, 1995

detail

I wasn’t going to do it, but in the end, I decide to photograph Luis Jimenez‘s Barfly – Statue of Liberty. Truth is I don’t always connect to Jimenez’s work.  But the fiberglass sculpture is large, impressive, and he was from El Paso, so…I can’t ignore it.

Luis Jimenez, Barfly - Statue of Liberty, 1969-1974

I wonder, as I finish this post, why did the museum relocate? I was already gone when that change occurred. The building and ambiance are most certainly different.  I love the modern feel, the natural light, and it’s certainly in the mix of things…as a museum should be.

If you’re in El Paso, take a walk downtown, connect with the history, and drop into the El Paso Museum of Art. It’s true, it might best be known for the historical Kress Collection which includes some of the most beautiful egg tempera paintings on panel I’ve seen. It’s also a place that holds an eclectic collection of contemporary artworks. Just like the city, I’d say its history and diversity is unique.

the HOME show @ stark gallery

Stark Gallery is an inviting and beautiful, open and well-lit space that’s been on the Xavier College Preparatory campus since 2001.

Early this Fall I received an invitation from curator Alison Dunn, (whom I know from eye lounge) to take part in an upcoming exhibition called HOME. I met Frances McMahon Ward, co-curator, while delivering my painting. Frances I learned, was also a one time eye lounge member….it’s a small, creative world.

Marie Navarre, Distant Call

The HOME show is currently running and includes a selected group of INVITED ARTISTS:

VIVIAN SPIEGELMAN
BILL TOURTILLOTTE
ANGELACAZELJAHN
BETSY BRETHARTE
MARIE NAVARRE
BILL JENKINS
KATE D TIMMERMAN
ERNESTO LOPEZ
MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ
BETSY SCHNEIDER
JULIE WROBLEWSKI TOURTILLOTTE

HOME the idea

• Is it a physical place, or something you carry with you?
• Is it embodied in our sense of family, a particular place, or simply a state of mind?
• Is “home” static or evolving? How is it linked to memory? How much of our idea of “home” is invented, culturally determined, or outright fabricated?

The ART

When I enter the gallery, I am immediately presented with Kate Timmerman’s Resting Place.  I stand with the carefully constructed slate cairn for a long time. It’s rhythmic, strong and rich in color and texture. So simple and so direct.  It’s probably my favorite work in the exhibit.

Kate Timmerman

A close second that hangs in front of Kate’s very grounding work, is the airy and light-weighted collage by Ernesto Lopez titled, Flight Patterns #3 (below). It appears to be some sort of deck of cards. They’ve been cut, folded, and laid out in a circular pattern atop gridded and repeated clouds. There’s both movement and stability in the design pattern. It’s not framed. It hangs on the wall…blue, free and easy. It works.

Ernesto Lopez

I’m drawn across the room to Bill Jenkin’s Resting Chair.  It’s labeled a Pigmented Print. It’s behind glass and despite some glare, I get a descent photo. It’s a more than gently used leather chair.  It amuses me, it’s strange. It’s got old, worn…presence, like a relic.

Bill Jenkin

Directly in front of the print,  is Angela Cazel Jahn’s, free-standing, clay and found objects sculpture, titled We Live Here Somewhere.  I think it deserves a detail shot too.

Angela Cazel Jahn

Are the figures independent? Are they related?

I photograph a few more 2D works, but the glare won’t let me share them with you.  I do capture Bill Tourtillotte’s monochromatic DigiGraph, Here is Home.

Bill Tou

Below is Betsy Bret Harte’s Right Ascension Home. Her surreal imagery always peeks my curiosity. This one is no different.

My small canvas stands unusually bright in the mix. It’s titled Has My World Gone Upside Down or Have I?  I painted it a few years back, the month my 18 1/2 year-old cat passed away.

Monica Aissa Martinez

… there’s more.  You can see the HOME show during regular school hours and by appointment.  Or you can attend the closing reception on January 9th 3-5. 

Stark Gallery is in Central Phoenix.  It’s on the campus of Xavier College Preparatory, just off of 7th street at Highland, in the Virginia G. Piper Performing Arts Center.

For more information (read about their mission) visit their website: Stark Gallery

over and out

It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.
Leonardo da Vinci

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If I say to you that by the time this last assignment rolls around, the class as a whole, is completely committed to the process, I could be telling you the truth.

In this final round of assignments I have some students working on still life and others doing a Master reproduction.

Still life
The assignment includes a variety of subject and various light sources. Value (lights and darks, including shadows) is only part of the challenge in the last charcoal drawing of the semester. They also have to pay close attention to form and surface. They have to distinguish between the various materials in the still life: wood, rope, ceramic, plastic, bone, metal, and glass (both translucent and opaque).

Yeda

Kim

Danny

Salman

Yari

Therese

Kristie

Kayce

Ivon

Art

Master Reproduction
Other students reproduce a master work.  This assignment is always a great challenge. I continue to remind them it’s not about the result, it’s about the process.  And really it is, but when you have a copy of the master work in front of you, it’s hard to keep that in mind. Students come away with a whole new appreciation for whatever skill and technique they copy and learn.  It’s exciting to see the work progress.

