Rejection

Yet another lesson in learning to deal with rejection. This painting, titled "Dare to Dream," 36" x 36", was rejected from the Millard Sheets Gallery's Fine Art Competition at the 2005 Los Angeles County Fair. I thought it was a nice piece, but evidently the jurors, Steven Comba, Peter Frank and Roland Reiss don't agree. Or maybe there were thousands of entries, and there never was a chance of having my work selected. You never know.

Every artist experiences rejection, and it never seems to get any easier. It's always disappointing, and it makes me question the validity of my work.

Norman Rockwell?

My friend Ron says that this is the Norman Rockwell of blogs. Hmmm . . . I wonder what he means by that. Is it a compliment, or an insult . . . or neither? Is it because I often post pictures of my favorite subject -- cats?

Speaking of cats, here's Sashi's new favorite sleeping spot -- the bookshelf in the dining room, with her face pressed into the cookbooks. Very funny.

Have I shown you the symmetrical spots by Enzo's ears? His vet says that's where his horns used to be!

I fail to see what's Norman Rockwell-ish about this.

Orange Feast

It looks like opossum ate the oranges last night. They thoughtfully left the rinds intact. I don't think this is going to work. I'll have to try something else.

Finished Onion Piece

The red onion piece is done. I washed it out today. The onions were very slimy and smelly. You have to have a strong stomach for this type of work. It's about 24" x 24" and here's how it looks:



I love the fuschia and green areas. Here's a detail of that:



I had the onions under plastic, and I'm wondering if they'll mold better in the open air. Now I'm trying orange slices:



I'm going to leave half of them uncovered, and cover the other half with another piece of canvas. I have a feeling squirrels might take them before they start to mold, but we'll see. The ants have already discovered them.

I tried a banana like this, and ended up with perfectly dried banana slices. It didn't mold at all. So maybe they do need to be under plastic. I need to do more experimentation before I'll have a handle on how this works best.

Alternative Use

Here's another use for paintings. Sashi likes to sleep on top of the stacks!

Still Painting

I reworked the red and black painting from my "More Red" post a few days ago. It needed something else, so I added the mat black lines, red splatter, and a little gold splatter on top. This one is 24" x 36".



Here's a detail:



This is a 36" x 48" painting I started last spring, and then I got stuck and didn't know what else to do with it. It's been sitting for months, waiting for me to figure out what it needed. Yesterday I added the pink splatter in masked rows.



Detail:



I think it's done now!

Rob Jacobs Interview

I'm part of an artist discussion group, and occasionally we interview each other about our art. This evening Lyn Southworth interviewed Rob Jacobs, and I transcribed the interview, which follows. You can see Rob's art on his website.



Lyn: It's really delightful to be able to interview you tonight, Rob. The first question that I have for you has to do with your musical background. You have talked about a great love of music and all the study that you put into music. Could you tell us more about your musical background and how you feel music is present in your current paintings?

Rob: Thank you, Lyn. I was brought up in a family . . . my father was an artist and there was no professional music personage in my family, but my mother . . . I have one brother, and we had to play an instrument. So I started playing the clarinet when I was about eight. I loved music. It was a tremendous joy for me. I actually got to be a very good clarinet player. I played with people who were relatively well known in the world as I grew up. But, as far as art, I was just kind of observing my father do commercial art. He also did some painting – he made things -- but he was making a living as a handwriting artist and a calligrapher.

Rob: How does my art pertain to music? I think eventually the music started going down for me. It became almost like a dada experience. It almost became destroyed at some point. I went into the military and served there for about three and a half years. When I came out, music was almost gone, as far as a practical expression, and I went into art. I just kind of followed my father in the art field and eventually became a fine artist. I don't think that they really related. They seem to be two separate entities for me.

Lyn: So one stage of your life was music and then another stage of your life is art.

Rob: Yes, but I still love music. Music kind of came back, but just more as my love for it, and more as a spiritual pursuit. I just pretty much do it on a spiritual level. Chanting, and things like that.

Lyn: I'm glad you brought up the spiritual level. I've seen some of your angel series, and I would like to know how you came to create that angel series.

Rob: One day – I think it was around 1990 or so – a voice told me to create a series of angels. Just as clear as that. I had no idea why. I just followed that intuition – that voice. I began doing that, and then it was later on that I actually found out why I created the series. There was a specific incident with my father which was pretty incredible. I'll just relate it very quickly, because it's part of this whole thing.

