Postcard from Greece

(adapted from an actual email I wrote to someone. pardon the rambling).

Hello ______________!

Greece is wonderful. I spent about 5 days in Athens and its accompanying coastal beach areas with local friend Augustus, then Brenda came from Edinburgh and we toured the isles of Naxos and Santorini, in the Cyclades (Aegean Sea). The water could not be a prettier color blue.

Santorini

Naxos

Such a beautiful climate, very LA light, flavorful food, friendly, lively people. It's a funny place, bankrupt so lots of grime and half constructed buildings everywhere, but beautiful and real and gritty... Athens is quite like LA.

The Acropolis was fantastic. Surreal to see with my own 2 eyes. Structures that I've learned about and had somewhere in the back of my mind for god knows how long, through god knows how many boring "Surveys of Western Art" and "Histories of Western Civilization" lectures. There I was, sweating, in sandals and a panama hat.

It was interesting to learn that all the marble monuments were actually painted different colors - I had never thought about that. I always pictured them just white marble... for instance the top frieze of the parthenon was painted a bright cobalt blue and had little stars painted on the ceiling.

Most of the frieze was stolen by Lord Elgin and now housed in the British Museum. What a bastard. Hopefully they will be returned. But they do have some of the original, and some re-creations. They also have this massive flowery plant like abstract sculpture thing that was originally at the peak of the roof of the Parthenon. Never pictured that before either. Amazing how your ideas of what something is/was are just transformed with a little background knowledge.

There are two excellent museums - one of Archaeology and one brand new one, just for the Acropolis. The Acropolis one is at the foot of the hill and has a nice terrace where you can watch the sunset with your coffee. Also, they constructed these see-through walking floors to see the entire old city below your feet. You can learn about the ancients and see all sorts of loot that they dug up from the grounds. It's fascinating. Actually maybe more fascinating than the actual buildings on the hill are the stories about the "Slope People" ... the people who lived in the surrounding area, and the more humble temples they put up for worship. They weren't all allowed at the top, which was reserved for higher ups, so these temples were more community/public. It's funny. I tried asking the guards a lot of questions just about the life back then. So much of it is known, yet so much isn't. How, exactly, do you worship Athena? What was the role of women? What did they eat in the ceremonies? There's a lot of questions that I had to leave up to my imagination.

The big sculpture as you might know is called a kouros - a boy - they made them as funerary monuments mostly, buried them, and dedicated to the gods.... this is one of the most massive ones they have found, buried in the ground below a temple. These also would have been painted. I think they recreated the foot. They were supposed to represent some version of perfection of human form.

Anyway. Greece! culture, history, art, swimming pools and sun, and pretty cheap all together. highly recommended.

favorite things revisited: environment

Back in September I made a running list of likes and dislikes of Edinburgh. So, with a year now under my belt- here are my elaborations, adjustments, edits, re-assessments. I'll split them up into various posts.

ORIGINAL FAVORITE THINGS - CATEGORY 1: NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

the sky, the clouds, the horizon the light the speed of the weather, king arthur's seat, living in scotland, the color of the clouds, the color of the mountains

Yes - these things still ring very, very true, if anything, my appreciation for the natural environment of Scotland has grown stronger, deeper and better understood. Trips all over have encouraged my love for the righteous, brooding landscape. My practice as an artist has been deeply affected by this.

Within Edinburgh, Arthur's Seat was my place for time out, a minute to think, a dose of inspiration, fresh air, and a good work out. Further out, the Isles of Arran and Skye, the northwestern coastline, the Trossachs, small villages like Torridon and Fort Augustus, the Outer Hebrides and Isles of Lewis and Harris, Glen Coe, Loch Maree ... places with nearly indescribable beauty. Pictures do no justice, but alas-

Northwest coastal corner of Scotland - from a great trip my parents and I shared in July.

But on last year's list, you'll find this zinger: it's been sunny the whole month!

Don't know what country I arrived to last year. It couldn't have been Scotland. September 2009 was SO sunny. September 2010 is. So. Grey. All. The. Time. All. Year. Long.

Yes, this is why the landscape is so beautiful, lots of rain makes things very, very green. Yes, there is something cosy about staying in on a rainy day, with your pot of tea, soup on the stove, loaf of bread in the oven, projects laid out in front of you, and no desire to go take a jog or have a drink at an outdoor terrace, because, as they say, it's "pishing down". Yes, there is the coziness and the productivity that comes with a rainy day.

But I have to ask, how do you do it, Scots? What is your advice? How do you wake up year after year to so many cloudy mornings? It's beautiful, but there is grey everywhere!

I've been struck dumb by the beauty of a rapidly passing cloud swooping over the North Bridge, tucking behind a volcanic mountain facing out on to the sea that shimmers with the pinken-ing, purple-ing dusk light...

... as readily as I curse the harshness of that same cloud as it expands, turns a menacing shade of grey and opens up into rain that falls diagonally into my face as I'm walking home from the studio, and it's too late to catch a bus, I'm too proud to take a taxi, I'm carrying my laptop, my lunch bag, my coffee mug, and 4 library books, and I wore ballerina flats because they went with my outfit.

