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Well I just got back from a 10 day stint in Joshua Tree. I still don’t have all my bearings in place yet, but it was totally refreshing, interesting, wonderful, peaceful, productive, relaxing, invigorating, and zesty!

I had planned to do nothing but draw, but watercolors and gouaches came with me, and they take a little more time. the important thing is that I did art pretty much every day I was there if I wasn’t sleeping or staring at rocks. There were a lot of times we had to go looking for my dog too. He was roaming free and made a friend with a local female and they seemed to go away together a lot.

There was no television, no internet and my cell hardly worked. It was totally secluded and the property we rented was right up against the west entrance of the Joshua Tree National Park, so it was absolutely breathtaking.

I worked on a few things. Firstly, the art that is going into a bookwork I am doing with Chance Press. A lot of that is finished now, but I can’t show it before the book comes out. That will probably be winter 2010. The first part of my stay went into that project. You see, the house we rented had a main house, a separate writer’s studio for Michael, and a separate art studio for me. It could not have been more perfect. MJP is well on his way to finishing up his novel now. He devoted a lot of time to it there. I am so proud of him for what he got accomplished.

The rest of the time, I worked on large drawings that I am very happy with. I am finishing up the last one today and then I will take pictures. There are 3 of them. Two on Fabriano paper, and one on yellow handmade paper. The ones on the Fabriano are very important to me. After sketching and sketching, I had a wonderful breakthrough. I am very pleased with the ease of the creativity that came forth after that and went into these 2 large drawings. I feel like I’m finally onto something I’ve been after for a long, long time.

In other news, I have a new print available. No, not the new etching. That has yet to be editioned next week. This is a small 7 x 9 inch silkscreen I did as part of Margaret Garcia’s STAMP PROJECT/CREATING CULTURAL CURRENCY. The edition is 30 and they are all signed. I’m selling them right now for a mere $35.00 for if you’re interested, click here to find out more.

I’m still doing the Purge Project. It just takes me time to get around to all the things I make plans for because I make too many goddamn plans. Eventually, I’ll get to it. I have a stack of books in my book room, and I’m still not finished going through the shelves. In the meantime, I’m trying to fit in everything else during a time I am bombarded with nearly crippling fatigue. It’s been like 2 months now and it’s driving me absolutely bonkers. I feel like I am moving through a Jell-o mold, and I want to sleep all the time. It’s like having narcolepsy. It sucks when you have a lot of things you’d like to do. My best time is in the morning, so I am doing all that I can during those times, and doing the best I can through the rest of the day. Napping helps a little, but for some reason I feel guilty when I do that. Napping is for babies! Haha.

Last night I had an Open Studio at Moppet and it went okay. A lot more people came through than usual, which was nice, and my assistant (and good friend) Jennifer came to sit with me, making life a whole lot more bearable. I even worked a little bit while she was there. She made me more comfortable I guess. She knows me pretty well, so she understood how difficult it is for me to sit the space and answer questions about my work. In fact, she said it must be very hard for any artist to have to do that. I think it probably is, not just me. Don’t we tend to be pretty introverted? We aren’t the car salesman types, but then again, I have met a few artists that really do like to go on and on about themselves. I have done it myself out of nervousness before – just ramble about stuff no one has even asked me about. The truth is, I’d rather not be around at all when people are looking at my work. Let them figure it out.

Speaking of talking about your art, I have to do that tomorrow at LMU and I’m pretty nervous. I am there to give a lecture on my work for a class that focuses on art in Los Angeles. I have no real idea what I am going to say yet, but I’ll put together an image presentation, some background info, and maybe bring some of my books. I’ll have to wing the rest and hope I don’t choke.

I made this little ink drawing for The Circle of Women’s National Stamp Project Exhibit created by artist Margaret Garcia. She invited visual artists, poets, musicians, print-makers, or just people of culture to create a STAMP IMAGE. Each stamp will bring to life an affirmation which we desire to be STIMULATED OR CULTIVATED—for example, health, wealth, love, creativity, generosity, intuition, humility, faith, illumination, spirituality, forgiveness, intelligence, wisdom, courage, growth, tolerance, hope, vision, abundance, talent, music, kindness, fellowship, prosperity, etc. There will be an exhibit of stamp art and opportunities for print exchanges. Venues in Los Angeles, Texas, Oxnard and San Francisco have expressed interest.

I am very much looking forward to another project that I have been planning for some time. I’m renting a house out in a very secluded area of Joshua Tree for a couple weeks that has an art studio. It has no phones, no internet, no television, etc. All I am going to do is draw and rest. Hopefully, it’s just what I need.