Happy New Year, dear readers! Do you remember me? You know, I never was a particularly consistent blog writer, but a 5 year lapse in between posts must be some sort of record. A thing or two has happened since the last post I made about earth pigments in 2018. I kept working as the director of StudioLab where I built a library, a Material Archive of natural and historic pigments and materials, and a Virtual Database. I started my Master’s degree in Painting in 2018 and finished it in 2022, which is to say, I painted my ass off. I got engaged, got married, and as of New Year’s Day, am officially two years into forever with my freaking awesome husband. I debuted my first two solo exhibitions, got surprisingly decent at making cocktails, and have done a good amount of but still not quite enough yoga. Lots of adventures with family, some exciting bouts of travel. Oh, and then last year I quit my job of 6 years, we left Chicago after having called it home for 11 years, and moved to Santiago, Chile for me to study earth pigments, focus on painting, and learn Spanish. Today is my 30th birthday.
I loved my tenure in StudioLab. I love what I built there, I love what I learned, and I love the way my material research practice grew into an inextricable piece of my soul. Without a single doubt, the work that I did with the Material Archive and the way my research interwove with my painting practice set the course for the rest of my life. But we’ll talk about all that stuff later. The fact of the matter is that all good things must come to an end, I gave that place everything I had, and last June when I said goodbye to my beloved StudioLab that I had built from the ground up, I was hungry– starving, even– for a new chapter. A new challenge. A chance to focus on my own paintings, on my own research, on my own self. A chance to learn without the primary purpose being to educate others, but for myself. To finally invest the time and energy into my practice that it deserves, without having to shimmy it in around a full-time job and part-time grad school. To invest in me. This [aggressive arm waving gesture referring to absolutely everything you just read] is why I haven’t written a blog post about painting materials in 5 years. I haven’t had the mental capacity. I am blessed and cursed with finding an entire universe behind each door I open, and that sense discovery was being funneled into too many different channels.
Suffice to say, it’s been a whirlwind. But here I am! I’m back! Why? Because in starting this new chapter, this new challenge, I have created the time and energy for myself that I was desperately craving. I spend my days painting, working with pigments, researching, reading, writing, and connecting with fellow artists and pigment people. I am reveling in wonder and I am ready to share it. Instead of just scrapping the ol’ blog and starting something new like we do with everything else in our throw-away society, it feels right to come back to this channel. I am excited to be returning to Material Things, and to use this as a conduit between all the most important things: you, me, painting, the stuff of our world, everything that has already passed, and everything yet to come. Solid way to kick off my next decade on this planet.
Me in Valle de la Luna | La Paz, Bolivia | Thanksgiving day, 2022
Thanks for reading. As you await my next post with rapt anticipation, feel free to revisit past posts for some great info that you likely forgot about entirely– I know I did! It’ll be as if they’re brand new. Also, if there are specific topics or materials you want to read about on this blog, I would absolutely love your suggestions! Please send them to me at elisabeth.heying@gmail.com