Strange Times Require Even Stranger Reading
If we could have gone back a few months and tried to explain how our world has changed since COVID-19, it would be hard to believe. In the historical scheme of things, human beings have suffered plagues before and come through.
So much of the anxiety we feel, longing for what we had, loneliness, all of it is difficult to get our minds around. For me, it has always been comforting seeing the push and pull of desire and its consequence (whether it has a moral or not) embodied in fables. Somehow being able to commune with an image that was only a momentary dream impression gives me solace.
Looking for Visual Escapism during Quarantine?
Everyone is feeling cagey. It’s normal. Social distancing to slow down the impact of COVID-19 is the right thing to do.
However, being in quarantine is a drag. There’s only so much surfing Facebook and Instagram one can do.
Experience another world through art in a book. Hold the pages in your hands while contemplating someone else’s point of view while communing with your feelings as you respond to the subliminal imagery and writing.
Hyperallergic: A View From the Easel During Times of Quarantine
I’m delighted to be included in Hyperallergic magazine’s article, “A View From the Easel During Times of Quarantine”.
It’s been a strange time for all of us, trying to find a way forward amidst the uncertainty, isolation, homeschooling our kids, and being separated from our friends and family.
For me, being in the studio and finding flow is finding freedom and hope.
The link to the article is below.
Making Art in Quarantine
I’m making a concerted effort to dig through anything I can find in my studio during the COVID-19 quarantine to use as art materials.
Years ago when my husband Chris worked on the Jimmy Kimmel Show as a prop maker and they still used cue cards instead of the autocue for filming, he brought them home to use for all sorts of things, stencils, masking, palettes, etc.
Rummaging around, I found a few behind my desk. Normally I didn't use them for making finished pieces of art on, but hey, they're here, great quality and free. I'm in. This is a short video about this piece, "Lady and Frog".
A Birthday Party with No Escape
in art, artist, artist's work
I thought it was a good time to bring out this mixed media piece, “Birthday Party,” and talk about its origins.
Being in quarantine during the Corona Virus, this piece feels timely. Its theme of being trapped seems appropriate.
Promo Video for "Fairy Tale Remnants"
Podcast with Jerry Hardesty on "The Artist's Voice"
I’m very pleased to be the next guest on Jerry Hardesty’s Podcast, The Artist’s Voice. An abstract artist himself, Jerry’s empathy towards other artists as well as his ability to expose the unique facets between the artist, their inspiration and their work, gives listeners a unique insight into the artistic process.
Click the play button to hear an excerpt from the podcast
How I got Unstuck
The book. Fairy Tale Remnants. I've been working on it for the past six months, two years if you include all the artwork. Every free moment, the moments that weren't free, time I should have been doing something else, I spent on that book. Letting dinner burn on the stove while I tried to teach myself InDesign. Hours learning how to put it together. Figuring it out on the fly, realizing afterward there was a better way to do this or that. Next time. Next book.
Why did I do it in the first place? I have a home, a family, my son is 12. I'm an artist, my husband is an artist. Negotiating financial survival in a city like Los Angeles is stressful enough. Carving out time to make art, making a living as a freelance artist is hard enough. Why did I want another project?
I was angry. I did all the right things, went to openings, was consistent in my art practice, exhibiting in galleries whenever and wherever I could, had collectors that bought my work, but it didn't feel like it mattered. Social media is great, I connect with a larger audience for my paintings that I couldn't have imagined 20 years ago, when I was toiling away like a hermit in my studio pre-internet, but I was still pissed off.
What was the problem? Why was I so angry? It came to me out of utter despair. I wanted to share my paintings, my thoughts, with people, and I wasn't feeling it. I make artwork about a world that rarely makes sense to me. At best, a world that seems absurd; at worst, terribly frightening. I was sure other people felt the same way, and that seeing these painted allegories in waking life made would make them feel better.
It hit me like a ton of bricks. These paintings belonged together in a book. Not only because they were telling a bigger story, but because in a book a person could be alone with all of them, on their terms. The illustrations, dreams, thoughts in prose could all be theirs, in their own private space.
I had to work backwards and extract the words from the artwork, get it all into a book and get the book out into the world.
Joining self-publishing groups on Facebook, I took notes on problems and solutions using Amazon's KDP for print on demand books. I watched tutorials on the finer points of typesetting (and burned more dinners in the process). Reading up on the newest approaches for planting the right keywords for a book to be found in searches, I had a thick folder of words, categories, and diagrams. Flipping through these papers, some of the information became familiar as though I’d known these things for years, and some of the writing looked like it was done by a lunatic creating unintelligible code.
Then there was social media. Not only was I an artist and designer but an author as well. I needed the official branding of me to follow suit with the life transformation I was crafting as I was metamorphosing into this new creature. I'm still burning dinners while learning about how to prepare a better press kit.
My book. I finished it, I'm proud of it. A woman contacted me today telling me how she identified with the piece "Birthday Party" in Fairy Tale Remnants. She knew that faraway look of exhaustion in the mother's eyes, the pining for the last balloon to burst. She wasn't the only one that had that unnamable combination of feelings. She knew I knew it, too.
Fairy Tale Remnants is available in paperback on Amazon.
Nathalie Tierce is an artist, designer, and writer living in Los Angeles with her sculptor husband and son.
#whatimwriting #whatimworkingon #workingmom #audience
Book Monster
What fun being out and talking about the art (that inspired the book) at Book Monster on Saturday. It was fascinating hearing how the images and writing affected people, what memories, feelings and ideas it conjured.
The Strange Patrons of "Night Club"
in art, artist, artist's work
Here I talk about the process behind the painting “Night Club”, part of the Fairy Tale Remnants collection and book.
What makes a super cool Christmas gift? A signed copy of "Fairy tale Remnants"
Book Signing and Exhibit of "Fairy Tale Remnants"
I’m excited to announce my book signing event that will also feature original artwork from Fairy Tale Remnants at Book Monster located at 212 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401 on December 14th, from
1 pm to 3 pm.
Hope to see you there!
The Story Behind "Fishman"
Revisiting a finished art piece to talk about the process is a weird thing. It's like trying to remember a dream you've had, and what happened first, what you felt, harder still, inspiration doesn't occur rationally, adhering to the laws of time and space.
The only thing that makes talking about a painting or drawing easier than a dream is the content of the art is a little like having a road map, but it's foggy out, and you have a terrible sense of direction.
For me, it's a matter of taking your time and retracing your steps through the things you do remember. The analogy of sharing the creative process is finding your way back to a hotel in a new city. Catching sight of a particular tree and recalling you made a left. A dilapidated building reminded you of a fleeting sense of sadness you had when you crossed the street to the other side. You grope your way home.
The video of me in the studio, talking about the development of this work can be seen by clicking the link below.
How an Image is Born "Philosophical Argument Gone Wrong"
Ideas are strange things. Stranger still is the way feelings and thoughts that have no words make their way into a painting or work of art.
Chasing something like a vision is a delicate pursuit. Chasing is the wrong word. It’s more like waiting, watching and trying catch glimpse of what you’re looking for then gently listening to what you need to do. It requires insane amounts of patience and solitude. It’s like trying to catch a butterfly with your bare hands. Waving your arms around like a lunatic will only frighten it away. If you lunge at it, you’ll probably fall on your face and scare it away for good.
Below is a link to a video I did in the studio talking about this piece, “Philosophical Argument Gone Wrong” that made it into the book “Fairy Tale Remnants” and how it came to be. Enjoy.
The Unboxing of "Fairy Tale Remnants"
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1734187409/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
