If I don’t know what to do when I get into the studio, I start working on something that I do know how to start on. This task is usually cleaning the studio or making canvas stretchers. This was a big realization for me in my studio practice. Mike Tarr always called this, “backing into the work.” The ideas has stuck with me. This is the process of working on things other than the art to get comfortable in the studio. As we move through the space, we begin to see the detritus that lives in the space. We start touching things and remembering what they are and why we brought them into the space.
Making canvas stretchers has been a great way for me to get comfortable in my new studio in Cincinnati. This has allowed for me to back into the work. I am making lists and moving through them. While exercising my practice of building a making things with wood, I am also making surfaces to work on. I am allowing myself to make, before I start making art.
I try to make all my own canvas stretchers. Store bought stretchers give me a limited selection and they are also usually very expensive. I wouldn’t say that I have or need exact specification for my paintings, but I do like having the control to play with how I am presenting the physical things that I make. For myself it adds an additional layer of pride for making the whole piece from scratch. The whole thing becomes an artifact of my making process.
I now have canvas stretchers made and stretched with canvas. Next comes hiking and finding some good clay, stone, and soil to collect to put on the canvas. The more I can get out into the world and familiarize myself with the materials the sooner I can begin to play with ways to apply them to the surfaces.