Erica's completed 20th c O'keefe

Joey's reproduction of a 19thc Deville

Julieta's reproduction of 19c Courbet

I know everyone has learned much this semester. I’m happy to hear some important things come up this last week…

Erica comments after completing her master work, I want to go back and do the charcoal studies all over again. Why? I ask. Because I get it now, It all makes sense!  Full circle.

Yeda’s frustration… I see so much, there’s no way I can get it all down within this short amount of time!  They leave my class with different eyes. They have more seeing ability than they came in with.  If you ask me, with this one skill alone, life may never be boring.

And one student gave himself fully to this assignment’s process…something he’d resisted all the way through the semester. Why? What’s going on? I ask, not really expecting an answer. The response comes simple and honest… because, I made the decision to do it. Yes, you did.

Bravo!

more seeing

When it comes to value, that’s when we find out why most paintings are boring and others will knock your socks off. Harley Brown

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This assignment is not just a Value study, it’s also the student’s first complete Charcoal (or color Pastel) drawing. They work at controlling a medium that is not easy to control, in relation to the marker they just left behind. They can move this medium, pick it up, and put more of it down. They pay attention to the surface. They learn to develop edges. This is about the time many students stop taking breaks, and the classroom gets very quiet. They focus. I particularly enjoy the intensity of class at this point.

I ask them for a different sort of seeing. Most of the students are drawing in Charcoal and have to translate a color into a value. They explore lights and darks and shadow. A few students work in color Pastel.

They’ve learned to look closely and now their seeing is so much more heightened.

Ivon

Kim

Art

Yeda

Erica

Julieta

“nothing is in stasis”

 The task of the right eye is to peer into the telescope,
while the left eye peers into the microscope.

Leonora Carrington, Down Below

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Debra l. Hopkins, Curator of Exhibitions at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts back in 1998, wrote about my first solo élan vital …

“Nothing is in stasis; Martinez is the magician/alchemist striving to distill impurities and transmute her subjects into gold, creating alternate worlds of cosmic scope and microscopic intimacy.”

I’ve always appreciated her descriptive words. I remember the first part of that sentence almost every time I come to my drawing table, nothing is in stasis.

In some ways, nothing has changed…and then of course, it all has.

I believe I’m complete with this new drawing.

You Are Here, A collection of Maps of Phoenix (more than 5 questions for Claire Lawton)

On opening night, what impresses me is the eclectic grouping of artists and the range of interpretations of “Phoenix Map.” After a month-long run the show comes down today. I get a chance to connect with Claire Lawton, who curated and organized the event.  As I walk into Regular Gallery this afternoon, I find her…what else…but folding a new map.
We’re trading places today, I get to ask the questions.

Is this an exclusive? I wonder out loud. She smiles, Yes, it is! 

1. What is your occupation? I run the Phoenix New Times arts and culture blog called Jackalope Ranch.

2. What draws you to the arts? I’m drawn to the arts because they are constantly changing and are driven by absolutely fascinating people.

3. What inspired you to create this exhibition…Maps of Phoenix? and how did it end up at Regular Gallery? I’ve been drawing maps of the Downtown gallery scene in Phoenix for more than a year. At around the year mark, I was talking to New Times’ managing editor Amy Silverman and had mentioned that I was thinking about not continuing the map series. Truth is, I wanted to see what Phoenix looked like through the artists’ eyes. Luckily, she agreed — and she also thought I should keep drawing my maps.

We floated the idea by local creatives and Roosevelt Row members Cindy Dach and Greg Esser. Esser opened Regular Gallery in January, liked the show idea, and volunteered his space.

4. How did you go about choosing the 10 artists who participated?
I’ve been writing about the Phoenix art scene for a little more than a year and a half. The 10 artists who participated in the show are artists who I’ve interacted with, had discussions with, and whose work I could see working well together. The group is very different – a muralist, a cartoonist, a painter, a sculptor, a printmaker, a historian — these are all creative people who I’ve admired and who Amy and I have had on a sort of “wish list” for a long time.

6. Give me a childhood memory of a map.
Growing up, my mom drew directions on tiny maps she’d draw on scraps of paper. They always had her own system of landmarks; the big car always parked on that one street, the ugly bridge built over Ray Road, the ultra-blue fountain. It really wasn’t until I started drawing my own maps that I understood how much more sense they made and what value they carried over the 37 steps Google maps gives you or the annoying reminders from the OnStar lady.

7. You make lots of map…Do you think maps and cartography are important? Why?
I have a terrible sense of direction. I still turn the wrong way off the freeway to get to the house I grew up in Ahwatukee. Maps are important on a very utilitarian level — we all need to know where we’re going — but they’re also sentimental. The maps I make include places I love and experiences I’ve had. They almost always leave out one or two things, and they’re never to scale. Maps and cartography are important because they document where we’ve been and how we see what’s around us.

