New Work: Chat Time

"Chat Time", 2012 Oil/Glue on Canvas 30'x30"
copyright Kim Kissinger Marino

(Click on painting to view larger, then hit Refresh button to return to post)

This Painting will be part of an Exhibit at the Prairie Center of the Arts in Peoria, Illinois. The show opens December 7, 2012, 5-7:30 pm.

Also Opening December 7, 2012 in Urbana, Illinois: Art Coop Gallery's Annual Fundraiser for The Champaign County Humane Society. I will have three new paintings on exhibit.

Art Coop Art Show

I will have 2 new paintings in this show that Opens Dec. 7th at the Art Coop in Urbana, Illinois.  The work in the show is always terrific and provides a great opportunity to buy great work and support a good cause.

There are times in an Artist's life...

Note to myself from the paper covering my painting table, October, 2012

“There are times in an artist’s life that are life-changing. Some are mere moments and others more significant. Regardless of the rest of my journey, my time at PrairieCenter of the Arts will stand as a unique gift that greatly impacted me as an artist and the course of my work.”

Kim Kissinger Marino, 2012

Distraction by Definition

dis·trac·tion 1. The act of distracting or the condition of being distracted. (See going to work at the business and not doing Artwork) 2. Something, especially an amusement, that distracts.  (see #1) 3. Extreme mental or emotional disturbance; obsession: loved the puppy to distraction. (Not there yet, let's hope it doesn't come to that!).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Studio Landing-At Last!

At last, I have landed into a space I can use. After hours of cleaning, sorting and throwing away I cleared this space. It's tight for larger canvases and I will still have those pesky office distractions but that is OK-I have a home!

Now back to work. I should finish the residency paintings next week.

O Studio, Studio! Wherefore Art Thou Studio?

"When are you going to get to work?"
Zoe, Studio Dog Extraordinaire

As you can see this is not a photo of the finished painting from the residency that I have been promising for several days. It is instead the boxes of supplies and gear from the residency, that remain unpacked.

So what gives?

I was spoiled by my residency studio. It was large and airy with good company:

"The Caribbean Vacation of Studios". 

Now I feel closed in and uncertain about where to land.

I have this space which includes my office and those naggy life things like files and bills and other major distractions. Or I have an unfinished location above the garage where the temperature is now a balmy 32 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Humm. My plan is to land here in the office/studio and then plan my next move....as you can see my faithful "Studio Dog" Grandma Zoe doesn't really care as long as "her" chair is part of the mix.

Home

Arrived home Wednesday.

It is amazing how quickly you return to the push and pull of life. In short order I began making lists, handling work questions and headed down the slippery slope of
life over-consumption.

My fine diet of art, art, art the last 30 days has opened my eyes to the negative sources in my life- those life draining situations that zap your creative and spiritual energy.

Its "house-cleaning" time for me both figuratively and literally.

I will publish my final residency painting in the next few days when it is complete.


Until then:

"What we think, we become." 

- Buddha

Residency-Last Day in the Studio

Prairie Center of the Arts-Last Day in Studio, 2012

Today is my last day of residency at The Prairie Center of the Arts. 

This blog will continue but the residency is complete.

I can think of many things to say, but none that accurately describe this experience. 

So I will default to a word list:

Life-Changing

Lee Krasner Quote

"All my work keeps going like a pendulum; it seems to swing back to something I was involved with earlier, or it moves between horizontality and verticality, circularlity, or a composite of them. 

For me, I suppose, that change is the only constant."

Lee Krasner

New Work-Last Days of Residency

Untitled 14"x14" (Studio photo)
Oil/Glue
Copyright KK Marino, 2012

Here is a painting I finished in the past week. The new figures and old figures are now interacting. I am focused on the "push & pull" of that new dynamic.

Two days to go in the residency. I am busy completing my largest character painting of the residency. 30" x 30".

Prairie Center of the Arts-Resident's Art

Here is the work of 4 of my fellow residents at the Prairie Center of the Arts. 

It's been my privilege to have shared space with them.

