Home Depot, Colors, Cardboard, and What it Means to be an Artist

Sometimes, I am a fine artist, especially if the standards which a piece is considered fine art is abstract and subjective. For example, my stick figures are really nice if I choose to consider myself a minimalist and if my audience appreciates minimalism. Perhaps, if I put two complementary colors adjacent to each other on a canvas, it would classify as a Color Field painting. Of course, the validity of my assertions about art depends on ones qualifying factors of artwork and the standards that must be met to be deemed an artist. I admit I’m not a real fine artist, and my stick figures are not as stick figure-ish as they could be. At heart, and by practice, I’m a creative writer and the pictures I create are most vivid when they are illustrated by narrative and poetic devices, but Veronica looks past my visual artistic shortcomings and that’s what I love about working with her.

Not too long ago, we went to the Home Depot in South Philly to pick out warm and cool color templates for the More Stately Mansion Exhibition’s free Zine (which my poetry will be featured in, by the way). Though my co-intern, Emily is a recent Fine Arts graduate (excuse me if my terminology is wrong) and far more qualified to make literally anything aesthetically pleasing than I am, I begged to get my hands involved with the production of the magazine. After spending about thirty minutes in Home Depot being extremely indecisive about which colors to choose and which cool colors I thought looked best with specific warm colors, we headed back to her home where she stationed me on the sidewalk with a large square of card board, all of our color scheme temples, rubber gloves, and spray adhesive. It was early summer when the heat was settling into the air and cementing into the ground. Warm air blew gently semi-frequently, so sitting outside was almost like sitting in a drying machine. She told me to paste the warm and cool colors together and to spray the adhesive at an angle so the wind wouldn’t steal the glue. She emphasized the importance of the template cards being as perfectly parallel against each other as possible, and then, left me alone to start the task.

My calves and thighs trembled from squatting to avoid sitting on the hot pavement. I caked glue onto the board a few times because the wind snatched some of it away. Some of the template cards dried too soon and had to be sprayed again. Some cards dimensions weren’t equal, and subsequently, did not match evenly. There were maybe two-hundred cards to paste to each other, and often, I lost focus due to boredom from monotonous movement. As easy as I thought it would be to stick two colors together, it simply wasn’t. The excitement of being a fine artist softened as I became frustrated with my own incompetence, but I've felt that way with writing too before. Maybe being an artist isn’t always about being in love with your craft, but instead, dedicating yourself to it. Struggling with those templates taught me that, at the very least, being an artist is trying to align and make things come together despite all of the elements working to keep them apart. 

Brainstorming

On my fifth day, I helped with brainstorming ideas for an advertisement that would go in some Philly magazine in the wedding section. We tried thinking of short phrases that would capture what Remark Glass does. One thing they have started to offer is taking bottles from somebody’s wedding and turning them into bowls or vases or cups so they can have that “memory” forever in a different form.

Client work

“Remark Glass” is their company that creates dinnerware and kitchen ware using recycled bottles. They also work with clients outside of the company. Some things they do are fabrication, cold working and glass blowing. My fourth day, I worked on a piece for one of their clients. There were 8 large pyramid shapes made of 3 mirrors. Previously, they “bedazzled” parts of the mirror with Swarovski crystals using a non-permanent adhesive (because the client wasn’t sure if she wanted the crystals to be permanent or not). The client wanted the crystals taken off and reapplied with a permanent adhesive as she had made a decision for the crystals to be permanent. I took the panels off that the crystals were attached to, scraped the excess off the mirrors with a razor blade, then cleaned the mirrors with windex and denatured alcohol.   

Cold Working

My third day, I did a lot of cold working. Cold working is a process where you grind and/or cut the glass to manipulate it when it is in a solid state (cold). At Remark glass, they like to use every part of the bottle if possible so nothing goes to waste. I cut 100 rings from different bottle necks. You can get about 5 rings out of each bottle neck. They use the rings as color samples for clients and they also work with a jeweler who incorporates these rings into her jewelry. After cutting the rings and washing them, I loaded all of them into a kiln to be fired. We fire one side to polish them, then we flip them over to fire polish the other side so there are no sharp edges.

Prepping for commission

On the second day I found and cleaned 15 more bottles to be fillers for the light fixture just in case the fixture needed more bottles after installing it in the bar. Then, the rest of the day I packed each individual bottle and labeled the boxes.

