May 2016 – Page 2 – Deidre Adams

The Original Meaning of Memory

The Original Meaning of Memory, 40 x 90 inches (triptych), acrylic on panel. ©Deidre Adams

Here is another recently completed work. The title comes from some reading I’ve been doing on the malleability of memory, and how memories are formed and stored in the brain. Concepts and stories of repressed memories and false memories are fascinating. I’ve often thought of the brain as a room full of filing cabinets, maybe not too well organized, where some things are kind of hidden in the back and have gotten rather dusty over time. This idea recurs whenever something happens to trigger a memory from many years ago that I’m surprised I still have. But the neuroscience of how memory works is even less organized:

We often talk of memory storage and retrieval, as if memory were filed in a honeycomb of compartments, but these words are really only metaphors. If memory is the reactivation of a weblike network of neurons that were first activated when an event occurred, each time that network is stimulated the memory is strengthened, or consolidated. Storage, retrieval, consolidation — how comforting and solid they sound; but in fact they consist of electrical charges leaping among a vast tangle of neurons,

In truth, even the simplest memory stimulates complex neural networks at several different sites in the brain. The content (what happened) and meaning (how it felt) of an event are laid down in separate parts of the brain. In fact, research at Yale University by Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Ph.D., has shown that neurons themselves are specialized for different types of memories — features, patterns, location, direction. “The coding is so specific that it can be mapped to different areas…in the prefrontal region.”

—From “It’s Magical, It’s Malleable, It’s … Memory,” Psychology Today, Jan. 1, 1995

Apparently, I only took one in-process photo while working on this painting, and it was more about getting a general shot of the studio. This is from October 2015.

This one came together for me less painfully than some of them do. I enjoyed experimenting with some new markings and techniques, and I was really happy with this combination of colors. I’ve always loved turquoise, but I didn’t want it to be too “pretty.” So I decided to use some gray, created by blending the turquoise with its complement. I like the retro feel of these colors together.

Here are some detail shots.

May 12th, 2016|Painting|2 Comments

By Chance and Necessity

By Chance and Necessity, 48 x 72 inches, acrylic on panel. ©Deidre Adams

As I’m sure anyone who’s been at this artist thing for awhile has discovered, the single most important thing you can do is make sure you are practicing your artwork in some fashion on a reliable and regular basis. If you let any amount of time go by without working, it becomes easier to give in to the slightest excuse not to do it.

I’m committed to spending some amount of time every day working on my art, no matter what else is going on in life, and I’ve come up with some strategies that help me fulfill my intent. Putting actual brush to canvas or stitch to cloth may be the most obvious and immediately satisfying ways of working, but I believe it’s just as valid to spend time thinking about, writing about, or photographing your work. Keeping a sketchbook or journal are other ways. Teaching, spending time looking at things that inspire you, or getting out of your daily routine by traveling are also valid. Even something as seemingly unrelated as keeping your resume and other records up to date counts, as far as I’m concerned. If other pressing commitments or emergencies prohibit any of these activities, just closing your eyes and meditating for 10 minutes can be a way of focusing on your artwork.

I now have a studio that’s about 25 minutes away from my house when there’s no traffic. Being able to spend entire days there is a gift of no small measure. But some days I’m just too busy with other things to find time to make the drive there. So I maintain a good supply of paints and other supplies in my house, and on those busy days I can go into my home studio for an hour or two, or even as little as 10 minutes, and I feel completely refreshed and restored by maintaining this connection to my work.

I’ve been working away on lots of new paintings. I like the in-between stages where I can be utterly lost in the process and I don’t really have to commit. As long as I avoid saying I’m finished, the happy fun time can continue. Finishing is scary.

So I’m happy/not happy to announce finally that a new painting is done – for the fourth time! If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you’ll see this is a recurring theme. I thought it was done, lived with it for awhile, and realized that I just didn’t love it. As long as I don’t commit by publishing photos and saying “done” – and sometimes even then – I can still keep thinking about it and working on it if I choose.

Here are the three previous stages of “done” that By Chance and Necessity went through before I was totally happy with it:

Stage 1 – December, 2015

Stage 2 – February, 2016

Stage 3 – March 2016

I pondered on this for a long time and just could not figure out why I wasn’t fully committed to it. Finally, the idea occurred to me to use something I’d done in a previous work, and I went back to Pseudocode for the inspiration. That’s how I got the idea to add the very strong area of contrast at the bottom of this painting, which you see in the final result at the top of the this post. Now, I DO really love it!

Here are some detail images of the final:

May 3rd, 2016|Art|5 Comments