My experiences so far at NewCourtland!

A few weeks have gone by since starting the NewCourtland project, and now we're already halfway through! 

We meet with the senior residents at the Germantown Home on Mondays and Wednesdays. We started the class by getting to know them and by interviewing them about items from their childhood or past that they loved, but lost. We made small paper books to help write and illustrate the specific objects and the stories attached to them. Kay's objective is to recreate these lost objects in a 2D format: first by drawing them, then screen printing them onto fabric, and then using the Trapunto method to sew and stuff them (like you would a pillow). All of these items will then be combined and arranged into an installation (the final product!)

I have been working with Gladys G. She's currently 89 years old and grew up on a farm in the Maryland countryside. I love hearing her stories! When asking her about her past and the objects she loved and lost, she had the whole class rolling with laughter. Her stories are beyond memorable; she was quite a wild lady!

The first object she told me about was a Baby Ruth candy bar. When I asked her why, she replied by telling me that, at age 7, she stole her dad's Model T by piling up pillows on the front seat, and drove two miles down the road -just to go get a Baby Ruth!

And so, Kay researched the Baby Ruth designs from that time period and asked Gladys which one best resembled the one she had. Kay then drew them, screen printed them and everyone in the class stuffed and sewed them! They turned out super cool!

 

We've also started screen printing one of Gladys' other items that she talked about: a pistol! She said it was real pretty  and had a pearl handle. She's not sure what ever happened to it, but she said she used it once to scare off some boys that were chasing after her daughter! Gladys was a tough cookie!

Here are some pics of Gladys screen printing. Screen printing can be challenging, but it can also be very accessible for people with disabilities, and so it's really rewarding for some of the residents to try printing! It's been a very fun and positive thing for everyone. 

And here's what the prints look like-

I'm really enjoying the NewCourtland project. It's been a really great experience getting to know Gladys and I'm looking forward to continue working with her over the next couple weeks. It's really wonderful to see her sense of accomplishment after working on a piece in class; from her story telling to her screen printing, you can tell that she's genuinely happy to have been able to help create a beautiful piece of art. 

Studio Day 7/23/13

Yesterday was a day filled with painting. As Michele painted her smaller new pieces, I was painting the large pieces and also finishing one of Michele's older paintings she was giving to one of her friends as a gift. 

(Michele's new paintings, in which she uses gold/silver leaf, acrylic paint, and nails thin wood into the panel.)

While Michele started working on a large wooden panel, I was painting these large canvases with solid colors that Michele had chosen for each one. She said that these large pieces are going to be inspired by the very recent small paintings she has done. (As seen above.)

(Michele beginning a large panel, as well as talking about great sushi her friend made the other night.)

(Me painting these new large canvases.)

After I had finished up the first coat onto the canvases, Michele had me gold leaf a small area on a painting she is giving to a friend, a painting I had already touched up for her. While the finished product looks great in a photo, its safe to say gold leaf and I didn't get along very well. When watching Michele apply leaf to her artwork it looks so simple, but then again she has been doing this process for many years. 

(The gold leaf lining the pink is the section I did)

Studio Day 7/22/13

When first coming into the studio on Monday, Michele had Philip and I open up our 

computers and look at all of the links she had sent us in an email. The first link

contained information on art expenses and how to organize all the money one

will spend on anything art related and how to file that in with your taxes. The next set of 

links Michele provided us with several opportunities, some of them job/intern opportunities and 

some show opportunities. The one link that caught my attention the most was with InLiquid, which

Michele said she pays yearly to be a part of their artist directory, she has been in a ton of shows 

because of them over the past year

After reviewing these links and having Michele explain to us what each one is about, Michele had

me go through 5 large plastic bags filled with art supplies, while Philip filled out Michele's art expenses document. I was to organize all of these supplies and figure out which of them belong upstairs in the loft area, or downstairs where Philip and I set up a large shelving unit filled with supplies Michele uses often. 

After I had finished organizing all of these supplies, I finished painting/applying paper to Michele's

"waterfall" piece. 

Because many of these wooden strips were in one of Michele's previous show and also because of 

this wicked heat this summer, these strips were all pretty much stuck together during the time they were stored in the loft. Some of the paint and also paper got damaged in the process. Which is why I went back in and repainted and also in some cases had to re-paper the pieces. Michele also had me add in the two orange pieces. 

