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.

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.

Come. Sit.

Come. Sit.    Mixed media on toned paper   20.5 x 15

I love chairs.  Especially those that beckon.  Each has a personality.  And each bears the weight of those who have sat before.  This large drawing was accomplished by means of several mediums.  The white conte accomplished most of the wicker, with the toned paper standing in for shadow areas and with the added benefit of giving the impression of wicker without the over-abundance of stroke-making which, in my opinion, lessens the power of the work.  A template made of tracing paper was used to isolate the pillow area where relief ink was used.  It was nice.

Too nice.  Why am I so attracted to chairs?  I guess it is because I rarely sit down.  On the day that I was working on this drawing, I kept notes of my own stream of consciousness....of all of the things on my "to do" list, all of them keeping me from sitting, from relaxing.  A soft graphite stick was used for the calligraphy....done quickly, unevenly, as if I had no time for the task.  T'is true. 

"Come. Sit." was made more personal by this addition, more meaningful.  More me. 

Annie

Annie   watercolor/relief ink   9.75 x 9.25

is an enthusiastic volunteer at "our" art center who posed for our watercolor class a few weeks back.  It was a two-week pose, the first week relegated to drawing and familiarizing; the second to the actual painting.  My "spot" was way off to the side where I saw only the shadow side of Annie's face.  I decided to use only monochromatic cool washes for the rendering, partially because that told the story of her pose relative to my easel, and also to oppose her colorful floral scarf with the simplicity of the face. In the end, I decided to cut a template and print the background area with relief ink, again to oppose:  the light airy watercolor strokes with an opaque and solid rest area.  This is certainly unlike anything I have previously done....and, I can honestly say, I like it...this was the story that presented itself to me.

Thanks, Annie!

Farmer Brown

Farmer Brown   mixed on paper   26.75 x 12

was an experimental work....then aren't they all?  The reference was an old family photo.  I have always been taking with white shirts and, in this case, on watercolor paper, the shirt, with very little description, is the cherished white of the paper.  I have been so very interested of late in simple shapes, so that the pants, shoes and hat are flatly rendered.  Details, which  support the three-dimensional aspect, have been used sparingly in order to achieve a greater simplicity.  The ground was achieved by printing with relief ink onto the surface and scraped upwards while still tacky.  Mediums used:  pastel, conte, watercolor and relief ink.  It took all of that to achieve the feel that I was after. 

Road Trip - Sheep (on green ground)

Sheep (on green ground)   charcoal, watercolor and relief ink on paper   10.75 x 15

Road trips take one off of the beaten path and add discovery and excitement to our lives.  Every so often, I feel the need to enlighten my studio experience.  For some time, I had been craving a drawing experience, as most of my time is spent painting, a more complex experience.  Charcoal conte pencils were used to render the sheep on a sheet of unknown paper (when will I learn to be a better labeler?).  Watercolor was added here and there, as was a sprinkling of powdered charcoal and some blasts of water spray from a bottle.  No method to my madness at all.  Just a trusting of design elements and my hard-won experience of failure and success at creating images that hold my interest and express my personal sense of visual aesthetic.  Relief ink was printed on top...that being the most unreliable of the processes.  Water, pressure and placement are all unreliable variables.  I am thrilled by the layering of pigments and yet, at the same time, am striving for simpler shapes...a combining, of sorts, of traditional realism with a more modern simplicity, where details are highly edited and discarded.

I am pleased.  Road trip....yeah!