Hangups

Several weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Will Schinsky. Who is Will Schinsky? Never heard of him! A friend of his in San Diego told him, “you need to check out this artist’s work.” Will visited my website then wrote saying he liked my work and wanted to visit my studio. I’m willing to open my studio to interested persons, especially if a purchase could come of it. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Well, more nervous. I’m not a salesman.

I’ve had studio tours for other artists I know and for friends. But this was my first studio tour for a total stranger. I straightened up the studio. I straightened up the house. I checked to be sure the light fixtures had working bulbs. I made iced tea and made sure there was enough ice. Yep. I was a nervous wreck.

Will arrived. Introductions were made and we spent time looking at and talking about my work. He was more interested in the woven work than in the paintings. He made thoughtful, insightful comments about my work and asked intelligent questions. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about my work. He talked about my work as a collection & didn’t really single out any one piece for particular attention: not a good sign in terms of sales.

It was clear to me that he was not visiting my studio to purchase artwork. So I asked him about himself; what does he do, what is his interest in art, what is his purpose in visiting my studio. I thought he was visiting from San Diego. Not so!

Will Schinsky is the Executive Director of the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance and The Arts at Context. They have several public spaces for the arts. The CVAA is beginning to develop Indio as a center for the arts in the Coachella Valley and are in the very early stages of development. Will asked me if I would show my work in one of the gallery spaces. I would share the space with Hanoc Pivens, another artist.

I was surprised! Of course I said “YES!” And I’m sure I wasn’t very composed, graceful or dignified in how I said “Yes!” I think I even did a little jig while saying, “Yes!”

And then the questions began falling out of my head. What pieces do I show? How will I manage the opening? Who will drive out to Indio for the opening? How am I going to manage all this? What will I wear? Is there a bathroom in the gallery? Will I have a key to the gallery space? You know; all those uber-important questions I neglected to ask.

Now that I’ve calmed down, (OK, not yet) I have a lot to do in preparation for this show. The opening is to be September 25^th – just over three weeks! Between now and then, I need to finish my current piece and pull together a guest list for the opening. I have to figure out what to do for the opening. I have to enlist help from friends to work for me so that I can mingle and not worry about the guests. Right now, this gallery show it’s like a blank canvas: there are all sorts of possibilities!

So much to do i

n so little time! But that’s ok! I’m hanging a show! And I hope they have a bathroom!

In the mean time, please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind.

Thank you for listening!

Jerry L. Hanson

Strip Search

“Serape Atkins” was my last newspaper weaving. If you’ve been following my blogs, you will know that this weaving was not a challenge for me. I knew what it would look like before I began work on the weaving. I was worried I’d be bored bit it kept my interest.

While weaving, I did notice that most of the design was made up from images of meat so I named it “Serape Atkins”. My husband is on the Atkins Diet; there are no images of carbs on the finished piece, only protein. Seemed perfect!

All the while I was weaving “Serape Atkins,” I was thinking about my next piece. Serapes are striped blankets. I wanted the next one to be composed of rectangles radiating from a central field. I began this piece the next day.

This weaving is made up entirely of the same one inch strip of newspaper from several hundred copies of the same paper. The central field is the only portion which isn’t. The technical problem is managing the corners. It needs to look mitered and the design consistent along all four sides of the developing pattern.

I was feeling pretty cocky about having “figured out” the corners and about the developing design. I was feeling pretty smug about the rectangles in rectangles. And then I ran out of paper.

The piece is not complete. I tore the studio apart looking for more of that one strip. I found a couple hundred copies of the original newspaper advertisement.

Today I begin prepping another 200 copies of that same newspaper page. It will take me a week or more to prep the newspaper and cut it into strips: the same one inch strips as before. And then I can complete this piece.

In a week or so, I can resume weaving. You can bet I will be counting the number of strips used in this weaving for future reference!

I wanted a challenge. I got it. What I’ve learned thus far with weaving is to keep your concentration on the whole project, not just the challenge. What if I didn’t’ have more copies of that newspaper. I would have been defeated.

This weaving will be for sale once completed. If you cannot wait, please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind.

Thank you for listening

Jerry L. Hanson

Therapy Avoided

Several weeks ago I whined about being “stuck” and avoiding beginning a long planned for weaving. I just couldn’t’ get my butt in gear to actually weave the piece. After hemming & hawing, I came to the realization, while floating in the swimming pool that the piece was not challenging.

Of course, I had to think another week or two about THAT… By now you KNOW I’m a master at procrastination.

