Art Studio Series: Emily

Posted on April 17, 2014 by lksukany

Emily Wood is an artist in Arkansas. I know her from the Master of Arts painting program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She teaches at the Arkansas Arts Center, and is highly involved in the Arkansas artist community.

Her website is www.emilywoodart.com

Emily Wood’s Art Studio – Emily talks about her studio below.

“My studio is in the sun room at my house– it has tile floors and windows on 3 sides.”

“Besides being a little small and a mess, I love it! The lighting is great and I can open the windows when the weather is nice. This is also my dog, Turk’s ‘room’, so I am always picking dog hair out of my paintings!”

Art Studio Series: Kelsey

Posted on April 10, 2014 by lksukany

Kelsey McCall is a student in the painting progam at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She works in her studio, which is a room in her home.

Kelsey McCall’s Art Studio – Kelsey talks about her studio below.

“I primarily do realistic figurative painting in oil. I’m working on a series of Rockwellesque paintings right now (one of which is on my easel).”

“My studio is a mess. Every once in a while I get overwhelmed with it and I try to clean and organize it all to perfection. But when I’m working I tend to create clutter and chaos around me so the cleanliness doesn’t last long.”

“I recently got a giant black-framed mirror, so now I don’t have to go to the bathroom to paint self-portraits.”

“So my studio is a nice place to work but also a work in progress.”

Death of an Artist

Posted on April 4, 2014 by lksukany

Yes, this may be a grave post, but as artist, I think about death. I don’t think about death necessarily in a depressed or creepy way, just about the thing itself as well as the customs and rituals around it.

I wanted to make my will and pick out my burial ground and headstone. The only thing I really have to leave to anyone is my art (paintings, drawings, prints, and books I’ve made with M). I think I would want my family to pick out what they want and the rest to be donated.

I found family buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Paris, AR and thought that could be a good place – it would connect me to someone and somewhere from a historical perspective. Honestly, I don’t know anyone who actively visits gravesides, so I don’t think it really matters where I’m buried because I don’t think anyone will visit the place.

Here were some family headstones I found.

Like Father – Like Son

These are a little different – I like the last name in relief.

Overall they are pretty general tombstones, except for the Mausoleum!

I looked on Pinterest for headstone ideas – and there were themes of figures, angels, baby angels, pets, etc.

Human figures in a cemetery are creepy.

Pet animal statues are confusing – is it your PET’S grave or a pet on YOUR grave?

Angels make it look Catholic, which is great.

Baby angels are okay, but not my cuppa.

No – I just can’t even imagine this.

I thought a bench would be nice – so people could take a rest when on a stroll.

Of course there are many new and modern ways to be buried.

Just for fun – some artists graves.

The Grave of Nicolas Platon-Argyriades [Platon] (1888-1968) – Ceramic artist and Potter – and his Wife Paque (1903-1961)

Michelangelo Grave

Vincent Van Gogh Grave

Leonardo Da Vinci Grave

Art Museum Picnic

Posted on April 1, 2014 by lksukany

M and I took the kids for the lunch hour on Friday.

M brought a picnic lunch, and everyone enjoyed the goodies (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana, and kettle chips).
.

We had to keep a lookout because the geese kept invading our picnic!

The kids found a resting duck on our way into the museum.

Once into the Arkansas Arts Center , we went to Carroll Cloar’s exhibit. The kids seemed very interested in Cloar’s work and when asked how they would describe it, they said “cool.”

Looking at art is a great way to spend the lunch hour!

There was even a kids area – which I thought was “cool.” While Al helped ZZ with the magnets, SS made his own composition.

Two things I learned while viewing art with kids was #1 When holding the two year old, I focused more on colors and shapes because I wasn’t sure what else to point out in the painting.

#2 Going to see art with your kids is a really good thing! Also, people will look at you approvingly and admire your genius family.

What a good looking bunch!

Inspiration & Studio Session

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lksukany

M picked me up for lunch and we went to the Arkansas Arts Center Carroll Cloar Exhibition. When we first walked into the gallery, it smelled really bad, and I couldn’t place what the smell was. It wasn’t until we got to the Carroll Cloar studio installation that I realized the smell was old paper. If you have ever made your own paper and your paper pulp got moldy, you know that smell can be painful. M took a picture of me in front of Cloar’s studio, and I thought I was smiling, but apparently I was just looking at the camera.

There were so many beautiful patterns and colors. The compositions were also very pleasing to look at.

I got inspired and decided to forego house chores and to-do maintenance list (mostly involving my stinky dog Ein) and worked in my studio.

I put in an old black & white movie – The Sky’s the Limit (1943), a romantic musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie – and got to work. At one point, I found myself wishing that Fred Astaire’s name was spelled with an E, like Esterre. I don’t know why.

I finished my chicken painting studies.

I want to do a large landscape painting with chickens in the foreground, so I gessoed over an old painting. It was a failed painting that I never finished.

I always feel super great when I work in my studio. It’s the same feeling when I’m playing music. I feel alive and immersed in the present. I feel awake.

Paper Opera

Art, music, and stories.

Tag Archives: #artist