Ynotartblog's Blog

“I love it…” It being abstract painting. The quote is that of  New York Times art critic Holland Cotter from a fine recent article entitled The Joy of Reading Between Agnes Martin’s Lines. An article that respectfully lays out the many reasons to go view Agnes Martin’s retrospective currently at the Guggenheim…even if you don’t find yourself easily loving…

A blank sheet of 140 lb weight Arches hot-pressed paper for watercolor and wet media is 100% cotton and fairly heavy. The surface is smooth and the black edges from the binding are rough. The example I’m looking at is 9 x 12 inches (not exact), a rectangle…but a pair of scissors can change that. And…

Answer to a brain clogged with questions: Do. Finishing a painting begun months ago…Sketching as if my hand is on a Ouija Board…Always the rummaging with hands and eyes. Then. Susceptible to the past. I rummage, choose, place, and paste:

Sometimes the beginning is so clear. The signpost reads start here. Then I’m off. Other times the first move is laden with possibilities and no one direction boldly presents itself. Exploring begins. Teasing out and tugging at ideas by sketching, mapping, writing, and, my favorite, rummaging. Sifting through boxes of colored paper. Zeroing in on the…

Sunday afternoon. Thinking about the whys. Why do I continue to make art when… Now wait a minute! Why explain? Why not just state:  I make art. It’s my poetry, my music, my wonderment, my amazement, my happiness, my tears, my wishes, my connection to you/to life/to the wild/to the mystery. Hoping the art or…

While waiting for paint to dry on two other works, I decide to do a small cut and paste. After choosing some yellow, orange, and green pieces, I begin playing around with adding blues. Sizing the blues’ effects on the YOG triad. My reaction to the blues soon switches from noting color interactions to seeing the…

The triad of yellow, orange and green holds fast. I am persistent in using this trio to grasp in paint what it means to take a step, to walk in space, through time, over many times. How can I use these colors to convey my introspections? Bringing to life the essence of a woman walking…

“I really like them! These are really nice! Really really nice! Awesome!! The best! A knockout!” I have to write an artist statement. More fitting to use bigger words and less exclamation marks. After much groaning, I wrote and revised a few times the following: A marble Greek relief of a woman walking, dated 1st century…