Tag: work in progress

May 20, 2015

A Place for Peace of Mind

“Work-In-Progress: A Beautiful Mind” (c) Marika Reinke

Yesterday, the Seattle Schools District teachers walked out (as they should) to demand the money that was voted to be allocated to K-12 schools and has yet to appear. Please don’t get me started on this. I worked at a community college for long enough to understand the politics of this travesty. Political excuses aside, it is a travesty that the United States literally values its public education with a minimal budget, resources and outright condescension. Our under-funded school system may be the root of the demise of this country in the long run.

The point is that the kids were home all day.

Thankfully, we are reaching a parenting milestone and turning point. The kids are old enough to entertain themselves especially with the neighborhood kids over.

And I could work.

I love that I have a studio but it is located in a far away corner of the house. For all their independence, I feel better being able to hear my kids chattering, thumping and screaming. I just can’t do that in my studio.

So I brought my laptop into the dining room and dedicated the day to getting sh*t done. Literally, the stuff on my list I really don’t want to do – the dreggy, non-creative, linear, detail oriented shi*t. This is what grading is to teaching. Generally, yucky. And though many of these items have been on the list forever, I have not been able to focus on it. My records are a mess, my mailing list is scattered everywhere, my website is not cohesive and makes no sense for e-commerce. I have no idea what I’ve posted anywhere.

Usually, when I sit down to address this problem, I space out and forget what I’m doing.

But not yesterday.

Yesterday, I got sh*t done. I got a lot of it done. More than I have in a long time. I felt so productive it was like I was back at my old job, cranking out the high volume grading and lesson plans.

And the difference? The dining room. Or more specifically, not being in my studio.

My studio, is my haven; my place to forget words, hear my heart, listen to pictures, lose time. It is a place where I don’t look at where I am, but what is inside. It is a place that lures me. My most recent work-in-progresses whisper at me, they work at me subliminally. When I’m still, I’m working in my studio. When I’m staring at my database, I’m working on a painting.

The studio is not a place to get sh*t done.

A lesson well-learned.

CONTACT ME

[email protected]

E-MAIL LIST

Join my E-mail List Here to get current news of events and special deals. I respect your privacy and will not share this information with others.

FACEBOOK

I offer special deals and offers to my Facebook fans. Come join me at Marika’s Art Studio

March 25, 2015

Studio Party Countdown

This is a lot of work, a lot of mistakes, learning and a little bit of duct tape and cardboard to pull it all together.

Not only is it a lot of work making it look like this.

But it is a lot of work getting myself organized like I’ve never been organized as an artist before.

Usually, I handle details like certificates of authenticity and storycards, personalization, custom prints with silver and gold embelishments and payment as they role in. Getting an art booth ready requires you be prepared for anything. I prefer to be over-prepared but I confess I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants.

If anything, this project has propelled me into a commitment level and preparation level I was too insecure to handle. Now, I’m committed. The fear of not being prepared has committed me. That makes me laugh.

I’m seriously changing my workflow so I don’t have to do so much all at once. Ever. Again.

I’m almost done.

My Goal by this Saturday at 6 pm: A good system in place so my husband can help me at the party while I drink wine.

And hang out with some friends I haven’t seen for awhile. These people are awesome. I don’t want to miss them.

Notice the feathers? Those are my daughter’s addition. As she has watched this art booth emerge, her excitement has mounted as has her “help”.

Every now and then I look up and breath a bit and think “holy cow, I created all of this.” And then I look at my To-Do List and I’m back at it.

There isn’t a way this would have happened without my husband, who is awesome help, wicked talented, and amazingly supportive. This party is going to have the best wine because of him. And he, unlike me, hasn’t broken a single frame. I’ve got him 2 to 0 on that score.

And now, I’m going back to that To-Do List. Hope to see you soon.

Posted with Blogsy

March 8, 2015

Dana’s Turtle Progress Report

Dana is happier with the turtles progress now. The water has pulled in the ideas she was exploring in her drawing. She notices this. She feels seen, she feels important. I have had a small moment of connection and motherly victory. I'll take what I can get. I get a lot of eye rolls and sighs these days too.

I also washed the head in some deep yellow because she suggested a golden head. I'm really going to have to think about the head now. I'll look at some pictures, but as I write some ideas are forming.

So much of painting is looking, studying, thinking. I often take long breaks and photos on my cell phone so I can just look. Before I had my studio, I used to prop my painting at at the end of the bed before I went to sleep, just to look at it and make decisions for my next painting session.

Her original drawing has a nest of eggs. She has told me not to include it now. Honestly, I'm glad to not include it, I knew it would be challenging to design. It will let me focus on the other elements more thoroughly. I think it will also reflect the experience of seeing the turtles more acurately. And in some way, that makes it more magical for me, and less scientific. Is that weird? The turtle just appears and we don't know where it comes from now.

For me, There is a point in painting, when a the painting goes from being a painting “of something” to a reflection of my viewpoint, where I and the painting merge. At this point I internally say “Now, this is me, now I'm heading somewhere,”. It is as if I and the painting are making our ways towards each other.

Ironically, often when I'm done, I laugh and think I must be a little insane. I don't mind being crazy as long as it makes me laugh.

The point is emerging, but I'm not there yet.

Posted with Blogsy

March 6, 2015

Dana’s Turtle: A Mother Daughter Dance

Dana’s Tutrle in Progress (c) Marika Reinke 2015

It is interesting to me how the practice of art is a melding of personalities and roles. The artist is the giver and the receiver is the subject or client or both. But somewhere in this process, I feel I’m gaining a very precious gift and our roles are reversed. I am grateful.

My daughter wants me to paint her turtle drawing (this is absolutely necessary since I finished Daire’s Dragon).

Daire’s Dragon (c) Marika Reinke 2015

Daire’s dragon in many ways reflects him. It is all energy, desire and a frenetic wanting of everything without compromise. My son is 5, almost 6.

This turtle is calmer and more grounded, like my daughter. We saw baby turtles in Mexico this winter and large green turtles laying eggs in Costa Rica a couple years ago. It was magical, of the real life kind, both experiences were awe-inspiring. Unlike a dragon, turtles are a real life story. She draws what she sees and learns, she is very scientific and loves the natural world.

Dana’s Tutrle in Progress (c) Marika Reinke 2015

When she saw my progress, she was clear she wants more stimulating colors like the dragon – a golden head for example. This surprised me a little. She wants, in many ways, more of me in the painting. She also expressed the knowledge that I was only just beginning, and had confidence the end would be a lot different. She pays attention that way.

What I’m noticing is that through art, the giver and receiver express their relationship and that relationship matures in the process. It is very intimate and so wonderfully human.

I feel this in all the paintings I have done for others, but witnessing it being expressed from my daughters point of view is very touching and expanding. She is 8 almost 9, and really defining herself as a person. In doing so she is also defining me as her mother. She is making sense of me.

And this is in part what this painting is about, a mother making sense of her daughter and her daughter doing it right back.

Something we will do for the rest of our lives I suspect. I am grateful for it.

CONTACT ME

Let me know what you think with a comment or send me an email at [email protected]

E-MAIL LIST

Join my E-mail List Here to get current news of events and special deals. I respect your privacy and will not share this information with others.

FACEBOOK

I offer special deals and offers to my Facebook fans. Come join us here Marika’s Art Studio