week 5 : closing out Brooklyn

(originally published august 19, 2022 via my Buy Me A Coffee page)

My days in Brooklyn came to an end this week, sadly. Saying Good Morning to the uncles and aunties sitting on their stoops as I pass on my commute, being surrounded by so many people who look like me and my family, the weekend block parties- it was tough to leave this burough behind. The landscape of Jersey City, at least the area I'm living in, is different in so many ways. I'll share more about it next week.

But I spent most of this last week savoring time and friendships in New York, visiting the Guggenheim Museum and coming across the life work of one of the artists who first drew me into Abstraction, Wassily Kandinsky. Many times he'd incorporate dancing, overlapping hard lines and organic shapes within his paintings. I think it was his way of marrying design and painting that really sparked my interest all those years ago (I got my degree in Graphic Design). It was a sweet experience to be taken back to my late Undergrad days and remembering the joy that ignited in me once I took my first Abstract painting class.

I recently journaled that sometimes making art is like pure poetry, and other times, probably more often than not, it's like that Micheal Scott quote. I almost want to call this one (lower left) finished, but I'm still sitting with it. And this piece (bottom right), has been driving me a bit mad, to be honest. Sometimes you have to ask yourself if saving your favorite "moments" of a painting is hindering you from seeing it, and moving forward, wholly, then you just gotta scrap it. The white space is gesso, and my attempts to do-over in part, and not full-just yet. Stay tuned.

& I shared a very short & sweet recap on TikTok this afternoon.

Thank you for riding the waves with me. Again, your thoughts and questions, etc are always welcome :) I'm grateful you're here.

-A

one month in : setting the pace

(originally published august 12, 2022 via my Buy Me A Coffee page)

It's officially been a month and I'm truly wondering where time has gone! Last weekend I also celebrated seven years of living in Austin, Texas! Making note of all of these "leap of faith" moments have been wild to me. I'm seriously so grateful for your support, which has helped me show up and get from one state to the other week after week.

There were so many points I wanted to touch on in this post, but I forgot to save my first draft, so here we are. Although still wrestling to get the compositions of these larger pieces just right, I've somewhat found a flow in this space. Moving from wall to wall, table to table, sketchbook to canvas, hands covered in paint and then dusty with pastels. Sometimes the air is filled with music from my favorite playlist, and most days it's been filled with silence. There's even a small park down the street, fenced in by tall, bright yellow sunflowers that I escape to from time to time in order to clear my head, or write these posts.

One thing about traveling and living in different spaces, you quickly learn that you are very much always taking you with you. It's a humbling, enlightening, sometimes even frustrating feeling. God and I have been going over a lot these days. Like, what does restorative rest mean to me - and what does it mean to God? How does not speaking up for yourself and your needs + self abandonment go hand in hand? What prayers have I been holding onto with open hands, or manipulative hands? Is the risk of loving & creating art worth this much? Will I be okay if nothing but a grand therapy session comes out of this almost three month experience? And what can all of this look like within a painting.

I've had this running theme this year of giving most paintings its name and then working at seeing its breakthrough, layer by layer, step by step. Lots of internal workings over here. But all good thoughts to marinate in with hopefulness, nonetheless. My hands are moving, and even within all the questions, I'm at ease here.

studio wall encouragements

I've enjoyed being able to work out design and composition in such a quick and non-committal way with these

Here's a short recap of the last week :

Til next week in Jersey,

A

week 3 : recalibrate

(originally published august 3, 2022 via my Buy Me A Coffee page)

Honesty hour ~ It was a week of recalibrating. I had hit a wall and had to admit that the commute I chose for this leg of the residency was not sustainable - at least not for a five day work week. It took a moment to fully convince myself, but I settled on going into the studio 3 to 4 days a week until my time in Brooklyn is over, using that extra weekday for exploring New York (the NY Public Library is on the list this week). After I welcomed and released my guilt I’ve been enjoying the process and my time so much more. Rest is good. Restoration is good. Filling up your cup is so very good.

I chose this opportunity for a handful of reasons - gathering inspiration, exploring, slowing down (even in the midst of this crazy fast-paced city) are just parts of that decision. It took a very tired mind and body to remember that, but I’m glad I did.

Some things that have filled me up in the last week :

• caught a Braxton Cook show at Blue Note Jazz Club

• popped in and out of art galleries with a friend in the Chelsea District

• came across a tap dancing rehearsal at Little Island (there's just so much creativity happening everywhere around this city. it's kind of unreal)

• finding out an artist that I like, Eryn Allen Kane, was playing a free show at Central Park

• stumbling upon a bilingual church service and taking my time perusing another Brooklyn neighborhood

although not a new practice, loosening up my hand and mind by way of doing quick composition practices / doodles have been helpful in getting out of my head

a home in Manhattan - the craftsmanship and patient detail that went into so much of the architecture here has been so inspiring. every detail counts. I've been asking how I can continue to carry that into my art

a lot of the larger paintings are in their "awkward teenage phase" where there's some hopefulness and a lot of discomfort. that's when going back and forth between large and small paintings come into play

Here’s a short clip of some studio and life moments of week 3.

-A