Spain Art Residency Revisit Part 3 - Working in Cádiz

December 03, 2015 in Art Residency

This was my very first sketchbook entry in Cádiz. I already saw something different here. I was jet lagged when I drew it, but I also felt a change in the colors I was using and the abstract feel. I think the colors and lighting of the city had something to do with it.

There were days when I just had work everywhere: laid out on the floor, taped to the wall and covering the table. I was experimenting far more here than I had been back home.

We had a huge rooftop to go out and work on. I didn't spend much time working there, but did take my coffee out there when I arrived each day. One of the other artists in residence, Amy Podmore, created these legs with blue painter's tape. She made one each day. It was really cool to watch this evolve. Her work is amazing.

I literally could not stop making work while on this residency. The horizon line between the sky and sea endlessly inspired me, as well as random memories of my past. In fact, that was one of the most eye-opening aspects of being out there: being away from home and familiar circumstances causing me to revisit past experiences that I had not thought of in a long time.

The stone sketch that inspired the life-sized fireplace installation

Dioramas, collage, installations, drawings... Rewriting this post reminds me that I have a lot of unfinished ideas to pursue.

One thing I loved is how much I painted from my imagination in Cádiz. I often begin a drawing with either a photograph or life reference. The above painting was inspired by the forts I made as a kid, but from my imagination.

This is one of my diorama ideas that I got really excite about while out there. I had stripes of watercolor that I cut loosely with an X-acto knife. I lay these in front of the Blanket Fort painting and really liked what was happening. I wanted the idea to relate to memory and how it becomes harder to remember the whole picture clearly.

I'm looking forward to my upcoming show at The Arsenal in February 2016. I think you'll find a lot of influence from this time period. Thanks for following along in this series! It will continue through December.

100 Day Project: Days 71-80

November 30, 2015 in 100 Day Project

Well, it's feeling pretty good right about now. I'm 80% done with the 100 Day Project. Funny thing is, this was probably the slowest going batch yet. At this point, I am really looking forward to the art to come after it's done. In fact, I'm already working on some new work based on these sketches from this project.

Day 71 Take a break

I bought a large and long photograph of campers at the YWCA Girls Camp in 1917. They have the most interesting faces and I thought it would be fun to do a large Sumi ink painting of these ladies. Their expressions range so greatly! Some are smiling, some smirking and others frowning. It makes me wonder what life would have been like for them back in the day...

Day 72 Only one element of each kind

On the day I drew this one, I realized lately I have been training jiu jitsu, sleeping, eating, reading and painting lately. It's been busy but productive around here.

Day 73 Discard an axiom

I went with my dad to see Michio Kaku speak a little while back. His talk focused on the topic of "the future." It was pretty mind blowing to hear his vision of the future so I painted this portrait of him.

Day 74 Use an unacceptable color

I have often avoided the color pink because of the princess and girly association it has so I knew that would be my unacceptable color. While sketching with a friend at our neighborhood coffee shop, I decided to draw/paint these geraniums.

Day 75 Simply a matter of work

I tossed a few unexciting ideas around until I thought of painting a Greek vase with some hard working silhouettes. I was so happy with how this turned out. I think I will be doing more silhouette and vessel paintings.

Day 76 State the problem in words as clearly as possible

I don't quite remember how I exactly came up with this, but it was exciting to me once it hit. I wanted to convey that my head was in the clouds. This painting came out quite naturally, from the hairs around the bun to the complementary orange and blue color scheme.

Day 77 What are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate

Some friends and I were headed to a cabin for a friend's birthday at the end of the week. My mind was on the mountains and the possibility of seeing snow (which we did). This serene scene reminds of a tiny painting I made a few years ago.

Day 78 Retrace your steps

I decided to draw my favorite shoes I have had over the years. These classic shoes have been trustily getting me from one place to the next: Salt Water Sandals, Vans, Sperry Top Siders, Bass and Clark's Desert Boots. I really loved how these turned out.

