More Words + One Image

Today I need to change the subject, or subjects, of the world that presses on us in these strange times. I am putting aside news of the pandemic and of politics. For a moment I need to look away from the wrongs, the injustices, the unkindnesses, the cruelties, and the violence directed towards others. Kindness, beauty, gratitude, and joy are on my radar today. And love, of course; however it shows up. 

As part of today’s practice, this morning I picked up a book that I had set aside for a bit, The Book of Delights by Ross Gay whom I came across on an episode of On Being. If you aren’t familiar with him or his writing, I encourage you to look him up; he and his writing are remarkable. The Book of Delights was begun as a daily essay about something that struck the author as delightful. He writes as though he is speaking casually with the reader over coffee or on a long walk. He might be meandering around a mundane idea or topic when a profound truth or bit of wisdom quietly slips in unannounced, as if conjured through some alchemy of the writer’s words. 

This morning I turned to Chapter 14 “ ‘ Joy is Such a Human Madness’ ”  which Gay begins with a reference to the essay “Joy” by Zadie Smith. It would only be in quoting the entire essay that I might convey the full beauty and power of the writing, but I want to pull out a small favorite bit here. Towards the end of the essay he writes:

“Among the most beautiful things I have ever heard anyone say came from my student Bethany talking about her pedagogical aspirations or ethos, how she wanted to be as a teacher, and what she wanted her classrooms to be: ‘What if we joined our wildernesses together?’ Sit with that for a minute. That the body, the life might carry a wilderness, an unexplored territory, and that yours and mine might somewhere, somehow meet. Might, even, join.

And what if the wilderness…is our sorrow…. It astonishes me sometimes – no, often – how every person I get to know – everyone, regardless of everything, by which I mean everything  – lives with some profound personal sorrow. Brother addicted. Mother murdered. Dad died in surgery. Rejected by their family. Cancer came back. Evicted. Fetus not okay. Everyone, regardless, always, of everything. Not to mention the existential sorrow we might all be afflicted with, which is that we, and what we love, will soon be annihilated.  Which sounds more dramatic than it might. Let me just say dead. Is this, sorrow… the great wilderness? Is sorrow the true wild? And if it is – and if we join them – your wild to mine – what’s that? For joining, too, is a kind of annihilation. What if we joined our sorrows, I’m saying. I’m saying: What if that is joy?” 

Again, I have to say that one should read Ross Gay’s essay in its entirety for full effect, for that punch-to-the-gut feeling that his words offer up. For me, this essay illuminates my understanding of the bittersweet of life and touches on thoughts of no light without the dark – thoughts that cover the distance from metaphor to the reality of the physical world. 

No light without the dark. In drawing and painting, light and dark are critical; value/relative value (think grayscale) is everything! In making recent drawings I am constantly reminded of this. Color is important but the value, the light or darkness of that color, is what makes the most difference to the drawing. It is not unusual for the most subtle value shift to make a drawing sing. I am sharing here a recent soft pastel drawing for a consideration of light and dark and the relative values of color.

New Flock

Crow #3: How Much Light Do We Need Against the Dark

 

I’m playing a bit of catch up here, posting recent drawings that haven’t yet been out in the world. After a break working in other media, I got back to soft pastels last spring and decided to begin by returning to drawings based on birds and their coloration. As I have written before, I begin the drawing using colors based on a particular bird and also keeping in mind other characteristics of that bird that might be helpful. But the demands of the drawing take priority, and the finished work may not be such an obvious reference to the bird that inspired it. For this new batch I decided, with some initial hesitation, to work with the crow. If you check out crows carefully, you will see that everything about them is black: feathers, beak, eyes, feet. The color comes in with the purple/blue gloss on those shiny black feathers. While this was a bigger interpretive challenge than my other choices, I was curious about what might happen. Black is not a color I use often or much of, but with the first drawing I was immediately hooked on the blacks in my box, the variations, and how I might create subtle shifts and relationships by adding in other darks and, in some instances, even soft graphite. There were six crow drawings that arrived all together in that flock (perhaps more to come). And they led in their own way to the next series that I will begin to post soon.

