Grasses V, mixed media on art board
This continuation of my texture meditations started with embossing & black conte crayon, then graphite pencil. It was very dull, but I did not want high contrast black & white, so I added a little color.
I used colored pencil (including metallics), pan pastel, and for the extra touch you cannot really see in this image a three colored silk threads…
This tangled twig drawing on paper evokes a nest of snakes … and it is getting more interesting. At first it was soft, delicate and irritatingly bland…
Tangled Twigs VI, maybe finished
I worked on it but my efforts to add & improve were failing, so I set it aside. Returning to it now, I am bolder with changes. The large ghost leaf/nest is a new major addition, and it has more contrast, and more but less vivid color.
Curly Twig Tangle VI, early draft
I don’t love it, and wish I had chosen different colors, but it does work better. The lower image is a scan of an early draft before the recent work.
Unfortunately the muted purple Prismacolor pencil I used is one that bleeds vivid magenta with spray fixative! It took a lot of work to mute that ghastly effect. I need to test my colors for this problem: it seems several purple shades do this, and there may be a few other colors that separate and bleed!
Thinking about work for a show, and I find all of these works were completed Aug 2012 – Jan 2013. So I seem to be fairly productive in my new studio!
Finished work completed in the past six months!
The images are not to scale: sizes vary from one 9″x12″, several in between size, and the largest is 24″x18″.
This is not everything. I completed a few smaller drawings, my 2013 Sketchbook for Arthouse Coop, an altered book, and even a relief print I rather like.
I may have some the above work on exhibit at 1012 Coffee Bar in July.
Altered Book: Game of Stones
I completed this project last month: an altered book that I like!
I took an altered book workshop some time ago, and made a few attempts at that time, but did not like the results. I gave up on books for a few years, but books are big part of my life. I read all the time, and I used to think my dream house would certainly include a library! It would have books floor to ceiling with a rolling library ladder, and maybe even sliding panels of bookcases to provide additional shelf space.
But reality is different. My first dream house had some office space for our home business and a very nice guest room, which soon became my art room. I get rid of most books after reading them in order to have space for art. My (second) dream house features a separate spacious art studio for me, and a smaller art/office space for my husband with only a small multi-purpose guest space.We still have bookcases with reference books & books to be replaced after reading, and no library! Priorities have changed.
Game of Stones: No Rules
I still want that rolling library ladder, but now I want it for access to the two storage lofts in my art studio!
I wish I still had this chair that painted while spending the winter in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. But I left it there… along with a few other items. It was fun taking art classes (sculpture at Instituto Allende, and painting a Escuala Bellas Artes). Both schools host workshops designed for english speaking visitors.
I painted this chair in Mexico, 2005
Maneki-Neko
I made this concrete Maneki-Neko (mostly) in my first art class/workshop in many years, a few years after moving to Port Townsend in 1998. I think the finish painting happened at home after the class.The photo was taken in the back yard of my first home in Port Townsend, but that is a neighbor’s house in the background.
I was inspired by a Seattle Art Museum exhibit poster showing a lovely old Maneki-Neko statue. I am less fond of the ubiquitous commercially made figurines that most of us associate with the term. My Maneki-Neko has aged gracefully, and sits near my studio.
The maneki-neko (Japanese: literally ‘beckoning cat’) is a common Japanese figurine, usually made of ceramic in modern times, which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat (traditionally a calico Japanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—many times at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses. Some of the sculptures are electric or battery-powered and have a slow-moving paw beckoning. The maneki-neko is sometimes also called the welcoming cat, lucky cat, money cat, happy cat, or fortune cat in English.
