At the moment...
The last few years have been a whirlwind of activities, many taking me away from and out of the studio. I've been distracted at times, and have participated in too many activities. I will spend the next 6 months hunkering down, concentrating on my new direction; re-shaping my work, paring down the messaging and preparing 10-12 large pieces for a serious showing.
I am not participating in a lot of events – you may notice my calendar is short of openings, shows & festivals. I am also not cranking out new pieces as much as I had for shows, etc. This was planned.
For one thing, I had major surgery last week and am recuperating. It will be several weeks before I can return to my normal work schedule. The surgery date kept getting moved, so it was difficult to plan ahead or make a lot of commitments.
Second, going to art festivals in this economic climate can be depressing – yes, I still get incredible reactions to my work, but I know a lot of people are hurting and just can't make purchases of luxury items... let's face it, art is a luxury!
And third, after the Access Hollywood gift lounge, I am committed to completing several custom portraits for celebrities, so these custom pieces have been and will continue to tie up my time for a while longer.
I have been asked to create a book, and also to teach workshops. I will be taking some time to explore this direction; investigate if, how and when I would move forward with these projects.
But, most importantly, I have a series in mind that I believe will take me as an artist to a new level. My intention is to create a modern collection of Icons – using the traditional Russian Icon as an inspirational “jumping off” point – using my pop-art style & unusual color palettes to create something completely unique. And creating my own resource images.
I often use images provided by the advertising machine – whether for beauty or fashion or even celebrity.
For this series, I will style and photograph my own images.
Instead of using models or actors as subjects – I will use ordinary women and through my art – transform each of them into an Icon. A new mythology of women will go along with the series. Curious, yes?
I will continue to use advertising ephemera, junk mail and other “potential” debris to create my work, including found objects beyond the 2-dimensional.
In addition, all materials used to create the image will be non-toxic, acid-free and water-based. I will continue to upcycle, reuse, repurpose and recycle whenever possible.
I will be posting progress and photos on my blog, so keep posted.
Am I still selling art? You bet.
I do have a one-woman show at Translations Gallery in Denver – opening May 1, 2009.
I still have work at the American Gallery in Carmel and Raw Style in Santa Monica – both in California. And, I have several pieces here at my home studio – private appointments are available. You can always check my site to see what is available... and send me an email for pricing.
One last thing - the name game: S A Schimmel Gold... Sandhi, Sandy, Sandra...etc. What's the deal?
S. A. - I like using my initials. They're not gender nor age specific.
I started using Sandhi about a year ago as a new way to spell Sandy. It's a sanskrit word - the meaning works. I like it.
Schimmel Gold. Okay, I was Schimmel for SO long, "Schimmel Art" [the business name] started when I was still single.
When I married Mr. Gold 4 1/2 years ago, I added Gold to the end of my name. No hyphen.
I'm not a jeweler.
A lot of people still call me "Schimmel" - some use both. I don't really mind, but Mr. Gold does. And I am proud to be his wife, so I like having Gold at the end of my name.
I look forward to talking more!
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