Rob: I had created something like – I hate to use the term “I created” – I just felt it was coming through me, but I had done maybe six or seven angels. My father was living at a retirement home in Westwood. One day when I was over there I asked him if he wanted one of my angel pieces in his room, and he said, “Yes.” He chose – I call it number five – angel five. And these words came out of my mouth – I didn't even try to say them. I said, “This angel will protect you.” Without trying to say them, the words came out.

Rob: My studio was across from the LA County Museum of Art. I always, without exception, made an arrangement to see him when I was going to see him, and I saw him every week. One day I was going home, and I wasn't going to see him. I was heading up toward Hollywood. Another voice, just as clear as if it was saying it to me in my head, said “Go see your father, go see your father.” I hadn't planned on seeing him – I hadn't made any arrangements. So I turned around, went to Westwood, went up to the seventh floor where he was living, and I could hear the television through the door. I'm knocking on the door, and there's no answer. So I got the people to open up the door, and he was out cold on the floor. He had had a diabetic shock – insulin shock. The paramedics were there within a short period of time, and they saved him, revived him. I knew that the voice was that angel calling me to come back.

Lyn: Come and take care of your dad. What an experience!

Rob: However, about a year and a half later he passed on. He was ninety-three years old, and he had lived in every decade of the twentieth century.

Lyn: I'm very glad I asked that question! What a wonderful story. One of the things I was wondering is if you would imagine for us, and I kind of hate to ask you to do this, but I think it might be pretty interesting. Please imagine for us what your future work will be like. Are you thinking of venturing into new medias, new subjects, traveling further down the path you’re currently investigating? Look ahead.

Rob: It's a really good question. All my fine art uses as its source palettes that I pre-created in commercial art. Some series I add to them. Like the angels – I add to them. The palettes become backgrounds, and then I add angels and layers and . . . I was just looking the other day at the number of palettes I have left, and going through them. I'm glad that I have this means of expression, because one of the most important things to me in art is to do something unique. My palettes are my palettes, for good, bad or it doesn't make any difference. That's my art. It can never be taken away from it. It's what I do.

Rob: Will I continue to keep on using this as a source? In a way, I hate to say it, but I'm afraid to let go of it. I was going through some of them the other day – I have a lot – probably over a thousand or more. I'm still finding images that I'm resonating with. I do a lot with it, but as the prime source, it's like the foundation of my work. I see continuing to make better images with those materials.

Lyn: You're very lucky to have a thousand of them left. If I were you I would be looking at a shrinking pile and going, “Uh oh!” The last question in this interview is kind of a personal one. Maybe the other ones were personal, too, but what do you think is essential for people who see your paintings to know about you?

Rob: I never thought of it like that. What I want to know, when I have an art experience with someone else, is if it takes me to another place – a place I haven't been to, moves me emotionally. I don't know if I'd want them to know more about me. What I want to do is present something that will give someone the experiences I've had that have moved me to another place. One example was when I heard this Indian violinist, Supermanian (SP?), his name is, at a concert. He started playing with this group, and I was literally transformed to India. It was the most amazing thing. I was seeing cows and people. It was so incredible I just about fell off the chair when he was through playing. It was an experience that was so unique. That's what I would like to accomplish, that someone is moved. “Wow! I haven't seen this.” That’s pretty much it I think.

Lyn: Thank you very much.

Rob: Thank you!

Basquiat at MOCA

I saw the Jean-Michel Basquiat show at MOCA today. I was particularly taken with the above triptych from 1982, titled "Six Crimee." It's not obvious in this image, but some of those line squiggles were made with fingerpainting to expose the painting underneath. It looks really cool when you see it in person.

This is an inspiring show. There's so much energy and freedom in his work, and it makes me feel like I want to work more loosely.

More Red

I might submit this painting to the "Primarily Red"" show at the I-5 Gallery as well. It's 24" x 36", and I just finished it today. It's a cousin to the overlapping brushstroke painting in the post below. I covered it with black gesso, let it partially dry, and then hosed it down.



Here's a detail of the painting:



I think it's one of those pieces that looks better in person!

Here's what happens when the black gesso gets too dry before being hosed down:



This one might be good for the "Primarily Not Red" show! It's really difficult to know how long to wait before hosing off a painting. Too soon, and everything washes off. Too late, and nothing washes off.

Primarily Red

Here are two of the paintings I'm going to submit to the "Primarily Red" show at the I-5 Gallery next January.






I don't usually do paintings that are mostly one color. It's good to be pushed outside the box once in a while.

