Moving to Germany and getting ready for Residency ### 3

This morning when I woke up, I had for a moment (however brief) a feeling of accomplishment. Through this completely ridiculous last few months also known as 'the longest move of my life episode'....I realized next week is the residency, and I actually feel good about the work I'm bringing.  This semester, regardless of the move, brought many realizations about how I approached art making and how the last 11 years tattooing tailored that process. There is a difference in the approach to tattoo as there is to fine art, at least for me.

There were many aimless ideas, at first promising and definite until the actual attempt at creating it... so a lot of sinking ships. 

Many times too embarrassing to show my mentor, and even that is interesting.  In tattoo there is no failure, ya dont eff up, so I'm incredibly critical of failing.  I needed to let that go. 

I read and researched more and tried to let studio work happen a bit more organically, come what may.  Last semester, I'd start a piece and keep going until the end of that piece. And every piece followed the same formula, much like tattoo. This semester I broke that process.  

                                          

Two unfinished pieces.  I am happy with the direction these are going in, as I am incorporating the spit-shaded technique using liquid acrylic (that can only be done on hot press watercolor paper I concluded this semester after much experimentation) with regular acrylic. The contrast of the more realistic cut pieces of the liquid acrylic on paper and the gestural more expressive acrylic on board is interesting to me.  I think I can push this further, perhaps even more layering and overlapping of paper and the two different kinds of acrylic.

The top piece is also done on a board covered in a target that was shot up at a weapons range, as other pieces I have done this semester.  I enjoy the narrative that could develop with this idea, as well the paper is awesome to paint on. Weird.