Fossil VI

While lately I've been doing a lot very very bad paintings and excessive lamenting about them, I still have been getting some actual work successfully accomplished.

I did this drawing yesterday afternoon while having coffee with another local artist Cheryl Radford.

Fossil VI
Graphite on Paper
4x3 inches

I'm at the studio now (my previous post done from home) armed with a full new bucket of gesso and some paint. Despite crappy winter I'm going to do something productive today.

Winter Blues

I'm finally up at 9 am with the original intention of getting up and making a day of painting during the daylight in the studio.

And its snowing.

Therefore it is overcast.

And its not going to make a lick of difference in my tarped-up studio anyway.



I hate winter.

Always the last to get officially settled

Every Monday night I show up early for figure drawing, and prepare for the sessions by setting up the donkeys, platform, sheets, lighting..

Last night I was sure to set up an easel and claim my spot to work, next to the workshop table, next to a lamp so I could see enough to do colour, because otherwise it is pointless... I brought down canvas scraps and the staple gun, paints and everything I needed and set it up a good half an hour before we officially began...

And then I ran upstairs to my studio to grab a floor lamp for some of the other artists, and somebody stole my spot!!!!!

Fkkk

So I ended up drawing again. Z~

I just thought you all should know how bored of drawing I am.

No love from the session monitor,

-Me

Well website work is important too

So I lied (right) about that whole painting thing?

Its an amazing, beautiful, wonderful, sunny day outside and I'm sitting inside figuring out website stuff.

At least I think I'm at a point where I can just start loading in content, and I have most of it sorted so from here on in it should go rather smoothly. I'll have to go out soon to set up for figure drawing and get things prepared for that, and then I'll most likely spend tonight painting.

I had some weird dreams last night, mostly which made me miss art school and question my studio practice. It sent me on a google hunt looking into art schools, and inspired a flurry of emails to various people I have questions for. On top of that, I went through a lot of mailing lists and picked out potential calls for small group show opportunities (more mail art stuff, small things, stuff of that nature) and am feeling a little caught up with what's going on again in the world.

I'd like to find some blogging projects to participate in, however! A few weeks ago, when I first set this up, the first thing I did was return to some of my old online art-networking haunts and ask if anyone had any ideas for connecting with other art bloggers on interesting projects like back in the days of Livejournal. Nothing yet...

My intentions were to update this a bit more often...

however, you should probably know I'm a creature of the night and all the photos taken after dark are lousy. I mean, rather, pretend this is intentional and its going to be part of my personal blogging *style*

Over the past month I have been spending more time away from the studio than in it. I've been doing a lot of research, organizing, and planning for the next few months - looking into new showing opportunities, galleries, grants, updating my portfolios, re-organizing the business end of things - everything.

This week I'm back to it. My obligations outside this place are minimal, so hopefully I'll make some headway on the paintings I have kicking around.

So far so good. Today and yesterday I've been working on 5 works (+2 not in this shot) inspired by the Carina nebula. They're incredibly contrasted but highly subtle paintings, and I'm kicking myself for not having the will-power to wake up earlier and make more use of the sunlight, both for blogging and practical painting purposes.

My dear Emily

Unlike last blog I have decided to not put as much effort into posting the weekly figure studies I do.

Most recently, they have become incredibly messy, practically indecipherable smudges on paper. This is mostly because figure drawing currently bores the shit out of me.

I'm sure I will snap out of it at some point. Or figure out something new that really satisfies my need for doing something different.

I feel like I really want to do that combines painting and drawing, perhaps oil bar and paint with graphite on gessoed wooden boards or something.

Oil sticks cost money so feel free to send me a donation!! ahha..

Graphite and pastel on paper.


I'll try to at least put more effort into taking pictures of sketches in the future.

Long live the eraser.

Fossils

Fossil I

Since I've been reinventing my online persona (I s'pose you could describe this as), I've been debating all the little specific details of it all, including figuring out official names for both my blog and the new website I'm developing. (I partially believe that using the word "developing" to describe the timeI've been spending attempting to set up a website is a little too legitimate and perhaps too promising. Don't get you're hopes up yet. It is far from a success).

"Axl paints dead things" is a title that seams to comes up a lot.

Fossil II

It really has never been about the gimmick of painting/drawing decaying or fossilized animal parts. It has always been more of a fascination for their textures, patterns, beautiful abstractified elements of a being that was once alive and moving, and whole.

The first 2 drawings here are older works, developed around this time last year. The last 3 I finished up, or created from start to finish over the weekend.

The Annual Juried Miniature Show is happening at The Art Exchange soon, so I'm now debating which of these drawings to put in.

Fossil III

Fossil IV

Fossil V

These are all 4x3 inches, graphite on a watercolor paper. This would be an easier decision if I could afford to put all of them in the show but I guess it just isn't going to work out that way!

And then, of course, I also have this little drawing too which could also be put in... I think it's a very strong work as well...

A Sunset Inspired by Bridges

Dead things in the post

This work is going to Gallery Connexion, in Fredericton New Brunswick, for a mail art fundraiser to help them acquire a new gallery space. The challenge was for artists to create works of arts on postcards, envelopes, or parcels that will go up for auction on February 14th, at a local cafe in the city.


I returned to old work for inspiration upon finding a small unfinished canvas in my studio with a relief of a bird fossil which I took apart and attached to the tube.


And becuase it feels really stupid to send a completely empty tube, I'm enclosing some offerings - insence, dried ferns and bones.


Artifying an actual shipping tube was a lot more interesting than those little pre-fabricated watercolour postcards you can buy at the art shop!

If you want to participate, check out the Gallery Connexion website for more details.

First Post

Dear World:
I'm going to do it.
I'm going to start blogging again.
Bare with me.

:)