Purple Cabbage Piece

I'm not too excited about the purple cabbage piece. As expected, the bright pink completely washed out. The patterns aren't as distinct as the red onion patterns.



Bugs ate a hole in the fabric. Maybe this will just have to be part of the look. I don't think there's any way to prevent it.



I want to try oranges next, but I haven't figured out how to keep the squirrels from carrying them off.

Wax Finish

I covered one of the red onion mold-dyed pieces with beeswax to bring out the colors. Now it's so transparent you can see the stretcher bars underneath it.



I'm not sure if this is a problem or not.

I considered using linseed oil, but it's so toxic, and Ramian at Graphaids said it would eventually dry and lose its wet look. Damar varnish was a possibility, but it's toxic, too. So I went with beeswax, which gives it an off-white color, and a nice beeswax smell to cover up the onion smell!

More on Red Onions

I opened up the small red onion mold-dyeing piece today because I'm impatient and I couldn't wait any longer to see what was happening.



It could have used more time. The greens and yellows were just beginning to develop. Here are details:



These have been washed and ironed, and only smell slightly of onions!

I'm not thrilled with the black splotches, but I don't know how to avoid them.

I can see why one would use this technique for drapery fabric. Look at how the colors stand out with light coming through it in a window:



I might be able to simulate that effect with wax or varnish, although with this body of work my goal is to get away from any materials that aren't natural.

Naphthol Red

What is in Naphthol Red paint? It smells like ant poison, and it gives me a headache. I was trying to get away from cadmium, which is toxic, but I think this might be worse. I can't believe it's considered safe to use.

Gold Leaf

Here's an update on the "ugly" paintings from a couple of weeks ago.



I call them "Gold Leaf," because I used an actual leaf to stamp them with metallic gold paint! A little artist humor there. I like where they're headed, but I don't think they're done just yet. I'll have to sit with them for a while before I'll know what the next step is.

Painting Gems

I stretched eight more of my small 13" x 13" paintings today. Here are four displayed together.



Eventually I want to have a wall of them -- maybe twenty or so. They remind me of the way an agate looks when you cut it in half, thus the name "Gems."

I'm in the process of finishing up all of the projects I got started, and then I'll start on some new paintings.

P.S. -- The purple cabbage piece is suddenly looking very moldy. It's hard to know how long to let it go. I think I'll let it go a while longer and see what happens.



Just today, I can see the outlines of the onions coming through the fabric of the small red onion piece. Interesting. This one might be pretty.

Weaving

I'm finishing up a couple of handwoven scarves on my rigid heddle loom.



The warp is a rayon-cotton blend that I space-dyed turquoise, magenta, and coral, and the weft is a frou-frou nylon eyelash yarn. For the scarf I'm working on, I dyed the frou-frou weft purple.



The weft of the scarf underneath on the take-up bar is scarlet red.



Same warp, two totally different scarves. This is what I do in my spare time!

Mold Dyeing

Judy asked for an update on the red onions, and here it is:



They've lost most of their red color, but they haven't yet started to mold. I'd say they have another few weeks to go.

In the meantime, here's what's happening with the purple cabbage:



A lot of the purple stain is still there, but something is turning yellow and brown, and I'm getting those black spots that I dislike. I'm not sure if the black spots are mildew or mold.

The clamps are beginning to rust, leaving rust stains on the fabric. I'm thinking of using this effect later by folding fabric and clamping it to get intentional rust marks.



The good news is that bugs haven't eaten holes in the canvas yet! That's always a concern.

Judy asked if these are known techniques. They are ancient techniques of applying color and pattern to cloth, and there are a handful of artists, primarily fiber artists, who have resurrected them for modern use.

Stephanie Sabato and Christopher Leitch were the first people I heard about who used mold to apply color to silk. There was an article about their work in the November/December 1994 issue of Fiberarts magazine. They let fruits and vegetables mold on silk to create fabrics for wearables and interior design use. I couldn't find any information about them on the Internet, and I don't think they are doing this type of work anymore.

I read about German artist Inken Woldsen in the Fall 1998 issue of Surface Design, the journal of the Surface Design Association. Woldsen buried pieces of scrap metal wrapped in fabric to create fiber art pieces. Woldsen has a website, and it looks like she has moved on to more traditional forms of painting. Her website is in a language that I can't read. I was able to find a picture of one of her rust and dirt stained pieces from 1991 online.

