“That this current show is situated in a theater is fitting, largely because of the theatricality of the work. A hyperbole of sorts is at work in the same way an actor on the stage projects and exaggerates a character so that the performance carries to the back rows. In a similar manner, Goodwind’s paintings are immediately eye-catching, even from a distance, and call to you across the room. Once approached, they draw you in. The colors pop. One might even say they are eye-candy. They are also, on occasion, quite repellent, and it is this push and pull that makes her work strike a deep chord in our psyches. As such, one would expect a degree of fantasy to play a role in the work, not only as it is created, but also interpreted by the viewer.”
It’s a short and fun read, and includes playful and insightful interpretations of couple individual works in the show. Here is the link to the full review.
Also, since my last post I’ve created three new series of paintings, all of which are viewable on my portfolio website.
Series 33 has 10 each tiny little 5×7 inch paintings – the series was a test to see if I would enjoy working on a new type of poly/cotton blend canvas that is pre-primed with a very smooth, very white surface. This photo shows two of them stretched and framed, sitting on my easel:
two works from series 33
Series 35 has 30 each 16×20 inch paintings on the same poly/cotton canvas as Series 33. This photo shows Series 35 #1 stretched and framed, sitting on the my easel:
series 35 #1
Series 34 has 13 each 30×40 inch paintings on my favorite heavy duty #10 cotton duck canvas, primed with clear gesso. I painted these larger works stretched on 1.5 inch thick bars (I usually work on smaller paintings flat). This photo shows photographer Mario Gallucci during the documentation process:
In other news, I’ve decided to make paintings available for purchase on my website as flat canvases, which will ship rolled in a tube. They can still be purchased ready-to-hang on Saatchi Art, and the prices reflect that difference.
Having a flat canvas stretched on bars at a local frame shop should cost a lot less than having me stretch it here (or having me take it to my local frame shop to be stretched). It also provides an opportunity to choose a custom frame instead of a minimal gallery wrap, which can make the art acquisition experience both more personal and more fun.
Un-stretched canvases can be purchased directly from my website using a computer or tablet (the purchasing option is not yet available on mobile). Click on an image to enlarge the work and if it is still available there will be purchasing options. The price includes shipping rolled in a tube, and the payment is handled through Paypal.
enlarged view of series 32 #46 on my website with purchasing options
I was interviewed by Kendra and Ashley of Art Gab – we talked about art as a process of self-discovery, doubt as a superpower, and my pandemic obsession with streaming opera from the Met.
Anna Netrebko in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor on the lower shelf of my easel…
About 8 years ago, I began tracking my time because I was feeling overwhelmed by the constant demands of daily life. As many people have learned this year (because of Covid-19), working at home is hard – especially when when your family members are also working and studying at home. It’s easy to get to the end of the day without having done what you needed to do, and then wonder where the time went. But if you track your time then you know exactly where it went, and you can spot patterns and make adjustments. The most important thing I’ve figured out is that my time follows my attention, and that I have (a least a little) control over where my attention goes.
For example, one of my biggest time-sinks has been reading blogs by intelligent and interesting people. This is an activity I really enjoy and value when it is rewarding, but I found that not only did I spend far too much time doing it, I kept doing it even when it wasn’t rewarding. So I tracked which blogs I read and how I felt after each reading session, then unsubscribed from the mailing lists of the blogs that didn’t make me feel consistently fantastic. Then I only visited them when I had a little extra time and wondered what they were up to, instead of when I should have been painting or working on a grant application but got distracted by the email prompt. By the time I checked in with the blogs, there were usually several new posts to choose from, and I would only read the ones I was actually interested in. This was so effective that I also unsubscribed from the mailing lists of the blogs that did make me feel consistently fantastic, and I started reading those ones on my own schedule as well. This simple switch from following a prompt to making a conscious choice not only saved me time, it also improved my experience of reading blog posts.
