Studio happenings

So what do I do in my studio?  About a year ago I wondered the same thing and so I created a Studio Happenings card.  On it I noted the Date, Time-in, Time-out and Activity...might seem a bit technical for an artist but I really wanted to know what my studio time looked like. I went into my studio as early as 6:00 am and as late as 9:00 pm, working anywhere from half an hour to six and a half hours. And what exactly did I do?  Well, everything from pouring plaster to create a mold for paper relief to preparing work for a show, but the thing that surprised me was how much time I spent cleaning up.  Hmmm...more time cleaning up than creating, so what was happening in my studio when I wasn't there? 

Baseball creating Art!

Listening and watching the world series and thinking about my connections to baseball...



In the Zone monotype Christine Kashuba

I didn’t always love baseball, in fact when I was in elementary school I would be the kid who was purposely too sick to go to school on Sports Day.  In Grade Seven I started to play flag-football and my love affair with sports began. I wasn’t really good, but I loved the teamwork and the feeling of accomplishment that came with playing.

 My exposure to baseball continued to expand when I met and married a baseball fan and player.  Early on he tried to teach me to pitch, and it’s a good thing I was throwing towards the side of a very big brick building!  Participating as a team mom when our boys began to play ball helped me to understand the basics of the game. I listened, watched and learned more about the game of baseball and all it entailed.  When our youngest son started to play I thought I might be able to coach beginners so I signed up to coach and went to the coaching clinic.  I studied the coaching manual, went to the library and researched the physics and history of baseball, asked a lot of questions and got lots of help from other parents.  I ended up coaching for a few years which even included pitching to the kids so they could hit. Baseball was a staple of our summer activities and we spent a lot of time at the ball park.

 Fast forward to the fall of 2008 when we went to watch some of the last games in the old Yankee and Shea Stadiums in New York and a couple of games at the famous Boston Fenway park.  I absorbed the feelings, sounds and sights of being at the ballpark. When I returned I wanted to incorporate those experiences into my UBC Okanagan printmaking class.  I thought I would be incorporating the textures and visual imagery of the ballparks, but then the idea of throwing baseballs to create prints was born resulting in monotypes created using the baseball as the press...

 

UBCO Permanent Collection      http://gallery.ok.ubc.ca/pac/main.php?g2_itemId=4085

Fabulous Fall

A bin full of fabulous fruit!

Fall is always a time of grand finales and new beginnings.  Growing up on a farm fall was harvest time, whether that was reaping the rewards of the hard work of planting, weeding and watering or gathering the grain into bins for later use.  Fall was also the time of new beginnings with school starting again, a new seat on the bus and new classes.  This fall I'm looking forward to having more creative time, a new season full of potential...imagination in action!



Christine Kashuba composite self-portrait

So today is the day I begin...and really where do I begin.  I could start with being in the hospital having my tonsils out which is where I received my first art lesson from a fellow patient. She was only a year or two older than I was but she was an amazing artist  and she showed me how to create shading within my coloring.  I have a collection of work that my mom saved that dates back to those early days and I digitally collaged them into a self portrait. 



Christine Kashuba Cat Detail

      Can you find this in the composite above?