Les Pieds

Les Pieds     pastel/mixed   28 x 21

is a work completed as a result of our Tuesday evening sessions of live modeling featuring the young ballet dancers of Ballet Excel Ohio.  I use these sessions as experimentation....as a springboard to hatch new ideas...new forms of visual expression.  The model typically performs a series of limited-time poses before settling into a pose for the rest of the evening.  I used two of these quick poses along with the longer one on one sheet of paper using pastel.

At home, I worked on these three drawings to attempt to create a unified whole...washes of water were added to create softer edges where needed.  Then, using a combination of linoleum blocks, one uncut and one a pre-cut design, to print on top using relief ink.  I used cut pieces of tracing paper on top of the shapes I wished to retain in order to block the printing.  The final pass was spent in trying to merge both the drawing and the printing processes...searching for a bit of balance.

By enunciating the feet and diminishing the facial features, the attention was shifted to the feet.  (hopefully).  I am satisfied.  In fact, I am pleased.

Seedless...mixing it up

Seedless   Watercolor/Mixed on paper   7 x 10

is my response to our first project in watercolor class.  That first week presents time limitations due to our discussions of materials and goals, so I usually bring some sort of subject along (usually some kind of produce) which gets our brushes wet, our minds realigned and our preferences stated.  One of our quests is self-definition which allows us to think about just which design principles provide us with a thrill.  Each artist is thrilled in his or her own way.  By prioritizing those principles a bit, we are more clearly able to focus on the kind of work we choose to do, the language we wish to speak, the ways in which our paintings become our own.  A unique translation, so to speak.  My own thrills involve a bit of "messing up" and some layering that allows for both transparency and opacity to work their magic.   After painting quite a while, making some of the individual grapes both solid and well-defined, I turned to printers ink which was rolled onto a plate and pressed onto the background.  Ah, yes.  It's me.