New Drawings

I thought that while all was chaos in the house with the renovation I would retreat to the studio and get amazing amounts of work done. Well it hasn't quite worked out that way, but while I waiting for paint to dry, I've started some drawings; I was missing the velvety feel of charcoal under my fingers.

Line 1, 30 x 22 in, charcoal on paper, 2016

Line 2, 30 x 22 in, charcoal on paper, 2016

Line 1 and 2, crossed, 30 x 22 in, digital on paper, 2016

Line 1 and 2, crossed 2, 30 x 22 in, digital on paper, 2016

Scaffold Drawings

Every night the scaffold makes new drawings on the kitchen walls and ceiling.

Scaffold drawing 1, 2016

Scaffold drawing, 3 2016

Scaffold drawing 2, 2016

Scaffold drawing 4, 2016

Paris / The Drawing Collective

I am happy to participate with some drawings in the first exhibition of the Drawing Collective - taking place in Paris from March 23 until March 26 2016.

This Gave Me A Chuckle

Yesterday morning in the studio: working away, really putting in time until early afternoon when J. has to go to the dentist to have an extraction and implant done; and this is what happened. Made us laugh and everything went well, smoothies for the next few days.

new tooth, pastel on paper, 2015

tooth ache, pastel on paper, 2015

More Grids

It rained the other day so finding some free time out of the garden I wanted to try out some ideas I had re drawing. One was to use a pen on vellum, [I love vellum], but have to admit to a certain distaste of how they work together; next time it's pencil on vellum. I miss that tiny amount of resistance as the pencil moves across the surface. And I thought I was drawing squares but realized these are really right angles.

640 right angles, pen on vellum, 11.7 x 16.5 in, 2014

altered,  11.7 x 16.5 in, 2014

altered 2,  11.7 x 16.5 in, 2014

A New Brush

I found this wonderful brush last week; I hate the handles on brushes and this fits right into my hand, it was exciting to try it out on some sheets of Japanese paper that I had been saving. Well actually I've forgotten which project I had in mind when I bought the paper, but it was perfect for this. Now I'm thinking of cutting all my brushes down, and buying some more of this glorious paper. Laying down the ink the paper was so alive as it buckled and warped beneath each stroke.

4in brush

dusk falls, 40 in x 72 in, 2014

fairly straight down, 72 in x 40 in, 2014

Happy Accidents

Needing a break from working in the web site I would go back and play with the boat plans my brother had sent. The lines are beautiful with long and elegant curves. This piece was unexpected as I seldom mirror my images. I'm glad I did!

Dome, 2013

Back to Charcoal

I meant to clean up the studio the other day, [always a good thing to do when I can't see my way], find a place for the pile of large drawings, clean off at least 2 work tables, ect, ect., but I got lead astray when I found some coloured mylar paper and wondered how charcoal would work on it. It's great as the tape doesn't stick or tear. And it's harder to get an even tone to the charcoal and it smudges easily which I am enjoying, leaving traces of where my hand and elbow have been. 

Unfinished drawing, still with tape on it.

 Looking at the drawing on the computer I started to play with the shapes

1st turn

And play some more.

4th A turn 

And ended up here.

4 square

An exhilarating few days and then it was time to weed.

An Ahhh Moment

There were some pastel drawings on the studio wall that I have been staring at for the past while, trying to engage in a conversation you might say. Well yesterday they spoke. And even thought I didn't have my hearing aids in, I could hear them. Thank you! This feels like the start of an interesting conversation.

2 red, top and bottom, pastel, 19 in x 19 in, 2013

A Delicate Balance

I found a wonderful new paper; it feels like sandpaper and is great for soft pastels. It's a fairly neutral gray and quite wonderful to work on. Actually the paper is just so gorgeous with out a mark on it. The only down side to the paper is that it eats the pastels, so I am trying to do a lot of planning before I put pastel to paper. Not the way I usually work but I am enjoying this more methodical approach. And because I need to use fixative, I can work on several at a time, leaving the others pinned up on the wall as they dry. And of course they speak to each other so that another and another emerges. The bottom photo is a digital composite of 2 works from the wall. I am going to need more paper.

A Delicate Balance,  24 x 18, soft pastel, 2013

Between, 2013

Time For Some Color

Working away last week I decided it was time for some color, so I dug out my soft pastels. I soon realized they aren't quite soft enough for these papers. I tried grinding them up and then applying the powder which was better....but. So the drawing stared at me all week until I started to play with it on the computer. I am loving working with these wavy lines and this drawing made me realize how I am longing for spring; for green, for young tender growth, for the smell of the earth. Soon.

