47/100

I've slowed down a bit, and missed my initial deadline of 100 drawings by January 1. There are currently 47 drawings in the new series, which I plan to finish by mid-February. Here are some shots from the studio and scans of the three most recent drawings.





Here are drawings 045-047. They are mud dauber wasp nests. I've been meaning to do some drawings of these for a while. Google them. They're these weird little clay sculptures, and aside from the fact that they are filled with vicious wasps, they are pretty beautiful.

100 Drawings: 30/100

In the studio with the first 30:

100 Drawings Update

I started 100 Drawings two weeks ago and since then, I have made 30 drawings. When I started I wasn't sure what form this project was going to take. I have mailed away many of my first 20 drawings, and this week, I started working on a standard 9"x12" watercolor paper. I bought a stack of 100 sheets, and am going to fill all of them. I have made 10 drawings this week. Here are a few and the remaining 10 are on my website: http://aimeebelanger.com/section/271082_100_Drawings.html

Ira Glass: This is really important

Someone posted this on Facebook today and I had to share it. It's a wonderful quote by Ira Glass (a personal hero of mine) about being a young artist.

READ:


This is very real for me- I wonder why the things that I like are so much better-more interesting, engaging, dynamic- than the things I make. If I wasn't me and I saw my work would I even like it? Would I even care to look? There have been times when I have stopped making things altogether because I didn't think that what I was doing was intelligent or beautiful or original enough.

That is what 100 drawings is about. Just making stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Thanks, Ira.

Flux Feature

The curatorial crew at Flux has decided to feature my studio and me on their blog! Check out my studio, recent work, and Distillery friends here: http://flux-boston.com/?p=3418

Cheers to Liz for the nod!

100

100 drawings by December 31, 2011
Buildings and people and landscapes.
People as landscapes.
Buildings as portraits.
Time. Starts. Now.

Richard Serra

Richard Serra, walnut ink and pen on paper, 7"x10", 10/31/2011

people i love

i've been thinking about:

dan flavin
charles ray
richard serra
rachel whiteread
erwin wurm
simon starling
james turrell

none of these people make pictures

Oh Charley, Charley, Charley!

pen on paper, 7"x10", October 29, 2011

Dan Flavin

Dan Flavin, walnut ink on paper, 6"x6", 10/24/2011

I made you a drawing

1. Mt. Hood, Pen on paper, 11"x8.5", October 11, 2011
2. Glasgow, Pen and pencil on paper, 10"x7", October 12, 2011

Great Grandmother

Recently I visited Asbury Park, NJ with my roller derby team (you read that right). I was excited for this trip in particular, because it brought me back to where my dad's family lives and where my great-grandmother was once famous. You can read her story here.

I decided to follow up on this trip with a series of drawings, and since I broke my wrist and was unable to finish some of the paintings I had been working on previously, it seemed like the perfect time to make some sloppy, opposite/broken hand drawings.

The Great Cedora at age 16 on the boardwalk with her bicycle.

Another classic

Eleanore, ink on paper, 50"x"36", 2011

(detail)

(detail)

Cedora, ink and gouache on paper, 40"x24", 2011

(detail)

Broken Hand Press

New prints (sorry to take pics of them in their sleeves)

You Are Beautiful And I Love You. Hand screen print on Rives BFK, Edition of 25, 4 color combinations, 12"x19"

Since I broke my left (read:important) wrist, I have been working at home. Luckily I have a room all to myself and my boyfriend doesn't complain about me covering his pianos with prints. Note the clip lamp taped to the desk: it has a 300 watt bulb ($6 at Home Depot) and at 12" away, I can expose a 12"x18" screen in 20 minutes. Wash out in the tub with a scrub brush, let dry, find a clean spot (there's got to be one somewhere), and print. This is basically the process I use with my students. No light table, no racks, no pressure sprayer, no darkroom. Feel free to comment with questions on this process- and then get to work silk screening at home! Also, these prints are for sale.

Piles

scans of recent sketchbook drawings

Studiomates

After being out of the studio for a bit (home 5 days for Thanksgiving break, hectic schedule, lots of skating practices, and you know...life), I was relieved to get my butt back to the Distillery this week. Naturally, I got all the way to Southie and realized I'd forgotten my keys. But, lo and behold! A light glistened from within the building and I was able to call up to my studiomate, Corey Corcoran, to let me in (the heat was on so high he had to crack a window...thanks, Distillery!) Once safe inside, Corey let me borrow his digital camera to take some shots of work that I had not been able to share yet. Corey saves the day again! Being an artist without a digital camera is not only inconvenient, but totally ridiculous at this point in history. I am working on this.

Here are a few shots of some work from my Invasive Species series. I just made that name up, but I think I might stick with it. This is me fumbling around helplessly with oil paint for the first time in years. Also, I have questionable digital photo editing skills. More to come!

The trees go to the seashore, 24"x24" oil on panel, in progress

Overpass, 24"x12", oil and gouache on panel, spring 2010

Oh, and the moral of the story: Studiomates are awesome!