Observations

Last week was fun.

They’ve been sending me around the city to collect checks from different housing networks that they work with for their outreach program so I've had a good time exploring and getting to know the metro system in order to get from place to place. Even just walking around and getting a sense of direction is nice, and getting to be outside in this great weather is definitely a bonus.

I came in on Monday, which I usually don't do so that I could be a part of the board meeting that they were planning to have. Unfortunately about 3 hours before they were supposed to meet, one of the member's had to cancel last minute prompting Eryc to postpone the whole thing. Since the board is comprised of a select few people, even one person not being there really made it not worth having. This was kind of disappointing as I was looking forward to seeing how the meeting was going to run and the topics that would be discussed between the members, but we still got a lot of work done. I had the task of putting together and organizing a big informational packet about the company for each member. It was very crafty, which I love, so I had a good time doing that.

I stayed over until Tuesday and finished the rest of those informational packets and then got to organizing the drive folder so that it would be easier to access documents. A lot of the information needed for the packets was scattered about in different folders, so I made a master folder of everything that it contained for future packets to be much easier to make.

Thursday the publicist was set to observe rehearsal so that she could write up little blurbs about the pieces they would be performing for the season. Stress levels were high because Eryc really wanted to put his best foot forward and was getting nervous about the pieces not being ready. I reassured him that they really did look good and that the dancers were going to do a great job. When he went up to get the publicist, the dancers did a run through and asked for notes from me. I helped them clean a few parts that needed a second look at and the result was a lot more confidence and togetherness from the group. I had to leave early but Eryc said the run was a great success!

I really enjoy talking to Eryc to get an idea of what he wants from the group and then watching him implement that in rehearsal. It helps me to see what he’s looking for and how he goes about getting those results. In turn, I get a better sense of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to prompts and direction for a group piece.

Prepping for a show!

Kay had a huge solo show Vestiges at PCT Gallery and Penn College and she showed me all about how to pack and label everything, we talked a lot about what is expected from a professional artist in regards to packaging. Also what a huge difference it makes when you are sending your artwork to a gallery and you are not in control of who unpacks your work and how it is displayed. 

First we spent a lot of time unpacking each piece from her storage, checking everything was ready for display. I hand stitched some minor holes in some pieces, added new hanging wires and hand sewed new labels on every piece that included the title and year it was made. Once that was done we measured and inputed all the pieces into a spreadsheet so that Kay knows for future shows and sales the exact size of everything, where it was at the time.

We then hung each individual piece on the wall, photographed it and printed the image in black and white. I folded each piece trying to avoid as little creasing as possible so that the art pieces wouldn't need steaming when received then using thick plastic sheet packing wrapped each piece and sealed with folded tape loops allowing for each opening and hopefully minimal damage to packing materials. I then taped the image of how the piece should look along with a title label. It sounded at first like a lot of extra steps, however this ensured that the gallery on the other side knew exactly what pieces went with what, how they looked and if they were unsure of art piece titles they could check the packaging AND the hand sewn able on each piece. It also meant when we got all the pieces shipped back to us at thinned of the summer it would be fast and easy for us to store and have an organized inventory of all of Kay's artworks. 

One of the biggest take aways I took for this whole process is how important is it to be multi talented and organized as a freelance fine artist. Doing solo shows does not always result in multiple sales and usually all you get is a packing budget offered from the Gallery, so looking at the big picture you could just break even financially from the show but you are also getting a lot of exposure having a show in a beautiful space and adding experience to your list of shows and resume. SO it is so important that you find ways to save, i.e packing your own art pieces, using supplies that can be reused and doing it right from the beginning so that you don't have to keep investing in the boring stuff like packing plastic sheets! It really opened my eyes as to how important it is to think through every step of what makes an artist. You can't just make beautiful thought provoking art, you have to be business minded and be willing to make sacrifices like putting in a lot of hours work just to get your work out there and seen! 

I hope this post informed you guys and your work as much as it did for me!

Ornella :) 

Hi, Ornella here! :)

Hello all,

I am Ornella Plialis, a Greek/Brit who moved to the USA just 4 years ago, one of my main goals with this fellowship is to absorb and meet as many people in the art industry as possible, I am only just starting to touch on the huge network of creative individuals and environments that this city has to offer.

