Behind the Painting: Worth the wait.

A few weeks ago I went to grab a coffee. As I sat there enjoying my warm, frothy latte from Peet's, I found myself wanting to draw and was upset to find I didn't have a sketchbook with me. I did have my planner though, with many past weeks begging to be scrawled upon. A handful of chair painting sketches were born from that drawing session. Once I got back to my studio, I transferred these scribbles to my sketchbook. In the bottom-most image here, my planner is perched on my sketchbook showing off the sketches for Worth the Wait., this week's painting selection.

I just finished the painting this morning, and even more recently realized it was the same colors as Different Approaches., last week's piece, which means that one of them will need to be updated (probably Different Approaches. because I have issues with it's composition as well.) Plus I have been changing the background of Worth the Wait. every week and I'm satisfied with it finally! I settled upon a grey-blue-purple-ish color, which is actually where it started. I went through coffee and peach colors. Usually it makes me cringe to see a blue background with a green foreground because it just screams being outside, but somehow, the grey-ish color makes me happier than peach for this painting. Me changing the background color is a common thing, and I am really excited that I documented my process more thoroughly this time around. 

The composition of this painting is of the line of people waiting for coffee while I was sitting in Peet's. I started doing vertical chair paintings fairly recently, about a year ago at the most? (Out of three years painting folding chairs.) I am still getting a handle on how to use the space in these compositions. What caught my attention about these people in this line is how they were all facing their own direction, paying attention to many different things. The phrase "single-file" implies to me that lines are all organized and perfect. Though compared to the disaster of airport "lines," which are really just masses, this line was pretty clear. I can still see some of the people who were standing in line. There were two guys standing at the counter ordering. And I recall the guy on the right had his arms up behind his head and just looked so comfortable and confident, almost kind of ridiculously so. I wish that had transferred a bit more in the painting. Though I love the bonded pair at the head of this line cause it makes me think maybe people are in line to get married or the single riders at Disneyland. What's worth the wait for you?

Worth the wait.

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

 

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

Worth the wait. in progress

14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

Coffee shop sketches

Pencil and pen on paper

2015

Behind the Painting: Different approaches.

A few weeks ago, I asked people to select pieces they wanted to hear about and this week's piece, Different approaches., was nominated by one of my studio peers.

It came about one day when I was in my studio analyzing/worrying about something and I managed to stop the cycle and wonder, “How much more do I let myself think about this?” This phrase interested me, so I added it to my list of potential titles. The same day, or soon after, I took out my sketchbook scrawled the phrase, "How much do I think about this?" across the top of the pages and went to work sketching chair compositions. There two main sketches on the right-hand page below are based on this phrase. These two sketches became Different approaches. and How much more do I think about this?, the two paintings pictured below

The painting, How much more do I think about this?, is a more literal interpretation of that moment I had where one feels as if their brain is caving in (implied through body language and the horizon lines). I can't recall exactly what I was thinking about then, but I am certain it related to me feeling awkward or shameful for some social interaction. Different approaches. tells a story of my social hesitancy, particularly during awkward attempts to join a group or interact with unfamiliar people. The chair in the upper left is me standing there wondering if it will ever be possible to approach the other chairs (people), grinding my gears attempting to get up the nerve to talk to them. (Usually the answer is I don't.)

Titling Different approaches. went different than expected. Originally, I wanted to make it about shyness or hesitancy, then I realized that viewers wouldn't necessarily identify as the reserved figure in the corner like I do. I decided the title should include all the other chairs I put in the piece because I put them in there on purpose with their own body language and stories. The two chairs in the front are absorbed in their conversation, oblivious to the fact that anyone else is anything but contently interacting. The third of that trio has is angled towards the hesitant one in the corner, implying they notice them or are even perhaps beckoning them over. To help the viewer appreciate the multiple perspectives and stories within, I titled it Different Approaches., and as a reminder that we all do approach things differently.

Different approaches.

16 x 12 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

How much more do I think about this?

7 x 5 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

 

Sketchbook spread

Pencil and watercolor on paper

2015

Behind the Painting: I don’t deserve it.

