Claiborne Colombo is an artist, Creative and Design Director based on Lopez Island, WA.NOTES
Making art and designing things where the land meets the sea. A digital journal and visual record of Claiborne’s art, life, design, and inspiration among all other things…
Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, mind maps
"Lee creates visualizations of his mental compulsions. He describes his art as a “cartography of his psychopathology,” a literal map of the workings of his mind. Looking at one of his pieces, you can sense a terrain of sorts and are taken on a visual tour that begins with an intensely focused and ordered accumulation of color and pattern that lightens, trails off, and turns into something else entirely. "
– Art to Exorcise: Timothy Hyunsoo Maps His Mind in Watercolor
ARTSY EDITORIAL BY M.A. WHOLEY
an interview of Lee on the intersection between mental illness and art.
nomadic press
Hand Lettering.
Single stroke lettering practice – pattern swoon
Last night was my first hand lettering class. I guess I have always been interested in crafting my own font but I didn't realize it until last night. Since my bubble letter days of yore I have made birthday posters, name signs for kids I used to babysit, and created my personal font as i perfected my signature and crafted my handwriting. Often when I doodle I just draw words. I didn't know that could translate into a skill or even a career. It's funny how that realization didn't surface until I was sitting on my stool listening to BT talk about his own path and I was like 'huh, I do that too' and 'duh, of course there is a huge tradition of sign making'.
We focused on the basics. Single stroke pulls, how to hold the brush, and getting used to the paint : water ratio, etc. There is a lot of techniques and I found my self re-learning. For one, how to hold the brush. The whole process makes you slow down and consider you movements. You always have to be present and your intent must be focused. It's a meditative state for sure and by the end of it I found myself just wanting to practice painting lines in my spare time.
So here's to the basics. Thanks for getting me slow down and appreciate all the skill it takes to attempt to paint a not-so-simple straight line.
Me + Holbein watercolor
for the first time in 8 years I got a completely new set of watercolors. what's even more ridiculous is that this set has over 100 colors. 100 COLORS. i can't even. i actually am a little nervous that i am going to be overwhelmed by options. i might need to rethink my palette situation so i can organize and easily find each color.
here's to neons and metallic.
who knew those could be watercolor colors? i didn't.
Take me to the source.
I've been cranking out work but recently they were all starting to feel the same. They all had similar watercolor forms and it made it hard to distinguish one from another unless you get close up and look at the details. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it's something I wanted to push further. My drawings have a topographic feel to them and so I wanted to go straight to the source.
Yesterday I drove out to Cannon Beach and "sat" in front of Haystack Rock for about 3 hours. By sat I mean I played with my dog, tried to get pieces not to blow away, and walked around looking a driftwood.
Once Fletch was tired I was able to get into the groove and start drawing on the watercolors. I looked at the rock formations and did blind contours of their shapes. I tried to capture the movement around me with simplified marks: flying birds, blowing sand, rustling wind. I ended up with three pieces that I am really happy with. Such a good exercise and I cannot wait to do this again at another location.
Rearrange - get organized.
My inner OCD is giddy AF because of my new-to-me open flat file shelves. Had to do some shifting of furniture in the studio but it's feeling good. Fabric courtesy of my grandmother. Loving the vintage print.
Still in awe.
photo provided by PNCA – Photo Source
Last night I had the huge honor of listening to Wangechi Mutu's talk at PNCA about her work. I was so impressed with the amount of clarity she had about her own body of work and it's context within a global view. She wove a mixture of history and art history in a beautiful nonlinear narrative that brought insight to her own various artistic phases. I was so impressed with her self awareness. She radiated confidence in a soft-spoken and humble manner. She is truly a beautiful and complex soul.
I can only hope to achieve that level of intelligence about the world around me and my works context int he greater scheme of things.
photo provided by PNCA – Photo Source
That texture though.