I have been entering with the fabulous Kay Healy this summer, a immensely talented textile artist. I am a international transfer junior majoring in Illustration and minoring in Printmaking and Book Arts. My goals for this fellowship are to master large scale fabric screen printing, tackle using a sewing machine and thinking about innovative way in which I can incorporate these new processes into my own multi-media work.

Also, we will be doing a group project funded by CFEVA working with a group of senior citizens in the German town New Cortland facility! We will be doing a group project based on the senior's memories of this childhood home and making plaster molds of their hands holding an object that they have lost and wished they still had. Again so looking forward to getting the opportunity to work with another medium and participate in such a great rewarding project.

I'll be getting the opportunity to work in an artist studio and see the behind the scene workings of what its like to book shows, pack work to be sent all over the country and what kind of discussions go on between artist and curator when planning big shows from afar. The administrative process of booking and prepping for shows is not something that is heavily taught but definitely a vital part of being a freelance artist so I know I have so much to learn from just being in the studio.

I strive to be a freelance artist and one of the scariest notions is being your own boss and having to self motivate and telling yourself you have to "go to work" when work could just be in the next room. As an artist I feel so privileged to get the opportunity to do what I truly love but it is the business side of things that feels scary for me. Hopefully being in an active busy studio with Kay and her illustrator husband Greg Pizzoli gets the gears going on what it mean to be an artist after I graduate Uarts! Hope you are all having great experiences in your fellowships and I look forward to reading all your different adventures!

Will be posting lots of photos of process and experiences very soon!
Till we speak again!

About Eiland Arts

One thing I have learned it that there are never too many ways to earn a living for yourself. When I first entered the art center I viewed it as a coffee shop. Then as I further learned about the fellowship, I found out that it is a gallery for local artists, a small art gift shop, a teaching center for musicians, a photography studio, a summer art camp and a cafe. These things allow Eiland Arts multiple ways to keep a steady income. I always wanted to have my own photography studio and continue to make art but I NEVER thought about other ways that could help me earn a living.

Eiland Arts has helped me realize a lot of things. Never stop making art work! There are plenty of local galleries that want and need art. Never think that there is only 1 way to do things. One business idea could expand into several others. Be creative; I’ve had to be creative in school for projects but I haven’t expanded my creativity to business ideas.

I love everything about the art center. The people who work there are very friendly and the food there is great as well. I also forgot to say that the art center is ECO friendly! Everything is reused or re-purposed for something else. Save your egg cartons!

I wouldn’t have spent my summer any other way. Learning the business has taught me such much. I’m always eager to learn more about it as I get closer to graduating from college. It’s great to know that even after school, you can continue to use everything that you’ve learned. 

My first day

My first day at Remark Glass was 5/18. This first day was an introduction to the studio and where everything was located. I also cleaned 24 bottles to be prepared for a big lighting installation that would be installed in a bar in Fishtown.

Instructions for cleaning bottles:

1. Rinse Bottle
2. Fill with water
3. Soak in bucket overnight
4. Take label off with blade carefully
5. Cut metal off bottle neck with green handle snips
6. Scrub outside with soap and sponge and rinse
7. Fill with Alconox 2.5 spoons per gallon
8. Leave for 10 mins
9. Rinse

After cleaning bottles, I prepared the bottles that were complete and on the frame/fixture for packing. This involved labeling each bottle with a letter and number and the same letter and number on the fixture where that specific bottle was placed.

The Beginnings of Endings

I can't believe I only have about two more weeks left of working with ETD! The summer has without a doubt flown by, and i’m simply not ready for school to start or for this experience to be over. Last week I put music to the split screen/ mirrored effect videos and Eryc really liked them so i’m happy about that. He wants more videos, but the quality of my videos really just isn’t up to par with what he wants and I feel really bad because i don’t have an actual camera to use. It’s frustrating when money is a factor of you not being able to do your best work, especially when you want to.

The piece that the company has been working on is finally done and now they are setting it to the music that was composed for them. This process proved to be especially difficult for the dancers because they were already so used to doing the material in a certain rhythm, pattern, and emotion in silence, that when the music was added it didn’t fit. To add to the frustration, they accidently used the wrong music on Tuesday and set cues that weren't present in the updated version, adding another variable to consider as they were trying to find what made sense. I noticed that I could really tell when they were listening to the music vs. when they were on an auto-pilot remember the step kind of headspace. There was a visible switch in their body when they were actually internalizing and trying to work with the music as opposed to trying to push through and on top of the music.

