The view from Monet's studio window in Giverny.

Busy year. Worked slow and steady for much of it.
Took a short break, Paris and Vienna.
Fantastic architecture. History.
Great art at Versailles, the Louvre, the Albertina, and the Leopold… Visited Norte Dame Cathedral, the Arc of Triomphe, and the Sacre Coer.
Ancient history, Renaissance, Baroque, Spanish, Modern, American…Bosch, Durer, Goya, Klimpt, Rothko, Cassatt, Kollowitz, Keifer…

Experienced great objects.
The artist has purpose and place. Perhaps the artist exposes purpose and place. Creates purpose and place. 

What does the artist do? And why does he or she do it?  Is it important?  Is it necessary? Here, now?
Taking some time to think about this, again.  

Wishes to Remain Anonymous, 2009 Encaustic and mixed media on panel

Artist Kate Timmerman  is having a solo exhibition, opening the 3rd Friday in November, at Modified Arts. Kate is a mixed media artist who works with materials like wax, pigment, wood, plaster, lead and steel.
The exhibit titled “Then and Now,” will consist of works that date back to 1998 and into the present, included are 12 new works. Kate says of her progression “I noticed themes that were re-emerging over the last decade and I hope this grouping shows the audience how artists revisit themes in new ways and how we also keep investigating themes as we grow and learn.”

This exhibition will look at themes of creatures, desert botanicals and text abstractions.  You’ll see realistic portrayals of bonobo chimpanzees in oil and encaustic, and more abstracted creatures richly constructed with layers of pigmented wax, influenced by outsider art. Timmerman includes botanical works that are distorted and sculptural.
Kate’s references range from personal issues of identity to broader political and social topics.

Who:                 Kate D. Timmerman

What:                Then and Now, A Solo Exhibition

Where:              Modified Arts
                          407 E Roosevelt
                           Phoenix 

When:               Opening Reception Friday, November 20th, from 6-9 p.m.
                          Artist Reception December 4, First Friday.
                          The show will hang thru December 12th
                          *The gallery will also be open Nov 21, Dec 5 and Dec.12th, 1-5 pm.

In addition, visitors will  also have the opportunity to enter a lottery to win one of Timmerman’s paintings with a donation of pet food for the benefit of Poverty’s Pets. Poverty’s Pets is a downtown Phoenix group that rescues, neuters and places animals. Kate will be accepting pet food donations throughout the run of the exhibit. The drawing will be held on the last day of the show, Dec. 12th.

For more about Kate’s work visit  kdtimmerman.com.

Join Mary, Meg and myself for…

A couple of friends and I have organized a Sunday afternoon event the first weekend in December. It will include a yoga practice led by Certified Anusara Yoga® Instructor  Meg Byerlein. The practice will be accompanied by live music from professional Jazz saxophonist Mary Petrich. My paintings, drawings and prints will hang in the space. The afternoon will end with a community reception of live Jazz, art, cookies, and chai.
The Venue is the PHX ART LAB, centrally located in Phoenix, on 7th St. 

Mary, Meg, and I have, at various points in time, discussed working with one another.  
It’s A Happening…and you’re invited.

Who:        Meg Byerlein, Mary Petrich, and Monica Aissa Martinez

Where:    PHX ART LAB
                   3508 N. 7th St. Suite 135
                   Phoenix AZ 85014

When:      Sunday, December 6, 2009                  
                    2:00-3:15 Yoga Practice    *     3:45-4:45 Art, Jazz, Cookies and Chai

What:       We invite you to an experience which collectively celebrates
                    YOGA, MUSIC, and ART in COMMUNITY.

Doors will open at 1:30. Yoga begins at 2:00. Practice ends with an open eye meditation focusing on an artwork. Live music (trio) will accompany asana. Participate in all three events: yoga, music, and art. Or join us just for Jazz music and Art, after the practice.                 
(Yoga: All levels welcome. Bring your own mat and blanket)

fees:
Yoga, Music, Art, and Refreshments (2:00-4:45).
pre-registration $25.00, or $30.00 at the door.
Jazz, Art, and Refreshments (3:45-4:45),  $15.00 at the door.

