This month’s review of my studio practice is more of a stream of thoughts and ideas, not a cohesive essay. And that says everything about how I’m currently feeling.
You know when you think you have all the time in the world to complete a project and then suddenly the deadline is the next day and you’re scrambling to find the sticky labels that you know you put somewhere “safe” but are now nowhere to be found? And then you find out there’s no printer ink so you can’t even print the sticky labels that you just spent an hour looking for? That’s me in the studio.
I leave for London in two days and I have to drop off work for an exhibition today. I don’t know if I’m happy with the work I’m showing and if I had a few extra days I’d probably change my mind about every single piece, but this time I really don’t have time to mess around with the show, so I just need to suck up the discomfort and bury it deep down in my stomach. Sometimes delivering *something* is more important than delivering your best.
Kind friends called to say they will house-sit while I’m in London and I’ve been sent into a headspin of cleaning out cupboards and organizing books on the shelves according to height.
A jar of water and paintbrushes is still sitting on my studio workbench in case I feel like knocking up a quick painting before I fly out. It’s hard for me to leave the studio even though I know the break will be good for me. I’ve been getting too close to my work recently and need to step back and take a breath. I’m feeling good about where I’m going with my painting but I notice I’m rushing and a sense of urgency has sneaked under the studio door and settled at my feet like a dozy cat. I took the jar to the sink but then carried it back to the studio thinking, “I’ll just touch up that portrait.” Just touching up gets me into a lot of trouble when I paint. Learning to leave alone is as much a skill as learning to start and finish work.
I’ve been messing around with Blue Willow, an AI art platform. Not that I intend on making any significant AI art, but rather I want to stare the devil in the face and see who’s taking my job away from me. Let me say if I were an alien species and wanted to distract humanity while I invaded the planet, AI art is how I’d do it - it’s a Dyson-powered time-suck. I spent four hours trying to produce a vase of flowers that I could have painted in ten minutes. It’s image generation, not art. Learn how to input the correct prompt and you can churn out a gazillion vases of flowers that will most likely sell on Etsy. There’s zero creativity in the process, it’s more about understanding machine learning (which I suppose some might say is art). That’s not to say I don’t understand how many commercial art jobs will be lost in the AI revolution, I get the huge shift that’s about to happen. I know how the Luddites felt now.
Last time I was in London I filled a whole sketchbook with weird portraits that reflected the news of the time - mostly the political mess of Liz Truss leaving the PM role. It was unexpected work. This time I’m taking a brand new, white-paged Stillman & Birn sketchbook that I’ve been saving “for best” and charcoal pencils I haven’t used yet. I’m also packing a small embroidery kit as I’m feeling like the universe is steering me toward picking up a needle and thread again. The last two artists I’ve featured in my Beyond Frida series - Paula do Prado and Iryna Maksymova - have inspired me to revisit textile work, my long-lost friend. I wonder if I’ll actually do that or whether more “unexpected work” will emerge instead. And that’s the beauty of creating art in the real world, isn’t it? We can enter all the prompts we like - a sketchbook, charcoal, a needle and thread - but on a last-minute whim may decide to build a paper mache sculpture. Can’t do that can you, AI?
Until next time.
JC
RESOURCES
If you fancy trying Blue Willow AI, click HERE
For balance, and because I don’t think AI is inherently bad, this nonprofit works at the intersection of climate change and machine learning: CLIMATE CHANGE AI
For a taste of what’s happening in the AI art world: well-known (by some) wedding photographer, Jonas Peterson, has shifted his practice to AI “photography” (often called synthography) and is selling limited edition prints for $1750 a pop! Check him out: