Chris Staley A Search for Meaning

Still finding my way, I always hoped a teacher that would sit down and share words like these with me, but absent that teacher, I'll settle for YouTube and a bowl of popcorn.

Four stages of learning...

1. unconscious incompetence
2. conscious incompetence
3. conscious competence
4. unconscious competence 

-Abraham Maslow                

              

Picasso Drawing

I'm habitually drawn towards seeing the process and thought that pushes Art with a big "A". This nibbit is an insightful look at what kind of thinking propelled this pop icon into his well deserved place in the history books.



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Ron Meyers and Michael Simon Workshop 2002

I never dreamed I'd ever actually get to see something like this!
Granted... you'll have to turn up the audio but it's still worth making time to watch and listen.

Special note: 1 hour 14 min into this is my nugget of gold...

How To Get a Head in Sculpture #1

Pop up another batch of popcorn.

This is video is just the first of seven.

Settle in for a free lesson in philosophy and aesthetics of portrait sculpture .

Agnes Martin

 I sat and just listened to this interview with Agnes Martin last night. I was floored by the dialog. Her notion that she talks about, " not interfering with the work", is brilliantly put forth. A keystone narrative... 20 minutes of valuable perspective.


Agnes Martin Interview (20:00 version, 1997) from Chuck Smith on Vimeo.

Press repeat and soak...

Voulkos

Pop-corn time!
If you ever wished you could be a fly on the wall for a Peter Voulkos workshop... here it is.
Voulkos is one of the more prominent peaks of American Ceramics during the past 50 years.
A whole bunch of us have pivoted on this particular peak. It's amazing when you sit down and watch the entire series. The resulting conversation is obviously much better handled in a bar.
This is vintage Voulkos posted by Ken Stevens... Here is a link to a full workshop! If you have the time, grab a bottle of gin, a pack of smokes, a six pack and kick back for a few hours of insight into American  Master.


Peter Voulkos part three from Ken Stevens.

Here is a bit of background and lead-up to this series originally posted by Ken on Clay Art in 2003.

"Hi All,
While attending the Kansas City Art Institute, I came across three large
video reels in the dumpster near the ceramics building. At the time, I was
dumpster diving for ceramic heads- the sophomore students had made clay portraits of themselves for a class assignment. I found a lot of great
heads that year to put in my yard. More importantly, however, I found these three reels.
At the time I thought they were movie reels, but soon with a
bit of research I found out that they were old reel-to-reel VTR (VCR type
tapes) from the 70s. The format and the giant machines for the reels were
out of date by some 20 years (I found the reels in 1995). The reels were
labeled =93Peter Voulkos 1976 demonstration=94 and together last about three hours long. They then sat in my basement for eight years, so now the reels are 27 years old. They may not have been seen for as long as 20 years now!

After the unfortunate death of Peter Volkous, I once again remembered the reels in my basement and decided for the sake of preserving this historic event I should try and find a way to restore them. I sent the reels to have them professionally saved to a DVD before they become unsalvageable.
To save these reels professionally it will cost me a large chunk of money,
but I think it will be worth it to see what Peter Voulkos was doing in his
heyday."

Ken... I seriously owe you a beer.

Blu & David Ellis

Here's something off the beaten track...



My kids and I have a favorite subject in our discussions about art and how it fits into the context of our daily living. Here in Stockton California, the public visual expression is basically limited to Tagging. A quickly scrawled name in paint pen. Lame.
While I am not an advocate for graffiti, I am an advocate for style and grace and I miss the days of listening to people bitch about, what was in hindsight, actually an amazing act of self expression. Luckily we live close to San Fransisco where mural art and old school graffiti are still going strong. Blah blah blah... I've getting off track. I went nuts when I first saw the work of these 2. If you haven't seen it before, it'll blow your mind.
Here is an amazing look at the cooperative play of David Ellis
and Blu