Just published! The May issue of the Imagine with Art Newsletter. Get your copy here.
23
May
12
I am tough.
powdered graphite, acrylic inks, collage on w/c paper, 10 X 11″
i am tough
i can handle this
confused cocktail
of wild creatures
insanity on a timer
click clock, tick tock
what is the absolute
you can always count on?
click clock, tick tock
wish upon a star
and there you are
sweet bananas and
a friend to enjoy them with
back in the tumbler
what emerges next?
brilliant!
an absolute rock of ages
More powdered graphite play here, along with some word play. Cut some words out of magazine ads. . .just because. . .tumble them up and insert them into the picture for no reason you could honestly defend at the moment. . .when you’re done, string the words with others and see what comes of it! Meaning? Absurdity? no more than every day life. . .
So do I really think I’m tough? Well, tough enough to still be here!
22
May
12
Parallel We Walk
powdered graphite, ink, collage on w/c paper
parallel we walk in tandem universes
with interacting corners
that rub and chafe
and if we’re lucky
whole arias unfurl
go air born and drift
across oceans
dip down on continents
taste foreign soil
add more verses
our parallel worlds
get shaken and mixed
our lines find new partners
our colors new complements
our hearts new homes
As I was finishing this piece, started as a demo on Sunday, I realized it was yet another solar eclipse painting. I’m still feeling the effects of coming shoulder to shoulder with the cosmos during Sunday’s eclipse, wanting to live with one foot in that parallel universe.
This is powdered graphite play. I painted the paper with matte medium and while it was wet, sprinkled on some powdered graphite. Then squirted it with water so that the graphite crystals would dissolve and move around on the surface. Some graphite stayed put, lending texture to the surface. Then, because I was surrounded by a bunch of eager and curious Muses, I droppered on some acrylic ink and added some gesso as well. Tipped the paper to get some drips and moved the wet color around with my finger a bit to cover the paper. The matte medium, applied at the beginning, served to keep the graphite from rubbing off with later applications. The collage shapes were cut from magazine ads, which I selected for color and because I liked the random text on them.
And just a reminder. . .I will be doing a Free Demonstration at Rileystreet Art Supply, San Rafael (California) this Saturday May 26, Intuitive Painting With Inks and Gesso. If you are able to join me, please contact Rileystreet San Rafael (415) 457 2787 to sign up! Space is limited.
21
May
12
Solar Eclipse Musings
6:30pm yesterday, the solar eclipse projected on my studio wall, photo by Bob Cornelis
It was the end of a week of some mighty fine art making with my 3 different Muse Groups when Mother Nature eclipsed us all with these magnificent moments of fractured light.
I had raced outside with my pin holed paper, knowing that it is dangerous to look directly at a solar eclipse, and wondering how one can “see” it. And there it was across the entire length of our house and my studio and even into the garden and onto the grasses below in the orchard - crescents of light dancing, thousands of them as the sky became darker and yet more brilliant at the same time, and all the birdsong stopped. Bob ran for the camera of course, and was rewarded for his efforts.
Some of the Muse art anticipated the eclipse event such as these two:
powdered graphite, acrylic inks and collage by Muse Isabelle
by Muse Phyllis
I’ll be sharing more about the adventures with powdered graphite in the next post!
17
May
12
A Progression
acrylic inks, gesso, image transfer on w/c paper, 10 X 11″
a procession, a progression, a passage
of pharoahs, of sun gods and goddesses
of noble men and women
carrying the wisdom and wealth of centuries
into the green wave of nature’s extravagence
not stopping to wonder
is this the right way?
acknowledging only the inevitable,
change and forward movement,
wedding past with all futures.
trudging past the dark door
noticing but not stopping
each carrying a staff
sacred symbol of immortality
a funeral procession to remind us
not to miss a single flutter
of butterfly wings
This art journaling process is all about allowing the instincts to drive the art. So one picks images for reasons that are often beyond rational explanation. And then writes about what one sees and possibly makes some connections that have personal meaning. In this case, the image of the procession of pharoahs and the dark door appeared initially to be a strange one for me, especially on a beautiful spring afternoon spent with my wonderful Tuesday Muse Group friends.
But the next day the meaning became crystal clear as I was speaking with my 93 year old mother. She stands bright in spirit yet fragile in body on the doorstep of the dark door, wondering how it will be opened to her, sharing her bewilderment and occasional glimpses of what is beyond. As her daughter I stand these days looking over her shoulder, hoping to get a glimpse of this great mystery with her.
graphite powder, matte medium on w/c paper, 10 x 11″
Nature speaks through us quite naturally when we allow it. Like this finger drawing done with nothing “in mind” on a day when I’d left my heart outside in the soil and greenery. The process was to paint matte medium on the paper, and while it was still wet, to sprinkle a tiny bit of graphite powder on. I spritsed it with water to get some grainy rivulets moving, then got my fingers into the action. About 4 minutes of play. Is it a beginning or is it finished? I could keep going with acrylic glazes, some dry media like pastels, or just enjoy the plant that has magically appeared. Is it one of the weeds I’ve been removing from my garden, or perhaps a foxglove about to start sending colorful spires aloft?
If you want to try some dry media explorations, I recommend taking a look at Robert Burridge’s new series “Impure Thoughts”. He’s another one who never stops experimenting and always so playfully that you can’t help wanting to join him.
Those of you in Saturday and Sunday Muse Groups will be doing a lesson this summer using graphite powder this way!
Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars in my studio garden.
