Begin Begin Begin pt.4

Recap: The past two quarters I participated in senior seminar class at Cal State Bakersfield. I created four new paintings for this exhibit. They were four five toot by four foot each, the largest I have ever painted. Working from concept to completion took a lot of gesso, many late nights, nearly all my paint for about five months.

 This body of work is history paintings, just as many artists have made. History is being made every day. The chalkboard represents an ever-changing history. The media takes information about people and events and filters into a perverse scandalized story that time goes on. As history is being written, all of these issues can be gets added to the chalkboard. Things get erased or added as revised, or even erased, based on who is telling the story.

For politicians of the highest levels, foreign affairs are paramount to success. President Ronald Reagan had a close relationship with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Reagan was quoted “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”


For Further Reading:
Todd Madigan Gallery
Begin Begin Begin pt.1
Begin Begin Begin pt.2
Begin Begin Begin pt.3
Friendship
BBC: Thatcher Hisotry
theWhiteHouse: Reagan History

Begin Begin Begin pt.3

Recap: The past two quarters I participated in senior seminar class at Cal State Bakersfield. I created four new paintings for this exhibit. They were four five toot by four foot each, the largest I have ever painted. Working from concept to completion took a lot of gesso, many late nights, nearly all my paint for about five months.

 This body of work is history paintings, just as many artists have made. History is being made every day. The chalkboard represents an ever-changing history. The media takes information about people and events and filters into a perverse scandalized story that time goes on. As history is being written, all of these issues can be gets added to the chalkboard. Things get erased or added as revised, or even erased, based on who is telling the story.

Those who run for public office, such as the presidency, gain tons of media coverage, but whoever wins the race essentially gets more coverage in the history books. On the chalkboard that is history, this story might fade to the back. During a debate between president Obama and Mitt Romney, Mitt describes how he finds women to make a diverse cabinet, “we went to a number of women’s groups… and they brought us binders full of women.” 

*The beauty of painting is imagination.

For Further Reading:
Todd Madigan Gallery
Begin Begin Begin pt.1
Begin Begin Begin pt.2

Debate clip

Awkward Phrase

Binders meme

Up-Cycling With What I Got

First all the wire holding the midsection together had to be unraveled. I squashed that into the shape of a brain, just for fun. Then I unscrewed everything and pulled all the nails apart. (NOT FOR BEGINNERS, WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES). Measurements were taken for how tall it needed to be to accommodate my largest canvass. It had to be close to the height of the easel I already had so it would fit in my studio.
 First all the wire holding the midsection together had to be unraveled. I squashed that into the shape of a brain, just for fun. Then I unscrewed everything and pulled all the nails apart. (NOT FOR BEGINNERS, WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES). Measurements were taken for how tall it needed to be to accommodate my largest canvass. It had to be close to the height of the easel I already had so it would fit in my studio. 
For a long time I wanted a good sturdy easel to paint on. The ones at the craft store were very expensive and none looked the right size. I bought a cheap "display" one and used it for years, but it wasn't sturdy enough for larger canvasses. As I met more artists over the years I saw their easels. Some had the expensive ones. Some got theirs from a friend but didn't know where it originated. In studios in college there were what appeared to be custom ones. This month I decided to build one myself. I already had previous woodworking experience; all i would need is new materials and a plan. 
I brainstormed based on what I saw in person and what photos I could find online. Back in August I built a spider, out of a bar stool I made, for the Chair Project. Once the exhibit was over, the spider came home with me and lived in my garage for a few months. Even though the idea of the spider was to be non-threatening, it looked scary in the dark garage. It was also taking up some space I park my car in. Looking at my wallet and then at the spider, I decided to disassemble the spider and re-use everything. This is called "up-cycling," the reuse of the whole object, that had one use, to make new and better things. In re-cycling useful parts are taken from objects and the rest of the object is thrown away. SAVE THE TREES!

                             

Spider to Easel

The pieces of wood were nowhere near the height I wanted, so I improvised. I put the taller pieces together and fasened them in place with another piece of wood that was then nailed and screwed on. After that, I checked my plans to see how tall the back leg had to be. This was also determined by how much wood I had left. I built a base with the extra wood.  Next I made the canvass holder. This one is sturdy enough for larger canvasses. I nailed some pieces together and drill holes for the cap screw. The way I built it, the canvass holder is adjustable to accommodate bigger or smaller canvasses. 
The only part of the spider I kept was the face. I wanted it to be a reminder of what it once was. A few days later, I bought a hinge, and other pieces I didn't already have in the spider. I put the hinge on aligned to the front and back parts but when it stood up, the whole thing was crooked to one side. I tried to pull apart the faulty base but it cut me. I imagined the spider biting my hand. It didn't want to change. ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GLOVES! By then, I was out of patience and called it a night. 
The next day I took apart the base and checked the tall pieces for alignment. I drew right angles to the edge of the wood, and it turned out the bottom of the tall piece was crooked, not the base. A newly aligned base fixed that and it was complete. It wasn't the easiest of projects. It took several days of work. This was possibly longer that it would have taken if I had used new pieces of wood, but up-cycling is green for the environment. This lumber has gone through another conversion. It seems more useful to my needs, for now.

Spider Easel

The best part is that it fits in my car so I can take it places as long as it doesn't bite me again.