the long game
I planted zinnia seeds in the crack between the house and our alley, where the brick meets the brick. Less than ideal soil, we forget to water them, and we almost weeded them multiple times. Now, they are blooming.
Coffee with artist and friend Leah at the VMFA this morning. We sat inside with our hot drinks. Talked about how being an artist means playing the long game. Pitches sent, but not won. Work created, but for what? Ideas discussed, but still ideas. Making and making and making, but why? Until one day the work reveals it’s self and you start to connect the dots and understand why you were doing what you were doing. Being an artist means being ready for the universe when it comes by the studio.
Listening to the new HAIM album on repeat.
The to do list for June is still here, much of it unfinished. I love the push I feel at the end of the month to attempt to clear it. Does it ever get cleared? No. But the forcing mechanism of seeing what I prioritize vs. what stays on is interesting to see.
I’be been thinking about quilts again. My new years resolution was to learn how to sew (and to go to the beach more). I’ve been reading about quilters whose work I’ve admired (Harriet Powers, The community of Gee’s Bend). I loved the short documentary, The Quilters on Netflix. I’ve had my first baby sewing projects but quilting is forever on my mind. I think because it combines so much of what I am trying to do in my art - reuse materials, assemble them, and tell a simplified visual story. In a recent mural pitch I thought about what it would be like to create a mural on the wall with paint, inspired by quilting traditions. My work, but as a quilt. We’ll see how it goes.
This time last year I was at my artist residency at Milkwood in upstate New York. I wrote about it here. It was where One Big Yard came to life. It was one of the most important weeks of my art making life.
Watermelon leaves are big - the vines are long. Flowers but no melons yet.
Theo and I had a solo lunch at the VMFA. Pizza and apple juice (his choice). He said he wanted to show me a statue of a sheep turning his head so I let him lead me to the gallery. We had to look for marble stairs and we didn’t need the elevator. He pointed out the cubes on the wall (Sol LeWitt) which were an early favorite of his. He asked for an art birthday party so maybe we will make a Sol Lewitt guidelines art piece? Or maybe we’ll just let the kids paint on the walls (covered with paper). Likely both.
I did two of my Summer of Slow prompts this week.
Listened to
podcast on Meret Oppenheim and was sad to report that I knew next to nothing about her (besides her fuzzy cup) and didn’t realize that she was a women.Zohran!!! And the joyful politics of what could be.
Been thinking about how quilting is passed down. Someone had to teach and someone paid attention. Thinking about the world we live in, the good and the bad of it. Someone taught us. Someone taught me. What stuck? Was it the good or the bad?
Whenever we sit down to eat with my kids I think about the ones who are not.