Almost all my time-sinks were online, and could be dealt with in a similar way to what I described above. Cooking fancier food than necessary was my only substantial analog time waster, so I worked out a way to be more efficient and adopted an eat-to-live attitude with fancy cooking as a rare treat instead of a daily indulgence.
Now I’m pretty good at not wasting my time, and I’m starting to wonder if tracking my time is a good use of my time. It can be tedious to log in and out of every single activity, and while I still need to know how much time I spend painting or doing other art related administrative tasks, I probably don’t need to track every moment of every day.
So I stopped.
Since the beginning of November, I’ve only been tracking my work activities, and it’s been really interesting. I feel a sense of relief at not having to pick up my phone every time I switch activities, and find that I check other things on my phone less often because of it.
I’ve also noticed that I feel more pressure to get in front of my easel now that my time log only shows work time. Before, if I had a day with no red bars (painting time), I could look and see what else I did – which gave me an excuse of sorts. That day I did the shopping, or I had to XYZ. But now the empty space stares back at me like an accusation, and each day when I wonder what to do next I’m reminded of how good it will feel to put a little red bar on my log, and how bad it will look if it’s empty.
This is what my time log looks like when I’m only tracking art related activities. Red is painting, pink is admin, fuchsia is studio work that isn’t painting (stretching/priming canvas, etc) (and the grey should be fuchsia, I made a mistake).
For comparison, this is what my time log looked like the previous month when I was still tracking all my activities.
I’ve decided to stick with this pared back tracking for one year, then assess how things went. If I’m unsatisfied with my artistic output, or if the time I spend painting is significantly lower than the previous year, I may go back to tracking everything. If not, I’ll go another year and see what happens. Maybe by then I’ll have something else that needs improvement, and I’ll track it until I’m in control.
With my 2020 exhibition and residency plans cancelled or indefinitely postponed, and my storage area overflowing with completed 4×6 foot canvases from my 2018-19 grant year with the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, I abandoned my plan of continuing to work large scale and decided to paint on small canvases. It was a hard decision to make because I was just starting to feel comfortable with my new larger-than-life substrates, but it was the right thing to do. My single most important goal as an artist is to Always Be Working, and this has allowed me to stay engaged and productive.
I stretch the canvas onto boards with tape and bulldog clips, carefully measuring the painting surface so it can be re-stretched on 16×20 inch bars later. When I complete a painting, I sign it, isolation coat it, remove it from the board, and store it in an archival box with a layer of glassine between each work.
stretched on board
works in progress
archival storage box
It’s very similar to my process of working on paper, and even to my early process of working in Moleskine books, not only because of the size and the documentarian aspect, but also because I’m using clear gesso, which leaves a lovely cream colored background from which I can brighten with white. I also decided to sign them like the works on paper, with only my initials on the front, because of their small size.
My plan is to do a series of at least 50 canvases by the end of 2020, then scan or professionally photograph them so they can be added to both my portfolio website and my online store. Depending on how the year progresses, I may do another series of them in 2021.
I keep track of my time by logging in and out of my activities. I give each session a value rating from 1-5, based on whether it felt like a good use of my time – except when I’m signed into working on an artwork, then the value rating is based on my confidence level for the work in progress. I do this on my desktop and on my phone, and the interface looks like this:
Once the session is open, I use the >Now button to sign out, enter a rating by selecting one of the five dots, sometimes type a note in the next field, and then click the Submit button. The system will not let me submit without a rating, but typing a note is optional. I use the notes to add information, like what exactly I did to my artwork, or what book/article I was reading.
