Mock-ups for 1st thesis piece

I'm FINALLY starting on the first piece of my thesis body of art. Here are some mock-ups. The first two are the two panels of the diptych, which will be side by side. The last one is just playing around with a new type of paper, seeing if I like the grain/how it handles charcoal and ink, etc. MUCH looser than I usually work, and I must say, I like it! I think ink may be part of these new pieces.


Stay tuned for more!!!

First finished pieces of the semester....

Hi all!

So, here are the two pieces I posted previously.....done! They were for the Mythology/Narrative class that I have with artist F. Scott Hess. The first one is from the model pose we had in class. I think I explained this before, but I ended up drawing the female model over and over, and really liked it. I just wasn't sure what to do with the empty space. Then I had an epiphany - mirrors! Or darkened windows...same thing :) It reflects the figure, making the identity and reality of the figures (who is who, which is real and which is a reflection) even more confusing, which I also really liked. I'm also proud of myself - this is CHARCOAL (not pencil!!) and has more value range than anything I've done in a whiilllle. Go me! haha!

The second one is my dearest - as done as it can get for now. I may still work on it more in a while, but it needs to go out of my head for the time being. I have some serious thesis work to get to! I darkened him up a LOOOT (with charcoal and conte) and like the diagonal composition...but it still feels like it's missing a little sumpin sumpin.

Ok - on to the thesis pieces. The 3rd image is a fast sketch of the 1st thesis piece that I am going to be working on. I'll elaborate on the idea more later...it's about visual identity - what we convey about ourselves to others vs. what they perceive about us - all based on outer appearances. I"m liking the symmetry and how each image reflects the other. And it looks like a Rorschach inkblot test - another way of learning about your personality.

More to come.....

XOXOXO

New Class Pieces

I'm taking a great class with artist F. Scott Hess on using Mythology in your art - here are the 2 pieces that I am working on for class. The first one is our in-class piece; we had two models, a girl and a guy, and for some reason I was drawn to repeating the female model, twisting her pose around, and doing more of an exploration of her figure- kind of like a multi-faceted portrait. Still needs work - I am SO on the fence as to what to do in the surrounding space. Today, I am debating on adding mirrors around her that reflect her even more.

The second one is the homework piece, where we were supposed to be inspired by a myth or legend. Since I'm working with identity and showing the 'different sides' of our personas in my thesis pieces, I thought I'd continue with that theme but explore it in a bit of a different way. Here, I've drawn Peter (wow, for the 1st time! crazy!) as Janus, the Roman God of new beginnings and transitions (it just seemed appropriate for some reason!). He is a two headed/faced god, with one face looking to the past and one looking to the future. Again, the background is giving me an issue, but I like of am just liking the gradient/transition. I'm not sold on his "pointing to the future" pose, tho....hmmm.......

Thoughts?
:)

New Mentor...New Stuff

Hey all, so I've been working on my thesis idea and on trying to not be so "in-your-face" with it and how to leave more to the imagination - more ways for the viewer to walk up to the art and bring their own ideas to it.

I'm working with Joe Gerges now (http://www.josephgerges.com/pages/pg_drawing/draw_current_06.shtml) and he is really pushing me in some great directions - not only breaking out of my "I like to draw in pencil" phase, but pushing me into some new materials, techniques and ways of thinking.

Here is the start of something...fast sketches that will develop into drawings in the next few weeks. Stay tuned...

xo

Who told me I need to draw ugly things???

Summer happenings....

It's been a LONG while since I've been on here and posted anything. Lots has gone on - a wonderful trip to Northern Cal that helped begin the healing of my back (again, sheesh!), some fun outings with friends, the wedding of a GREAT friend (gorgeous bride Julie Rais!), some sun and beachiness, and my 1st ever true gallery art show!

The Sylvia White show went so well...it's still up for the rest of the month, and I'm really hoping to sell something (a girl's gotta pay the rent, you know). Two pieces got accepted into that show...you can see them all on my website (www.racheledwardsart.com). If you go to the Portfolio section, you can see all the work I did this last semester of grad school, including the rest of the pieces from the last post on here (the triptych). The 2 pieces that got into the show are Don't Look At Me and Stage 1 of the Creation/Destruction triptych. :) Yaaaaay!