This week's painting, I don't deserve it., is an edited painting and I am really excited because I have pictures of its stages! The piece began as two chairs holding hands, the bottom-most image in this post. I wasn't happy, so I tried changing the background color and that still didn't work for me. And when I dislike a painting I gesso over it, so I did! I may have known I liked the right-hand chair or I just started gessoing and realized that that chair looked good and I wanted to keep it. Either way, I kept the right chair amid a mess of gesso (the second image below).

Basically, I left this chair alone. I took its friend/partner away. And this person, aka chair, at some point says to itself, "I don't deserve it." Either they're too good or not good enough, which you can decide for yourself, is that glass half-empty or half-full? Usually when I am talking to myself like this, the glass is half-empty. Oh, how that self-doubt sneaks in!

This half-empty and loneliness of his friend being away, is emphasized by the wonky horizon. The angled horizon line indicates a floor sliding down towards the chair as if the world is off, topsy turvy. This repeating motif of wonky horizons in my work is inspired by Cezanne’s still lives that had uneven horizon lines that he explained were how he perceived the things in front of him. While working on still lives, even while measuring carefully, I find objects and lines sometimes just don’t line up quite right, especially since your head, eyes, and body may have moved. So each drawing, the world really, is a piecing together of different view points coming together.

To sum up this piece, someone once asked me what this piece was all about and I tried to explain it, babbling about Cezanne, and in the end exclaimed, "Sometimes I am just angsty!"

 

I don't deserve it.

12 x 9 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

The gesso round

12 x 9 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

The first round

12 x 9 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2015

 

Behind the Painting: The right conjugation.

In honor of my grandpa's birthday this week, I thought I would cover some of the pieces based around his death. It was my first experience with losing someone really important to me, and while his death was about the most beautiful and positive way to go he could have had, dealing with that empty hole in your life was something new to me. The teal and brownish red pieces pictured below were about him. The left-hand piece had a half-covered chair with his first birthday date like a photograph made after I found an old family picture with a family birthday on it. And the other with carved text that reads, "I'm sorry i never painted you while you were here." Perhaps this sentiment is why I made so many pieces about him. I used to paint and draw portraits of people and it was saddening to realize I never would have the chance to photograph or draw him myself any longer, my artistic version of comprehending loss I guess.

The right conjugation. and Waiting for your moment. were supposed to be a pair of paintings, but once completed they didn't need to be together. Waiting for your moment. is a game of musical chairs (as well as many other games.) I included some studio shots from my senior year of college to show both pairs of paintings. (Plus it is further behind the scenes views!)

The right conjugation., this week's actual pick, technically represents the missing chair in the game of musical chairs. It also represents my grandpa separated from this game of musical chairs because he no longer physically participates in the game called life. There are two chairs: one is a ghost image of my gone grandfather and the other is a vibrant, clear, still there chair, representing me. These two chairs fill the same space because they are related and there is only one hole to fill in the game of musical chairs. I am made from parts of who my grandpa was and is and I stand where he once was. The title alludes to past and present tenses and beyond with the word conjugation. It refers to how you structure verbs in languages to tell when an action is occurring. This is the right conjugation because he was here and I am now there, trying every day to fill in the gaping hole of generosity, silliness, dedication and caring he left behind.

The right conjugation.

6 x 4 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2014

Waiting for your moment.

12 x 16 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2014 

While you were here.
12 x 16 x 1 and 14 x 11 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2013/4

Senior Studio Snapshot

2014

Senior Studio Snapshot

2014

Behind the Painting: A contemporary context editorial.

A contemporary context editorial., this week's pick, recently debuted in an exhibition entitled Chairs at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. I felt honored to be part of such a mix of wonderful work. While talking to people at that show, some commented they believed the chairs were just in a meeting or were dancing. I love the different stories people tell. It's difficult to tell my stories because the pieces aren't meant to tell one story, they are made to be interpreted and identified with. That said, this blog has been a really wonderful space for me to actually open up about my paintings because I find it challenging on the whole.