Register by Nov. 30th.
Space is limited (for yoga participants).
Cash or check only, no credit cards please.
Sorry, no refund for no-shows.
Make check payable to: Monica Aissa Martinez
Mail to PHXARTLAB, at address above. On envelope: Attn.: Aissa

For more information contact Mary Petrich @ 602-565-3640 or email her at marypetrich@cox.net or contact monica

©2009 M3Productions

Who:              Alfredo Manzo Cedeno
                                       and Carolyn Lavender

What:            Opening reception

Where:          Modified Arts
                          407 E Roosevelt St
                          Phoenix, AZ 85004-1918
                          (602) 462-5516

When:          Friday, Oct 16 6-9 P.M.

Cuban born artist, Alfredo Manzo Cedena’s new work is influenced by recent health challenges. Brain cancer and ensuing aggressive therapy will be the focus of his upcoming solo at downtown’s Modified. Though he has been sick throughout this process, he has managed to complete a number of works for this showing. 

Phoenix artist, Carolyn Lavender, will show one work along with Manzo. She sent a small photograph she called a tease. It represents only a small detail of a very ambitious panel. Carolyn describes the content of the 24″ x 54″ wood panel work  ”…a graphite drawing directly on wood surface.  It is a fictional scene  based on a real suicide that happened this summer.  She was connected to my family.  She walked into the woods near Boulder, where she lived, shot herself and was not found for weeks.  I am portraying the event with an imagined scene of the woods, filled with animals.  I don’t literally show the event.“ 

The Woods, detail

I ask Carolyn for any more thoughts about the exhibit and she says…”I think it will be a powerful show.” 
I suspect it will be. I want more photographs of both their work, and I want more detail.
Carolyn’s response…come by on Friday night and see the work  in person. Talk with Manzo. He doesn’t speak much English yet, so if you meet him you can use your Spanish with him.  
Entonces haré eso

For more info contact Kimber Lanning at 602-312-4203.

Today I installed the exhibit.

…do my best to be organized.  But sometimes things just happen. The gallery director was not feeling well. He called in sick. The paint job from the night before hadn’t worked out. Two different whites, a cool and a warm, laying haphazardly on top of each other.
The sound equipment didn’t want to work, and when it finally did…the C.D. didn’t play.  

So…paint had to be purchased. Walls needed to get repainted. Eddie volunteered.  Quick to roll on, quick to dry.
David, from  Media Services, came in  and patiently reset the sound system.  And then he re-burned the C.D. He even delivered it to the gallery before he left for the evening. 

Artwork was laid out and hung, as sound filtered thru the speakers perfectly.  
One by one, everything aligned to make for a very productive day. 

…I do like all of this art work-job stuff…even the unexpected things seem right on. 

I am working with artist, musician Joe Willie Smith. He’s helping me create background sound for my exhibition. We are using one of his sculptures to do this. It’s an unusually shaped object made up of varying thicknesses and surfaces of wood, steel, plastic, string, brass…and a slinky. The slinky is about the only thing I can identify. The sculpture’s purpose is to be used to create sound. Because it’s not an instrument, it becomes more about vibration. The noise remains unidentifiable. We use our fingers, palms, wooden and metal sticks, wide flat paintbrushes, roller brushes, and flat plastic cards to tap, hit, bang, scratch, and slide across areas. You’d be surprised at how mesmerizing the effect is, both to create and to hear. 

We sit in the gallery with my paintings and drawings leaning on the wall.  His recorder and amp underfoot. This is all foreign to me, and I make it known. The first direction I receive from him is… listen carefully. I inform my drawing students to look closely. It’s the same sort of request but using a different sense organ. With that instruction, I register that I am going to explore listening and hearing in a different manner.

I could say that I do listen. I even listen and hear spaces between words. I awaken easily, if I hear a noise.  I distinguish sound in most any circumstance. But this is not that. This is listening…moment by moment, staying present, full attention, no identifying, no assuming or forcing, no judging. Pure listening. Pure hearing.

He has me start tapping in an area of choosing. Wood. I use my index finger and firmly hit. He turns on the recorder and follows my rhythm, on steel, with a wooden stick. The process reverses naturally, he then creates an effect and I follow. We move back and forth, changing the feel, and then as if on cue, we come to the end of a segment. Play back and listen…rich, deep pulsating beat, and here and there a high anxious noise…gurgle air flow, sputter, hollow.  The sound varies like the elements in my painting…linear, textured, layered, organic and free. 