8. What did you learn from this experience?
This was my first time curating a show, so it was all a learning experience. I learned that I’m not alone in what I always assumed was an odd obsession with maps. I also learned that when you’re tall, you have to hang everything a little lower than eye level.

9. Will you do this again?
I hope this will be a yearly show and a continuing theme for shows in the future.

10. I loved the hand written title of show and artwork labels, on the wall…anything you want to say about the (your) font?
Thanks! All of my maps are hand-drawn with pen and colored pencils, so simple labeling (i.e. me writing the show title as well as the artists names and information) was natural. I’d always been self-conscious about my handwriting — my As look like deltas and I started writing in capital letters to make a point to a middle school teacher. It’s since grown on me.

Thank you Claire. And I agree with Amy, keep drawing those maps.

Below are photos of the various maps in the collection.  For more info about each work, click on the image and go to the Jackalope Ranch, 5 Questions interview, by Claire Lawton.

Thomas "Breeze" Marcus, Hohokam Canal System

Angela Cazel Jahn, In Progress, Cross Section

Carrie Marill, Black Mountain - Cave Creek

David Quan (Luster Kaboom), Silly Map (of Phoenix)

Sarah Hurwitz, Phoenix Proper

Sarah Hurwitz, Phoenix Proper

Safwat Saleem, Land of Sunshine

Sue Chenoweth, 14th St. and Missouri: Central Phoenix

Marshall Shore, Murder Changes Lives

Melinda Bergman, "Diving Up"

Monica Aissa Martinez, You Are Here

abstract

I ran this photo last July 30th. I was being facetious. I’d never worked so big, and I basically didn’t know what I was going to do. I was curious…to know what it was all about….working large. I’m using paper… because I love a fine sheet of paper. And it’s the material I am most at ease with.

I have competed several works I needed to get done, including my Phoenix Map, which has influenced this plenty. Otherwise I have pretty much continued to focus steadily on this large work and three months later … I’m still composing.

The image becomes more and more abstract as I continue. I don’t want to obliterate the figure completely, but I do want to obscure it.

“Abstract-(Latin)- to remove away from, by pulling.
Abstraction is a form of purification; our ‘idea’ of something purifies it by extracting it from its living context and obliterating most of the relationships that call it into being.  The reason for doing so is straightforward: no idea can present a complete knowledge or definition of a thing – you cannot explicate all of its relationships, because it relates to everything that is, so your only choice is to isolate it from almost all of the relationships that actually constitute its reality: once you have separated it from those relationships, you are left with a 2 dimensional idea that stands for the whole.” Philip Shepherd, New Self, New World

This is big and it’s small…and lots of work, and no work at all…. I  Like.

5 questions

Click  ← and read…
5 Questions Monica Aissa Martinez’s You Are Here By Claire Lawton
…about my Phoenix map.

YOU are here, you ARE here, you are HERE

“Maps codify the miracle of existence.” ― Nicholas Crane, Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet

I’d sure like to map the planet. But for starters, I’m good with mapping Phoenix.

You Are Here, mixed media collage on paper, 60" x 36", 2011

I’ve looked at the works of Joyce Koslotz, Lordy Rodriguez and Kathy Prendergast…one gorgeous, powerful map artwork after another. I had a few ideas when I started. I considered making a political statement with my map, you know…include all the current crazy characters of Arizona. That changed because I wanted to keep Phoenix, the City, and You, as focal points. I‘m in it too btw. The image relates to my current interest in anatomy and the body, and to my thoughts about life. The map implies connections and plays with the idea of the sacred.  I have one more commitment I need to focus on and then…well…I’ll be making a series of maps.

Everything is about detail in this map design. The hanger: use a strand of authentic beads from the 70′s? or a Home Depot gold chain? ↓  Decisions….

And because You Are Here, you’re invited…rsvp…FACEBOOK INVITE

structure and texture and lots of perseverance

  ”Pure drawing is an abstraction.”  Paul Cezanne

Joey

Because they’ve worked with me before, Joey and Julietta get some choices. They pick the subject matter and among other things I offer scratchboard and a needle tool. They accept the challenge . The result is stunning. Joey draws a seed pod and Julietta works from a photo.

Julietta

For Drawing 1 students, the subject matter, on this round, are shells.  Students learn to define structure and texture though the use of a variety of line. They also set up a composition by balancing the positive and the negative space. The result is a beautifully detailed drawing. I’ve explained in earlier postings of this particular assignment, for many students it’s a turning point. For Yari and Salman below, it certainly is that.

Salman

Yari

Ivon

Next we are outdoors. We’ll be working on spatial depth.  Phoenix give us a cool down…please.

a map of phoenix

Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context — a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.”
Eliel Saarinen

We are all cells in the same body of humanity.  Peace Pilgrim 

I’m enjoying this project so much, I’ll be doing a series of maps one day. My Phoenix map is not yet complete but it’s getting there. Then I’ll have to figure out the hanging system….frame…foamboard…laminate…string…

You Are Here, A Collection of Maps of Phoenix will be on view at Regular Gallery with an opening on Friday, October 21.

Hosted by Jackalope Ranch and Regular Gallery.