anna sauer clement

a lot of lemons, some bananas, a few tangerines, a lime and a succulent.

AI WEIWEI Sunflower Seeds
Five tons of individually produced porcelain seeds. No words.

Bah!

Sketchbook Today

Palette

I know it’s been forever but I’ve been working, I swear I have been.  And working with acrylic as opposed to oil, so it’s been a rough time, I tell you.  But I have made Major Breakthroughs, and within the next two to three days will have a lovely painting to share (inspired by the work of Robert Campin c.1400, no less!)  Progress on painting has been slow and steady which just might be the right method for me at this point.  Gearing up for this Bitchin’ show in St. Pete on November 12th.

  Will ship the painting out next week. 

I’ve been painting and making a few small things on a more-or-less regular basis since last posting.  But I’ve also been wasting a lot of time in jumping from one thing to the next, submitting designs for contests I have no chance of winning, frittering hours upon hours looking over pictures of paintings, and somehow squeezing in little blobs of nonsense that don’t seem to amount to much (at least here on the interwebs whilst surrounded by far more disciplined and accomplished makers than I).   In terms of BIG developments, my attitude about all of this has changed immeasurably.  I’m not too worried about making art anymore, or about finishing a project or about winning or being popular or even knowing how to paint.  Which is making me a much happier person.  And a calmer person.  And a better mom. 

So here’s some shots of the corner of my living room where lies the stuff I’ve gathered and placed and sometimes manipulated with random art-like materials.

Today’s Exercises in Futility

1.  Commissioned Buddha Head gets another layer of blue shit.

2.  I decided to paint the peonies I bought yesterday with no regard to anything other than painting the peonies.  I worked on it for about an hour and then decided the exercise was enough.  E-n-o-u-g-h with the mindless exercises.  I’m ready to make something thoughtful now.

seagull: nudawn:ooohsnaaap:numnumsbylaura:theyoungandwreckless:

One night President Obama and his wife Michelle decided to do something out of routine and go for a casual dinner at a restaurant that wasn’t too luxurious. When they were seated, the owner of the restaurant asked the President’s Secret Service if he could please speak to the First Lady in private. They obliged and Michelle had a conversation with the owner. Following this conversation President Obama asked Michelle, “Why was he so interested in talking to you?” She mentioned that in her teenage years, he had been madly in love with her. President Obama then said, “So if you had married him, you would now be the owner of this lovely restaurant,” to which Michelle responded, “No. If I had married him, he would now be the President.”

(Source: leemrsmn, via rubinadesign)

I got one hour in today.  Whoo hoo!  I am noodling.  Layering nuggets and nets into this thing.  This painting might be about a conversation between two people that goes on and on and on and gets nowhere. Occasionally connections are formed (nets) but they hold nothing.   So little fragments of substance (nuggets) start globbing and coagulating on the edges of the people and at least they are somewhat solid and interesting to look at.  

Or not.

Preparation

This is the sky reflected in the palette I just made by attaching a nice large piece of glass to a foam core board.  It’s sitting outside right now, next to my easel which I pulled out there to work while the kids sleep this afternoon…….

  (ten minutes later)  Well now that both kids are awake,  at least I’ve got a shiny piece of glass to reflect things.