Learning to Ski in Summer

Deb's Gray Wool Coat   mixed media on paper   28 x 21

refers to a dormant learning period in which new ideas and new lessons have an opportunity to gradually "plant" themselves into your being....a way to process new information before putting it to use.  My ideas seems to follow this path.  My friend and fellow artist Debrah Butler has a most amazing embroidered wool winter coat.  From the first moment I saw her in it, I knew that I had to work this idea.  By the time I asked her, Spring was on its way, and the notion of wearing the coat in a pose, felt way too creepy hot.  The following winter, I shot a few very unplanned photos of her at the end of a way-too-long meeting.  We were both anxious to get moving along in the day.  Oh well.  The ideas took hold, and I simply couldn't wait to work with them.  And so....here is Deb in her wool coat...a picture completed just as the thermometer approaches 90 degrees.

The work started out in vine charcoal.  The biggest challenge I faced was the huge gray form of the coat.  My personal approach was that I needed to break up this form, in order to incorporate the background into a "oneness".  The background sold, as well as the patterns were printed onto the paper with relief ink.  I am satisfied. 

I guess we will be learning to swim this winter.

The Mile High Book Club

Mile High Book Club   oil   24 x 12 x 1.5

is the result of study in my summer drawing class, but, in actuality, has been in my brain for a long while.  My husband and I love to read...and, sometimes, more than one at a time.  As a result, books tend to accumulate...here, there, everywhere.  Our shelves can no longer accommodate the overflow.  Our books rest in stacks surrounding our seating area where we coffee-and-read each morning.  One of the first things we do when we are expecting guests is to re-position, hide and file our stacks. 

In addition, precarious stacks of things reoccur in my work...perhaps an indication and constant reminder of the chaos that needs to be sorted (both material and emotional) in order to facilitate the calm and simplicity that we both desire.

My reference photos were shot on my patio....this smaller work represents approximately 1/3 of my arranged pile.  Passes were made top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top with a particular goal each time.  Relationships became super-important as I tried to establish a bit of back-and-forth rhythm that maintained at least a posture of stability. 

While I am happy and satisfied that one of my long-held ideas was realized, I found that a composition including so many objects severely restrained my need for creativity...just too many masters that needed to be obeyed.

There.  Done. 

Linear Perspective Redux

Books and Gourd Drawing   2 point perspective with many vanishing points

Amazon Box drawing   1 point perspective

Amazon Box drawing   2 point perspective

Stack of Books Drawing   multi vanishing points

Cups Drawing   the ellipse


In our summer drawing class, we have been revisiting some of the challenges of drawing to create an illusional three-dimensional reality on a two-dimensional surface.  Redux, again and again. We can all use a refresher!  Fore-shortening creates havoc in the brain.  Sight-sizing produces lots of surprises while our six-year-old child brains still store what we see as a face-on viewpoint.  We "know" the box to be oblong.  Drawing it otherwise, as it obeys the laws of linear perspective is our goal.  Many of the problems I see in painting are actually underlying drawing errors. This week we are tackling transparency.  More to come.