I want to create inside the body, visceral sound.  I carry with me a borrowed stethoscope, for reference. I go back to it regularly.  I am tapping away creating what I think is heart beat. When I actually hear the heart with the stethoscope, I realize I am interpreting…close, though not really. Listening to the recording afterwards,  I believe for a moment, I connect with my drumming ancestors. Primal.

We complete a number of sketches each day. I will eventually sit by myself and listen. I imagine I will edit and form a constant vital commotion in audio form. It may work…it may not.  Neither of us are attached either way. The process is satisfying and informative. To really listen, requires more than attention. It requires a willingness,  a steadfastness in being present and open to the moment.

Last night I was aware of sound, in my sleep.  I believe I was dreaming because I didn’t awaken out of sleep.  The sound was lucid. There was no identification to what or where it was, it came and went. My sense of hearing is heightened right now. I am not interested in the everyday distractions like news or radio.  I just want to listen, and I want to hear.

Expanded and alert, is how I describe my state of being this morning. I am carefully listening.

Click to see the exhibit: A Constant Vital Commotion

Completed the second week of school…I’m teaching Drawing 1 and 2. We are studying line, inner and outer contour, the edges of things.  

And I’m reading the 6th edition of  Drawing, A Contemporary Approach. It talks about drawing as extending both the mind and the spirit by promoting a deep respect for looking and thinking. Drawing allows for a heightened awareness of the visual world, the authors say. Drawing is complex, energetic  and consequently exciting. I see myself as someone who draws.  Though I work on canvas and some of my tools are paintbrushes…I draw with them. 

In my studio I am completing the final composition for my upcoming solo, only a few weeks away now.   The last 2 works I completed are the last 2 works for this exhibition. They also represent a beginning.  A change has occurred with this series.  One I have been patiently awaiting. Looking and thinking, thinking and looking, at another level. I wanted to express it.  I wanted the evolution to show itself.  

Notes

Final image begins with drawing tools. Water soluble graphite. Water soluble crayon. Powdered graphite. Draw shapes. Rework. Powder graphite rubbed into negative spaces of lower half of composition…rich silvery quality. Enhanced with light application of an egg tempera pewter .  Casein paints into positive spaces.  Detail with fine brushes using egg tempera.  
Is work complete? No. Need finer detail…with other materials. What other material?
Figurative. Abstract.  Scientific renderings. Esoteric philosophy.
Content is formulated at a deeper level. Materials are taken to another level.  Work is larger. Imagination utilized. Reference material important.   Weeks have passed, months have passed.

Look, think….think, look.
Observe, distinguish, relate. 
Draw and paint. 

Monday afternoon I peek into the gallery and see Joe Willie setting up his exhibition. I enter and take the view in…a circular work hangs on the center wall and other sculptural works lean on side walls. I see tools and a scaffold…serious business, I think. Something very whimsical catches my eye. I walk over to it. Joe Willie has a sound loop going thru the speakers. He turns it off to show me the full sculpture. I don’t connect what he is doing for a bit. He starts to jab…pluck, pluck, poke, tap, tap, tap…and the space is filled with sounds, vibrations…beat, rhythm.  Though I know he is playing and enjoying this object, he is also serious and thoughtful with it. My drawing class awaits but…I am taken in for a moment…time stands still here.
I pause, I listen. I look at the object, and catch its movement.  I look at Joe Willie’s hands and catch their movement. I connect the movement to the sound. I feel privileged, that in the busyness of my day, I have this very unusual and very cool, behind the scenes, art experience.

He explains what he plans to do, but in that planning is a lot of fluidity. I can’t imagine working the way he works…with the ease he seems to have.  I tell him how I am impressed that he can pull it all together this final one week, and he smiles and tells me he’s been pulling it all together for years and years. I understand and I respect the clarification. 

I look forward to the opening…seriously whimsical…is how I might describe Joe Willie’s work.

The Eric Fischl Gallery, at Phoenix College, opens its first exhibition of the Fall season next week. If you haven’t visited this new, state of the art space, now is the time. Artist, and adjunct professor Joe Willie Smith, invites you to come and experience his work. Included in the exhibit will be sculpture, sound and video.

