Day Thirty-Five

9"x12", oil pastel on paper - in progress

This evening I went to see the Kiki Smith show before it closed at the Whitney. In a somewhat related discussion, I asked my boyfriend why he thought so many grad students make a dramatic declaration that they are no longer painters and instead focus on installation or so-called conceptual art (I'll maybe get into that another time). He countered by asking "Well what are you doing there that's so important?" while I was working on this sketch. My only answer was the truth: "I was thinking about watermelons and Lee Krasner."

We continued talking, and it occurred to me that often when I begin paintings, it's just with this idea of something I'd like to see. I look at the paper, think "I wonder what that might look like?" and then make it. Does this make me a very dumb artist, or maybe not an artist at all? Am I just making designs? Would I be better off designing fabrics? I can't really say.

I do know that I love painting though.

I was smoothing the edges of this piece with mineral spirits - the upper edge and pink areas show the chunky, granier appearance the oil pastels had before this treatment. I eventually had to stop as the fumes were bothering my boyfriend (a hazard of working at home), but I liked some of the effects I was getting, so I'll probably bring it back to my studio to finish or elaborate upon.

(This entry was back-posted on 2/10/07).