As for NEW stuff??? I've been asked to be a bit more experimental and to let the DRAWING PROCESS show more in what I do - to not be SO meticulous and to let spontaneity rule a little more. So - I thought of something that is related to my main thesis interests (body image and how it affects us, roughly) and went with it - these are all images of women post-plastic surgery. I drew in NON-erasable materials (crazy, i know!), spray painted over things, drew them back in, ripped parts out, drew back in, etc.....basically any time I felt myself getting comfortable or liking something, I drew over it or got rid of it. What, who is this person? It's not the Rachel I know, haha! The point is to let the drawing process reiterate and support the subject matter. (for example, these are all women post-plastic surgery, so I was aggressive with the paper - ripped it up, erased, cut into it - just like the surgery is to these women.

The first 2 pieces are done on Duralar, which is this transparent but frosted looking plastic paper-like drawing surface. It lets you do LOTS of fidgeting and will NOT rip or tear or anything. I spent two days on each of these, working simultaneously on both, a little here, a little there. The other two are on doubled up paper (just 2 sheets glued together).....each one was done in under 3 hours.

I like the 1st and 3rd ones the best. WHAT DO YOU THINK?????? PLEASE comment!!!!!!

THANKS SO MUCH! xoxoxoxo

First one...

Here is the 1st piece done in a series of three that I am working on (a triptych)...oddly enough, I finished the last one first. Hmm.....

The concept is that of 'redrawing' yourself, or creating your ideal persona/body/etc....her arm is unfinished on purpose...she's still drawing it, persay.

Will go more in depth when I post all 3 of them together....

Pretty stoked on this drawing though - I used a MUCH better camera to take the model pics, and thus I had a LOT more information to work off of. I could see a lot more subtle changes in value, more detail, you name it. I think this is the best (technical) drawing I've done in a while....proportion-wise, value, etc.....plus, holy crap, I've always sucked at drawing hands and...whattdya think?!!! I'm thinking the hand turned out darned good!! Composition is bugging me a little (a lot of empty space on the right), but hey - pretty excited!!

Aaaaiiiieeeee!

Only 2 more weeks of my 1st year of grad school left!!! WHAT??!!

Time to regroup, work my butt off...I have a BIG review coming up in a week and a half in front of a panel of professors. It's been challenging this last month to get work done (dumb back) so I need to prove that I have stuff goin' on, haha!

I hope to post some new work in the next week.....it's coming, I swear!

xo

L.A. Listings

Here's some more for you to go see!
** With some NEW additions as of 3/7 **

La Luz de Jesus - Hollywood Blvd http://www.laluzdejesus.com/
Everything but the Kitsch 'N Sync' 14th Annual Juried Group Exhibition
Showing March 4 - 28


Robert Berman Gallery C2 - Santa Monica http://www.subliminalprojects.com/
http://www.robertbermangallery.com/robertbermangallery/intro.htm
Revolutions: The Album Cover Art of Shephard Fairey
Opening March 12 8 - 11 pm
Showing Mar 12 - April 23


Thinkspace Gallery - Culver City http://www.thinkspacegallery.com/
Torn and Tattered: feat. Craig "Skibs" Barker, Liz Brizzi and Derek Gores
Place to Place: feat. Reuben Rude
Opening March 12 6 - 8 pm
Showing Mar. 12 - Mar. 26


Corey Helford Gallery - Culver City http://www.coreyhelfordgallery.com/#/home/
Henry Lewis (paintings) and Adam Wallacavage (chandeliers)
Opening Sat. March 19


LA Louvre Gallery - Venice Beach http://www.lalouver.com/
Romancing the Apocalypse: Rebecca Campbell
Opening Thurs. March 10 6 - 8 pm
Showing Mar 10 - April 16


COPRO Gallery - Santa Monica http://www.copronason.com/
Dystopia: Group Exhibition
Opening Mar. 19 8 - 11:30 pm
Showing Mar. 19 - April 9


William Griffin Gallery - Santa Monica http://www.griffinla.com/Exhibitions/Current/tabid/63/Default.aspx
Filmmaker David Lynch: New Painting and Sculpture
Opening March 19 6 - 8 pm
Showing Mar 19 - May 28