I appreciate when Eryc asks for my opinions on these matters as well, because as an objective outside eye, my experience is much different from his. He seemed to be concerned about the dynamic shifts in the piece and whether or not it was too slow or boring, a 16 minute long work is hard to keep energized. I think re-affirming and talking with him about the work also helps me to see what he’s looking for as a director of the work and how to shape it to become what he envisioned.

When working on the last 2 minutes, the company members took turns bouncing ideas off each other of how to fill the gap between the last solo and the end of the song. It was interesting to watch how Eryc let them experiment with what they thought might work even when I could tell he didn’t really like the idea at first. He never shot down ideas in their beginning stages, he let them flesh out and tried to find something useful or interesting within their ideas. This patience waiting to see what could happen is admirable and very open minded of him to practice.

More to come~

Process and Thinking

Coming this August Michele will be showing in a group exhibition at James Oliver Gallery here in Philadelphia. I have finished preparing and taping the last of the wood panels for the show, which is now over 40 pieces ready for her to paint. When I came into her studio this past week she had already started working on over 20 out of the 40 pieces! She said she will have all of the rest started and almost finished the next time I return. It amazes me to see the panels come to life through her bringing out the grain of the wood in each. From observing the panels as I have prepped them I now see her compositions, and how they form within each piece she creates. For this exhibition the focus is on groups, hence why she requires so many surfaces for her installation. Michele likes to focus on the macro and micro specifically in her work. She is including exposing parts of the wood as well as using white, black, and gray paint. Another element she is including in this work is gold leaf. She carefully applies it in each panel, and considers the impact it has. The completed works so far are beautifully executed, and draw the viewer in with the way the light hits the gold leaf. It allows the eye to look at the positive and negative space within each individual piece, and as a whole. The black, white, and gray create great high contrast with the way they were applied with the use of detail and linear forms. I am incredibly excited to see the finished installation, and also have the privilege of helping her hang it at the gallery.

Also, I finally got to start working on her other ongoing installation piece that over 100 people have worked on over the past few years. Her idea is incredible creating a large cascading waterfall effect floor to ceiling of paint stirrers beautifully painted and wrapped with printed paper, tied tightly with white string. The stirrers are dipped in paint and wrapped in colorful patterned paper. Each are then glued in a cluster of 5 stirrers each, and fanned evenly. My part is the wrapping the string around the cluster, and I made it my mission to make sure each were tied exactly how she explained in order to create the impact she wants. I will be continuing to wrap these until the end of the summer, and would love to see it when its finally done and installed in the near future.

After the week was done Michele messaged me a lot of valuable information, which was great for me as an aspiring painter. I really appreciate her taking the time to do this on days I am not working for her, so I don't miss anything that could be helpful to me in the future. She sent me pictures of the step by step process for how she ships and packages her paintings so I would have for references when needed. And I was also sent the video that was created for Michele's Urban art exhibition. The video was incredible as well as the work she made for the show. She considered every detail and component that went into it, as well as in all of the work she makes which inspires me to do the same moving forward. I can't wait to go to her studio to see more next week!

Homemade Parfaits and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

DIY Parfaits

This week the kids made their own parfaits. I really love that a lot of the camps inspire the children to be their own person. It also allows them to work together and to try new things.

This menu included homemade granola (for the parfait), and later peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

They had to learn about different measurements, ingredients and why you shouldn’t eat raw cookie dough.

The cooking teacher Ms. Carrington taught them how to chop their own strawberries. She did an excellent job helping one student who was afraid of chopping the strawberry on their own. Rest assured the student copped the strawberry by herself and everything was fantastic. While making the parfaits, there were tons of granola left over. Ms. Carrington packed them away for the students to take them home to their parents.

After the parfaits were devoured, it was time to make peanut butter cookies. Once again, the students used the skills that they learned with measuring and they mixed everything by hands. No electric beater needed here! Next the kids used an ice cream scoop to measure out the size of the cookie and then off to the oven it went. The peanut butter chocolate chip cookies would be baked after the class was over and the next day the students would have cookies for breakfast! They were so eager to learn and really excited about having cookies the next morning.