Wow! Has it really been over a year since I posted an 'update'?! I guess it has indeed been a busy year...
Here's the deal. I'm not a writer! Love, love, love to read (see library as evidence below) and appreciate those that do write creatively, but it's just not my thing. I tried the whole diary business when I was young. Tried journaling and stream of consciousness writing for various reasons in college and as a young adult. About the only time I was marginally successful with it was during a 5 month backpacking trip I took after college, where I took one book to read, Ulysses, (and actually read it), and wrote a bit in my sketchbook about the experiences along the way.
partial view of the library, my favorite room in the house
It's always been a bit of a struggle (OK, actually a tremendous struggle) writing about my work as well. In art school, I was of the belief that as a visual artist, if you had to EXPLAIN your piece, then the piece probably wasn't successful. Visual art should be enjoyed visually, right?! What really irritated me back then was if the explanation was a cop out for putting actual effort into the piece. I saw it too many times where bad art (in my opinion) was justified with a lengthy explanation. The critiques of these pieces were simply painful. While there is certainly room for a deeper understanding by hearing the inspiration and motivation of the artist behind the piece, there is a line where the justification becomes more interesting than the work itself.
Most of the time, when I sit down to compose something new, even just a caption for an Instagram post (or a blog post like this one) it takes WAY longer than it should because I write it, delete, re-write and sometimes just abandon the idea and go an entirely different direction. It's not that I don't have plenty of thoughts going through my head, things that I'd like to communicate, it's just translating them out of my head and into actual sentences in a compelling way, that becomes the challenge. Second guessing my grammatical choices is also a constant nag. I definitely don't follow ALL the rules...
I'm going to try to loosen up a little from here. Maybe no one really cares to read these updates (and that's totally cool) but if this provides an additional window into the creative thought process from my perspective, or even just the process of making itself, then I think this could be a place to do that. Maybe I'll actually figure out how to work this section of the website in order to make it more visually compelling as well (like the fact that I FINALLY figured out how to add a freaking picture to the post!!!!!) If you're not already following me on Instagram, that's the place I'm most active with new work and actual updates that are timely! You can find me @kkbmetalstudio there.
I feel like it's worth adding the disclaimer/reminder that the studio is a very part-time endeavor for me as I do work full-time and have two children, and a house still needing lots of love... While I would like to do quick turn-arounds and accept tons of custom orders, it just isn't realistic. Thanks for being here, it's a pleasure to be able to share my work and I'm truly grateful for the support! The second anniversary of KKB METAL STUDIO is coming up, so stay tuned for details around that as well!