Germantown Nursing Home

This month we've started working with Seniors! Kay is super interested in getting stories for her installation, so when it comes to finding more objects to include, we've been working with seniors in the Germantown Nursing home to talk about and discover objects from some of the most experienced people in the area :)

In these photos I'm working with a woman who I've worked with before named Effie Smith. Although the Baby Ruth pillow is actually from Gladys' story, she and I had a fantastic time making these little pillow candy bars. Effie has told me about her salt and pepper shaker collection from long ago, and It's facinating to hear that she had hundreds of salt and pepper shakers, different ones for every little occasion.

The baby Ruth comes from Gladys who, when she was 7 years old, stole her father's Model T, drove it to the local store, and bought herself a Baby Ruth candy bar. These pillows don't just represent the candy bar in the story, they represent Gladys, and her independence at such a young age.

I'm personally very interested in the meaning that we place behind things that we see and experience, especially if it is a shared one. I'm really glad to be working with Kay because of the fact that I can consciously notice that appreciation growing. One Baby Ruth bar may spur completely different memories and time periods than that of the person sitting right next to you. Cool.

"I'm gonna eat it!"

Studio day 7/15/13

The day started with Michele asking me to fix one of her paintings she is giving to a friend. 

I happily said yes to this task, I felt proud that she trusted me enough to help mend one of her 

paintings. 

Michele had me paint over what was a large brown cloud-like form with the pink paint seen above, but asked me to leave a border of what once was underneath. When face to face the new thick layer of pink adds yet another textured layer to this collage.

After I completed the painting touch-up, Michele had me bring down the strips of painted/unpainted wood she featured in a recent show at the Painted Bride (which can be seen on her website http://michelekishita.com/home.html)

For an upcoming show Michele has decided to use some of these wood panels again, as well as make some newer ones. So once she figured out how she wanted the large piece to look, I got to work on painting new panels. 

 These are the two I had started, however still need some collage paper. After making a few more the new and improved piece should be complete. 

In about two weeks Michele and I will be making our way to Connecticut with her new work to present to a gallery she shows her artwork at very often. I'm excited for this trip because not only have I never been to Connecticut before, but this will be my first experience seeing how a professional artist handles working with galleries. Needless to say it's going to be a good day!

(Some of Michele's pieces we will be bring up to the Connecticut gallery)

Studio summer cleaning

Studio Summer Cleaning

Because Michele has been making a lot of new work this summer, her studio had become pretty cluttered, and she just couldn't take it anymore. So last Monday, she brought a large shelving unit with her to the studio which she had Philip and I put together and organize. At first we had to do a lot of sorting, because as many know, when one is constantly creating new work, it is easy to get unorganized and start losing supplies. While I was organizing raw canvas and bags upon bags of miscellaneous supplies, Philip was doing a great job cleaning up the paint cart. 

Once Philip and I had finished sorting everything (putting the nails with the nails, glue with the glue, etc) it was time to start setting up all of these categories onto the shelves. Large wall paint went on the bottom shelf,  the second shelf contained silver and gold leaf, collage paper (which Philip had sorted according to color!), various sizes of canvas board, along with some other things. The third shelf was the most accessible for Michele and I's height, so there I put things that she and I most commonly use, such as frog tape, painting tape, a bunch of different types of glue, among other things. The fourth shelf  was strictly for canvas, whether it be canvas scraps, long pieces, or wide pieces, which I had organized according to size. 

At the end of the day I was very satisfied with the outcome, I enjoy organizing and can typically only work in clean spaces, and Michele seemed very pleased. All that is left to organize will be the loft in Michele's studio, which will definitely be happening in the next couple of weeks! 

Pulling Screens...

 Step one is to set up a practice print on a sheet of acetate so that you can see where the screen is going to pull without getting any ink on the fabric or paper you are printing on

Pulling ink through the screen has to be done swiftly and several times

Flooding the screen. This means spreading ink over the top so that it doesn't ball up and drip down or through the screen as you lift it. It also makes your next pull much easier.

What a beautiful print.