 

While I was working on these, I picked up my copy of Sean Scully: Resistance and Persistence, Selected Writings, as Scully has been a big influence on these pastels. His thoughts (page 36) on color and darkness resonated with me, so I want to share this bit here:

 

Thinking about the colour in my work, and its darkness…I often think about how the light in my work – the light produced by this colour, which is so emphatically attached to its own body weight, it own gravity – has a tendency to fall back into the painting. The painting has to be opened up.

             The colour, of course, could be opened up. Red could be bright red. Yellow could be the colour of flowers. And green could be leaf green. This would make the painting more immediate, more obviously communicative, more readily available…and less burdened by the issue of interior content.

            My painting, however, is a compression: a compression of form, edge, weight. And colour participates in this density. The painting is immediate since it is painted aggressively, by hand; yet it is difficult because it is compressed. The light in the painting has to be opened up, pulled out.

             And it is exactly this difficulty that gives the work its interior life. It is an incarnation, not an explanation.

 

The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. is showing Sean Scully: Landline until February 3. Hopefully the doors to the museum will be unlocked in time to see this powerful work before then! But, that’s another subject…

 

To wrap this post up, I want to share a more poetic name for a flock of crows that I learned this morning; it can be called a ‘murder of crows.’  Who has heard that before?!

 

Farewell to this Messenger

The poet Mary Oliver left this life this week, and her poems are cropping up all over social media. The day she passed, I picked up the collection Thirst and read this poem, the first in the volume.  Although I have already posted it elsewhere, it bears reading again.

 

 

MESSENGER

 

My work is loving the world.

Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird –

equal seekers of sweetness.

Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.

Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

 

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?

Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me

keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work,

 

which is mostly standing still and learning to be

astonished.

The phoebe, the delphinium.

The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.

Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

 

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart

and these body-clothes,

a mouth with which to give shouts of joy

to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam

telling them all, over and over, how it is

that we live forever.

 

 

Finding this particular poem was such a gift at that moment and reading it that evening seemed a fitting way to mark the day and send the poet on her way to the next thing…while she still lives on with those of us bound to this earth as we read and share, and are moved and inspired by her words and her life.

 

 

For the Birds

 

Cardinal

 

Jay

 

 

It has been too long since I posted new work here, so it is time to catch up with what has been going on in the studio. A while back I gave in to the seduction of the beautiful Schmincke soft pastels and made a series of abstract drawings influenced by several favorite artists (including Richard Diebenkorn, Sean Scully, and Christopher Wilmarth) and coming out of earlier work of my own, both two and three dimensional. Earlier this year, something about the soft pastels called me back to work on an earlier unsuccessful drawing and then to pick up a tiny (3” x 3”) prepared paper. For some now forgotten reason, that small square led me to think of songbirds and the goldfinch in particular. So began a series of small drawings (ranging between 3 and 8 inches square) most of which are based on a particular bird. Ultimately the drawing took precedence over any strict reference to the birds, and some went off on a completely different direction departing from any notion of birds at all. Some of the drawings incorporate some characteristic of a particular bird other than its coloration. To spot this, the viewer will have to spend more time than a quick glance and draw from his/her own birding experience. I’ll be posting images here every day or so, and hope you will come back to check them out! And, with luck, a few readers will be moved to have a closer look at the birds populating their environment.

Spring Plein Air Classes

MANAKINTOWNE WORKSHOP AT HUGUENOT SPRINGS

Saturday, May 13, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM 
$115

Enjoy a day in the country working en plein air at historic Huguenot Springs in Powhatan, the sister property of Manakintowne Farm. The site offers beautiful old shade trees and a mature garden filled with peonies and irises. This year in addition to our oil pastel workshop, we are happy to have visiting artist Rudi Winebrenner (a.k.a. Maruta Racenis) joining us for a watercolor workshop. Our day includes a break for Jo’s gourmet farm lunch and leisurely conversation. Workshop descriptions follow; please choose either oil pastel or watercolor at sign up. Experienced students may work in other media (such as oils, acrylic, or soft pastel) as well.

