A Visit to the Studio of Phoenix Artist, Carole Hanks

Carole with Week #52

Artists for the most part aren't the frivolous lot the media makes them out to be. Part of the purpose of this blog is to give my readers a chance for an inside view of art in the making. And art in the making is so much more than just making art. It's making the time to do it, having the training, putting in the years of practice, making connections with other artists, galleries, maintaining relationships with collectors, marketing online and off, keeping up a mailing list, entering shows. Not to mention needing to make a living.

My friend, Carole Hanks has been working on a project for the past year. She completed 52 weeks of "comics", gorgeous line drawings which were published every Monday for the entire year, 2010. In order to do this, she gave up travel (including visits to yours truly), and most social engagements to stay on her grueling self-imposed schedule. True to her word, she managed to publish one large piece of this series each and every Monday, come rain or shine, in good health and bad. The results are magnificent.

A not so clear shot of three of her pieces hanging in her Phoenix studio. Click on "comics" above to get a clear look at the work and find out what it's all about.

Her next step is to figure out her next step. She already has a show lined up for this June/July, at the Willo North Gallery in Phoenix. And she's getting ready to start her next big year-long commitment. She gave me a few hints, and it sounds just as exciting and demanding as the previous year-long project. You can check out more of her work at her website. And be sure to check back on her blog in late February, for the new series.

My Tweet Friend

About a year ago, the confluence of a brand new laptop computer and a workshop on social media by photographer Don Giannatti caused me to start tweeting. Now, for those who know me as a person who is phobic about all things technological, you might be surprised to hear of my involvement in Twitter. Don literally (practically) forced me to sign up and give it a go.

So, I started. I got involved with a group of 32 artists doing an art postcard exchange. I made 32 unique postcards and sent them out. In return, I got wonderful postcards from people all over the US, UK, Canada and Australia. I'm still in touch with a few of them.

A Twitter book club, started by Alyson Stanfield, got me caught up in the recent autobiography on William deKooning at about the same time.

Last but not least, I met my friend Pat. It started with a tweet from Pat, after I'd posted the news of my solo show at the Burton Barr Central Library last September. She told me she's an artist in Phoenix and would come to my opening. And guess what? She did, along with her husband Jacob. We hit it off right away. And began to communicate via email.

I introduced Pat to my good friend Carole Hanks, another Phoenix artist. They became friends. They came down to visit me in Oracle. We've had lunch at a half-way point between Phoenix and Oracle. Jim and I have had dinner at Pat's home. They've had dinner here. Pat and I either talk on the phone or send emails on a regular basis. In short, we've become good friends.

And now, I'm in a solo show at the Willo North Gallery, all thanks to Patricia Sahertian! That's another whole story. Here we are, talking, talking, talking at the first First Friday at the gallery.

And am I still tweeting? Well, no, Don, I'm not. But maybe I should start again. So many good things came of it.