Who:                 Joe Willie Smith

What:                Solo Exhibition 
                            60 Elements with Old Black Things

Where:             Eric Fischl Gallery
                            Phoenix College, Fine Arts Building, 2nd floor
                            1202 W Thomas Rd Phoenix, AZ 85013

When:               Opening Reception September 10th, 4pm – 8pm 

Joe Willie Smith writes….
I’ll be sixty years old in September, so I thought this would be an appropriate time to take a look at my life as an artist and some of the events that have occurred along the way.
This exhibit will be part retrospective, part chronology with a few new pieces. 
I continue to work with found resources, I’m starting to paint again, but still enjoy multi-media work.
My journey as an artist has carried me from the Civil Rights Movement to our first African-American President.
This exhibit gives me a wonderful opportunity to reflect on events both personal and societal that have occurred
during my time.
My work is in the collections of The Phoenix Art Museum, The Butler Museum of American Art, Neiman Marcus Corporation, Gannett -The Arizona Republic, Taller Experimental De Grafica (Cuba) and many personal collections throughout the U.S.

For more information call 602-285-7277. 
The exhibition runs through September 25th.

In his book “On Writing” author, Stephen King shares his approach to writing a story. As I read I note he’s describing almost the same process I use for many of the commissions I have painted this last year, most of them can be considered narratives. He writes about the value of being aware of what he wants his reader to experience.  What I hope the viewer experiences, is an awareness I have at the start of most everything I do. King writes about translating what he visualizes in his mind, into words on a page. I translate my thoughts  into signs and symbols and place them onto a canvas. He notes an important quality, one I also use…allow the reader (the viewer, in my case) to supply some information. And then…he says…it’s all about the story…

Part 2 of this particular story goes like this…
The commission:

I meet with Dominique in early January, on a Saturday afternoon, to discuss a commission. She has in mind a family portrait.
She informs me of the two main characters, the focal points, her father Karl and her mother Helga.  Karl has been in spirit for at least a decade. Dominique is considering presenting a family portrait to her mother. I don’t know why I imagine that she might keep it for herself. I ask her if it’s possible, that she could keep it.  Well, of course, I suppose that’s possible, she says.
I can’t meet Karl in body, to get a sense of him. Nor can I really sit and talk with Helga as it would ruin the surprise, if there is to be one. I rely on Dominique’s descriptions and stories. Most important to me are her facial and body expression as she shares details. We spend a Saturday afternoon discussing what appears to me to be a magical childhood. I am sure Karl is present with us that afternoon…and maybe even Helga for that matter. I leave her home with notes, photos, and a few unusual shells. The shells are a gift.

content begins to take form

Part 1
The Wichtl’s:

Karl Ferdinand Wichtl and Helga Maria Hörmann marry in Vienna, on Sept 21, 1958.

Karl, born March 19, 1932, always the life of the party, over indulges in everything, Dominique tells me…food, drink, kindness, celebration…all of it.  I like hearing about Karl, he’s a character. A free spirit. Yet practical! Self educated. Oil engineer. She smiles, lost in remembrance…He loved to have fun. He was also the one who made sure everyone else was having fun too. He wore wacky, crazy ties, thin, red leather, he had sideburns, he drank a lot, and he ate a lot…again, she smiles. He was a self made man, very intelligent. He had green eyes. Karl liked Boynton cartoons and treasure hunts. He liked and used often, the word fantastic. She tells me a bit of detail about his mother and father, her grandparents.
And she tells me how much Helga loved Karl.

Helga, born December 13, 1937, she is…intelligent, tenacious, disciplined and organized. Very organized! Dominique stresses. She held down the fort, she had too, we moved every few years. She was brilliant! Helga was an oil brat. Education was important to her. Dominique comes back to the present…light green eyes and… she…loves… black pearls.

I want the feeling of happiness in the work.  Joy! Freedom! Bare feet! Dominique quickly starts to give visual possibilities but I don’t listen to all of it…I get the picture. She comes back to the word fantastic…everything was fantastic to Karl. With that word I begin and with that word I will end.

processing

and more processing

We used to vacation in Bora Bora. The request is for a Polynesian landscape. Two other characters are important to this story, Dominique and her sister Patricia. We spent allot of time in the water like fishies. The four of us, all the time. Scuba diving. Collecting shells. She shares photos of their water escapades.