When I look back at how I’ve been spending my time, I see this color coded chart with one line per day:
The colors represent groupings of similar activities so that I can read them at a glance. They break down like this:
red = painting pinks = administrative or studio work that is not painting dark blue = family time (meals, conversations, bedtime, outings, etc) green = housework (cooking, cleaning, shopping, gardening, etc) yellow = reading (books or on the internet) orange = exercise (walking, working out, playing ping pong) teal = other random things (napping, watching videos) purple = socializing (visits, phone calls, messages, etc)
This week last year, I can see that I spent a lot more time doing studio work (building/stretching canvases) than painting, and I also had longer socializing sessions (in person!!!):
Before I tracked my time digitally, I kept a written log. Here are some examples from previous years:
Why do I do this? Because being self employed is hard. Without a boss, a teacher, or even a coworker, I am the only person who will ever know (or care) what I am doing to meet my goals. Tracking my time keeps me motivated, keeps me working, and (most importantly) keeps me honest. If I didn’t get into the studio, or didn’t finish that grant application, at least I know exactly what it was I did instead. I then have a choice: I can adjust my behavior to match my perception of myself as someone working hard to meet my goals, or I can adjust my perception of myself to match my true behavior.
Thankfully, I haven’t had to change my perception of myself in relation to how I spend my time. One thing that works to my advantage is that the very act of tracking changes behavior. It happens to everyone to some extent – start tracking your steps and you will favor the stairs over the elevator, start tracking your calories and you will think twice about eating that doughnut, start tracking your time and you will probably get to work.
I keep track of my painting sessions with a time log, I use a simple sign in – sign out system with a place for a note. This allows me to see how long I spend on each work, and how much of that time is actually painting, testing ideas, or just staring at it while I think. I also track my confidence level by giving each session a value rating from 1 to 5. At the end of each painting session I take a photo. The following video show all the photos from my most recent 4 by 6 foot painting. (Scroll down to see the log of painting sessions.)
In the log below, the first number on the left is my confidence rating. This is entered as I sign out of that work session (the system won’t submit the session without the rating) and is an immediate emotional response to how I think the painting is progressing. The general breakdown is: 1 = I hate it, 2 = I dislike it, 3 = I don’t know, 4 = I like it, 5 = I love it. The following fields are the date, time I signed out, total minutes in the session, and my note.