The Brewery Artwalk - The World's Largest Artists' Complex http://breweryartwalk.com/
April 16 & 17 11 am - 6 pm


The Hive Gallery - http://hivegallery.com/2010/
Alice in Wonderland: Group Show
Showing Mar. 5 - 26


Grand Central Art Center - Santa Ana http://www.grandcentralartcenter.com/ArtGallery_gcartgallery.php
Suggestivism: Group Exhibition ** Audrey Kawasaki, Mars-1, Tara McPherson, to name a few!!
Showing Feb. 5 - April 17

Art Openings...looong overdue

Hi all,

I haven't made time to do this lately, so thought that now that I'm sitting with a bum back I'd use the time wisely :) Here's some stuff to go see in SD - L.A. will follow soon (I have to do more research)

SAN DIEGO
Project X Gallery - Solana Beach http://www.projectxart.com/shows/current-show.php
Right now, the gallery owner has his stuff up and it's good! Plus, some neat wall-mounted glass sculpture.
Migration (Where To Next?) C. Martino + Lea de Wit
Jan. 22 - Mar. 18
Next:
Ocean Size: C.Martino + John Culqui; Opening Sat. Mar, 26 6 - 10 pm



Thumbprint Gallery - Univ. Ave. http://thumbprintgallerysd.weebly.com/current-show.html
Provoke/Evoke : Group show with Scarecrowoven, Steven Suiter, Jack Stricker, Eric Wixon, Kevin Peterson, E. Vil, and Keemo
Opening TOMORROW, Fri. Mar. 4 7:30 pm - 12
Runs Mar. 4 - April 4
Next:
Bits N Pieces, Artistic Eye Candy: A Bite Sized Art Show
Group show: March 8, 7 pm - 12 at Bar Basic - 410 tenth ave downtown



Alexander Salazar Gallery - Broadway Ave., Downtown http://www.alexandersalazarfineart.com/exhibitions.html
Alison Rash: Opening SATURDAY, Mar. 5 6 - 9 pm
http://thepigments.com/?p=1781 (examples of her art)



Subtext Gallery - Kettner Blvd. http://subtextgallery.com/blog/
Primavera : New works by Martin Hsu and Andrew Brandou
Opening TOMORROW, Fri. Mar. 4 6 - 10 pm
Runs Mar. 4 - April 3
Next:
New Works by Mark Murphy
Opens Friday, April 15, 6- 10 pm
Runs April 15 - May 15



Distinction Gallery - Escondido *** GREAT PLACE!
http://www.distinctionart.com/upcoming.html
The Pillars of the Earth: A Tribute to the Masters : Group show
Opening Sat. Mar. 12 6 - 10 pm
Runs Mar. 12 - April 2
** THIS SHOW HAS WORK BY AN LCAD FACULTY MEMBER, PAMELA WILSON - EXCELLENT PAINTINGS!!!!!

SOLD!

Exciting news...sold my first drawing of my graduate/artist career at the Irvine group faculty/student exhibit!!! Holy cow - was NOT expecting that! It's such an awesome way to start off the semester...now I just have to keep entering art shows, haha!

Here are some other examples of pieces that were there... (from top to bottom)

* Jo's Hands - Rachel Edwards
* detail
* Travis Peterson - grad student
* Robin Johnson - grad student
* Mike Miller - grad student
* Jon Swihart - LCAD faculty and renown Gerome scholar
* DJ Hall - LCAD faculty and professional artist

I never thought I'd say this but...

I am uber inspired by Robert Rauschenberg, and although it's 12:30 am, I came home from art history class, got on the computer, and am typing this.

I love school. I love learning. I love being in a class where you think you kinda have general ideas about things (and I NEVER have claimed to know a lot about art history, but I have, as all art majors have, taken the canonical art history classes) and still have your eyes opened.

I never have liked, or actually, understood much modern art, especially Modernist and PostModernist art. Tonight, we talked about Rauschenberg and how he worked so hard to completely incorporate the viewer into his art and I was amazed. I have fallen in love with so many artists that I never thought twice about in the past, starting with Manet and the brazenness (word??) of Olympia...and now, Rauschenberg's flatbeds.