Justine Anne • @justineanne_ • Shop
I am obsessed with texture. That's what draws me to mixed media. I love have a love for all things tactile. Work that craves to be touched or when you can feel it just by looking at it. I think that is why I have been swooning over fiber artist and wall hangings (as such from one of my favorite artist above).
Artist I've been watching.
In honor of International Women's Day, I thought I would give some love to some artist crushes I've had for the past year or so. Here is a little taste of women who are killing it and having fun documenting their process. Mad respect to all of them.
Beth Winterburn • • • @EBW_Artwork
Watercolor and mixed media artist based in Memphis, TN. Love her mark making and fluid compositions.
Heathery Day • • • @HeatherDayArt
Abstract mad woman based in Oakland, CA. Amazing documentation of process. Artist crushing hard for her.
Bianca Bello • • • @_Wildhumm
Boston-based artist who mixes mark making with watercolor. She makes my heart throb. I love her use of repetition and variety in form.
Feel the rhythm.
deep breath in, dip paintbrush in water. deep breath out, soak up pigment and go. work fast, back and forth between paper and pallet. move the paint around with water, throw a dash the salt, then pause. let paint dry. come back and hope it doesn’t suck. happily surprised by how it turned out - quickly excitement turns to nerves. hope the mixed media won’t ruin a perfectly good start. put pen onto paper and go. up, down, jagged edge, cut back, finish loop. charcoal to edge, kiss the ink line, then shade. sharpen pencil, blow off lead, hard strikes to surface. each mark i worry that i will, fuck it up. with more marks there is less worry and i finally fall into a rhythm. the head noise turns off and composing starts. i flow between sections taking steps back to observe and self-critique:
feels a bit top heavy, add something to weight the bottom. too sparse, add some hole punched paper. pick through text… nope. nope. nope - back in the bowl… yeah... yeah - this makes sense. glop the glue and press the paper into it to hold.
i work until i have to put the piece on hold. for whatever reason, usually waiting for glue to dry, i put it up and look at it to see the progress. make mental notes of what areas look good and what needs work. then i leave for awhile only to revisit it with a fresh mind.
rinse and repeat.
Collage.
"Leonis mixes eras, codes and genres, causing improbable and impromptu meetings. Creations putting our collective memory bad for better ask us about our day."
Collage by Leonis Ogour
Fun, poignant, and racey.
Barbra Kruger-esque.
Work in review.
New journal, check. New pen, check. Work up on walls, check. Time to pull up the chair and get busy.
The beauty of writing an artist statement is the challenge it provides: taking a step back and looking at your own work objectively. You step into the role of a viewer and make observations, notice themes, and try to thread it all together into a cohesive thought. So far I've been switching between two different processes. The first one is just going through, piece by piece, and writing what I see. The second (happens coincidingly) is a mind map of high-level themes.
Honestly, the first process is a little boring. I try to make it fun by making the description feel like a narrative. I needed to take a nap after evaluating two pieces. I get more excited about the high-level themes. Below are some of the themes I've been thinking of:
Legacy, topography, order and chaos, control and unpredictability, intuition and precision, juxtaposition and cohesiveness . . .
Legacy (human need to leave their mark) and topography (mapping the relationships of a landscape) have been at the forefront of my mind when looking at everything together and something that stands out from previous bodies of work.
I need to dig deeper into all of it but it's exciting to unearth what motivates me and discover what my work is truly trying to address. When I am working I just go - a lot of it is lead by intuition. I act like a composer and am more concerned with flow. Now it's time for me to act like an architect and evaluate structure and figure out why that flow works.
Order & chaos.
Thomas Hammer, takeover on @UpriseNYC
“One of the most satisfying aspects of being an artist is to be able to create order from chaos. I always keep a few finished works hanging in my studio to remind myself of this.” #ThomasHammer #UAtakeover
it's always super refreshing to see other artist thinking about the same themes i consider in my own artwork. order & chaos are at the top of my mind whenever i am making. for me, watercolor has always been chaotic. trying to impose order by containing it always interest me. mixed media is a precise application and takes a lot of consideration. pretty opposite processes working together.