Oil Pastel: Some previous drawing experience is helpful, but experience with oil pastel is not required. All drawing supplies are provided (included in tuition), making this a good opportunity to try out a new medium. Those continuing with oil pastel are welcome to bring their own supplies. For those just beginning in oil pastel, the day begins with a short introduction and demo while continuing students can pick a site and begin working. Individual instruction will be given to all throughout the day.

Watercolor: Open to experienced watercolor students only. Work with watercolor free and loose to capture the beauty of Jo’s spring garden under the guidance of our visiting artist, Rudi Winebrenner. Rudi has taught at the VMFA Studio School, and you probably know her as the former owner of Main Art, our favorite (and sorely missed!) local source for art supplies. You can have a look at her work here: www.marutaracenis.com.

Tuition for the day is $115. At sign-up, please specify which medium you want to work with. Please sign up early as space is limited. More information will be sent upon registration.

For sign up or questions contact me here.

 

MAY MORNINGS PLEIN AIR DRAWING CLASS

Thursdays, May 4, 11, 18, and 25; 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM;  $120

 

I will be offering this plein air class again this year on four Thursday mornings in May. Bring your oil pastels and paint sticks (or the medium of your choice) down to Pony Pasture Park at the James River for the first class.  For subsequent classes we will visit other sites including Maymont and Virginia House, according to class preference. Please sign up with me soon, no later than April 30.  Contact me here for sign up or more information and questions. If you are new to working outside, I am happy to answer any questions you might have regarding supplies you will need. More information will be sent upon registration. Enjoy a quiet morning at the River. Sign up with a friend! 

 

Rewind and Recharge

    

    

 

Tomorrow I will have these and other 3-dimensional mixed media and assemblage pieces out on view for a couple of artist friends who are interested to see them. The timing is good, because I need to spend some time with them too. I am looking forward to the next new thing in the studio, and I think there are clues for me here in these pieces. At the moment I am interested in working two dimensionally with mixed media and perhaps adding in some monotype and other printmaking to that. Another springboard might be the most recent mixed monotype/drawing pieces that I only began to explore in a short summer class. Here are a few of those.

 

For a stretch of time my studio work was focussed primarily on a couple of large landscape commissions, so I am happy to have some space and time to experiment, explore, and research the next thing. Revisiting past work can be a good way to recharge as I move forward.

Double

 

It has been a while since I posted any new work here. I’ve been busy working on a couple of large landscape paintings for a friend (stay tuned for those), but there are a few small pieces that have  happened along the way. This one is a small (6″ x  11″) oil pastel that began as a demo for one of my classes to show different ways that oil painting medium can be used with oil pastels. I started with the two images on the same piece of paper in order to demonstrate two different  techniques side by side. Although I hadn’t intended to complete this demo, after the class I couldn’t resist continuing. In the end there was something I especially liked about the juxtaposition of the two  images.

This drawing will be among the offerings at the annual Artists Support ChildSavers Show which opens this Thursday, October 20, 6:00-9:00, hosted by Glave Kocen at 1620 W. Main Street and continues through October 21. Check out the link for more information including a list of participating artists. Purchase of the work at this show will help support ChildSavers, an organization that serves mental health and developmental needs of children, especially those who have experienced trauma in their lives.

 

 

This small (6″ x 8″) oil stick nest, Reverie, is another new piece that will also be at the ChildSavers show. If you stop by the show, and it isn’t on the  wall, ask the ChildSavers folks to check the back stock work. The impetus for this piece was a series of ink drawings that I worked on in preparation for a contribution to the  Artist’s Coloring Book, Volume 2 organized by Chuck Scalin (Look for a post on that soon!).