I am heading to my sketchbook....
xo

Encinitas 101 Banner

I just finished the banner that I am turning in to DEMA to be hung along the Cst Hwy 101 in downtown Encinitas...I wasn't sure what to do and wanted to make something that was in keeping with the style I've been working in. This is what I came up with....pretty girl with some tattoos. :) If you look, the tattoos are Encinitas-based. An "Encinitas" tat across her back and a Hwy 101 tat on her arm. I called it "How much do YOU love Encinitas?" Cheesy, I know, but it was fun. I drew on it too, instead of painting. I just used charcoal and some serious latex finishing sealant. We'll see if it holds up to the weather!!

Every year, dozens of artists complete these banners to spruce up our streets! There is even an auction at the end, when the banners come down. It's called the Arts Alive Banner Project, and was originally started here. Since then, towns across the country have picked up the idea, and you can see banners everywhere. People can bid on and purchase these original pieces of art and all proceeds go to help Encinitas.

If you'd like more information, you can visit their website:
http://www.encinitas101.com/events/arts-alive-banner-project/

Naked is the New Black

I was lucky enough to be a part of the Katharine Story Boutique's Annual Erotica Show that coincided with Laguna Beach's monthly Art Walk....and wow, was it quite the event. Here is a link to Katharine's Facebook page....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=366000&id=94560730897&ref=mf

There were scantily clad VERY young men in the Calvins shimmying around to DJ music, cookies shaped like girlie and boy parts, plenty of free condoms, and (I hear) strippers at some point. We were out at other galleries, so I guess we missed that part (!).

ANYways....my piece "Lola" was part of a select group of artists on display in the store, and it was FUN...some good friends and, as always, my lovah Peter, the awesome supporter that he is, came up to see me from SD, and I got to hang out with my MCAD MFA friends too! Here are some cell phone pics..sorry about the quality! And the 1st pic is thru the storefront window when it was closed...that's why it looks so empty!

xo

Out of my comfort zone

This is one of the pieces that I did for a class this past semester; we went in search of an area of south central LA (!!) that would make a good panorama..and had to incorporate a miniumum of 2 photos together to make the picture. This one is 2 separate pieces of paper put together.

Mine was in back of this Mexican section of town where they had all these pinatas up - this is the parking lot behind one of the buildings. There was a super cool old Caddy parked there, with lots of other cars, but I just really liked that Caddy. I ignored everything else when drawing it....it's totally out of the norm for me - there are no figures! BUT the car stands in, at least for me, as the 'character' or figure. I think of old Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movies when I look at this now!

Sorry, the color/contrast on this pic isn't so great....

New year..and one semester done!

I was stressing a lot that I hadn't accomplished that much this 1st semester of grad school, and at my final critique for the semester I totally surprised myself. I hung everything that I had created (that is taking a more finished form; there were plenty of experiments that are still tucked away) on the wall and stood back - it was more art than I have made in 10 years!! And I did it all in 3 MONTHS!!

So, I decided to use the end of the year to take inventory of all I DID do - I met some really amazing people in my new program, I have a lot more knowledge of the 'how's' associated with making panels due to weeks of experimenting with it :) , I got to see some incredible art and go to more art shows and galleries than I have in a looooong time, I made some art that I am really proud of and am finding my way into a final body of work (not totally there yet, but almost!), and I have taken some big life steps that I am scared of but still moving forward with.

Working as a waitress has been hard - but it's necessary to get to do the other funner (word?) stuff. I still get to see my ladies from CCA, and the kids/students that helped inspire me to even go to school in the 1st place, which has kept me feeling SO supported and happy. I have an amazing fiance who holds down the homefront and makes me feel loved like I never have before, and some friends who have been super helpful and supportive in this 'art process'. Who could ask for more?

I plan on trying to keep up with communications and friendships a bit better this year, work on some new collaborations and ideas, MAKE MORE ART, not be so hard on myself, and get as much out of all of this as I humanly, physically and emotionally can.

SO, thanks to you all out there whom I love, and please keep coming back... I will do better putting things on here, promise! haha!

Here's a pic of my final critique with everything hanging - not all of it is 100% done, but it'll get there!

xoxo
Happy New Year!!!!

Rachel