Day 79 Voice nagging suspicions

As you can see at the top of this image, I decided to compete in my first jiu jitsu tournament. It makes me nervous and excited, but I am so glad I decided to do it!

Day 80 Accretion

You know, the build up of layers over time. I once visited the Oregon Caves, which were at the end of miles of windy road, cold and dark as you would expect.

Well, onto the last 20!

Thinking Out Loud

November 18, 2015 in Ramblings

Last weekend, a group of friends and I went to a cabin in Sonora and had the world's best time. All of these friends are artists or creative so we spent a lot of time around the table painting, drawing and coloring. We listened to records, watched a scary movie in a rainstorm, spied on deer wandering all around the neighborhood and played in the snow for a bit. I can't tell you how much these people inspire me and how lucky I am to have such good friends.

These last few weeks I feel like I've found a really good groove. I have been working super hard getting ready for the holiday season and putting my nose to the grind to make things happen. I'm getting much better at knowing what's the next most important thing to do and everything feels very natural lately.

Learn/Unlearn

Learning and unlearning have been themes in my life lately. It's so important to improve and get better at what you do. With art I think the main way to do this is to simply work. This means getting things done and experimenting, be it your art or your accounting. I also think unlearning is a HUGE thing. Creatives often overeducate on the excessive amount of information out there. I know I have spent time on blogs, listening to podcasts and reading books to gain knowledge on running a business, productivity, etc., but when I cut myself off from a lot of it, that's when things start to get on track and where I want to go. It works best when I take risks and try things out, not looking at others' advice or strategies. In my seeking of more information, I have found you are often told a certain path you should take. There's also A LOT of unqualified people trying to sell advice to artists. Blocking out the noise has been a big thing for me these last few months.

Anything Goes

Artists can do anything they want these days. You can print your work on products, show in galleries, sell in person and online, design book covers and on and on. I've always been one to do things my own way so of course I love this. When I graduated art school, you still had to get (very expensive) slides of your work and submit them to galleries as the standard. I wanted to be an artist that made increasingly higher priced work to show in galleries. I think the thought of selling paintings for $10,000 is just not appealing to me. I'm much more interested in allowing design, ceramics and other things to be a part of my art. I just made a calendar. I'm working on new paintings. I'm working on some book submissions. Maybe someday I will work in an altogether different medium. I love being in the moment and just seeing what happens.

Systems

Systems. I have automated and organized so many parts of what I do. From creating a queue of projects to creating a shipping log that tells me what is pending or complete, to gutting my studio and organizing it into a beautiful place, everything has done a 180 since I have put better systems in place.

Quantity

You have to make and sell a lot of work to make a living with art. I feel like I used to depend on work from six months ago to sell when I just need to be making new work and evolving. Also, the more that I hunker down, work on the nitty gritty and make work or improve my workflow, the more opportunities seem to come my way.

"In the particular lies the universal."

This line by graphic designer James Victore really speaks to me. When I think of my best work, it is personal and totally me. He says:

"To pull from the most personal areas of your life, your opinions, your stories, your experiences - by doing this you create something meaningful not only to yourself but to those who see it."

You can read more in this article he wrote. It's so important to not just think of art all the time, but walk outside, spend time with people who matter and do things that are totally different, which of course, will give you experience and stories.

100%

With jiu jitsu, I sometimes wonder if I'm giving 100% more often than I do with art. I think it's because it feels like a do or die situation where you are fighting another human. You really have to try and give it your all. With art, it's so subjective. Is it finished? Is it garbage? I have been thinking a lot about how I want to give 100% to everything I do lately. I also know that training jiu jitsu has helped me to make faster and bolder decisions with everything I do since you have to when you are on the mat. This is helping me to make faster and bolder decisions with my art.

Insanity

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

- Einstein. I don't even need to expand on this.