Kimberly Baxter Packwood uses a process she calls compost dyeing to create fabrics for quilts. She wraps organic materials in a fabric bundle, and buries them in a compost pile until the matter stains the fabric. She also sometimes adds colors from natural dyes. You can see examples of her work on her Prairie Fibers Company website.

There may be other people working in this medium, but these are the only ones I know about.

My use of the process is different. I am using heavy canvas and will stretch the pieces as fine art when they are done. I plan to do a series of stains on each piece to achieve a layered effect. Each "dyeing" or staining of the fabric takes several weeks to several months, depending on the weather, and completing a piece can take a year or more. I carefully arrange my organic materials on the fabric before sandwiching them with clamps between sheets of Plexiglas and letting them sit in the yard to mold.

Judy also asked about the toxicity of moldy fabric. (Judy asks all the good questions!) At the end of the dyeing or staining process the moldy matter is removed, and the mold is neutralized and completely washed out. It leaves behind permanent stains on the fabric in unusual patterns.

Dyeing or staining fabric using mold, oxidized metals, and pigments in dirt is an ancient technique, similar to the use of natural dyes. I feel that it is a timely process because of the growing concern about our environment and the toxicity of art materials.

When doing this type of work, I am in collaboration with nature. I decide which materials to apply, what type of fiber to use, how to prepare the fabric, and how long to let it sit. Nature does the rest.

Terrorist Attacks

I am deeply saddened by the terrorist attacks in London today, but also puzzled about why suicide bombings happen everywhere but the United States. The Brits were just going along with our plan, and they get attacked but we don't. Why is that? I don't wish for attacks on anyone, but I don't understand why our allies get attacked and we remain untouched -- 911 being the one exception.

New Triptych

Here's a new triptych for your consideration:



I just finished stretching this one today, and it's overall size is 24" x 64". I'm having a lot of trouble with warped, or possibly not precisely cut, stretcher bars. I use Best Heavy Duty stretcher bars, which are the best ones around, but I've been having this problem for a few months now. If you know of anything better, do tell! I may have to go with custom-made stretchers.

"Shen" Installation

I went to see one of my paintings installed in the lobby of the 8383 Wilshire Blvd. building in Beverly Hills today. I used to frequent this building many years ago when I worked nearby, because there's a post office in the building. My painting is the first thing you see when you walk in the front doors, behind the security desk.



This picture of the outside of the building is for Ron, because he'll remember this place, too. We worked together at that time, and he accompanied me on walks there during our breaks.



I never dreamed then that one of my paintings would end up in the lobby of this building. What a trip to go back and see it there now!

Annie Lennox

Did you see Annie Lennox at the Live 8 concert in London? Oh my God. What power, what grace. If you missed her performance, you can see it on the Internet. Watch all four of her on-demand videos from the concert: "Why", her comments about poverty, "Little Bird" and the classic "Sweet Dreams" .

I am totally mesmerized by her. I want to be her. Not through music, because I don't know a thing about music, but through art. She has the power to emotionally touch millions of people. What do I have to do to become the Annie Lennox of the art world, and what would that look like? Who is the Annie Lennox of the art world?

Art Update

I've been doing some smaller paintings lately, 13" x 13". I'm going to display twelve of them together, as if they're one large piece. These are two of the smaller paintings I just finished stretching:



Here's how the purple cabbage piece looks so far:



It's slices of purple cabbage sandwiched between pieces of vinegar-soaked canvas, and the whole thing sandwiched between sheets of plexiglass. The purple cabbage is staining the fabric nicely. I think it will turn a blue-gray when washed and exposed to air. The red onions and parsley aren't doing much yet. These things take time -- lots and lots of time.

Live 8 Concerts

This is so amazing . . . you can watch six of the nine Live 8 concerts live on the Internet. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Toronto and Philadelphia. You can switch between them, or watch a global feed which cuts between them for you. I feel like I've actually moved into the 21st century!

100,000 in Paris. 150,000 in Berlin. 200,000 in London. Over a million in Philadelphia. And billions watching on the Internet and television. What an incredible feat. So far over 25 million people worldwide have added their names to the petition to be presented to the G8 next week.

Watching so many people united in their love of music and their interest in eliminating poverty and starvation is a very moving experience. We are truly becoming one world, and it makes events like the Fourth of July that celebrate separation seem ridiculous.

Congratulations Bob! Good job. Did you know that Bob Geldof was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, but can't be called Sir because he's an Irish citizen and not British? Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Talk about ridiculous.

There's still time to sign the Live 8 petition. The G8 are meeting on July 6th.