To G or not to G

Those last final touches can take weeks.

Little bits of paper go on and off and on and off and left and right and up and down.   Then a decision is made, often a regrettable one.  Then I start that one little section over.   Or paint over it.  And then wish I hadn't done that.

This piece has been on the table for weeks.  And weeks.  And it is taking up too much room.  I need to finish it.  A couple of squares are bugging me.  Some are too sparse.  And some are too busy.  

And that dang G needs to make up its mind to stay or go.

Charleston, SC: The Fall Tour 2014

Autumn here in Charleston is subtle.  Shy.  And a little bit late.  I do miss the brilliant display up north.  But if I still lived there, it would be long over.  Autumn here is looooonnnnng.  And just when you think there is nothing left, the camellias begin to bloom and spring is not far away.

Murray Boulevard Garden Society

Murray Boulevard Garden Society, Collage, 20x20" ©2014 K. Hambric

One of my favorite "new" pieces.  Must have been completed early in the year, before my 51st birthday.  Sometimes I put my age in my pieces.  Not because I am especially proud of making it though another year, but I just love the way numbers look.  Letters too.  And I love the number 5.  It's so beautiful.  Curves and angles.  It seems so complete to me.

Murray Boulevard sits on the Ashley River in Charleston, SC.  It is also known at the Low Battery.  It's houses are not quite as grand as those around the corner on the High Battery.  Google images for Charleston and it is the High Battery that shows up.  I imagine, from looking through the gates, that the gardens are quite lovely.  Possibly grand.  Not huge, however.  These are not plantations.  If the garden owners got together and formed a club, I feel that this would be a good, if humorous, representation.

My artwork is beginning to make the rounds of galleries.  I've just been given a no from one of my favorites and, I feel, one of the three best galleries in town.  I've got to saddle up the pony and trot my stuff back out there.  It is like getting your children out into the world.  I might think my daughter is just the best, smartest and most beautiful creature out there (she is).  But others might not feel the same way. Obviously.

That damn Dory from Finding Nemo keeps swimming past in my head . . .

     . . . . just keep on swimming . . . . keep on swimming . . . . keep on swimming

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

We spent our summer months back in State College, PA, so my husband could be close to work for eight weeks and we could (hopefully) escape the worst of the heat in Charleston, SC.

I'm assuming that when people ask how I spent my summer that they really want to know the answer.

Often I guess wrong.  I'm just a little surprised that those folks that asked didn't want to know that I spent my summer days in my attic studio battling wasps and painting little squares.

I shipped up a small box of acrylic paints, plastic hotel room keys, and piles of 4x4" and 5x5" gesso boards.

Paint was slapped on each little square with the plastic cards.  Areas were taped off and more paint was slapped on.  The paint was allowed to dry for a couple of days, then the pieces were stacked and room was made for more squares to be painted.

After being stacked for a few days, I went back to play with my squares by changing colors or adding more color or whiting things out.  I noticed that some of the squares had stuck to the others.  Lo and behold, I had discovered the rustic look I had tried to achieve in the past.

Now, I shall spend the rest of the summer and autumn figuring out what to do with these squares.  While I am looking forward to finishing these pieces, I would be happy just playing with color and paint for the next year or so.

Another Wall for Wile E.

Just when I thought I was ready to go live on that darn website, I run into another wall.  Will Wile E. Coyote ever catch that roadrunner?

Two Mondays ago, I was patting myself on the back for completed several more pieces AND photographing them, cleaning up those photographs, and having it all organized for putting on the website.  Then, I went back to the studio to pat myself on the back there.  I noticed one of my pieces did not look right.  Something had changed.  Upon inspection of several other pieces, they did not look right either.  Seems as if something I had used on several pieces was not a good idea.  Anyway, last week was spent in an attempt to fix them.  Most seem fixable.  One is probably bound for the trash bin.  Two others are on the fence.  And while I would like to be working on the website and new pieces, I am spending time correcting the past.

Anyway.  Two Tuesdays ago, I felt it was all going to be tossed in the trash and there was nothing I could do but go out and buy a handbag.  My latest one had just one more day left in it.  In my frame of mind, I bought two.  Spiffy.

And then a new mess of art supplies.  One order I thought would take care of the mess.  It did not.  The supplies in the next order seemed to help.  When in doubt, throw money.

But the best idea I seem to have had in a while is the purchase of new wooden letter stamps.

 Love these!  The large ones are 5" tall!  I must use these soon to improve my mood.  They were filthy little buggers.  Covered with decades old oily ink.  Not sure I have removed all of the ink.  They still have the tangy, dangerous smell of a grandfather's dank workshop.  These alphabets are far from being complete.  Hopefully, I will soon have an "OMG!" piece in the works.  Might have to do a LOL piece with the larger letters.

Has anyone out there ever thrown away a completed piece?

Wonders Never Cease

Wonders Never Cease, 20 x20' collage on board ©2013 K. Hambric

Still struggling with the new website.  Need to write that blasted artist statement and fill up an "about me" page.  Aaarrrgh.  I'd rather make art.


Here's a great quote from one of my favorite artists: Michael Dickter:

Paintings are made of hundreds of distinct moments and of small decisions; each has its own “no” or a small ecstatic “yes.” The finished piece is a history of those fleeting, but profound moments."

I'd much rather experience a small ecstatic "yes" than write about myself.  Or, at least I could visit his site and look at his beautiful bird paintings.

NSFW

A little joke.  This post is suitable for work.  It is, however, extremely raw.

Why don't I post more often?  I prefer to wait until a piece is finished.

I prefer to wait until the lighting is right and the studio is clean and organized.

I prefer to wait until I have the perfect, witty lines ready to accompany the finished artwork.



And that is why I have not posted since November.

I just received a witty little book in the mail.  Austin Kleon says I need to put something out there now.

Now, back to the studio to read more of this book and watch paint dry.