a week or two from now I should be calm and collected, but until then its freak out time. I enjoy a good freak out now and then, so its not all that bad – like when someone enjoys being sad. I’m approaching a data crisis and it seems I’ll have to take drastic measures into my own hands, not uncommon. I like taking drastic measures into my own hads too. I’m figuring I just need to transfer about 100 Gb from one machine to another – and hope everything goes smoothly. Painting has been a great release from these crazy times, but I think tonight its back to the sketchbook – work out some ideas and some demons. Any moment now someone should walk in and make my day a bit more frantic (I’m hoping only one person will do this & not two or more). I bought a book on “language” today, its from the 60’s and looks pretty interesting. I also bought a used copy of Goethe’s Faust (German & English) which I read a long time ago, when I opened the book a lot flooded back into my mind & I figured I should re-read at least some of it.
Author: John Otter
visual artist - abstraction, drawing, painting, printmaking.
Studied printmaking, painting, and drawing at the New York Studio Program and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Drinking and drawing
I posted this from the bar, while drinking & drawing. This is about halfway through the drawing.
stencil
camera phone pic of a stencil I found on a wall in Claremont
paintings in progress
I’m happy to be painting again, or rather painting more frequently than the past few months. Its a spiritual thing. Drawing is nice, but the technique is so very different. I feel there’s more freedom in the way I paint than in the way I draw, maybe drawing with charcoal or something messier/looser would come closer, but if I’m going to get dirty I might as well be mixing colors, mediums, etc. In the recent painting I’ve noticed that chalk pastels are somewhere between the two (painting and drawing) and that after drawing for so long with little painting I’m more free with the style and techniques of my painting. I used ripped tape (producing a jagged edge) for the first time in about 8 years and really liked the effect, also the mixing of color and mediums is now much more exciting and experimental – producing textures and colors I’m really enjoying. Tonight I think I’ll return to some drawing – which after painting may be very different than the previous -not sure.
I survived the weekend
went down to san diego this weekend to do some yardwork for my dad. Caught a train at the crack of dawn (actually just before) Friday morning. The days were filled with labor: pulling weeds, chopping branches, repairing old shed doors and such. At one point the chain of the chainsaw I was using flew off – this is the second time that’s ever happened to me and let me tell you – its a crazy adrenaline rush…as soon as it happens I wonder if its lodged in my head and I just can’t feel it yet – luckily it wasn’t. The nights were filled with hanging out with friends, drinking, chatting, drinking, etc. And then waking up early to continue with yard work. A friend wrote “… I don’t know how you are surviving, lots of manual labor + lots of drinking + little sleep = craZy!” Yes, pretty much. Today is difficult. Also this weekend I went out and bought a digital camera. I love it. Its a Nikon Coolpix L4, its pretty affordable, small, pretty quick and has a nice design. Its a 4 megapixel camera, which is just fine for my needs. I also bought a nice little carrying case made by Wenger (makers of the Swiss Army Knife) for about $20.
John Otter 