I hope you enjoy their work and websites

MIKE YAGER

Copyright Mike Yager

       


ROSE KHOR

Copyright Rose Khor

JENNY WU

Copyright Jenny Wu

CHIKA MATSUDA

Copyright Chika Matsuda

My Fellow Residents

Prairie Center of the Arts Residents At Krannert Art Museum
from L-R, Jenny, Chika, Rose, Me and Mike

As my residency comes to a close I thought it would be fun to highlight my fellow resident's work. So in the next few days I will be posting some of their work and their websites. 

I will be continuing the blog after the residency, so I will be including more of my  art in the coming days.

Day 25

It is hard for me to believe that there are only 6 days left in my residency. I am currently in heavy production mode. It feels good to be painting strong and steady.

I like both studio stages of making art: the thinking/conceptualizing stage and the production. I find satisfaction in both. If I "do my time" on the planning stage the production of course goes much easier.

But, I also enjoy skipping the first part completely and jumping in the deep end of production without a plan to see what will happen.

Tomorrow we are going on a Field Trip...Home for me!

We are going to visit The Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. There are several exciting exhibits including an installation I am very anxious to see called:

Fields of Indigo: Installation by Rowland Ricketts with Sound by Norbert Herber

We are very fortunate in Champaign-Urbana to have such a wonderful facility. I am looking forward to sharing it with my fellow artists.

Here is a new video from the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois-Enjoy!

Art...

               

"Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, 

it makes us see."

Paul Klee 

4" X 4" Drawing: "Together" (Shown 2 ways)
Copyright KK Marino, 2012

New Work-First Series

Blue Dream 18"x18" Oil/Glue
copyright KK Marino , 2012

New Work-Second Series

Another Day 12"x12" Oil/Glue
Copyright KK Marino, 2012

Another Day - Side View
Copyright KK Marino, 2012

This painting is made first with a glue drawing followed by paint. The lines are actually raised off of the surface of the canvas.

New Work- Second Residency Series

Play Together 6"x6" Oil on canvas
copyright KK Marino, 2012

Play Together-side view
copyright KK Marino, 2012

Here is a painting from my second series from the residency. I am using the same technique I used in the Yellow Waterfall painting a few days ago. In this series I am developing my imagery or line language.

Its all Gravy-Italian Night

The residents house and studio is growing full which is great fun! Our group is very diverse including artists from Japan, China, and California. 

Tonight is Italian night. My husband has a rich Italian heritage and after 21 years of marriage I've learned to cook real Italian. My house-studio mates asked me to cook Italian, so tonight there will 8-10 of us for dinner.

The menu includes: Meatballs, Gravy (Spaghetti sauce), homemade Manicotti, Italian green beans, salad, bread , Tiramisu and Nonna's cookies. Yummo!

I will work in the studio this morning, then back in the kitchen this afternoon.

Tomorrow Back to Art!

Completed New Work-Yellow Waterfall

Yellow Waterfall
18" x 18 " Oil
copyright KK Marino, 2012

Click photo to enlarge, hit refresh button to return to blog

Here is the final on Yellow Waterfall. As you can see the addition of the black lines change the piece completely.

New Work

Yellow Waterfall 18" x 18"
copyright KK Marino, 2012

(Click image to enlarge, then hit reload arrow to
return to blog)

I am working on two painting series right now.  In this series I use my raised pattern/texture in an abstract way. This painting is an 18" x 18" oil. The pattern carries over to the sides of the canvas.

Being an Artist

Blankness 

There are times when I am stuck-solid.

The past few days have been like that.

The more I thought, the less I knew.

The more I pushed the less I moved.

A wise person told me that if you just stretch out on your bed and don't get up until you have made a decision about your problem, then you can move forward.

Even though I did not physically do the exercise, I mentally did. That is, I thought about my creative blankness from that point of view and it worked!

I made a decision that allowed me to move forward.

The goal is to always move the work forward, deciding how is the hard part.

A-R-T

A studio mate of mine mentioned Morris Code the other day while looking at my work and I thought it would be fun to play with it a bit, since
I am a dot-a-holic!

Here is the word A-R-T

A very visually interesting language.

Orange Riot

This is the view from my window. I actually don't care for the color orange but this riot of color is making its way into my work.

I find myself drawn to yellows, golds and oranges-colors that have never been in my work before. It is amazing how an environment can influence you.