Last week I finally got my butt in gear. On Thursday, I got my largest work surface set up and prepped for work. And I began weaving. I began knowing there would be no technical challenges. There were no “issues” to work out in the weaving process. It would weave up easily.

I found the challenge in the design. I work with newspaper. The printed word or image is my palette. Using the same 1 inch strip of newspaper from 120 copies of the same paper, I began weaving. I paid attention to the repeat design which developed as I wove making adjustments as I wove it into a 60 inch long weaving.

Then I chose the second 1inch strip from 120 copies of the same newspaper. I added this to the side of the first length of weaving. And then I repeated this with the third 1 inch strip from the same 120 newspapers.

I found my challenge in developing an interesting repeat pattern. I noticed that most of the images in the three 1 inch strips (120 copies of each strip) were mostly of meat; steak, hamburger, frijatas, roast beef. These newspapers were for the local grocery store, after all….

Commercial break: Ralph’s Grocery Store is my absolute favorite grocer in Palm Springs. They are very giving to the community. They give me hundreds of copies of old newspaper fliers for my artwork. They save the trimmings from the Romain Lettuce for my African Sulcata Tortoise. They are friendly and nice. Thank you Ralphs!

After completing three interwoven panels, I ended up with a piece approximately 40 inches by 60 inches. It looked unfinished. So I added a boarder of black & white newspaper from the sports section. I liked the tie-in of meat, lots of protein with sports.

Jocks eat a lot of beef, no? Seemed appropriate. You would have to pay attention and READ the boarder to figure that out. But I know it’s there and that’s what counts. I named this weaving “Serape Adkins.”

I completed the weaving of this piece yesterday (Sunday) morning. The only thing left to do is to secure the selvages so it will hold together. I like the finished product and it looks exactly as I thought it would, boarder and all. The only unknown was the design created by the repeating strips of newspaper. It wove quickly. It was not a challenge. I enjoyed the process immensely.

Do I over think and over analyze my work? Perhaps I do and perhaps that’s a good thing! Now, I’m headed back out to the pool to think about my next weaving. And it better be a challenge!

This weaving is for sale. If you are interested in purchasing this piece, you will have to wait until it’s selvages are secured and ready for hanging. If you cannot wait, please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind.

Thanks for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

What Cicadas? I don't hear anything!

I moved to Palm Springs from Pasadena. Both conjure up images of the urban landscape. Not so.

In Pasadena, we lived on ¾ of an acre bordering on hundreds of undeveloped acres of hilly land. In this area lived mule deer, coyote, bob cat, raccoon, skunk and, well, you get the idea. The fence around the pool was to keep the deer out. All the other animals found ways in to the watering hole. I loved living in the middle of all that wildlife.

Four years ago, we relocated to Palm Springs. We live in the center of town where houses are built on a grid of streets with curbs! Curbs! We’ve not had curbs for over 15 years! Most houses have lawns either in front of or behind walled property. We live on a corner and for the first time in 30 years, we have an actual lawn. With sprinklers.

In Pasadena, I felt as if nature was all around us (mostly munching on our attempts at gardening or stalking the cats). In Palm Springs, I felt isolated from the fauna of the area. I see & smell no sign of skunk, there’s no sign of coyote (I know they’re out there), I’ve not seen a raccoon since moving here and definitely there’s no mule deer or bob cat. I no longer worry about the cats being coyote bait.

I resigned myself to being a certified citified city dweller, removed from the call of the wild. Every plant in this neighborhood was planted by a gardener; every animal a pet. And then I discovered the cicadas.

I have tinnitus. I hear cicadas in my head all of the time. So, if there are cicadas about, I don’t hear them unless someone points them out. And even then, I’m not sure I hear them.

We have a verdant front lawn with ten mesquite trees. The lawn is quite small and lush. It is the perfect life cycle environment for the cicada. They’ve moved in and colonized. Every year they increase in number. This year they came out of the ground in herds. They marched up the trees and left their nymph exoskeletons behind. Those shells are on the wall, the fence and any other vertical surface they found. It’s quite amazing to see.

The mesquite trees have columns of nymph shells marching up the underside of the limbs, all facing the same direction like ghostly troops marching in formation. I wish I had been there to see them emerge and molt. Do they do that at night or in the early morning? Do they leave the ground one at a time or in herds? Did they all march up the tree together? Do the nymphs keep walking up the tree until their back splits or do they stop their climb and simply molt? I can probably Google the answers . . .