5 19 Nov 2019 10:35 9 mins Plan first marks 5 20 Nov 2019 9:12 70 mins 1st mark, looks like a turkey 4 20 Nov 2019 10:44 29 mins Test figure 4 21 Nov 2019 8:55 14 mins Test figure 4 21 Nov 2019 9:41 41 mins Test figure 3 21 Nov 2019 13:38 8 mins Think 4 22 Nov 2019 8:29 23 mins Test figure 4 22 Nov 2019 9:14 37 mins Test figure 5 24 Nov 2019 8:43 10 mins Test figure 4 24 Nov 2019 9:21 34 mins Test figure 4 24 Nov 2019 10:27 47 mins Test wings 4 25 Nov 2019 9:02 20 mins Think 4 25 Nov 2019 9:37 24 mins Test 4 25 Nov 2019 10:04 24 mins Test legs down and new wing 5 25 Nov 2019 10:19 7 mins Images 5 25 Nov 2019 11:18 46 mins Test bottom wing folded and tail over head 4 25 Nov 2019 19:45 35 mins Test 4 26 Nov 2019 8:48 28 mins Test 4 26 Nov 2019 9:04 15 mins Test 4 26 Nov 2019 10:45 64 mins Test 4 26 Nov 2019 18:31 21 mins Test 4 26 Nov 2019 18:49 15 mins Think 3 27 Nov 2019 9:08 42 mins Paint turkey 5 27 Nov 2019 9:35 21 mins Images legs 3 27 Nov 2019 10:22 41 mins Paint turkey 3 27 Nov 2019 11:14 14 mins Think 3 27 Nov 2019 11:46 20 mins Splatter images 3 27 Nov 2019 14:25 38 mins Paint sky 3 27 Nov 2019 17:03 40 mins Paint legs 3 28 Nov 2019 10:23 27 mins Paint figure 3 28 Nov 2019 11:07 7 mins 3 29 Nov 2019 9:02 19 mins Think 3 29 Nov 2019 10:23 47 mins Test figure 3 29 Nov 2019 10:37 11 mins Older drawings for reference 3 29 Nov 2019 11:34 49 mins Test figure add wing and heart 5 29 Nov 2019 14:27 26 mins Images of turkey wings 4 29 Nov 2019 15:50 47 mins Test wrap wing halo 4 30 Nov 2019 9:00 46 mins Test wing and lower arm 4 30 Nov 2019 9:42 32 mins Test land 3 1 Dec 2019 9:23 70 mins Paint yellow 3 3 Dec 2019 9:05 35 mins Paint near horizon 5 3 Dec 2019 10:32 74 mins Paint 3 3 Dec 2019 11:34 33 mins Test tail 3 3 Dec 2019 15:49 46 mins Test wing feathers 3 3 Dec 2019 19:48 62 mins Paint sand 3 4 Dec 2019 8:38 16 mins Test wings 2 4 Dec 2019 10:31 32 mins Test new wing and tail, 2 4 Dec 2019 11:15 27 mins Feel bad about abandoning prev idea but afraid looks like appropriation 3 4 Dec 2019 12:50 75 mins Think 3 4 Dec 2019 13:19 26 mins Feeling better about turning into peacock 3 5 Dec 2019 8:40 31 mins Paint 3 5 Dec 2019 10:18 69 mins Paint sky sand 3 5 Dec 2019 11:28 10 mins Paint sand 3 5 Dec 2019 14:39 34 mins Paint 3 5 Dec 2019 16:07 39 mins Paint sky 3 5 Dec 2019 17:33 17 mins Paint 3 5 Dec 2019 19:40 55 mins Paint sand sky 3 7 Dec 2019 10:45 56 mins Paint sky 5 8 Dec 2019 10:30 21 mins Paint sky 3 10 Dec 2019 8:50 40 mins Prep to paint bird 3 10 Dec 2019 9:23 11 mins Bird illustration books 3 10 Dec 2019 9:40 17 mins Mix paint for bird 3 10 Dec 2019 10:35 48 mins Paint bird 3 10 Dec 2019 14:13 30 mins Paint bird 3 11 Dec 2019 9:07 47 mins Paint bird 3 11 Dec 2019 9:31 22 mins Peacock images 3 11 Dec 2019 10:20 47 mins Test bird head and fig 3 11 Dec 2019 16:48 49 mins Test figure 2 11 Dec 2019 17:22 30 mins Paint bird, getting discouraged about figure 2 12 Dec 2019 9:15 51 mins If I had another canvas ready I would take a break 3 12 Dec 2019 13:15 32 mins Paint bird, feeling better about smaller head 3 12 Dec 2019 13:32 16 mins Paint sky 3 12 Dec 2019 14:11 12 mins Paint bird 2 12 Dec 2019 17:33 54 mins Test figure this is not going to work 3 13 Dec 2019 11:14 25 mins test new figure 2 13 Dec 2019 12:00 36 mins Test multiple figures 3 13 Dec 2019 15:21 39 mins Test figure w legs 3 13 Dec 2019 15:36 8 mins Just legs 3 13 Dec 2019 18:20 17 mins Test legs, better without faces 3 15 Dec 2019 9:51 38 mins Test fork and rope 3 15 Dec 2019 11:07 11 mins Paint bird 3 15 Dec 2019 15:30 26 mins Test fork and knife 4 15 Dec 2019 15:58 22 mins Test arms for legs, liking this better 4 16 Dec 2019 10:06 46 mins Test arms and rope 3 16 Dec 2019 11:28 74 mins Paint land 3 18 Dec 2019 9:09 61 mins Paint land 3 18 Dec 2019 16:05 