For me, A contemporary context editorial. is as an opinion piece about how people are able to come together and stand up for something. How so many of us hold someone's hand during the hard times and how humans can bond together to work through issues. I have a very positive assumption about people in the world; I believe in the good. And though I am scared and worried about all the crazy and detrimental things that happen, I continue to watch amazing people stand up and stand together. People amaze me and inspire me, so in the cold of my studio huddled by me heater about a year ago, I first did the water-y acrylic piece on paper of people, excuse me chairs, slightly off-kilter being held up by others, leaning on each other for support and strength. I turned this watercolor into a longer, bigger version on a wood panel. It was done chair-by-chair as I thought about how when you hold one person's hand literally or abstractly and they hold another person's hand and so-on-and-so-forth all added together that makes an odd, messy, wonderful line of support. There is strength in numbers, there are people you don't even know wishing well for you, together we can stand up. As a woman in my mid-twenties, I am slowly navigating what matters to me and how I can make a difference, how I WANT to make a difference. We all have the power to do something and it's really scary and really amazing.

A contemporary context editorial.

12 x 24 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

Installation at Sebastopol Center for the Arts

2015

Paper Study

9.5 x 15 inches

Acrylic paint on watercolor paper

2014

Paper Study

9.5 x 15 inches

Acrylic paint on watercolor paper

2014

Behind the Painting: Half of two. & A contemporary incident.

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Both paintings this week are based on the Robert Rauschenberg piece pictured at the end of this post. While doing a report on Rauschenberg in college, I stumbled upon this piece comprised of two wooden chairs nose-to-nose atop their own staircases. I was taken by the piece, which is noteworthy because I am not always enamored by sculpture, especially readymades (I placed that link to a definition for those unfamiliar with that term.) PLUS, as I had been painting chairs for a while, seeing chair artwork, hearing chair references and fielding chair jokes left me a bit numb in the chair department. This piece cut through that with its story of meeting someone special, that intimacy (the nose-to-nose postition), that royal, up-in-the-cloud feeling (being at the top of the stairs) you get when you find someone special. As a lover of words and titles, his title, The Ancient Incident, lead me on a journey believing that he was telling the story of how humans have been meeting and courting and sharing our little secret moments for all of history.

Half of two. was the first of the two paintings, a few months prior to the second, hence the slightly different style of painting. I originally titled it, A contemporary Incident., but I changed the title after doing the second painting. Physically, it is the same story as Rauschenberg and the second painting, but its new title is a reference to the line in a fraction between the numbers. Half of two. Is it an answer? Is it a question? Should it be answered? Half of two is one, isn't it? But really, I think I was interested in drawing attention to the division, that slight, slight line running between them, that pent up energy between them, the strength in that simple line.

A contemporary Incident. is a smaller and more graphic version of this composition. It's title is a play on Rauschenberg’s title, turning his old wooden chairs into my neutral, metal folding chairs existing in the present. Instead of referencing a general event that is ancient and traditional, I turned the "the" into an "a" to imply a more specific meeting among the many that have happened in history.

Half of two.

12 x 16 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2014

A contemporary incident.

4 x 6 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2014

The ancient incident.

Robert Rauschenberg

Behind the Painting: Remodeling of the Fracture

This week's painting, Remodeling of the fracture., was titled after the TV show Bones. It was one of those shows I binge watched and Bones was always going on about the remodeling  of a fracture to solve a case. 

The painting is not based on the show, but rather I titled the piece based on HOW it was painted. Instead of keeping all my paintings or throwing away panels that I dislike, I paint over paintings that don't work. In this case, I used a stencil and made a new composition of chairs directly on the previous painting because it was unsuccessful. I allowed some of the old chair legs to remain around the floor area to be kind of confusing.Thus the title is describing the fact that this old painting, which I saw as a fracture, boo-boo, failed artwork, or what-have-you, was remodeled and healed into a new version.

I have done two other pieces based on social interactions and moments in TV shows. These are not done as fan art, but from my interest in human interactions and relationships. I included the two other paintings that are inspired by, or related, to TV shows. One called, The Selection., which is based on an X-Files episode where 5 people are chosen to go to a investigate a research facility in some remote area where people have gone insane. These selected two pairs and one other stood together posed in a circle, closer to those they knew, leaving gaps between those they did not. I found the division in the unity a good base for a painting.

