Making art is hard. The illusion of social media typically portrays the wins; you rarely see the struggle. Today: an unfiltered look behind the scenes and in my brain at the studio.
This month I received a set of gorgeous litho prints from the Tamarind Institute that I made while in Albuquerque in February. The last time I worked with litho prints—2017—we made Every line is a circle if you make it long enough (still on display in the front window at Tamarind) and The other Ishihara test series, and I thought I was all set to knock out a killer follow up.
I envisioned a set of 18” x 18” or 20” x 20” pieces that could work together or stand alone on a collector’s wall. I had big plans and multiple directions they could go in—and almost every single one was great in my head and terrible in person.
These lovely prints became somehow cartoonish and much too pleasant when assembled into my ideas. Some of them worked OK . . . but refused to work with any others in the series.
I really liked the direction of this one:
But when his friend showed up, it became a cake disaster.
Then there’s this design. It’s based in my S&S&S&S series and I am thrilled with what it’s doing with color, shape, and shadow . . . but I cannot get it to sit flat. There is a pronounced wave/buckle happening on the long edges that is slowly, deliberately killing me. I normally don’t have to hide glue tabs, but this one has a web of tabs holding it in place that are doing me no favors in terms of construction.
All of my ideas failed in similar ways:
After fighting with them for weeks I landed on a set of two that I actually liked:
The shifts, the colors, the hidden shapes, the corners, and the multiple ways of seeing are there. It’s trite to say it’s nice when you can translate what’s in your head to the actual materials, but it IS nice! And maybe the viewer gets some of it too? I know I see these colors wrong,* but what I can see makes sense. I hope it connects with you.
When things get difficult I try to remind myself that part of the process of making work is wading through the bad ones to get to the good ones. I need to figure out what’s not working and then focus on what is. The long days are necessary to get to the easy ones. The struggle is just part of the process.
* I am colorblind (Deuteranopia). My color perception is bad, especially in low light and in muted tones. Overall, my right eye sees more saturated tones than my left; it’s like moving a slider in Photoshop. I have no idea which one is more accurate, but I believe it is this deficiency in perception that allows me a certain focus on pattern, form, and repetition.
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Additional commissions & new work happening in the studio this month:
If you’d like to get a piece for your collection, take a look here for all the pieces that are currently available.
xoxo,
M
Thank you so much for sharing this. The struggle is real! I know when I'm on to something I'll love when this thought crosses my mind..."This is too hard, I quit." Luckily, I've been able to identify that, though it took me many of years of therapy to see it. FWIW - good call on the cake piece. It looks like something I'd find on a wedding website.
“The long days are necessary to get to the easy ones.” This is so well said!
Your fans at Tamarind are behind you every step!