Oh, and my umbrella just flipped inside out, flipped back again, flipped inside out again, and came unhinged altogether, and there's still another mile to go.

(TRUE STORY)

Bottom line, I've come to see pros and cons of the Scottish natural environment. Like with most things, Joni Mitchell puts it best: "I've looked at clouds from both sides now."

tonite ...

The Postgraduate Degree Exhibition at ECA is TONIGHT! I can't believe it is finally here.... Here's a small preview .... But if you are in the Edinburgh area please come!

quick update

I feel bad because I haven't kept up this blog as much lately, just so busy with my master's degree exhibition along with some travel and visitors (posts about this forthcoming!)

As part of the exhibition we have to keep blogs relating to our practice as artists. So if you are interested, please visit http://lindseyfyfe.blogspot.com/ to read 20 or so posts related to my paintings and drawings and the work and research I've done at the Edinburgh College of Art.

art studios.

I'm in a great studio right now. With fewer students on the course, we've been able to stretch out in a way that wasn't possible during the year. It's a cube, 4 big walls, huge windows - from which to keep tabs on the fickle weather patterns of edinburgh - tall ceilings, a giant table for my oils and paints, a clear table for my drawings, a kettle station, and three lovely girls to share the room with. It's a 5th floor walk up, so it keeps me fit!

I started thinking about studios past.

It's unfortunate that I don't have photos because my first studio was great. My parents helped me outfit our basement with everything. The centerpiece was this big metal gas tank that we painted to look like a Holstein. I spent plenty of time down there preparing my portfolio for undergrad, and making Christmas presents.

In undergrad I had a drawing studio and a painting studio, as our program was divided into different classes. The spaces were good, but working in 2 rooms created a rift in my drawings and paintings. The works were never able to relate to one another without me lugging canvases down the hallway.

Me and Janet Sorenson, Skidmore Painting studio 2005

Skidmore Drawing studio, 2004

I graduated and stayed living in Upstate New York with 2 artists. One sacrificed a bedroom and slept on the couch all year so that we could use the extra space as a painting studio. I loved the light, the hardwood floors, and the crown molding on this one. And also the view from the balcony onto what I think was voted "The Most Picturesque American Main Street" (shown below).

Our old doggie Petey hanging out amidst paintings

View from studio windows

Shortly after this I found myself painting outside of Asheville, North Carolina at a residency called Wildacres. I had an entire log cabin in the woods to myself, no phone line, internet or neighbors for a mile, and yes, it was as scary as it sounds. NPR and the excellent local bluegrass station kept me company as I painted the landscape. On the table they kept a journal of all the artists from years past. I read every entry.

Then there was Los Angeles. My apartment was absolutely tiny, but I managed to sleep, eat, draw and paint in the same room. The lovely California weather encouraged this because I could leave the door open most of the day, and eat meals out on the porch. My collages developed a lot during these years as they were not as obtrusive to make as large oil paintings.

Finally, the start of the year at ECA. I was in the same studio as now, but a different corner. Not bad, but I had clear view of the door. It was hard not to chat with every person who came in, or even if we didn't chat, just the acknowledgement could prove a distraction. Also there were only 2 walls so my poor paintings ended up in stacks.

I'm happy to say that I've consistently had some form of studio for going on ten years now.

patterns

Patterns and repetitions are everywhere in Edinburgh. In any city, but I'm used to Los Angeles, which is all knots and tangles and palm trees and street signs in many languages. Even with its wynds and closes and ups and downs, Edinburgh seems so visually organized in comparison.

The first curiosity I noticed upon moving to Edinburgh? All the little chimney flues lined up on the roofs. Is it that American flues are embedded internally, so we don't see them? Or does it mean a hearth in every room of the house? I don't actually know why there are so many. But I love them. I love how they define the city's horizon line, like little teeth, little cogs in a wheel pulled straight.

("Lang mey yer lum reek"!)

studio.

Here is the invitation to our degree exhibition scheduled to open August 20th from 6-8 @ Edinburgh College of Art. If you are in the area, I do hope to see you there. We have been working like madwomen up in our 5th floor walk-up studio.

After many dark, cold, slow months in the studio, I can't believe that the exhibition is now weeks around the corner. I've been working more productively and positively this summer than, maybe, all year.

In May, our group of MA/MFA students wrote a detailed letter of complaint to ECA. For many reasons, we were overwhelmingly disappointed in the course throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. I won't go into detail here, but rather dwell on the good news that, in response to our concern, our department has kicked into gear. A system of support, opacity and organization has been put into place this summer, in the form of structured group/individual tutorials and critiques, scheduled gallery tours and talks, regular email contact and a general sense that somebody is invested in our practice as graduate students.

This came as a big change from business as usual @ ECA during the past year. I can't help but believe that this greater sense of support from above has contributed to a more productive working period for me, maybe for all of us.

Here is a sneak preview of a new series of works in progress, done primarily in coloured pencil.