Happy Fourth!

Deborah Jaouen, acrylic ink and collage on antique paper ©2012

 
So far, it's been a great Fourth of July, with an early morning swim, freshly picked blackberries for breakfast, and collage and mark making in the studio. I was inspired to make something with a vaguely patriotic flavor and here it is!

Today's the day for potato salad. So it's off to lunch, with barbecued chicken, potato salad and watermelon granita. Hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating or just hanging out with family and friends.

it just has to be you

you can draw whatever you want. you can draw however you want. it doesn't have to make sense. it doesn't even have to be good. it just has to be you.  -- Jean-Michel Basquiat

This isn't a post about drawing. It's about inspiration and being authentic.

Entrance to Chelsea Highline

 Travel has a way of coaxing out your true self and helping you see the way ahead more clearly.

Up on the highline 

  A trip to New York is one of the best gifts of inspiration. 

Iconic lion at the New York Public Library

Plenty of cool marble for a bookish retreat on a sweltering day.

Makes me want to join the 15,000 and create an artist's book of my own.

I love imagining the beautiful, modern home where I would put this sculpture by Matt Wedel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having missed the Keats House when I was in Rome last fall, I was pleased to visit Shelley's Ghost at the New York Public Library. It was amazing to see the original manuscript of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein along with several of Shelley's manuscripts (complete with accomplished drawings),  and to be able to picture the extraordinary lives led by this circle of young friends. They must have been considered wildly scandalous in their day! And unbelievably tragic. Throughout it all, they continued to create. You can't get much more inspiring than that.

Working with What's on Hand

We have the best plums, and this year we actually got to gather some by putting a mini electric fence around the tree to keep the squirrels and a crafty raccoon out. The fence will soon be moved to our pear tree as the fruit ripens.

 Plum sorbet--all you do is cook the plums into a coulis (don't forget to strain it), and add cream. Freeze in a sorbet maker, or just stir every 45 minutes or so to break up the ice crystals. It's divine! Next time we'll use yogurt to make it a little healthier.

 Remember this bracelet I was trying to find here?

Here it is, newly revamped with buttons. I have more buttons, in case these fall off.

 A funky old lamp acquired years ago from a lady who had a LOT of funky old Arabian Nights lamps.

Somewhat more modern looking now.

A little house from my upcoming series.

Can you see the teabag paper?

Another teabag/mark making drawing. 

 I'm carving stamps out of champagne corks.

And liking this deep plum color flocked paper from the 70's.

Happy Father's Day, and a beautiful summer (or winter, depending on where you are) day to everyone!

Schiele Shilling Now?

 Shortly after joining Tumblr, I realized that an amazing, non mainstream artist I discovered a long time ago in college is not as secret now as it seemed to us back then. You may have guessed I'm talking about Egon Schiele, whose name, art and signature is now being used to hawk cosmetics.

Egon Schiele - 1912, Two Seated Female Nudes

The cosmetics company purports to take its 1910 Vienna seriously, even recreating make up from  Schiele's works--for a trade show. The logo (Schiele's signature) is a nice touch too. Could these people actually create anything? I doubt Egon was worrying about makeup colors during his short, turbulent life that produced some of the greatest drawings in art history.

"This exquisite line of cosmetics has been inspired by the great art of the famous Austrian Expressionist, Egon Schiele (1890-1918), who painted sensual beauties in WWI-era Austria. The quality of the Egon Schiele Cosmetics is exceptional, made with minerals beneficial for your skin. The colors have been carefully chosen and developed to perfectly compliment the lustrous hues of Schiele’s paintings and drawings. Application of Egon Schiele cosmetics will make you look and feel like the creation of a famous artist. “For the The Makeup Show NYC 2012 we have recreated painting by Schiele painted in 1912. Exactly 100 years ago. We carefully recreated all the colors and specifically the makeup of our model.”

I naively thought works of art had 95 years or so before falling into the public domain, where they can be used for crass and commercial ends by crass and commercial marketers. Your thoughts?

Daily Teabag Recap

 Let me clarify--these aren't strictly made one at a time, one per day.

I'm apparently not hardwired for working on and completing one thing at a time. 

I like to think of my modus operandi as controlled chaos, whereby suddenly--voila!--several finished pieces materialize from my marks.

 More fun that way.

And definitely not a linear thought process.

Noticing similar themes crop up in my work is somehow gratifying--this is one of the flowers I've made recently during my crafty/etsy phase. 

If you've done a blog post on common themes in your own work or put photos online somewhere, please feel free to leave a link in the comments. I'm fascinated! Happy weekend!

Vines and Roses

The roses I neglect are the ones that do the best!

 En mai fait ce qu'il te plaît--Do what you like in May. This feels very appropriate right now-- this spring has been so magnificent on our property, almost like living in a dream world (the Shire) or in Brittany.

An amazingly engineered nest in the vineyard

Climate seems to be everything to my husband and me, probably because we were born and raised in wonderful ones, California and Brittany, where everything grows and the humidity is low.

Shiraz grapes full of promise

There's nothing like having the windows open with a natural breeze in the house. Being able to work outside when you want. 

The last of the azaleas

Gardening is fun, not torture, and we have at least another week of loveliness left before mercury and humidity skyrocket until mid August.

It's good weather for being productive.

 A new collage made on Mother's Day.

©2012 Deborah Jaouen

I hope everyone had a sweet  Mother's Day enjoying family and doing what you love.

Lovely Spring Feeling

Hope it's a beautiful spring (or autumn) day where you are! Around here, the beauty of spring is almost surreal. And must be treasured, in view of our superhot, humid, but at the same time drought-y summers...

Here's the beauteous fabric sent to me from South Africa by Robyn of ArtPropelled. I'm hoping to get time to make something from it soon. And I've just finished a sculpture series dating from almost a year back, which I'll show you in a coming post. In the meantime, I'm happy to have done more teabag drawings.

You might have noticed I haven't been the most regular poster on this blog of late. As every artist who tries to self promote their art knows, when you have your own business (and let's just say I have more than one to run) you're responsible for so many (too many!) details. And the devil is in the details. But I'm feeling on top of it all once again. The decision to let go of trying to be found on Etsy is contributing to my peace of mind.

Do you have any suggestions or experience concerning alternative online venues for selling your artwork?