at work in the studio

The fall is giving way to winter here in Maryland. On days like today, the sky is grey, the rain drizzles and the cold turns the water drops on branches into ice. On other days, the sun shines but it gives more light than warmth. The leaves are still dropping off trees. Sometimes they leave the tree gently. There is a decisive moment when the leaf lets go (or is it the tree that lets go?). Sometimes a gush of wind makes the separation a forceful one, sending leaves off trees with a whoosh. It's lovely to see the seasons change. And from my studio window it looks even more lovely. 

Other than enjoying the winter, I've been spending a lot of time in the studio the last couple of months. For the most part, I've been working on a new body of work - a new set of paintings and drawings. I am enjoying doing the work immensely. The great thing about doing abstract work is that you are always surprised. The way I've been working is such that I don't have a plan (see this post about working without a plan). So I work - looking, adding, subtracting, searching and changing - until I come to the point where the composition comes together. Arriving at this point is such a thrill because you don't really plan on getting to that exact place. You can't plan how certain marks, splashes, drips etc will interact with each other. You always stop in your tracks, and for me that seems like the best way to work.

I've also been reading in the studio. These days it's the work of John Cage that I've been reading about. First I read 'Where the Heart Beats - John Cage, Zen Buddhism and the Inner Life of Artists' by Kay Larson. Now I am reading 'Musicage: Cage Muses on Words, Art, Music', which is a series of conversations between John Cage and Joan Retallack. Both books are very interesting and thought provoking. Sometimes I read fiction, but I usually keep fiction for the evening.

Writing is another thing I do when in the studio. Sometimes I write before I start painting. It allows me to quieten down. Writing also helps to gain clarity. Sometimes putting things down on paper is all it takes to really see something. But usually I write because I have a thought and I want to explore it. And when I write I use a pen and a diary. I'm not a typer-writer really.

The painting, reading and writing, all happen in the studio. Here they all come together, one flows into the other. Sometimes when there is a lull in drawing or painting, I look to writing or reading to refresh me. But you know, sometimes just sitting doing nothing is good too. At that time it's the studio itself that provides inspiration. The easel, paints, brushes, inks and pencils present a scene full of possibilities. I have on the walls a few of my works, a linocut and a monoprint. On the table and windowsill I have my collection of leaves and stones and such. And of course there is always the window to look out from.

I'll end here with some photographs I took this morning in the studio. Enjoy!

monk meditates

I write this post from Columbia, Maryland where Sandeep and I have relocated. After the desert of Arizona, we are now experiencing a different landscape. Here we see green grass everywhere and tall lush trees. Butterflies, fireflies and the occasional deer grazing. Very beautiful.

Now for the real subject of this post. Before we left for Columbia I was working on a couple of things at The Drawing Studio print lab. One was a project that Sandeep commissioned. He wanted a print made of Thelonious Monk. 'Round Midnight? Straight, No Chaser?

I thought it over and decided that using the solar plate technique would be the best approach. The first stage was sketching. I found a photograph of Monk, sketched it, adding piano keys and accentuated smoke. Once the sketch was ready, I had to transfer the sketch to a solar plate. This was accomplished by transferring the drawing on to a transparency using a copying machine. The transparency was then placed on a solar plate, and together they went into a light box. The solarplate was exposed to UV light and in a short while the plate was then ready for inking. For this piece I used an oil based ink, India red with black. I then used a traditional press to create the print. I was very happy with the outcome and so was Sandeep.

monk meditates, A/P solar plate, 8x10", ©2013 priya vadhyar

Here are images of the sketch and the solar plate post UV exposure.

monk, the sketch

solar plate, post UV exposur

impressions - printmaking exhibit at TDS

I have been learning printmaking at The Drawing Studio for a few months now. Printmaking is something I've wanted to learn for a long long time, but I didn't have access to a print lab till recently. Now that I had access, I signed up real quick. In the non-toxic intaglio class taught by Jennifer Clarke and Thomas Lindell (and a couple of sessions by Rebecca Bushner) I tried my hand at hard ground and soft ground etching, solarplate, image-on and cyanotype. In the intaglio open lab, I have been learning from Jennifer Clarke the art of making a mezzotint (a more detailed post on mezzotints coming up soon). And in a lino-cut work group I have been learning to make linoleum prints with Lynn Fleischman. 

