Old Friends

Yesterday we were in Montreal picking up supplies and of course I needed paper so a trip to Au Papier Japonaise [link here] was on the agenda. It's always a treat to see Stan and Lorraine and I love the fact that I have been going to their store for  20+ years. They are  so knowledgable and each time I learn. Stan and I were reminiscing about a previous love affair of mine with one of their beautiful papers called gampi, a hand made paper, tissue thin but so strong, with a pearl like sheen to it. I used it extensively for a series of body castings I was doing about how our bodies tell stories, about taking off our armour and feeling vulnerable, and because I didn't remove the paper from the edge of the moulds they also suggested the light that surrounds us. These photos are scans from slides and I really should redo them…sometime.

The Heart of the Matter, 23.5 in H x 33 in W x 11 in D, gampi tissue, 1993

Surrender, 77 in H x 28.5 in W x 10.25 in D,  gampi tissue, 1993

Details

I now have a roll of Kozuke Ivory, a Japanese paper [thanks Stan and Lorraine] and have had the best time playing. I wonder why artists never seen to talk much about the sheer pleasure of making things, of putting ink on paper. Ink meets paper is a sight to behold. It's like "Hello Big Boy"; there is such attraction and energy between them. The paper buckles in pleasure and I am in love with the marks; some looked scratched or etched, some strong and deep. I find myself making lines, that's all I want to do, line after line after line; stacks of lines, flourishes of line, fat lines, skinny lines, galaxies of lines.

detail, brush strokes

detail of more brush strokes

detail of more even brush strokes

Out of Paper

This is the last of my paper until my order arrives and I am in withdrawal. But the studio is clean, well cleaner. I'm not liking this enforced withdrawal and have huge amounts of fear that I will not have anything to say when the paper arrives. Well maybe, hello….

Studio wall, March 3, 204

Wavy lines, 72 in x 80 in, ink on Japanese paper, 2014

In The Studio

Here is a shot of the big working wall in the studio, I need more wall space so time to roll these away. And below are a couple of composites or collages of some of the work.

studio wall with drawings, each 72 in x 40 in,  2014

fairly straight squared, 2014

fairly straight, squared with fringe, 2014