‘ “ONE-OFF”, meaning “something unique” is a British expression that has been creeping into American speech and writing in recent years. …

Though some Americans might still find one-off annoyingly British-sounding, there’s no need to fear it as a solecism. It’s a well-manufactured word, even if it feels a little off-kilter.’

 –Ben Zimmer

 

I am a bit of a One-off myself.  And so are you, of course!

In my studio, the focus is on one thing at a time.  A time can be a few minutes,
an hour, a day, or four months, or even two years!  But full focus for a time, and then,
often, a spell of waiting while the work stands where I see it in passing and collect
information that allows me to approach it again.

There may be ten pieces of work standing around the studio waiting for the next period of
focus.   But there is never the idea that there will be a series of reproductions.

My originals may undergo transformations within my studio camera, and within my computer.  But the original work remains.  Sometimes I use computer research of my
paintings and carvings as an artwork of a different kind.  These may, because they are
images made of pixels in a technical visual format, be printed out, or simply shown
on a screen.  They are originals,  but they can be “had” only by printouts.  Note cards
I sell as printed reproductions are marketed as a side-line called The Spinoffery.

Any work done with fingerprints on it, brush strokes, studio dust, or maybe an eyelash
here and there will be the only version you will be able to buy and have.  There are no posters or prints that I have available for sale.  If you see a framed print of an original
of mine, it will be unauthorized.  One of a kind is what I do.  One-offs.

 

Susan