View through a castle window from Castillo Santa Catalina

Spain Art Residency Revisit Part 2 - Around Cádiz

November 12, 2015 in Art Residency

Cádiz is located on a small strip of land, surround by the sea on three sides. They say it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. It is one of the safest, prettiest and most magical cities I have been to. The lighting, color and people are enough to make you feel like you stumbled on a different world, one where time has stood still with hints of modernity. While I was there, I decided to see where it was on the latitude compared to here in San Jose. Funny enough, Cádiz is at 36.53 degrees north and San Jose is at 37.33 degrees north. Just about one degree of separation. I ended up drawing a lot of comparisons by location, weather, population and more while I was there and incorporating it in my art work.

There are many streets like this, open to pedestrians and motorcycles, but generally not cars. When you do see cars, they are small and modest.

Apartment courtyard with oh so many plants

The balconies and rooftops alone made me want to live here. Not to mention that everyone decorates their homes with so many plants.

Classic Spain right here. People eating outside in the plaza, random accordion player and cobblestone. I passed this plaza, Plaza del Mentidero, everyday on my way to the art studio.

A woodshop open to the street. I loved finding artisans working in these arched doorways. This is one of several I passed by.

Citywide, you can walk along the city walls. On sunny days, the water had an aquamarine hue, unlike any other ocean I have seen.

Along the southern wall, Parque Genoves is a landscaped area and nearby you find checkerboard floors and the balcony that overlooks the ocean. Seeing this everyday made me feel like I was in a lost Bergman film or storybook.

Just some birds and a walkway to a castle

A sea cat on the city wall looking out at New Town.

Among the blocks, I found dozens of cats living and hunting for food. One day, I smelled something terrible and when I peered over, found the cats eating a sea gull. Live nature show.

The domed Gran Catedral is one of the most notable buildings in Old Town. It was such an icon for me, since I sketched it before I left on my trip. Walking through the city was something I did daily. Things felt very intuitive here. Unplanned and spontaneous.

More to come...including the food and working in the studio...

What Goes On 11/6/2015

November 06, 2015 in 100 Day Project

This week's What Goes On is actually from the last two weeks. It's been a little crazy around here, but now I am back on schedule.

Arting

Nancy Ahn, Suhita and Claudine so focused on their sketches.

This month's SoFA Sketch was a small but great gathering at SoFA Market. I feel like in the last couple months, it has found its groove. I was a late on promoting it, didn't get around to it until the day of, but that made for an awesome table of artists working intimately.

Nancy Ahn drew Konjoe Tei Ramen & Izakaya

Some of the artists will draw from life and others from their imaginations. I love the mix. It always makes it fun. I am finding the

Suhita Shirodkar's pumpkins. Her sketches are always so loose, yet representative.

Bryan's awesome cats on a dimly lit street.

Another sketch of Suhita's. I love the contrast of the bottles and the dark figures.

The next SoFA Sketch is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday November 25th. Follow me on Instagram @francesmarin to stay in the loop on things.

Designing

No sneak peaks yet, but I have been doing some behind the scenes designing lately and can't wait to share them with you this month. Hint: bags and a calendar.

Eating

I made this Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup this week. It's super good and hearty. You can also toast the seeds afterwards. It turned out killer!

Listening

I listened to the Halloween edition of This American Life, titled And the Call Was Coming From the Basement. I'll just say the segment on the raccoon freaked me out!

Watching

I FINALLY saw How to Draw a Bunny. After years of being recommended this movie by friends and waiting for it to appear for free on YouTube, it surfaced so I could watch it. Lesser known, Ray Johnson was an artist who was friends with a lot of famous friends: Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, James Rosenquist, Christo... He was so prolific and his work was ahead of its time. He hated galleries and museums. He was a also a mystery to many people. Watch it.

I've been pretty into the show The Americans. It takes place during the Cold War and focuses on two KGB spies disguised as a suburban American couple. I think a big part of why I like it is that it takes place in the 80's. I also love that it is pre-cell phone, so they have to figure things out via landlines . It's nice to see them handle things in a fairly low tech way. The acting is pretty good and it is nice and suspenseful.