I begin the composition with an outline in treasure hunt format and then a cobalt sea floods in and takes over.  I follow some of the barely visible trails and insert an oil rig in one spot, representing Karl’s work. His job would take his family across the world.

An imaginary boat named “The Fantastic” gets placed strategically across the rig (in another treasure hunt spot), signifying balance, of work and play, the real and the fantastical.  In the far background is the family in bright silhouette. I borrow the familial image from the tarot deck. They point up to a cloud filled DNA strand where 8 birds fly, representing each daughter and her respective husband and children, the generations to come.  The sun or the moon, I can’t say which, sits in the horizon and deposits light across the water, in the form of South America where the family lived for some time and where Dominique is born.  Austria floats in the foreground, where Karl and Helga marry and Patricia is born. The masculine sun, and the feminine moon also act as time elements, night and day, day and night, on and on. Eternity above (infinity) and beneath Karl and Helga. The white dog represents Helga’s favored family pet. The cup of abundance and four fish shooting upwards…four shells collect around the cup…four sea horses make their way into the art work…family of four.

I fill the landscape with palm trees…lots of vegetation, sky and clouds, and a bungalow…all accurate to the photos she leaves me with.
Wild and calm bright blue, full of life, fluid, magical is The Fantastic Tale of Karl and Helga.

Part 3
The story doesn’t end here.

…I complete the painting in May.  Dominique has it in her possession today. Where will it land?  I suspect it will move several times…belong to one generation and then another, and perhaps another. The story will only continue. Fantastic!

Several years ago I took an evening Mexican art history course at Phoenix College.  The class was mostly filled with 20 something year old college students, except for Kevin, who was older and wiser.

Kevin stood out not only because he was mature in this young classroom but he was impeccably dressed, always came to class in a beautiful suit, a great tie, and polished shoes. FYI…not the norm…in an art dept. He communicated beautifully.  He was intelligent, thoughtful and kind. I think about him today because in his younger years, he knew and had worked for the Kennedy’s.  In conversation he talked about John, Robert and Ted. Their influence on him was clear.

Kevin met with an untimely death a few years ago.  He was a public servant in that he worked for the city of Phoenix, yes.  But he was also a public servant in that he was clearly a mindful human being, present to serve.  The classroom was filled with students who had families and held full time jobs. One young single mother who sat behind us worked the night shift at Motorola. I learned thru Kevin that she had a daughter. He took the time to connect with her most every class. She was often tired and would forgot her pen, he always had extra pens for her.  She had the sniffles or a cough and he had a cough drop or a Kleenex to hand her.

Kevin loaned me his brand new copy of a, at the time newly released, biography about Diego Rivera. He told me to take my time with it and enjoy it. He regularly brought me the art section of the New York Times. I was grateful no doubt, but I used to tease him…What are you, the nice guy of Phoenix?!
He was a professional business man with a kind spirit very much influenced by the Kennedy’s. He explained to me that life is tough for some people and one should, if one could, be supportive and willing to lend a hand, the smallest gesture to make a persons life a bit more comfortable, is worthwhile.

Today I listen to commentary about Senator Edward Kennedy and his humanity is noted. I know of his efforts towards immigration, as he worked alongside Arizona’s John McCain.  I liked the team. And Kennedy always spoke passionately about health care for all. Both of these issues are sitting on the table today.

Kevin informed me that important people can cross our paths and  influence us in large ways. But he also reminded me that the everyday citizen is important too.  As an artist I think about what I do, and who I do it for, all the time. I don’t know that I make a life more comfortable, it’s possible…but I do my best to expand ones awareness…for what it’s worth.

I always thought of Kevin whenever Ted Kennedy was on T.V. or the radio.  Kevin helped me to see Kennedy as more than a political icon, he made him a human being to me.

To Mr. Ted Kennedy…goodbye.  And to Kevin…thanks for making it clear how we all can and do influence one another.

The museum, along with LP Magazine, had a press reception and membership drive this last week.