Walking lines 3, 2013

Somerset Paper

Had to use some of my Somerset paper as I had run out of my Japanese paper. This paper gives more intense blacks but I am missing the ephemeral feeling I get with the Japanese paper.  The Somerset is a tough paper, ready to put up with any amount of rubbing and smudging and laying down tape and tearing up tape I can throw at it. And I used a lot of tape on this drawing. Almost a whole roll. The drawing kept escaping me. I'd get a glimpse, then loose it. See it again, loose it. Quite a dance. I think it works better when it leads and I follow, but some days I just need to lead.

Black quilt, 2013

Inarticulate

This is what's been happening in the studio in the last few days. Not what I was expecting. Trying to trust that my hands know more that I do. Wish they would write me a note.

Bound, 24 x 39in, 2013

2 stones leaning, 2013

Cleaning up my desktop after I finished this post I came across this poem I had saved of Wendell Barry. So sorry not to thank whoever posted it. Leigh?, Walt? Who ever posted thanks.

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

- Wendell Berry 

Endless Possibilities

I may say I am wanting to create work that is spare but I watch what happens in the studio and I have to laugh. Picnic Table is where I ended up yesterday afternoon after tossing all the mornings work into the garbage.

Picnic table, 24 x 39 in, charcoal, 2013

Looking at the image on the computer I saw more possibilities. By layering the image the table had become a bridge.

bridge, 2013

That suggested more possibilities. And so it became Girders.  An endless playtime.

Girders, 2013

Bare

I have been wondering how bare I can to go. How little information can I put down and still have the piece work. For it to have enough resonance, maybe enough fullness is a better way to put it. Just what is essential; and true. So I look at this and wonder. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Square, 39 x 24 in, charcoal on Japanese paper, 2013

Brackets, below, I don't feel so ambiguous about. This is an interesting dilemma. Thoughts?

Brackets, 39 x 24 in, charcoal on Japanese paper, 2013

Japanese Papers

I love the size of this paper, 24 x 39 in, a longer rectangle than usual which means you react to the shape differently. It a thin and translucent, creases easily, with a soft surface. Rubbing vine charcoal on it with my fingers meant using the gentlest of touches. And by the time I had finished the drawing [Matchbox] charcoal had seeped through the paper so I decided that I would try powered graphite on the next drawing [Floor plan]. It has a silvery, lighter look, with out the dramatic black. I like its subtlety though; rather like something left behind, forgotten or hinted at.

Floor plan, graphite, 24 x 39, 2013

Matchbox, charcoal, 39 x 23, 2013

More Lovely Messy Charcoal

envelope |ˈenvəˌlōp; ˈänvə-|noun1 a flat paper container with a sealable flap, used to enclose a letter or document.2 a covering or containing structure or layer : the external envelope of the swimming pool.• the outer metal or glass housing of a vacuum tube, electric light, etc.• the structure within a balloon or nonrigid airship containing the gas.• Microbiology a membrane forming the outer layer of certain viruses.• Electronics a curve joining the successive peaks of a modulated wave.• Mathematics a curve or surface tangent to each of a family of curves or surfaces.• Astronomy the nebulous covering of the head of a comet; coma.
ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (in the sense [wrapper, enveloping layer] ): from French enveloppe, from envelopper ‘envelop.’ The sense [covering of a letter] dates from the early 18th cent.

I have a stack of glissine envelopes that I keep close, I don't know why but they have followed me about for over 20 years. They may be on a shelf beside the computer or downstairs in the studio. They are always around and they have never said what they want to do, or be, or become, or be filled with. Silent friends; very silent friends. 

Envelope #1, charcoal, 2013

Loving Charcoal

Love how it moves across the paper leaving little bits behind. Love how it fits my hand, love how it loves being rubbed into the paper with my fingers and the whole hand. Love it's velvety quality. Love that it rubs out and I have to keep adding more layers. Love that it has a mind of it's own and we are still forming this relationship. Love the deep blacks it gives.

experiments with charcoal #3

The Black Notebook

The lines are mutating, cloudiness has set in. Keep it simple, this is about the line. Oops, falling in love with the masking tape, well it's another line.

#16, Black Notebook, 2012

#1, Black Notebook, 2012

#23, Black Notebook, 2012

#24, Black Notebook, 2012

Just Lines

My fascination with lines continues. Love how much a line can say. Love how it feels in my body when I make repetitive lines, like kneading bread; breathing with each stroke. Then the rhythm changes, becomes faster, the emphasis is on the out stroke of the pencil. And then it changes again. I am loving this dance.

The Black Quilt