Two Meditations

These are the two most recent drawings in the group of Meditations. Both are 4″ square and begun on a liquid graphite ground (see previous post for more on the ground).

Catch Up

Playing catch up here. Time flies (I’m sure I have written that before), and I haven’t kept up with posting the small (4″ x 4″) Meditations that I continue to make. With many of these I begin with a colored ground (either gesso or acrylic paint) and more recently I have been using a liquid graphite ground. This provides an interesting starting point (once the ground has dried), as it works into the Caran d’Ache wax crayons that are layered on top and also shows through in the texture of the paper. The graphite offers something to work with and against, often yielding surprises along the way. Here are a few from the backlog. And I’ll post a couple of newer images soon.

More Meditations

It has been a while since I have posted any of these small meditations, so I’ll do a bit of catching up. All are 4″ x 4″, mixed media, predominantly Caran d’Ache wax crayon. Stay tuned for more soon.

Meditations

In these trying times when so much about our world is unsure and makes no sense, I have decided that one of the few things that does make sense is continuing to work in the studio. I have begun working on some very small drawings – all 4″ x 4″ – that are related to the soft pastels, but I am using wax oil crayons, water-soluble wax oil crayons, and some graphite. They are small experiments, but even more, they are meditations that are helping to keep me grounded in strange times. Here are a few:

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Openings and Leftovers

  

Yesterday was a very long day hanging 55 paintings, drawings, and photographs at the Richmond Public Library Main Branch in preparation for tonight’s opening of the group show HERALD1. This is one of the more challenging venues for hang artwork because of the space and the hanging restrictions. Hanging with monofilament is never fun but especially not with high ceilings and moulding hooks. The work is up, labels attached, trash and ladders cleaned out, and the show looks GREAT!!!!! Come and check it out at tonight’s opening 6:30 – 9:00 PM Richmond Public Library Main Branch. The show runs through the end of October.

                                                                                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was lucky to be able to hang most of my new pieces (and grateful to my fellow artists for allowing me a big chunk of space!). But there were four framed drawings that aren’t in the show, so I am posting them here.  Anyone who might want a closer look is more than welcome to come by the studio to see them and a few more that aren’t framed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspiration

The new drawings for the HERALD1 show opening next week at the Richmond Public Library are a departure from my previous work both in terms of medium (soft pastel) and image (non-representational abstraction). But the ideas and related work go back as far as my art student days and have collected through the years. The origins of the new work are varied and include: a student monotype series, an unrealized photography project, a group of paintings concerned with constructs of perspective in two-dimensional representation, a collaborative project of mixed-media pieces traded back and forth with a friend, and my more recent collages and three-dimensional work. The drawings became a point of intersection for these varied ideas and images.

These drawings are also influenced by several artists whose work I have appreciated over the years including: Sean Scully (his soft pastels are as lush as his large oils), Richard Diebenkorn (color! layers! veils!), Christopher Wilmarth (his minimal glass and steel sculptures are full of mystery and feeling), and Paul Rotterdam (his powerful drawing series Stations of the Cross was exhibited at the Anderson Gallery when I was studying painting at VCU and the images have stayed with me ever since).

Please join us on Friday, September 6 at the Richmond Public Library Main Branch, 6:30-9:00 for the opening of HERALD1. The show remains on exhibit through October 29.