Wednesday, May 12, 2004

It's nice and hot here at work today. The air conditioning is broken, so we have the windows open (just a few skylights, so no cross-breezes). The thermostat says it's 80 in here, and I'm secretly enjoying it. After all, I'm dressed for the hot weather, and I got my iced chai right here. All summer long I have to use lap blankets and cardigans inside the refrigerated office. I'd be fine if the temp was set at, say, 74, instead of 69, which is colder than the heat setting in January.

I just ran into my old boss who owned the fancy clothing store when I worked there. I hadn't seen him for years. He and his wife are my only non-family patrons, having bought a piece of my sculpture (for $350 plus some clothing from the store) when I was fresh out of college. He asked if I had a studio, and I said I had something set up in my apartment. I think he knows I'm now a fraud and not making "serious" art anymore. At least, I'm not welding anymore, and my stuff is largely representational, which feels like a cop-out (Hampshire taught me that). He has a cool life right now, designing and manufacturing displays for high-end stores and trade shows, as well as managing some fancy properties. He and his wife both act and appear to be gay, which is one of the reasons why I dig them. At their store, he was always in charge of the creative side, and she handled all the finances and managing; plus he's really into clothes and fancy glasses, and she has a short haircut and comfortable shoes.

Anyway. I do think I'm coming around again, after not feeling drawn to make anything "abstract" (I hate the labeling, but it's the best way to explain it) I have some ideas for some things. I might try to combine my old art aesthetic with the new cigar-box dioramas, and make an abstract/organic diorama. Fun.

3 comments:

debl said...

I'm trying that out as my new philosophy. I'm not attempting to make a living at this, so why not do what I enjoy, if I like the results? It doesn't mean I don't work hard and put a lot of thought into it, because I do. but I also don't need to worry about my stuff not being taken seriously by the masses.

Anonymous said...

I'm just writing to say, woo! Comments! I can comment! Finally. But apparently I must be "anonymous." Because I have no blogger account. Well, guess what, Blogger? I'm Alice, that's who! Anonymous THIS!

debl said...

Av, you totally said what I didn't, which is that the women I work with (all of whom I love, they're totally great people) all blame my coldness on how skinny I am. To which I have no reply, because what can you say, really? I think me being cold has more to do with poor circulation than lack of body fat, anyway (the people I work with aren't 200 pounds... they're barely overweight ). But whatever, I'm in the minority here, so I suffer.

And Alice, girl, don't let the blogger bastards make you sign in! Stick it to the man.