Most of the artists, from the Locals Only exhibit, are present. We’re asked to come up and we’re introduced one by one. I haven’t been presented with the group, in this fashion, prior to this. Not all of us are on call, but the majority are. I like the experience, it’s informative. I don’t know most of the artists, but I would like too. We are different ages, genders and backgrounds. We have variety of experience, and education, and we use a variety of mediums, and we make a variety of statements within the context of the exhibit. I enjoy standing among all the variety. Though truth is, I am a bit removed to the fact that I’m a part of it at all.  For one, I hope to remain objective about the whole art gallery/exhibition/review experience. And two, it’s a bit surreal.

Up in front of the crowd, I scan the room…lots of people. Lots of people. Some are paying attention, some aren’t. Some I know, most I don’t.  So many cameras, so many flashes, it amuses me. There’s not a rock star among us…but one could sure think it. Or…maybe there is and I just don’t know it.

I listen to speakers as they stand at the podium and/or walk the room. They talk about being Latina/o, and then they comment about art and on being an artist.  I try to be objective about all this too.  Someone defines the artist. I have to smile. I don’t exactly see myself in the manner described. I learn something.
Is the audience taking it in as fact? Do they agree or disagree? The commentary isn’t good or bad, nor is it right or wrong…it’s a point of view.

Do people take the comments and use them to judge us? To judge our work?  Maybe. Do I pass? Do I flunk? Who knows. I consider taking some of the commentary to another viewing of my work, that evening. Will it make sense? How will it affect my experience? By the time I get down to the work, I’ve  let go of what I’ve heard, and what I had been thinking. There’s much going on.

I’m not looking for an etched in copper response, not now and not then.
I’m just observing a moment of time and sharing it, one experience, with you. People categorize, label and expect…they can, and they do. One can inform themselves with various opinions and thoughts and still remain curious and open…question…and decide. And then come back another time, start all over, see something different and change their mind.

See the work…share and make comment, talk, label, categorize, question, and then let it all go, and be open to new experience. This is the advantage of the creative process, and a creative setting. It can be very fluid. Enjoy it.

Dave was the first person to hand in his statement. It should be noted he is also the last one to receive his mask. Nine months, he patiently waits.  A quick reminder…I ask the group to answer three question for me to use to create the design of the mask. 

plastered dave

The simple questions are the hardest…. But it does make me realize it is useful to try to answer them. Dave admits, It is hard to see myself, because I always feel transparent.
This pre-statement comment completely influences how I approach decoration of this mask.

Challenge #1: How to bring transparency into an opaque, plaster mask.
Answer: Surface layered with transparent applications…gloss finish to enhance translucency.

…How do I describe what that means? I feel others can see me for who I am more easily than I can see them. They know my true intent, as it is evident, but harder for me to see theirs.
Perhaps Dave, we all relate to this quality in ourselves at one time or other.
Well, enough of that, here it goes….
and it begins…

keeping dave transparent

The first sentence directs me toward the interior of the mask…
So, “who am I”: Just a fleck of stardust, floating in the void, that happened to glom together in an organic fashion, allowing me to think and have self-awareness.
I wonder who/what exactly allows Dave to think and have self awareness…the glom? its organic make-up?
He continues… But that is temporary, and all-too brief. And also gives me a false sense of being separate from the universe, being unique and more important than, say , a rock. But it ain’t so!  
Humility and lightheartedness. 

2. “What am I?” 
A seeker, a Shaman. 
I accentuate both eyes, with gold.
Being a doctor is part of a shaman’s job, but I don’t look at it as an all-consuming part of my life. That’s just how Shaman translates in modern society. The real point is a much bigger job. 

3. Which brings me to the third question: “what is this world, and what is my relationship to it?”
That is the great mystery. How can something be eternal, endless, and everywhere. Doesn’t make sense from our human perspective. 
I would clarify, it doesn’t make sense from a logical humans perspective…loose the logic Dave! 
…But I see the “human condition” like being born and living in a box, not knowing what all is out there. And in the past years, physicists have been looking over the edge of the box and trying to make sense of what they see, and, funny enough, the description is pretty similar to what the mystics came up with centuries ago.

So, I guess that’s what I am seeking, a “Unified Theory of Everything”….similar to what the physicists seek, a unified theory of all matter and energy, but inclusive of the mystical (or religious) view of the universe, rather than excluding one side or the other…. Because it is all one, and all connected, that is obvious.  
His thoughts flow, one right after the other…deducing. Lines appear on the side of the mask. Strings of thought. I’m thinking I might use some text…he’s a thinker.