 

 

 

Pulse and Tremble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This new piece was made for an invitational group show at Linda Matney Gallery in Williamsburg, Virginia. The show, called Matter, was put together by Elizabeth Mead, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at William and Mary. The guidelines were the size (8 ½” x 11”) and a consideration of the use of color in one’s work. My friend and poet Kasey Jueds and I had hoped to work collaboratively but were unable to do so because of time and schedule constraints. In the end my piece, Second Skin/Pulse and Tremble, was a sort of collaboration with Kasey, as I used her poem “The Selkie from Shore” as a starting point. The text itself is an element of the piece, although not completely readable. As I copied the poem numerous times, the words began to murmur and hum in my mind while I worked on the piece (much as the hum of the bees in the poem!), thus weaving into and becoming part of the making. (I loved the good luck that there were bees busy coming and going in the flowers outside my studio window at the same time!) The piece is made from paper, ink, and oil stick on wooden panel. The show opens next Friday, September 19 at 5:30. Stop in if you are nearby!

Although it is not necessary to read the text of Kasey’s poem while viewing the piece, I can’t resist including her lovely poem here for your delight:

 

The Selkie from Shore

 

You will tell me what I long for is God.

But I say it is bees, their pulse and tremble

in flowers slackening toward summer’s end,

daylilies spreading rust under dusky oaks.

I say I want a garden for them,

so what is small might return

and be sufficient again. Not God, or sky

streaming light, cathedrals, a wish

I am not big enough to hold – not those

but the slightest tremor of air, and a humming

that has no need of me.

 

Kasey Jueds in Keeper

 

Monotype (What I Did On My Summer Vacation)

 

This summer I took a short course in monotype at the VMFA with artist/printmaker Chris Palmer. It was only four classes – an appetizer, a teaser – just enough time to distract me from the work in my studio and make me want to be in the print studio with the press all of the time. If you are unfamiliar with the term, monotype is a printmaking technique that produces a unique print when an inked or painted plate of some sort is printed onto paper using a printing press. That is an extremely limited definition; in truth, the techniques and possibilities for monotype are many, if not infinite. The scientist in me just can’t resist experimenting with different materials, techniques, and ideas. Consequently, I never really got around to doing what I had imagined I might. I was intrigued by the possibility of using newsprint as a plate that I could work on at home using water-soluble wax crayons and then printing with the press on paper that had been soaked in a water bath. The images above are two samples of my experiments; the second print is still in progress. There will be more, and I can’t wait to get back to it!!

POETRY ON THE ROAD

CAVE LIGHT: A CONVERSATION ABOUT CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION

Next week my friend Kasey Jueds is coming to Richmond! In an earlier post I wrote about Kasey’s new book of poetry, Keeper. Kasey very kindly chose one of my drawings, called Cavelight, for the cover. The book launched in Philadelphia in November and now folks in Richmond and Williamsburg have a chance to hear Kasey read some selections from her book. In addition to the readings, Kasey and I will talk a bit about creativity and our collaboration on another project (see previous post), and I will show a few of my images. Details for the two events (which we are calling Cave Light: A Conversation about Creativity and Collaboration) are listed below.

To learn more about the Pitt Poetry Series and read one of Kasey’s poems, have a look at the NYTimes ArtsBeat blog: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/poetry-profiles-university-of-pittsburgh-press/?_r=2.

And to hear Garrison Keillor read a selection from Keeper on The Writer’s Almanac, click here: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2013/12/29.

Of course, if you have any questions, please contact me!

Cave Light: A Conversation about Creativity and Collaboration

Wednesday, February 5, 5:00 PM, 101 Andrews Hall, William and Mary, 601 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg, VA (enter through Phi Beta Kappa Building located next to the Muscarelle Museum of Art).

Book signing and reception following.

Thursday, February 6, 7:00-9:00 PM, The Dominion Room, The Visual Arts Center of Richmond, 1812 W. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23220.

Book signing following.

Copies of Keeper will be made available at this event by Fountain Bookstore (1312 E. Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 804-788-1594).