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…
HELLO NEW SPACE
Well it's moving week and that means I get my full studio back. In our new house my studio will be the first room you enter when you come through the front door – no pressure. With my studio space doubling as an entryway and being the first impression I've been struggling trying to find the best arrangement. Thank you pinterest and past experiences for inspiration and guidance.
One of the biggest adjustments with this layout is not anchoring my main work table to a wall. I've learned that wall space is invaluable to a studio. Being able to throw work and inspiration up so you can clearly see the big picture is so important.
Storage is also crucial. Luckily we can add shelving and will have two carts that can hold the most of my supplies. I am going to add wheels to my paper rack so I can easily move pieces around and have a more fluid layout depending what phase I am in.
Super excited to see it all come together.
Sketch layout, new studio
THE PARTICIPANTS: A GROUP SHOW
Photos by Gian Colombo & Brandon Viney
The Prequel Artist Program had a group show opening for The Participants this past Saturday Nov. 5 at the Littman Gallery in Portland Oregon. This marks the culmination of the 7-month program.
Artist on display: Katie Yancey, Lou Watson, Sam Cohen, Mary Campbell, Francesca Lohmann, Flynn Casey, Garima Thakur, and of course, Claiborne Colombo (me!).
It was a great turnout filled with curious minds and really supportive words. Celebrations were in order and it felt great to get all of our work in front of a new audience. Looking forward to what is yet to come.
A lot of people were asking if the work will be for sale. The answer is YES BUT not immediately. Please email if you're interested in a piece and I will update you once the shop is up and running.
THANK YOU FOR ALL SUPPORT AND...
¡ Show installed !
Sneak Peek, PlusPlus at Littman Gallery
Momentum has picked up and I am feeling exhilarated and so thankful for my supportive tribe.
Luckily the install went smoothly. The work made it here in one piece, the frames delivered on time, and I had the best helper in the world for drilling and hanging my work on the gallery walls.
Now that it is all up I can take a step back and look at what I've accomplished, reflect on where I've been and where I want to be going. I want to ride this wave and catch another big swell. Cannot wait to share photos of the install. Those will be up once the opening party happens this Saturday.
Stay tuned and thanks for all the love.
Tedious but freeing
Less than a month away from the show and I've been lucky enough to be spending my time fully dedicated to my practice.
There is an ebb and flow to feeling inspired and depleted. I have learned the process is full of various phases.
Terrified. Blank paper, mixing paints, and making choices for a vision not seen. Fuck it. Let the paint hit the white and then the colors take it from there. Freeing. I move the paint around on the paper, scraping and pushing the pigment around. I let my hands work faster than my mind. Colors are revealed from not fully mixed paint. Patience. I wait for it to dry and approach it with a new mindset once the colors are set. Tedious. I start with the pencil marks. They are small dashes. It takes me hours to make the forms. I've burned through lots of Netflix documentaries and shows making mark after mark. When my mind wants to explode or the side of my finger is burning from the grip I stop. Invigorating. Time for the big bold marks. Blocks of contrasting colors, long shakey lines and bulky chunks of charcoal. With these forms the art comes alive. I get excited and reinvigorated to start another.
And so the cycle continues.
New directions.
Dear watercolor, I love you but I think it is time we spent some time apart. I've recconnected with and old friend and we are vibing really well. I'm not saying goodbye, I'm just saying "hold please".
Dear acrylic, Let's water you down and see what you can do. I love your saturated colors and ability to be opaque or transparent. I will splash, pull, scratch, and layer you. Let's be bold and see where this goes.
Inspired by.
Works by Ellen Sherman
recently with my work i've been feeling uninspired. i just moved and i feel like the change in space has made me feel like i am floating - stuck in the in-between. i feel disconnected for my work but i need to get grounded again.
today i am going to look at artist i've been having a crushing on and try to bring new elements into my work. to push it further and do new things. we'll see how it goes. but here is a starting point of what gets me excited.
Works by Heather Day
Works by Sofia Clausse
The double standard.
I am not a mother but I am a career driven individual that worries that having kids may take away from my identity and all I have done to get where I am. I know they won't, and that they will most likely add to it but, it is refreshing to hear voices in the Art World address it head on. It is also empowering to see so many creative role models sneer at this archaic thought.
Portrait of Diana Al-Hadid and her son in her Brooklyn studio by Daniel Dorsa for Artsy.
"...while male artists can uphold this illusion of the creative loner while also being partners and parents—Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Ai Weiwei, John Currin, Olafur Eliasson, Chris Ofili, Alex Katz, and many more are fathers—female artists are expected to forgo children in order to meet the same standard. "
You Can Be a Mother and Still Be a Successful Artist
ARTSY EDITORIAL BY MARINA CASHDAN
Stitchin' & Bitchin'
lazy sunday afternoon and sewing with friends go so well together. my friend nishat and her childhood bud went to yale union’s textile workshop with susan cianciolo. it was a free form sewing – embroidery, kimonos, tapestries, etc. piles of scrap fabrics and textures were on the floors and we all got to do our own thing. it was so fun playing with different materials when thinking about landscapes. can’t wait to bring some of that into my works on paper.
In stitches.
Excerpt from Tappan Collective
Kate Drewniak’s work explores the translation of memories into tangible objects, combining discarded found materials such as fabric remnants, books, and obsolete blueprints, to realize unique collages and installations. Through her process, Drewniak strives to preserve the history of the materials while embracing their entropic nature. “These pieces mimic the inherent nature of memory... strands of thread will move, colors will fade, and sewn paper becomes delicate. I find beauty in evidence of decay, like rust and brittle paper.”
Deconstructing her materials and sewing them back together, she creates new objects based on intuition rather than measurements and calculations. These tenuous structures give these materials a renewed purpose; creating a testament to the histories they hold.
