Introduction

Earlier this year, I was awarded a material needs grant from ArtsWorcester to complete new work. In the call for proposals, this question was posed to the applicants:

“What work would you create if you didn’t have to worry about the cost of supplies?” 

Not my studio, thankfully

Creativity is an enigmatic and sometimes frustrating thing. The cost of oil paint was not stopping me from doing the kind of work I really want to do. But that question removed a mental barrier and opened up possibilities I hadn’t considered. 

 I immediately then started formulating the idea for what would become TOMBS. Here is an excerpt of the project from my proposal:

"TOMBS is an exploration of archeology, storytelling and mystery. There will be 4 oil paintings that explore the burial of a particular person. 

"Each tomb, like an archeological find, will give clues about the person’s life, yet it will retain mystery about specifics. It will allow for the audience to assume the roll of archeologist and discover who the person may have been."

"Oh, rats..."

When I was working on my Master’s thesis in grad school, I blogged my progress.  I found this exercise helpful on many levels; I was able to look at my own work objectively, and it also helped me zero in on what exactly I was shooting for.  

"Monument," my Master's thesis project completed in 2009 

Since TOMBS is my biggest undertaking since then, I decided to start another blog.

I’ll be documenting my progress and talking about approach, materials, resources, inspiration, and anything else that pertains to the making of TOMBS.  

I know I’ll get a lot out of the process, but I’m hoping that others will find it at least a little illuminating.