The other painting, To look after., is based on the TV show Supernatural. In the referenced episode, three main characters are sitting/standing in a trio formation watching surveillance cameras to monitor some demons. I tried to capture a bit of their personalities with the body language I spoke of last week. When the time came to title this piece, because these characters look after each other and in that episode they saved some acquaintances from those demons, I wanted to focus on that family aspect of guarding, protecting, or babysitting. 

Remodeling of the fracture.

9 x 12 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

The selection.

8 x 10 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2014

To look after.

12 x 9 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

Behind the Painting: Public Expectations.

Public expectations., this week's focus, was drawn from my imagination. I was thinking about awkward moments and thought about waiting for an elevator. From that idea, this painting was born.

This is a perfect opportunity to say two things. One: I have painted chairs for so long (going on three years?!) that I am able to paint them from memory. Two: since I understand more or less how folding chairs look and work, I get to think about how to alter their appearance to add personality and emotion through body language. The direction each chair is facing and the angles of their limbs help to tell my stories.
 

This painting is literally two people waiting for an elevator or any other situation where you have no idea how to interact while you wait. These two chairs are clearly on slightly different pages. The right-hand chair is is facing the hypothetical wall/elevator/counter staring directly ahead and even has a slight tilt to the right, as if to say, “I like to keep to myself, if not away from others.” The other chair is angled towards the timid one, comfortable, perhaps even smiling or saying hello to the other chair. Or maybe this left-hand chair isn’t altogether wanting to interact, but it definitely has a more open and comfortable stance.

When it came to title this piece, I didn't want it to be about waiting for an elevator. It was about the grey area of interacting in public. What are the expectations? What are the standards? Am I expected to smile at every stranger EVEN when I am grumpy and want to punch someone? Is it okay to smile and chat? Our parents/the media spent so much effort preaching about stranger danger, when is it okay to move beyond that? And what if you prefer to just stand with your own thoughts?

 Public Expectations.

4 x 6 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2014

Behind the Painting: Their own kind of Presentation.

Last week, I mused about Seated Commentary., which is based on a photo. For my compositions, I draw upon arrangements and relationship dynamics from real life, photos, TV shows or from my imagination/intuition. This week's pick, Their own kind of presentation., is a painting based on an observation of people that I recorded in my sketchbook.

Their own kind of presentation. is based on an observation of parents watching a little league game. They all sat in their own chairs arranged in the corner of the field instead of on the bleachers where I, a nanny, was sitting. As an avid people watcher, I found it fun to watch them from afar. I felt a little left out, but then again, I didn’t belong over there. They might have been there for the shade and the comfort of their own chairs, but it seemed like a ritual of sorts and it fascinated me. This was clearly a chance to catch up with each other, so they were busy chatting away, as well as cheering for the kids. I recall two parents who were super intent on their conversation and barely paying attention to the game. Then there is the chair in the back that was either a dad who was mostly watching the game and standing there for proximity or another parent bending down to chit chat.

The sketch of their angled, messy arc is on the left-hand page of my sketchbook image below. The title is a refers to this presentation of theirs, the choices they made in how to appear and present themselves in public, which as an outsider was like watching a play of some sort. As a bonus, I included the right-hand page with sketches of some different positions of the boys playing little league. I prefer to translate positions of people, chairs or objects directly into my sketchbook as angles and folding chairs, to be recreated on a panel later. If there is a time crunch or I don't have my sketchbook, I will snap a photo instead.

 Their own kind of presentation.

12 x 16 x 1 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2014

Little League Baseball inspired sketches

Pencil and pen on paper
2014

Behind the Painting: Seated Commentary.

This piece, Seated Commentary., is based on a photo I snapped of some chairs scattered around California College of the Arts, where I attended college. There were a few groups of empty folding chairs around that May night in 2014 as I headed home from school. I remember it being late, so the vast building was fairly empty. Only folding chairs and other items were left behind to tell the story of the day. I quickly took a few pictures thinking I would turn them into paintings. I don't recall if the others were or not, but the picture below hibernated in my phone for over a year. Finally, this summer, I rediscovered the image and transformed it into a painting.