The cicadas have re-connected me to “wildlife.” Palm Springs no longer feels sterile and totally man-made. Nature operates with wild abandon on my front lawn! I take delight examining my mesquite trees for further signs of troop movement. I have become adept at spotting adult cicadas in the trees.

The cicadas are singing? I don’t hear anything! You’re making that up!

Please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. It is all for sale (except for “Icarus” and “Winter Rain”). Please contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind.

Thanks for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Food Fight!

I was an art student when I met my husband in 1979. I was impossibly thin weighing 125 pounds at 5’ 11” tall I worked 8 hours a day and attended university full time. I subsisted primarily on cigarettes and iced tea. I ate one meal a day and considered anything that didn’t require preparation or cooking to be “junk food”. I ate dinner when and if I had time.

I never ate out. I simply could not afford it. I cooked at home: tuna noodle casserole often without tuna, rice with peas and a hint of hamburger. I made a lot of pinto beans with an onion and one strip of bacon for flavor. I could always curb that nagging appetite with another cigarette and glass of iced tea. (I stopped smoking 11 years ago.)

Four years in military service and years as a poor art student did little to develop the gourmand in me. I’m not a foodie. I don’t particularly like to cook. I do like to eat. I’ll eat an old shoe if it’s marinated in enough balsamic vinegar and sautéed in butter with capers and lemon.

My husband, however, loves fast food. I can count on KFC buckets in the trash bin when I return home after a missed dinner. If I have a meeting that leaves my husband on his own for dinner, I know fast food will be involved. The house reeks of onion rings, fries and supersized cholesterol bombs. And who eats those 10 pound bags of chips he brings home from the warehouse market? Somebody does! I don’t!

Ummm I will confess to a weakness for White Castle. I’ve indulged in a bag of chokers from White Castle two times in the past 50 years when in Louisville on business. Bliss and heartburn. I am still burping those onions! Thankfully, there are no White Castle burger places in California.

When neither of us feels like going out for dinner or cooking, the conversation degenerates into a discussion of why I won’t agree to a big ol’ bucket of fried chicken for dinner. I just won’t eat it! No reason: I don’t think it’s good for me. After 30 years, you’d think he’d get the point. I won’t eat that stuff!

I am still 5” 11’ and now weigh 175 pounds. I’ve gained 50 pounds over the past 30 years. These are pounds I needed to gain! I stopped there. I no longer look gaunt and malnourished. After 30 years, my husband still calls me at lunch time to ask what I had for breakfast and to remind me to have something, anything for lunch. I generally hit one of the two, seldom both. And I’ve gained 50 pounds over these 30 years.

I gained 50 pounds and I stopped gaining. If I wasn’t a picky eater, I’d still be a growing boy

So, ummmm… what’s for dinner? Big ol’ bucket of chicken? Here we go again!

As a reminder, please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com and take a stroll through my artwork. All of it is for sale (except for “Icarus” and “Winter Rain”). Please contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com and you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157: you can call me. I won’t mind).

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Avoidance Therapy

For the past weeks I’ve been whining about not having been able to work in my studio. First it was my road trip to Seattle. That ate up two weeks. I needed a week to settle back into Palm Springs and the following week to prepare for Hawaii. Then 10 days in Hawaii. I even wrote about feeling guilty being in Hawaii and not working on my artwork! Pure procrastination.

We’ve been back from Hawaii for a week now. I still have not got my butt in gear to work. I’ve been telling everyone that I’m beginning a new piece. I haven’t actually DONE anything other than clear my work surface. Something always seems to come up to distract my attention. How convenient!

So, I was floating in the pool yesterday afternoon (because my studio just too damned hot to work in) thinking about all of this. What’s going on here, Jer? I played the whole day Saturday and Sunday when I could have been working in my studio. (I do have an incredibly efficient A/C unit in the studio. I just needed to crank down the temp from 86F.)

My planned piece is of woven newspaper. It will be approximately 4 feet X 6 feet, portrait orientation. It will be vertical stripes similar to “Serape Asado Uno” and “Serape Asado Dos” but with a boarder all around. It’s in my head and just needs to be woven. Should be easy.

And that’s my problem. It’s “easy.” I know exactly how to do it and I know what it should look like. I have all the problems figured out – as much as one can; you always run into a problem of some sort. There’s no challenge in making it.

