a studio of one's own

A while back I received a letter in the mail notifying me that I had been nominated to an artist residency at Jentel by an art curator in Seattle whom I respect and admire.  The letter alone had me floating on air.  The residency had me hopping out of my skin.  (It still does.)  




At Jentel, I wandered around working in my head.

I wrote every day. I studied wind causes and patterns.  I watched a stack of avant-garde movies by  surrealists and early film experimentalists until I had a headache.  I read myself to sleep with novels at all hours of the night and short stories at breakfast. I listened to books on CD while making drawings.  I took leisurely walks, even if just to the mailbox.  I took many notes. I cut circles out of paper.  I made storyboards with ink, watercolor or graphite.  I sewed strips of black cloth into circles. 


I snapped  hundreds of photos.  

I just did stuff.   
 

I hiked with my video camera a couple times each week.  

I recorded the texture and movement of dry rattling grass and brittle sage shrubs.  

I edited video until I was dizzy. 


I followed the clouds and tried grabbing the sun.

While crawling around trying to get the better shot, I dragged my leg across a prickly pear cactus. (I don't recommend this.  I pulled at least 50 needles out of my calf and it's STILL bruised.)  Prickly Pears are low-growing and sometimes hidden in the grass, especially hard to see in late winter and early spring.  It's much easier to see in this picture, plus the cool crusty rock next to it.

I pondered the conical lava mound mountains. 

I revisited certain rocks.

I considered how each bit of scoria (lava rock) looks like a red, black or dark brown miniature mountain.  

Miniature scoria mountain.

And how it is sooo light.


I bound the scoria with string.

And hung them on the wall in the profile of the mountains outside on the other side of my studio wall.

T. Matlock, Lighten Up, Jentel scoria, nails and string.

T. Matlock, Lighten Up, angle view.

T. Matlock, Lighten Up, detail.

Finally, I cut them all down, cut away the threads and mixed them back into  the rest of the scoria gravel in the driveway.

Stay tuned for more about movies.  I'll be editing the video I collected for awhile.