Pollock Quote

"Every good painter paints what he is." 

Jackson Pollock 

New Drawing 10-10-12

Drawing 10-10-12
copyright KK Marino , 2012

Here is a new drawing from this week. I am moving the work forward in this direction. Drawing is rendered in marker and colored pencils.

Once a Quilter...Always a Quilter

Purple Drawing in Quilt Form
Copyright KK Marino, 2012

I realized when I looked at the original drawing (see post below) that it felt like a quilt block. Through the magic of "cut and paste" both literally and electronically I created this quilt pattern which may serve as a template for a painting.

This also explains my passion for painting in series, particularly using small canvases.

Back to Blog Home

Drawing: Purple

Purple Drawing 10-10-12
copyright K K Marino, 2012

Friday once again. Here is a new drawing using the arch. elements and characters. Many new ideas swirling with this imagery.

Rendered in markers and colored pencil.

Field trip today-Dick Blick in Galesburg, Illinois.

Back to Blog Home

Sketch with Background

Drawing with Background 10-8-12
copyright KK Marino, 2012

Here is a sketch with one of the new characters and background. A definite move towards an architectural background.

Rendered in marker and colored pencil.

More new work to come.

Negative and Positive

"Perhaps the only entirely new and probably the most important aspect of today's language of forms is the fact that 'negative' elements (the remainder, intermediate, and subtractive quantities) are made active"

Joseph Albers "Creative Education," Sixth International Congress for Drawing,

Art Education, and Applied Art, Prague, 1928.

Change Is a Comin'

Untitled -12" X 12" Acrylic on canvas board
copyright KK Marino 2012

After a week of focus my imagery is definitely changing. This painting shows a new direction in my work. Still very organic, but a move towards more simplification. My figures have now taken a new form, resembling some of my earlier work with trees only the shapes are new. The black lines are directly painted, not drawn with craft glue first. I am very interested in these figures particularly the two that are joined. What is the relationship here?

Everything starts from a dot. 

-Wassily Kandinsky

2 Oil Drawings-Studio Photo

2 oil drawings on paper- Studio Photo. 12" x12"
copyright KK Marino 2012

To Those Who Love Artists

We all know the feeling of having someone believe in you-that rush of excitement that ignites your passion to do more, to be more.

This unbridled belief can come from almost anyone who loves you as an artist. The feeling is the same even if you are only 2 years old.

As an adult artist I think that acknowledgement is good, of course and it gives me an opportunity to push myself a little more.  I am humbled and grateful. Inside though that little artist in me is so delighted that someone, somewhere, understands who I am.

Of course I don't create work for acknowledgement, but I do strive for understanding.

This year I've been very privileged to be in the company of those that love me as an artist or acknowledge my work. My husband and daughter without a doubt are my best tireless supporters. They see me with all my quirks and oddities and love me possibly more because of them.

But, I've also experienced so much support from those who came to see my work, Larry & Mary - the gallery owners who guide me along this road, everyone who mentors me artistically and spiritually especially those who awarded me this opportunity to do my work uninterrupted.

Having time to reflect, makes me realize what an amazing year it has been.

Vernissage 2012

I attended a terrific art opening this evening at The Prairie Center of the Arts (PCA). The show is titled Vernissage 2012 and exhibits the work of 180+ community artists. It was sponsored by The Prairie Center of the Arts and CIAO.

A vernissage (varnishing, from French) is a term used for a preview of an art exhibition often private, before the formal opening.

It was a huge show and the opening was well attended. The show is aptly titled because it is the exhibit before the Grand Opening on October 20th of The Riverfront Museum .

The exhibit was hung by Ron Rae, residency director of PCA and will be on display through November 16th.

More information on the hours for the gallery can be found on the PCA site.

Busyness Withdrawl

Definition for busyness:

the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity;  "they manifested all the busyness of a pack of beavers"... wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

I find myself here on my 5th day of the residency pondering the state of my busyness or current lack of busyness. I've always been a high producing individual. One that survives on lists, targets, goals and other needed tools in life. I'm the go-to-girl for completion.

So here I am, finding myself, well, not so busy.