As I took the photo and now, I assume this particular arrangement of chairs to be the aftermath of a critique. In art school, critiques are a meeting to give feedback on others' current projects, finished or in-progress. I was interested in documenting found arrangements, especially a scenario I was familiar with. What captured my attention and caused me to finally turn this image into a painting was the two chairs in the bottom right corner who seemed to be whispering to each other. 

Focusing on these two chairs, I did a sketchbook study of the composition with pencil and watercolor to work on the chairs' body language. It is the one in the top left corner of the sketchbook image below. Using this as a reference, I sketched my painting onto a wood panel, adding chairs around the two whispering to create the sense of a class or a group of people.

To me, the arrangement mostly presents itself as two kids either talking instead of paying attention or quietly talking smack about the person presenting. Both are rather negative. When I went to title Seated Commentary. I had these two storylines in mind, though I didn’t want to make a negative, judgmental piece. I was staring at the painting thinking about giving feedback, rumors, gossiping and constructive criticism, when I suddenly came up with the title “sitting commentary” as a riff on “running commentary”. Because I paint chairs I thought I was oh so clever and I am fairly sure I laughed out loud. Eventually, I went with "seated" instead so the title wasn't about commenting on the action of sitting. This piece does bring up ideas of judgement and opinion. But what really strikes me is the intimacy between the two chairs in the corner. Those two trust each other, and I like to believe if they are in class that their little peanut gallery is constructive and kind, or perhaps they're just two people leaning on each other while they people watch in a park?

Seated Commentary.

8 x 10 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel with paper tag

2015

 Sketchbook Studies
Watercolor and pencil on paper
2015

 Folding chairs at CCA

Cell phone image

2014

Behind the Painting: Should be.

My first painting to muse about depicts one chair sitting and thinking. It is entitled Should be. and was created in early 2014. I can’t recall if I painted this chair from observation or memory, but when it came time to title it, I saw it as a lone figure gazing off into the distance wondering: Who should I be when I grow up? How should I be? Shouldn’t I be better at this?  I should be better. I should be braver. I should be stronger. I should be this way. I should be that way.

Growing up, my mom emphasized that “bored” and “should” were really naughty words (along with swear words), and she informed me (to this day actually) that it is how you use words that makes them offensive or hurtful. “Should” can be used in a positive manner. Though, more often than not, I notice myself (and people I know) hurt by “shoulds” cropping up in conversation or spiraling in their minds. The word implies that what one did, said, thought, or is doing, saying, thinking is wrong or not good enough, even if that is completely untrue.

Should be. was included in my senior thesis show entitled Did others notice?. Not only did the title function as a nod at me noticing and documenting the chairs. noticed, but also referenced a self-conscious statement of worry. After harboring shame in my own psyche for many years, and knowing most people experience the feeling, I created the most universal, unspecific pieces about aspects of feelings of self-consciousness, awkwardness and shame to share proudly.

Should be.

8 x 10 x 1.5 inches

Acrylic paint on wood panel

2014

  Install shot of Did others notice?

2014

Behind the Painting Preamble

Before I delve behind some paintings, I want to share a little about how I think about my 60 or so (and counting!) chair paintings. Each of them tells a story through both text and image. I added tags with the titles of my paintings about a year ago so the titles fully became an integral part of the piece, instead of a label that may be overlooked. Sometimes a story or moment causes to me create a piece and sometimes I paint an arrangement and then the story becomes clear through working on the title (a process involving a thesaurus and lots of time staring at the piece). In the beginning (around 2013), I worked from observation; painting found and created arrangements of chairs. Now I can paint folding chairs from memory and I focus on expressing each characters’ body language and personality in order to help convey the moment, relationship, or concept that the piece is representing.

If you are stumbling upon this blog from somewhere other than my website or facebook page, see my artwork at www.luciadill.com

Return

Clacking on the typewriter in my studio and drafting posts for this blog, I've been busy with all types of typing. I will post the first of twelve stories behind select chair paintings of mine on Tuesday, September 1st. For now, enjoy scrolling through old posts about my artwork from high school and college below!