It Will be Messy

The creative process is unpredictable

I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car, a side effect of the pandemic I suppose. It was made at the local distillery, Caledonia Spirits, and it is straight up liquid, not the gel most people are used to. Every time I use it, really, every time, despite my best efforts, it comes gushing out and I spill some of it. Mostly on myself. When someone is riding in the car and asks to use it, I hand it to them and say: ”It comes out fast, and even though I’ve told you that, you will still be surprised.” And sure enough they spill it too. Usually with a laugh.

Reenactment of the artist trying to keep a straight face while spilling hand sanitizer on himself. Photo credit Lindsay Anderson

This story is a reminder to myself that very few things go as expected, even when it seems that my awareness of the situation should influence the outcome. Spilling things is not limited to hand sanitizer. I seem to drop everything including soup, dishes, groceries, paint, my phone, and coffee -whole bean, ground and in liquid form.  Spilling things, dropping things, and making mistakes are all inevitable and yet I seem to have this wild idea that if I just stay focused, I can prevent the spill, prevent the mess. What if I could just be ok with making those mistakes?

At this particular moment, as I bid farewell to a 25 year career as a teacher and welcome a new career as a working artist, I have a certain perspective of how I expect things will go on this path. I’m guessing there will be some sort of mess involved. Here’s the funny part: even with my expectations of the messy process, it is likely that I will still be surprised when it get’s messy.

As I set out on this new path, I thought it would be a good thing to document the journey and record the process. With that, I  welcome you to the first ever issue of Mountain Tides! Thanks for joining me on the messy process of creating art.

I settled on the title Mountain Tides, because here in my new home of Vermont I miss the Pacific Ocean that was home for 25 years.  However, I have been pleasantly surprised to realize that the mountains have their own tides of sorts.  The seasons, the weather, the wind, and the animals all come and go just as the tides do. There is often a sense of the change just as it is about to happen. You can feel it bubbling to the surface. Things are always changing. Even the mountains have an ebb and flood.

The mountains are large iterations of waves, formed by water and time and weather.  I held this image as I designed the logo for this newsletter. My youngest asked me: “Are those waves or mountains?” Exactly.

Recently I had the benefit of sleeping outside in the crisp Autumn air. As I fell asleep I had a disorienting moment where I thought I heard waves crashing. I opened my eyes to stare up at the cedars drifting in the wind. The sound truly sounded like the waves at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.  Hello, Mountain Tides.

Under the Canopy, 7”x5”, Gouache on wood panel, 2022 Brian Herrick

For now, the format of this newsletter will be to reflect on what’s happening in my creative world and share with you some art I’ve made, musings in my sketchbooks, some books I’ve read, and some music I’m listening to. And I’m sure the process may get messy and the format of the newsletter will change. We will see. Thanks so much for joining me!

WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO IN THE STUDIO

I’ve done a major website overhaul. Websites are like plants; in order to thrive, they need to be cared for often, trimmed, nurtured, and sung to. (There is no proof that singing to your website makes them better but what do I have to lose? plus: singing.) I’ve been continuing a series of water abstractions that I started nearly 15 years ago and it has been great fun. For more of these drippy paintings, and my website update, click the link! www.brianherrick.com

Aqua Ortis, Gouache on Paper, 18 “x 22”, 2022 by Brian Herrick

I’m on Instagram: Follow me here for more work and updates and check out some reels I made of work in process.

SKETCH BOOK COMIC:

Birds In My Head by Brian Herrick 2022 Based on actual events in my head

HAVE A LISTEN

Remember mixtapes and the hours it took to make them? Ah the good old days of double tape decks and getting those transitions just right. I made you a playlist! It did not take me hours. It’s cleverly titled Mountain Tides #1.

One of the artists on the playlist is Allison Russell. Her album Outside Child is just fantastic and has been on heavy rotation for me for the past year. Here’s a good interview with her on the Ezra Klein show where she sings songs from the album, and talks about how music helps us: learn, hear beauty, process trauma, and understand each other. She shares a mantra she has been saying daily since the beginning of the Pandemic: “We are not alone, we are not what we have lost, we are more than the sum of our scars.” I love that.

RECENT READS

A huge inspiration for me has been the book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. WOW. I listened to the audio version first back in April and I just gave it a second listen this past month. It was just as good the second time around, maybe better. Gilbert’s thoughts on fear, being true to one’s self, and perfectionism are all conveyed through stories and are helpful to anyone living in this world -creative or not. I played the chapter on taking fear along for the ride on creative journeys to my 10 year old and he loved it.

The book was recommended by my pal Danielle Lazarin who has a wonderful newsletter called Talk Soon which you should also subscribe to!

Looking for something literary that is off the beaten path but deserves to show up in the pages of the New Yorker? Look no further and check out the latest issue of Viewotron Comics and Stories No.2 from Sam Sharpe & Peach S Goodrich. Sharpe and Goodrich create whimsical, funny, and unsettling stories in comic format that point a lens at just how weird and wonderful our world is at this particular moment in time. There are some nods to the classic comic genre, but make no mistake, their stories are purely original and possibly prophetic. Oh and these two can draw like no one else. Each panel is gorgeous and this book deserves multiple reads to take it all in. Get your copy here at Radiator Comics.

MAGICAL THINKING

Another constant source of inspiration has been the artist Hilma Af Klint. I first discovered her back in the late 90s in a fantastic book my then roommate Christopher owned entitled: The Spiritual in Art Abstract Painting 1890-1985. There was a chapter in the book called The Case of the Artist Hilma Af Klint. There was much mystery and intrigue around her work and I couldn’t find books or articles about her (the internet was clumsy like a toddler then.) Since then there have been major discoveries about her life and work, and the story is quite extraordinary. For a brief primer, Checkout this short documentary from The Guggenheim.

For a deeper dive, watch the full length documentary, Beyond The Visible on Kanopy (free through most major library memberships. Yay, Libraries!) Back in October I picked up a copy of her book Paintings for the Future and I look at it almost daily. There are many essays in there as well, all trying to pick away at the mystery of how she did what she did.

Paintings for the Future at The Guggenheim

Hilma reminds me that the world can be magic and mystical, if only I look for it, and that art is a portal for magic. The art world is reluctant to acknowledge her brilliance because she never showed during her lifetime. Ironic, and insulting considering at the time, no one would let her show because she was a woman. Every major visual abstract discovery she made we have attributed to male artists but she did it all first, and dare I say, better. Here’s to you, Hilma.