44 mins Paint ground 3 18 Dec 2019 16:21 13 mins Paint land 3 19 Dec 2019 10:05 53 mins Paint 3 19 Dec 2019 10:05 45 mins paint land 3 20 Dec 2019 9:12 9 mins Paint 3 20 Dec 2019 9:40 18 mins Paint land 3 20 Dec 2019 15:36 29 mins Paint 3 22 Dec 2019 9:14 23 mins Paint blue 5 22 Dec 2019 10:05 22 mins Paint yellow glaze 3 22 Dec 2019 10:24 19 mins Paint can Duke glaze 3 22 Dec 2019 17:12 22 mins Paint glaze and blue 3 23 Dec 2019 19:52 27 mins Paint glaze and blue 3 24 Dec 2019 9:14 56 mins Paint white 3 24 Dec 2019 10:05 46 mins Paint white 3 24 Dec 2019 11:41 23 mins Paint white 3 24 Dec 2019 15:34 34 mins Paint white 3 24 Dec 2019 16:28 28 mins Paint white 3 27 Dec 2019 10:05 64 mins Paint white 3 27 Dec 2019 10:38 27 mins Paint white 3 27 Dec 2019 11:55 32 mins Paint 3 28 Dec 2019 9:38 42 mins Paint 3 28 Dec 2019 11:51 45 mins Paint 3 28 Dec 2019 14:00 68 mins Paint 3 28 Dec 2019 15:17 55 mins Paint while on phone to Meg 3 30 Dec 2019 19:30 25 mins Test 3 4 Jan 2020 9:16 14 mins Test 3 4 Jan 2020 10:06 43 mins Test 2 4 Jan 2020 19:19 12 mins No longer like where I was going 3 5 Jan 2020 10:57 72 mins Feeling better about this 4 5 Jan 2020 16:18 41 mins Test bulk and white outlines 4 6 Jan 2020 8:47 22 mins Test shadow 4 6 Jan 2020 9:09 15 mins Test comb again 3 6 Jan 2020 11:16 126 mins Mix dark over layer 3 8 Jan 2020 9:00 37 mins Paint begin darken land 4 8 Jan 2020 9:58 43 mins Paint while on phone to Kim 3 8 Jan 2020 17:24 81 mins Paint 3 9 Jan 2020 9:24 9 mins Prep 3 9 Jan 2020 10:30 55 mins paint 3 9 Jan 2020 11:20 44 mins Paint 3 10 Jan 2020 13:22 50 mins Paint 4 10 Jan 2020 14:43 64 mins Paint 3 10 Jan 2020 16:51 49 mins Paint 3 11 Jan 2020 8:35 25 mins Paint 4 11 Jan 2020 9:49 49 mins Paint 4 11 Jan 2020 10:39 44 mins Paint 3 13 Jan 2020 9:12 34 mins Paint 3 13 Jan 2020 10:08 51 mins Paint comb 3 13 Jan 2020 10:33 17 mins Paint 3 13 Jan 2020 11:33 21 mins Paint 3 15 Jan 2020 9:28 66 mins Paint comb beak 3 15 Jan 2020 10:33 17 mins Paint white 3 15 Jan 2020 15:29 49 mins Paint white 3 16 Jan 2020 10:21 36 mins Paint 3 16 Jan 2020 11:08 36 mins Test string and egg 3 17 Jan 2020 8:57 20 mins Paint glazes comb 3 17 Jan 2020 9:52 39 mins Paint 3 17 Jan 2020 10:20 21 mins Paint white 3 18 Jan 2020 9:28 45 mins Test reds 3 18 Jan 2020 10:26 31 mins Test legs 3 18 Jan 2020 11:07 32 mins Paint legs. Still not sure but maybe I like them… 4 19 Jan 2020 10:55 36 mins Paint touch up legs 4 19 Jan 2020 11:20 21 mins Test arms 4 19 Jan 2020 13:50 21 mins Test forks 4 20 Jan 2020 13:46 14 mins Think 4 21 Jan 2020 14:40 52 mins Test blue for arms 4 21 Jan 2020 16:28 58 mins This is crazy but I think I like it 4 21 Jan 2020 19:13 13 mins Test arms w dots 4 22 Jan 2020 15:20 56 mins Strings for guides 3 26 Jan 2020 11:05 43 mins Re-tape fallen strings 3 29 Jan 2020 9:35 58 mins Paint dots 3 29 Jan 2020 10:07 25 mins Repaint front dots 3 29 Jan 2020 14:29 25 mins Touch up and mix blue 3 30 Jan 2020 8:40 35 mins Paint glaze dots 3 31 Jan 2020 11:10 18 mins Think 3 31 Jan 2020 12:15 38 mins Paint green 4 1 Feb 2020 9:42 45 mins Paint green 4 1 Feb 2020 10:19 22 mins Paint 4 1 Feb 2020 14:29 91 mins Paint 4 2 Feb 2020 9:20 29 mins Paint 4 2 Feb 2020 9:47 17 mins paint 4 2 Feb 2020 10:16 13 mins Think 4 3 Feb 2020 8:58 52 mins Paint 4 3 Feb 2020 9:43 38 mins Paint and think 4 3 Feb 2020 10:08 15 mins Think 4 3 Feb 2020 14:18 48 mins Paint 4 3 Feb 2020 19:39 11 mins Think 5 4 Feb 2020 9:02 49 mins Paint knife arm, this looks better than the tracing paper 4 4 Feb 2020 16:32 70 mins Paint fork arm, still needs work 3 4 Feb 2020 18:43 38 mins Paint white on arms 4 4 Feb 2020 19:07 24 mins Remove white from fork arm 4 4 Feb 2020 19:14 7 mins Paint fork and black in eye 3 5 Feb 2020 14:39 14 mins Think 3 5 Feb 2020 15:15 30 mins Paint fork arm 4 5 Feb 2020 15:24 9 mins Paint white eye 4 5 Feb 2020 18:49 19 mins Touch up blue