Drewniak received her BFA in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2010 and currently lives and works in Boston, MA.
http://kate-drewniak.squarespace.com/
Oh hai new things.
Details, new work – 22" x 22"
Since my last meeting with my mentor Ka'ila I've been trying to work outside of my comfort zone. I've changed up how I normally do things. Instead of working on the table, I am working on the floor. Instead of going to my normal set of brushes I've opted for those larger in scale.
I'm dripping my paint onto the page directly from my palette. I'm spattering it with my brush. I'm using watercolor crayons to draw into wet paint. I push and pull the pools of color around with a plastic edge. My marks are impulsive and my strokes are bold. I work in a frenzy and I've never felt more free.
Then, I have to stop myself. From not over working it. I come up for air and sprinkle salt into the saturated areas then walk away.
Works in progress
I am still working out this new direction in my head but I also feel like it is addressing themes that have always interested me in a more authentic way. Mostly the relationship between opposites: order + chaos. control + lack there of. Maybe it is because the materials are the same but the way in which it is being expressed feels more charged.
The watercolors feel like a source of life – it attracts and emits energy at the same time. The marks are chaotic. Subtle or bold – steadfast or impulsive they bring an element of consideration layered on top of the watercolor base.
I'm only using pencil and some colored charcoal for what's layered on top. I do not want to over work these pieces until I spend some time with them and get some other points of view. I can easily add in stitches and collage if needed, but I don't know – right now I am sort of enjoying the simplicity and letting the elements breathe.
Let's get it on.
Detail, new work.
yesterday was my first meeting with my mentor from prequel ka’ila. it was great and exactly what i needed. she looked at my body of work with me and confirmed what i knew… i was really comfortable working in this format.
so we talked about how i could break out of this formula to get to a new space. listed below are some of the points she made that really helped me rethink my approach.
• maximize your space. clear out the room of non-art stuff and use the wall/floor as a work space.
• work with new tools. bigger brushes, squeegees, rollers, etc.
• break the edge. all my work has been set in a portrait-like format contained w/in the rectangle of the page. push it.
• work in new places. on the wall, on the floor, move around.
• make a view finder for your own work. what happens when you blow up a smaller part of an older piece.
these are all very tactical approaches but one of the things she said that most stuck with me was something her mentor said to her.
you don’t have to say it all in one piece.
[insert lightbulb moment]
with that, i rearranged. i took down all my wall hangings and moved my shoe cabinet out. i pulled out some pieces i had started and took the tape off and started drawing to the edge. i am keeping it simple. watercolor and pencil. i moved my hand in bigger more gestural strokes and got in the groove.
super stoked for it to be the weekend and get to work for full days.
#magic
Cleared wall, new work.
I'm blue.
Calm and wise (well, mostly). Some people are more productive and focused surrounded by the colour blue. And you, dear friend, are one of them.
I love personality quizzes – especially when they involve color. Check this one out if you want to know what Pantone color you are.
Here's to the fuck ups.
Blank slate, Studio Shot 2016
My stomach is in knots and I am trying not to think about it. Avoidance isn’t going to make it go away. I’ve been here before but it never gets easier. Starting a new body of work is terrifying and honestly sucks. Especially when it’s a deliberate delineation and doesn’t just happen organically.
I know what I need to: get in the studio and work it out on paper.
But it is hard to when you dread the feeling of fucking up.
What I hate is when I mess up a perfectly good start to a piece of work. Last night I took the plunge and started marking up the watercolor base. The marks were awful, I knew it once I moved my hand across the paper. I kept moving - trying to make it better but I only made it worst. Then I entered the “fuck it” phase and really ran it into the ground.
I haven’t given up on it. I want to experiment with using materials I don’t normally use – acrylic, gesso, spray paint. Really go all in on filling the space and layering as much as possible. This is really hard for me because I love negative space. I haven’t made compositions that fill the page and utilize layers in this way in about 8 years. I admire so many artist currently that do but this is not my standard practice. My hands are clumsy, the marks are timid or too bold, the composition is off, and my vision isn’t realized.
Good thing I just ordered 50 pieces of paper. Hopefully I don’t waste all of it.
So, in the words of the ever so Grateful Dead:
Truckin' got my chips cashed in. Keep truckin', like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line, just keep truckin' on.
inward ⇌ outward
i have two bodies of work going on right now that use similar elements but their source of inspirations comes from two different but interconnected places. headscapes pulls from my internal world and to the source pulls from the world around me.
i was in the studio last night working for the first time in a while. i had been craving it, oh how i’d been craving it. while i was working, i got to the point where the watercolor was dry and i was at a loss as to what to do next. had i forgotten how to do it? had it really been that long? i found myself looking around my studio looking for inspiration at a loss. i started laughing at myself because realized i had been working on my other series that pulls inspiration from my surroundings – can’t do that when it is just me… no, i have to pull my inspiration from within. with headscapes, i am the source.
i have a tendency to try to distance myself from my work, to look at it from an objective perspective like a psychologist unpacking a clients narrative. i’ve had goals in the past where i tell myself i need to be more vulnerable with my work – i’m not sure that i am but last night i came to terms that my work is about me. directly or indirectly, it’s all about me.
honestly the relationship between headscapes and to the source is so intertwined with my philosophy of the exchange between what’s inside us and what’s around us. we are constantly absorbing and taking in from our external world and process it. for me, it’s a two way street. Through processing we internalize it and mark it with our own experiences and emotions and eventually put it back out into the world. input ⇌ output.
it’s funny because i just got a tattoo to symbolize this. it’s inspired by the reversible reaction where each side of the equation is trying to balance each other out to achieve equilibrium. i guess that is really what my art is trying to do make my internal world exchange and balance out what’s around me.