I'm working hard on my art, yes, but something is happening. I can actually have two consecutive thoughts on one subject without being interrupted....I can actually "think" about art for as long as I want!

But in the back of my mind is the pesky thought, that there is something I need to be doing, you know something on a list, except that the only list I have is the name of artists I want to research while I am here.

Oh! Yesterday I did have an art supply list, but I don't think that actually counts. It was not a detailed "to-do" list with indents for subtopics and boxes to check off when the task was complete. (Sorry to say this is true). It was just a list on a scrap of paper, maybe even the back of a receipt. Hummm. 

Possibly in a few days the guilt of unbusyness will subside and I can really relax into this new state. Until then I'll keep thinking there must be something I forgot to do...maybe it will come to me.

Rough Sketch-Simplified Marks

Rough Sketch -Simplified Marks
copyright KK Marino , 2012

I've been working on a series of drawings utilizing my symbols and marks. I found my drawings were becoming more complex and complicated than before.

I took a really good look and found that I actually wanted to simplify my drawings.

I'm looking for a basic relationship between the lines and marks. Here is one of the new drawings.

Night Thought...

Blue Sketch (detail) residency art
copyright KKMarino 2012

"Silence
It has a sound, a fullness.
It's heavy with sigh of tree,
and space between breaths.
It's ripe with pause between birdsong
and crash of surf.
It's golden they say.
But no one tells us it's addictive."

-Angela Long

An Early Morning Thought...

“There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Studio #13



Studio at Prairie Center of the Arts

Here is a pic of my studio space for the next 30 days at the Prairie Center of the Arts. It is spacious, clean, well lit and quiet. Nice.

 

I've had a numerous studios (12 to be exact) over the years-some more successful than others. As I think back, some of the studios seem like mere figments of my overactive imagination and in reality actually were kitchenettes, living rooms, dining rooms and other various and assorted spaces that I claimed a corner in.

When you work in a designated space, it changes the way you look at working. If you share your studio space with your office-forget about it! those pesky bills and stacks of filing are going to distract you.

Art Residency-Day One-The Journey Begins

Chat Chat (detail)
Copyright KK Marino 2012

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” 
― Martha Graham

Creative Thinking-Finding the Switch

Red Cartoon -copyright Kim Kissinger Marino 2012

Over the years one of my biggest challenges as an artist is not the physical execution of the work, but developing the ability to switch gears from my work-a-day world thinking to creative thinking. 

Day to day I am on the go, running projects in many diverse areas.  

NOTE: I wear my badge of "over-busy" proudly.

But in my art I strive to concentrate on one thing-

no multitasking, 

no multi-managing, 

no multi-overthinking. 

This is challenging for me. 

I find myself thinking about those pesky bills and our business and car maintenance and dog grooming and dental appointments and, and, and...like all of us the list goes on.

During this upcoming residency I am looking for my "Off" switch. 

Or maybe it is my Creative "On" switch. 

I will be posting more on this in the upcoming weeks.

Stay tuned.

Artist Residency: Definition & Dreams

A Fine Day Indeed- Copyright Kim Kissinger Marino

The truth be told I am only assuming what my art residency in Peoria, Illinois will be like.

I had the opportunity to see the beautiful studio spaces recently when my daughter and I were in the area visiting a college. So I know the layout.

But what I don't know is how I will work in this environment?

How will my art change? or will it?

Definition:
Artist Residency: Time away from day to day life to live the life of a full time, unencumbered artist (maybe that is the dream part?)

There are many varieties of residencies. In the upcoming weeks I will post a list of residency sites.

If you know of one, please post a comment.

Do I Really Play Well With Others?

Creativity -copyright Kim Kissinger Marino 2010

As an artist I am oh so comfortable being confined to my small studio. In about 1 week I will be living and working for a month with other artists during my Artist Residency at The Prairie Center of the Arts.

Hmm...its been a long time since grad school- which is the last time I worked that closely with other artists.

Though I'm known to "play well" with others, I am a solitary soul.

Not much of a joiner, group member or social butterfly - in the past you could find me on quiet retreats reading, pondering, contemplating and generally avoiding the population.

I must admit, blogging gives me a comfortable balance in communicating with others.

My preparation begins...