I was particularly indecisive while painting this one, and went through far more ideas on tracing paper than usual. I haven’t touched it since the 5th of February, so I think it might be finished, but I haven’t signed it yet, so I’m not 100% committed. Also, this time log is for painting sessions only, and doesn’t include building, stretching, or priming, which I track as separate activities.
This is an expansion of the artist statement I posted on the about page of my website.
My paintings and works on paper document my emotional and intellectual life. They are singular impressions, more like diary entries than dissertations, and are related only by relevance to my experience and the passing of time.
I begin a painting with random mark-making, like throwing, printing, or splattering paint. I analyze what I see and ask, “if this is true, what else is true?” then add a new element based on the answer. Like an actor in improv theater, I “Yes, and…” my way through a narrative – ending up with an image instead of a skit.
Each image represents an isolated feeling or thought, but all the images together tell a larger story about the trajectory of my experience as a person and my development as an artist. My accountability for the truth and permanence of this story is an important part of my identity, which is why I never work outside of my sequentially numbered series, and never destroy or hide any of the works.
I developed my process over a ten year period, beginning in 2002, while working exclusively in Moleskine sketchbooks. I adhered to strict rules, including numbering the pages, never tearing one out, signing each one as it was finished, and never retouching one that was signed. When I reached the end of a book, I went back and forced myself to complete and sign any unfinished pages before starting the next book. I then cut the book apart, scanned the drawings, and put them in chronological order on my website.
In 2011, I began working outside of the books, organizing my works on paper into numbered series to keep my rules intact. I continued to work on increasingly larger pieces of paper until 2017, when I made my first series of works on canvas. Those canvases were 30 by 40 inches, and I’m up-scaling again with my recent canvases measuring 4 by 6 feet, some of which I put together to make diptychs of 6 by 8 feet.
These new, large paintings have a different feel than my small works on paper, yet they are a seamless continuation of the project I began with the Moleskine books. I still create improvised psychological narratives that document my experience in real time. I still number the works, create them in chronological series, and make them all public on my portfolio website, which I view as my permanent record. All of my paintings and works on paper are there, in descending chronological order, dating back to my first Moleskine.
