The 2012 South Orange Maplewood Studio Tour...wow...what a day. It took me all of Monday to recover. Someone mentioned to me that it had to be a sort of studio tour zeitgeist, someone else mentioned that it had to be the fact that the studio tour was free; regardless, there was a steady stream of visitors (the usual crowd of regional artists, neighbors and art enthusiasts, plus over 50 people that I did not know). I think I was a bit loopy by the end: explaining materials and techniques I can do by rote, but explaining why or where the ideas come from is more difficult - particularly when it is never exactly the same question - and 6 hours of thinking on my toes is exhausting. But, I have to say that this year brought a lot of really serious art enthusiasts with good questions and a high level of interest, so the day was fantastic. And, the studio tour always reinforces the fact that I love where I live. Okay, enough of my thoughts...here are the pics for the 2012 Virtual Studio Tour.
The newly designed yard signs (to coordinate with the newly designed studio tour website):
In my entry way are the gold leaf portraits of my sons (the one above the cabinet is of my youngest son; the other drawing that hangs to the immediate right is not photographed here) and the drawing on the floor to the left is an older work titled The Ultimate Risk:
My studio is on the first floor of my home and for the studio tour I also take over the living room and my husband's record collection room (also on the first floor)...first up are the Strange Tales on the left wall of the living room, then a view of the whole living room with (l-r) the gold leaf drawing Fourteen, and the graphite drawings Coelacanths, and The Vigil:
And, to the immediate right in this room is the drawing Cottonmouth and Magnolia and my print bin (just out of camera shot on bottom left):
The record room was for the bigger pieces, including the four-part drawing Snowblind that I only recently framed...I have never used white for the big drawings, but these had to be white on white for the glacial, frigid feel:
The newest large-scale drawing, titled Home (The Sleep of Reason):
And there I am:
And onward to the studio...it is dark in this pic because I had to wait until evening to take a photo (there is a lot of natural light from the windows that makes the day photos too glaring):
The drawing currently in progress (approximately 5 x 3 feet):
The drawing taboret:
My art bookcase and studio curio shelf:
Before and after clean up pics...the Studio Tour compels me to put stuff away:
So, that ends the 2012 Virtual Studio Tour and it is now time to get back to drawing in my studio. Which means I have to [quickly] get my studio messy again so it feels just right for drawing...and that last thought brings to mind the White Stripes' Little Room: