Birds Continued

Cedar Waxwing

 

Chickadee

 

These are two more of the soft pastel drawings based on birds. Both of these are 4 1/2 inches square. Stay tuned for more work to be posted soon@

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Tiny

 

It is time again for tiny art!!! The artspace biennial, ThinkSmall 9, is opening this Thursday, October 26 (preview gala) and Friday, October 27, 7:00-10:00 both evenings. I have been working on some small oil paintings on panel and paper, and the one pictured, Morning, is in the show. It is oil on paper and the image measures 3″ x 3″. There will be lots of work in the show, all available for purchase. This is a fund-raiser for the gallery and your purchase will help support gallery and artists alike. Drop by at zero East 4th Street in Richmond’s Manchester district for a feast for eye and soul. The show runs to December 17 and all are welcome!!! More information at the link above.

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!).

 

 

 

Old Glove

Recently I had cause to return to an old and familiar subject: the nest. I hadn’t made any drawings in this series for about four years, but thought I would take time to make a couple in a mid-size (22” x 22” or so), a size I haven’t used since the very beginning of this series. As I began to work on these, the process was immediately like finding an old, favorite glove and slipping it on; it was familiar and comforting (but NOT comfortable!). I quickly remembered how this would go: first the excitement of beginning – of laying in a graphite sketch and seeing it melt when the paint stick went over it; then the delight of watching the form of the nest appear in color over the English red gesso on the paper (like watching a photo come up in the developer); then the moment when the process shifts from allowing the drawing to have full rein over to needing to impose some control over what is happening on the paper; and finally that difficult place of balancing control and release (to the drawing) in order to bring the piece to its completion. This last step involves being open to see the energy and beauty in the imperfections that I am dying to adjust.

This process really applies to all the work, but it is most predictable to me with the nest drawings. And, honestly, the nest drawings and the process of making them have always afforded a metaphor and mirror for life for me. I always learn something from making them, even if just to be reminded of something I already know.

Experiment

In printmaking, monotype is a wonderful way to experiment with materials and open the door to chance and surprise in the process. If you aren’t familiar with monotype, it basically involves making/painting an image on a plate (plexiglass, metal, even paper) and transferring that image to the printing paper by running the two together through the printing press. Unlike other forms of printmaking where multiple images can be pulled from the same plate, monotype results in a unique image with the sometime possibility of a paler ghost print from a second pull. In truth the possibilities for techniques in making monotypes are endless, and I couldn’t even begin to describe them here.

Last summer I took a short four session class just to have an opportunity to play a bit. I suppose it should have been no surprise when my printing did not go at all in the direction I had imagined. Under the guidance of the excellent artist and teacher Chris Palmer at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School, I experimented with something I hadn’t tried before: using newsprint as the  printmaking plate. Caran d’Ache water soluble wax crayons can be used to draw on a surface and when run through the press with wet printing paper, the image transfers. I had tried this in the past using a plexiglass plate and was very disappointed in the result. But I had never tried drawing and layering the Caran d’Ache on paper. This allows the layers of wax crayon to be built up in much thicker layers than are possible on the plexiglass plate, and it also transfers the drawn strokes and marks which have a very different appearance than painted ones. There are, of course, still surprises in the printing, and that’s the beauty of the monotype process. My interest at the moment is to use the monotype as the base of mixed media images, adding in drawing, collage, trace monotype, etc., and this class allowed me to begin to experiment with that.

If you want to see some of the results, Hill Gallery is having an opening of the show CHRIS PALMER: TWENTY celebrating 20 years of Chris’ instruction at the VMFA with work from his students this Friday night, January 23, 5:00-8:00 PM. Stop in if you can!

Friday is a busy night. VisArts will be opening the annual [work] show featuring work by faculty, staff, and board members. Drop by 6:00-8:00!

Unframed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few of drawers of unframed pieces in the flat file and these are some of the landscapes. Most of these pieces are a little older, many are mounted and ready to frame. There are bargains to be found in these drawers. And here is a newer piece that is tucked away for safe keeping, a broadside with one of Kasey Jued’s beautiful poems. Read more about this one here. Only a few days left for studio visits. Stop in today or call to set up a time!

Return

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This mixed media piece, Second Skin/Pulse and Tremble, just returned from a show Williamsburg, and now you can see it in the studio. There is more information about the piece in this earlier blog.

And here are more clay whistles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The studio is open for visits today (Tuesday) and Thursday 11-6:00, so stop in to see what is up!