…But in order to function, and in order to survive, we have had to disconnect (hard to catch a fish when you are having visions), and now we are stuck in that view.
I think this is important insight, because it stands if we got ourselves stuck we can certainly get ourselves unstuck, right?
…Whew! I hope that gives you enough to chew on! It was actually fun, writing some of this down.
 

Maybe I should try to do that more, so that I can develop those ideas better and flesh them out, as well as seeing the weaknesses better.
Instead of text design, I opt for a Caduceus down the center of the mask, because Dave talks specifically about being a Doctor. And because the symbol is also connected to the Kundalini, (Sanskrit for “coiled”) the coiled serpent that awakens and rises with levels of enlightenment…knowledge…which Dave appears willing to strive for. And also because in all of his logic there is also abstraction.

He concludes...Hmmm “David Explains Everything”….is that a catchy title? Or a little too pompous? We’ll leave the rest for another conversation.
Intriguing. Fun. Sincere. Yes Dave, we will have more conversation.  

Dave’s energy is high as he enters my studio. A supply bag in tow,  he pulls out his drawing tablet, a water soluble pencil, and a 6-pen set of Sharpie markers.  Wow…I don’t know that you’ll need all those markers today, you won’t be running out, that’s for sure.  I say as I glance at the new set. I bought extras…in case anyone else needs any! Always thoughtful.  

I do sense a bit of nervous energy about him, and this surprises me. Dave already observes the world and he especially enjoys drawing. He is creative in a number of ways. I ‘ll tell you about his 20 plus years of calendar… journals…drawings… in a future posting. 
He carefully pulls out from another bag, a beautiful antique magnifying glass.  He need not explain why he chose this for his bring an object to include in your final portrait that tells us something about yourself  direction.

When everyone settles into drawing, I see clearly his excitement. It’s in his posture and across his face. And though each of his sketches gets better defined, he fidgets a bit every time I come up from behind to look at his work.  While he draws Greg’s profile, I point out the space between Greg’s hairline, the temple, eye corner,  and the cheek below. I try  to call out the underlying muscle and bone structure. I stumble on words. They’re both M.D.’s, and I am out of my league. I should keep it simple.  He understands and alters his sketch a bit.  I give him a few suggestions but mostly I let him know he is doing great with the directions I have presented for everyone….draw what you see, not what you think you see, now what you want to see…draw exactly what you see.

His completed portrait is simple, well observed, and  well defined. It includes varying thickness of lines and some texture, the more advanced elements. I particularly like the asymmetrical composition. He never titled the finished work, nor did he sit thru critique.  Maybe the day…spent him.

For my birthday a few month later I receive a small drawing from everyone.  This is Dave’s gift  card, a stylized commentary on the days events.

Portrait of a Cardiologist

….one more mask to share….coming soon.

Over 800 guests attended the opening, despite a July monsoon rainstorm.
The show continues to September 26.

Visit the Tucson Museum of Art web site for more info.
 

guests looking at my painting "Vital Commotion"

Working on a Press Release for my solo in Oct ‘09. Different mind set.  Seems like both sides of my brain get used regularly. Good thing too, I would hate to get unbalanced.

I picked up my invitations last week. Still pulling together the statement.  A few works are yet in process in my studio and the rest of the work is at my framer’s.

Appears to be coming together…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Eric Fischl Gallery at Phoenix College presents

Who:               Artist:  MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

What:              A CONSTANT VITAL COMMOTION
                          A Solo Exhibition

Martinez’s new series includes mixed media works on canvas and paper. Her compositions, through strong use of line and color, represent the intricate connection within and between body and mind. The work explores in a rich, complex, and exciting manner, life in its very basic form.
Who and/or What am I is the question. One constant and vital commotion is the answer.
Sound will accompany the exhibit.

When:             October 5 –October 30   2009
                          Artist Reception:  Monday Oct. 5, 2009 6:00- 8:00

Where:             Phoenix College
                          Eric Fischl Gallery 
                          1202 W. Thomas Ave.
                           Phoenix, AZ

Contact:             Phoenix College Dpt. Of Art – 602-285-7277
                         Monica Aissa Martinez – 602-840-4376  or contact me 

Artist web site