How many caterpillars can you see here? I enjoy watching them munch and munch while the adult butterflies waft on gentle breezes. Pretty soon there will be no more heart shaped leaves, only big polka dotted creatures looking for a safe place for their next phase of chrysalid-ing. It’s a constant wonder to me that these opulent creatures take on the form of a dry brown package half their caterpillar size. So I go through my day feeling a bit distracted, wishing I could slow the season down somehow, make it last.
Wishing all of you moms a Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow!
09
May
12
Tribes
graphite powder, acrylic inks and gesso, collage on w/c paper
save me from the little tribes
the us and them tribes
that say who can’t marry who
that make you take up a gun to defend them
give me those sisters and brothers
in the bigger family
to link arms with
to cluck and strut together
to head off somewhere
not knowing precisely where
trusting that we’ll find the way
. . .together
the kind of tribe we need
with mixed up colors and open doors.
We did a brand new lesson in Tuesday Muse Group yesterday, playing with graphite powder, mixing it up with acrylics and collage. Not like stirring it into a soup, but more like making a cake with it and then icing the cake with acrylics.
Honestly, the spring garden has been so intoxicating lately that we had to start out by visiting the Pipe Vine Swallowtail caterpillars under the apple tree where they’re fattening themselves up quite nicely on the leaves. And then the students took the graphite powder and paper out to sit in the garden and translate all that dizzying activity of buds and butterflies and buzzing to the paper.
I didn’t actually do this piece outside, but got to use this image of the three farm women with hens under their arms, which I have been saving. . .I am in a mother’s group and this is exactly how it feels being with the mothers, talking about our chickens, both the fowls and the young’uns who have been heading off to college. Shoulder to shoulder we’ve shared years of kids’ school, college apps, graduations, health crises, family deaths, and so much more. . .this is the kind of tribe I can sign up for. I was thinking of all the nations’ flags with different colored stars and wanting them all on my flag.
Victoria, British Columbia
Back now from my trip to Vancouver and Victoria to visit with my son Ben. We had a great time. The cities were all about tulips and cherry blossoms, gazillions of them blooming on every street!! Not what I would call a relaxing vacation, what with cleaning and moving him out of the apartment, ferry rides and border crossings and days in the cities, but days rich with sights and new experiences, meeting his college friends and hanging out in the finest coffee shops in the world (according to my coffee expert, Ben) as well as pubs. Some hiking in those lush northern forests and eating great seafood. I visited the Art Gallery of Victoria to see Emily Carr: On the Edge of Nowhere, a British Columbian painter whose biography The Forest Lover I’d enjoyed years ago.
And had scant time for sketching. . .but here’s some airport and ferry sketches.
. . .at our little airport in Sonoma County waiting for the flight to Seattle (I drove from there to Vancouver).
iPads Rule in airports. I knew if I brought one I would never get around to sketching, so instead took advantage of the models.
Sabrina had dark glasses on and was texting on her iPhone the entire ferry ride, so I figured I was safe sketching her anonymously. I made her look at least 20 years older, not on purpose! And she caught me. It happens sometimes. So as a concession to her I let her take a picture of it, which I assume immediately got posted on Facebook or something like that, and promised to post it here. She’s really soooo much cuter. It seems when I’m doing a really quick sketch I either make people look much older or younger. I guess there’s a kind of averaging thing going on unconsciously, when what I’d really like to be doing is more caricature. Got to work on that.
22
Apr
12
Dress of the Day
acrylic, hand made stamps, ink, and collage on w/c paper
the girls hop on the line
show off-y like spring
like those orange polka dotted caterpillars
munching the pipevine
eating big holes in the leaves
til there’s nothing left
but their big juicy selves
back to the girls on the line
hanging out for the fresh air
dancing on the breeze
headless, carefree
their only personality
the dress of the day
Ah yes, carefree. How to be carefree at my age, or any age for that matter. I certainly wouldn’t sign up to trade with a teenager. . .6 year old maybe, but then I’d have to do the whole growing up thing all over again. . .no thanks. Better to cultivate a carefree state of mind.
I’m headed to Vancouver, B.C. tomorrow to visit my son Ben, who is graduating from college. Now 21 is a pretty great age. I think I’ll try it on for size, at least for a week of fun in the city and then out to the islands. He says if the rain stops for a bit we’ll go kayaking, and you can eat that wonderful fresh fish even if it’s raining, so we’re cool.
acrylic, collage on w/c paper, 10 X 11″
if i sit and watch
eyes drawn to the shapes of earth
greening, starting over
pondering the tiniest bud
if i just sit and wait
will i catch that smallest unfurling
get to keep it
as an ornament for my indoor life
where mind keeps tracking muddy footprints
on the floor of my inner house
All I want to write about these days of spring intoxication is what’s happening in the garden. This is the season when I most envy the birds, oh and the bees and the butterflies and definitely the cats. . .
But after I’d written this piece, identifying with the persona of this portrait, I realized that I’d missed an important point. I left the hair white. Aha! Funny thing, I’d just had this conversation with my husband about when I thought I’d be ready for the conversion from my youthful reddish brown hair color (courtesy now of L’Oreal) to the silvery color which lurks below. He’s already a distinquished silver haired gentleman. But I think I’ll wait a few more years. . .
The process we followed in class was this:
1. Pose in front of the Photo Booth camera on your Mac computer and use the comic strip filter. Ham it up a bit if possible (this pose is not particularly ham-y though). Size it to fit your paper and print it out. Alternately use a picture from another source, copied onto plain paper.
2. Glue it onto your painting surface or trace and transfer if you have time. Collage and paint using the print as a kind of loose guideline.
Not everyone finished, but here’s a couple students examples which inspired me with ideas for next time.
by Muse Barbara (Isn’t she maaaarvelous!)
by Muse Carol (Wowy zowy!)