In retrospect, I’m glad I spent time mulling over my ambivalence while floating in the swimming pool. I could have dived into this weaving instead of the pool. I don’t think I would have had a successful weaving. Now, however, I can do that weaving knowing it’s more of a technical exercise (at this point) rather than a technical challenge. If I begin & complete this work as planned, I can do that consciously knowing what I’m getting into. Or I can redesign the whole thing to be more challenging.

So, I’m now conflicted. Do I go ahead and create this weaving even though it’s not going to be a challenge? Or, do I re-design the whole thing?

It’s getting hot. I think I will float in the pool for a bit… and think.

Oh! I almost forgot the shameless self-promotion bit! Please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com and take a stroll through my artwork. All of it is for sale (except for “Icarus” and “Winter Rain”). Please contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com and you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157: you can call me. I won’t mind).

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Aloha, Hawaii

I am writing this post on the evening of our last day in Hawaii, our fifth night. It was a relatively short trip. My physician husband was here for a medical conference and I tagged along for the fun. He worked. I had fun. Actually, he was in conference from 6:30 to noon every day: Sunday through Thursday & Friday morning. We had the afternoons free to explore Maui.

I’m an early riser. I was up every morning between 4:30 AM and 5 AM. Someone has to wake the roosters! If you’ve been to Hawaii, you will know there are a lot of chickens on the islands and they are stunningly beautiful birds! And fearless. So, after waking the roosters & the Doctor, I headed to the gym to work off the prior evening’s meal. I’m now up to 60 minutes on the treadmill walking in time to Lady Gaga and selected songs from Glee. The songs set my cadence and I zone out for the hour picturing myself in a Lady Gaga video. Show me your teeth!

In retrospect, it was a low-key, relaxing week. We went on a tour of Maui with Wade Holmes of No Ka Oil Adventrues; Nature-Based Excursions for te Alternative Traveler. Wade took us to sights seldom seen by tourists. He was a wonderful guide who knows much of the history and traditions of the islands. He’s also a botanist and is familiar with most of the island plants. We visited pristine waterfalls, swam in cool cataracts, laid in the sun on the rocks and hiked on ridge line trail. We came across no other visitors. We got a sense of what it must have been like living on these beautiful islands without all of us tourists. I loved every minute of it.

Our tour vehicle was a Wrangler Jeep uncovered to the elements. I enjoyed sitting in the back seat watching the scenery pass by, smelling the rain forest smells. The over-ripe guava crushed under foot as we hiked reminded me of the apple orchard of my childhood: same sickly sweet rotting apple smell.

We stopped at the Naka Lele blow hole to watch the water shoot 20 feet into the air from the blow hole. This was a popular tourist stop; there must have been 15 cars parked in the small lot with everyone scrambling down the rocks to the blow hole. So of course we joined them. Les decided to stay atop while Wade and I climbed & walked down the hill. It was an easy climb although rocky. But I enjoy that and it only took 15 – 20 minutes. We stayed long enough to take photos, stand between the sun and the plume to see rainbows and to get thoroughly drenched by the spray. It was refreshing. Then we hiked back up the hill.

Our last stop was in Lahaina we stopped in at Betty’s for Mango Margaritas and to watch the sunset. There was a huge Luau in progress right off the bar’s patio. We had viewing stand seats so we stayed for a second Mango Margarita and dinner. Watching the sunset, sipping Mango Margaritas and watching the hula dancers, I realized what a spectacular day we’d had.

This day of adventure set the mood for the rest of MY visit, I’m not sure about my Doctor. I think he was more caught up in the medical stuff, like that conference session on “Sex and Headaches”. Turns out that, most cases, sex actually helps elevate headaches. Hmmm THAT excuse doesn’t work anymore. (Just kidding, Doc!)

The week went rather quickly and was very relaxing and low key. I enjoyed kicking back by the pool reading & letting the sun recharge my batteries. The pool was wonderfully cool and I often fell asleep in my comfy lounge chair under that huge, industrial sized umbrella. It was bliss. My Doctor, more often than not, woke me when he joined me after his conference. I did manage to read 4 novels between naps..

So, what began as a guilt-ridden trip, turned into total down-time and six days of relaxation. Batteries are recharged. I’ll see you on the other Pacific Coast! Aloha!

Please take (another) minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com and take a stroll through my artwork. All of it is for sale (except for “Icarus” and “Winter Rain”). Please contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com and you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157 (I have the phone with me while we’re traveling; you can call me. I won’t mind). Aloha!

Mahalo and thank you for listening,

Jerry L Hanson