Drawing the things I have no words for...

Cat's Cradle, 9/16/2010, pencil drawing in sketchbook, 7 x 9 inches

I've been drawing a lot more than painting lately, it's just the mood I've been in... I have some work in progress painting wise, but nothing I'm ready to share at the moment...but I've been drawing in my sketchbook...the drawings there will probably stay in there, I tend to abuse the paper quite a bit with the pencil point so they'll never lay flat, at times, I've regretted separating drawings from their sketchbooks because they become disconnected from the history that collected them, a thought process or whatever was inspiring them to come into being... my little graphite meanderings over the paper surface are not necessarily my best work, their purpose it mostly to work out the things inside that I have no words for... tho' I do name them later in an attempt to pinpoint a time, so I can look at them later and say, "Yes, I do remember that time..."

Set in Motion, 5/13/2010, pencil drawing in sketchbook, 9 x 7 inches

Springtime sketch, 5/16/2010, pencil drawing in sketchbook, 9 x 7 inches

September Nights, 9/2/2010, pencil drawing in sketchbook, 9 x 7 inches

The difference between ghosts and dogs, 5/29/2010, pencil drawing in sketchbook, 9 x 7inches

A work in progress as of 9/18/2010, same sketchbook

 

 

 

This latest drawing I started on Thursday night at The Gallery, just rolling around a fat chunk of very black graphite and then following the path of what I've left behind, filling in, expanding on...when I finish this one, I promise to post the end...

We will be officially naming our gallery soon...lots to do before then...we're going to have a reception on this Thursday night to celebrate Ken's 55th birthday, cake and goodies, and of course, the art! Some new work will be unveiled too...

From my sketchbook...

This is a work in progress in my sketchbook...I'm really loving the textures that I made in the beginning just rolling the side of the pencil around (it's a woodless pencil, I love those!)

This one I signed and have since changed my mind which way is up... I like this way better...so my signature is upside-down at the top...oops. (It's not the first time.)

Usually, I tape all four edges, but the top edge got away (DOH!) Well, I thought I had taped all four edges, come to find out, I didn't...I had two pieces of tape on the bottom! Note to self...ALWAYS put on your glasses when taping the edges of the paper!

For heavens sake...I've just been in such a tizzy these last few weeks, the drawings have been a soothing activity while I've been going through the process of publishing my second novel...which, just in case you haven't visited my other blog "Upstate Girl", it is officially published as of May 21st! What a relief...yet, I have noticed that I've dropped into a bit of a funk since I 'finished' the editing/proofreading phase of the thing...and once I held it in my hands for the first time, I turned all bittersweet (not quite weepy, just hmmm...a little sad). Well, I got to work in the garden these last few days, and while I turned up the soil and planted seeds, I re-set my brain, today was a better day and I am getting back into the groove of "doing". Maybe I won't forget to wear my glasses when taping paper edges or signing my pictures at the top when I thought it was the bottom...


Here are the two peas from a pod...but as different as night n' day... I love them both!

Working on things...

Is it done? Maybe, maybe not... I still see things I could do to it... but here it is the latest from my table... I worked outside on the portable studio table, it feels like summer on the second day of May... such an odd weekend with this early heat, but a lovely day all the same...

I don't know if you remember this... I posted the start of this drawing ages ago, and just finished it a few days ago, I love making these little guys, my pencil wanders and I go with it... I love the crisp lines I can get and the delicate grays, the velvety blacks... they're little giants... big things on small pages. I love getting lost in them while making them... when they're done, I just know it.


(We got our picture in yesterdays Post Standard, that's me with the straw hat on the far right, with my Fred standing by me, we're talking with a friend of ours.) Friday night we attended the closing of the Delavan Art Gallery, it was a bittersweet event, one that was sad to see the end of a good thing, but there is hope for the future as the space undergoes a transformation and a new space will emerge... a transition... we mustn't lose heart... change is good. We'll see what happens... my Fred and I have some ideas of our own, connections that we've made over the years... we'll see what happens. It's all an investment. I'll keep making art... keep going forward.

What have I been doing...

This is a little monotype from my sketchbook...I have a roll of BFK Rives on order so I'll have a supply of the good stuff soon (maybe by next weekend!)

I've been doing lots of things, and this and that, gardening, writing, making art...I've been off from work since Thursday, so I've gotten to the point where I don't know what day it is...but I guess it's Monday, and it feels like Sunday...so I'm late posting...but I've been busy making lots of art...so I thought I'd poke out a few...some of the pictures didn't turn out so well, so...another time...

This tall skinny piece has evolved over an extended period of time...I bought the canvas last summer, and had all kinds of ideas for it, but none of them "worked out"...so I painted over it all and started over...this is what I have so far...
I've been wanting to work on a "White Series", well, this looks mighty blue/green, but that's just part of the illusion that I'm working on...I want the color to show through below the white wash...I sat on the porch yesterday working it out...I'm more satisfied with this than I have been with the others...it's acrylic with some pencil...some monotype and stencil...I'm just having some fun...

The latest...

I'm mostly fooling around with acrylic monotype, the little one on canvas (Wishes from the Lake, May 10, 2009, 6 x 6), and a few on paper in my sketchbooks have been fun and very satisfying. I really love that green that I made...it just reminds me so much of Lake Ontario...

I really need to invest in some good Fabriano or Rives to really make something nice, for now, I'm splashing and working out what I want to do...
I'm really loving this baby blue with naples yellow combination...


And this is Lavender Wishes...

My nifty birthday easel...(yes, I've gotten it "dirty" since the photo was taken!)

From my sketchbook

My love for the color blue...again...Winter's Night, March 2, 2009 (not too many of them left this season!) Mixed media, an acrylic undercoat with lots of heavy brush strokes, Cretacolor color pencil, watercolor, and pencil...a splash here, a splash there...a bit of fooling about making textures...it's just a little bit of a thing, about 7 x 3 or so...I like the long narrow shapes...