It's been fascinating to learn processes so different from painting. Printmaking requires a different way of thinking - in terms of stages and processes, in negative and positive. The processes require one to be methodical and disciplined. The tools are many and different; the ferric chloride for etching, the copper plates, the UV light boxes, the 'rocker', the brayers, the 'blankets', the inks, the floor wax, the soy sauce (I'm not kidding) and the press with it's big wheel and heavy roller are just some of the things that make up a print lab. But more importantly, what makes a printlab is the community of printmakers. There is a wonderful energy in the lab, all the printmakers doing their thing and solving printmaking problems together. I've had a great time learning from them all, seeing the work they do. I will post more about the print lab soon - there's just so much to say! In the meantime, here are are two prints - both in a printmaking exhibition at The Drawing Studio that opens May 4th (6-8pm). The first print titled 'First Light' is a mezzotint. The second called  'Desert Song' was made with a solarplate. The show aims to educate the public about printmaking and will also include demonstrations. The exhibition features fantastic works by very talented artists, and includes a wide array of printmaking techniques. Here is the link to more information about the exhibition.

first light, A/P mezzotint, 5x6" ©2013 priya vadhyar

desert song, A/P solarplate, 4x5" ©2013 priya vadhyar

inner city in juried show

My painting Inner City has been accepted for a juried show titled 'Sanctuary through Partnership: A Collaboration Featuring Flight', which has been organised in association with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Tucson Jewish Community Center, the Tucson Museum of Art and The Drawing Studio.

As the IRC mentions on its website: The group show is the result of a year long conversation about the meaning of sanctuary for the world's most vulnerable. The theme stems from the IRC's Flight exhibit, a special portfolio of works by twelve 20th century masters like Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró and Robert Motherwell, representing their interpretation of the struggle of those who flee from their homes in search of freedom. The collection was organised by Varian Fry, an IRC representative in France during World War II, who rescued over 2000 writers, artists, intellectuals and other refugees who were being targeted by the Nazis.*

The exhibition will be held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery, starting March 15th until April 16th, and will be placed alongside the Flight exhibit. The opening is on March 17th. Also part of the schedule is a panel discussion with artists and Jeffrey Cornish, Executive Director of the IRC on March 24th.

inner city, acrylic on canvas, 30x40" ©2013 priya vadhyar

*source: The International Rescue Committee

abstraction and the virtue of letting go

inner city, acrylics on canvas, 30x40" ©2013 priya vadhyar

For the last few months I have been taking classes at The Drawing Studio. The one that began late in October was called Xtreme Painting: Looking for Dragon Smoke, an abstracts-in-acrylics class taught by Josh Goldberg. Taught against the backdrop of Eastern philosophy, Xtreme Painting looks at the act of painting and the expression of a non-representational language.

On the first day of class, Josh asked us to stand in front of our fresh canvases without a plan and empty of thought. As we began, he asked us to be spontaneous, and let go of the idea of control. Over the weeks, we were encouraged to be unattached and non-judgmental. We were to look at the marks objectively and act according to what the painting required. Looking critically at the composition, the colour and the direction of brush strokes, while keeping the painting fresh were just some of the lessons we learned with each session. We were to be alert to accidents/ opportunities that arise, and look for clues that might suggest the next move. Over the next eight weeks, we learned to trust ourselves, see our work and let our inner abstraction find expression.

What was interesting was learning to be completely present in the act of painting without the distractions of the ego, judgement and past/future considerations. Complete involvement in any process can be a tough hill to climb if we are too eager to reach. And yet that's exactly what's required for true expression.

To learn more about this way of painting I'm now taking the second part of this class (Xtreme Painting: Riding the Dragon). Inner City is one of the paintings I've completed.