Jeffrey Lewis - Time Trades

The best reason I can think of to make some art. My favorite line? "So when you're old you can blow some whippersnapper's mind." Cheers!

Pink gets pushed around!

I've been working in pink lately, without really knowing it. Yesterday I was working on that top painting and I stopped and looked around at how much pink I've been making lately. And I felt kind of like hiding it. Now why is that? Pink is one of those colors that has SO many associations, and most of them are sugary sweet and girly childlike, right? But pink is a color I often work with, and I'm really noticing, now that I'm noticing, how much I have always worked with pink. An artist friend once told me emphatically that she DOES NOT WORK IN PINK. I asked her why not because she said it in such a way that it made me think she thought working in pink would be "weak". She couldn't really answer. She just laughed and said she left that to other girls! Hmmm. I feel a show theme coming on involving the maligning of the color pink. In my own case I would have to say pink is versatile and powerful. I don't think what I paint in pink is weak or "girly". But it would be interesting to explore where this bias comes from and how pervasive it is. Any thoughts? 

Ceramics just out of the kiln!

The process of making ceramics has been going on for me very slowly. But, here are some things that were just fired. Mostly I've been working in red clay and experimenting with translating what I do on canvas and panels to clay. But the second photo is of a bowl made of white clay, and the last photo is porcelain. I have one more "ruffle pot" coming out of the kiln that was glazed, where this one was not, so I'm anxious to see the difference. I love working with clay and porcelain because it makes me really be thoughtful and intentional about everything I do, and yet the whole process is very unpredictable! It's a weird dynamic, but it must be good for me on some level because I keep going back for more. And I can't say enough about what a fine teacher Ingrid Bathe is. She has taught me so much, and in a way that allows me my own space and expression. She is participating in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show at the convention center in Philadelphia next week, so if you are in that area check it out.