I consider this new drawing to be an allegory on art making, but you, dear viewer, can interpret the piece as you wish! (One of the many wonderful things about art!). It will be a few weeks before I take this drawing to the professional photographer: in the meantime, my snapshots below are relatively close to accurate.
I'll Be Your Mirror
Graphite on Arches hot press watercolor paper, 31 x 27 inches
Here are some detail photos:
South Orange Maplewood Studio Tour It is hard to believe that it is nearly time for the Studio Tour! The 10th Annual South Orange Maplewood Studio Tour is happening from 11 AM - 5 PM on Sunday, June 2nd. The event is free and my studio will be one of many open to the public. It is a fantastic event and a fun, art-filled way to spend the day. If you are in the area, please come by, say hello and see my studio and new drawings!
Courtesy of the SOMA Studio Tour, here is a short video interview with me talking about my self-portraits and being a part of the South Orange – Maplewood arts community: More artist videos and information about the tour can be seen at the studio tour website.
INDA 7
INDA 7, Manifest Gallery’s drawing annual is now available. I just received my copy in the mail and it is a beautiful book. My image Coelacanth is one of 126 works included in this edition. (I was excited to find out that I will also have a drawing included in next year’s INDA 8!)
Last, but not least…TEDxUGA
I was invited to participate in TEDxUGA – an independently organized TED event at the University of Georgia (my alma mater in my beloved hometown of Athens, GA). My video from the event has been posted here. Every presenter had such vibrant ideas to share; there was energy from simply being in the room during the presentations that was inspiring! I recommend attending a TEDx if you have the opportunity.
I feel somehow centered and refocused right now, when I had been feeling a bit adrift a few months ago. I came home after TEDx and started a new drawing the next day – impulsively and ardently - and I am thrilled about what I am working on in the studio. I am nearly finished with this new self-portrait drawing – I should be able to post a picture sometime next week.
And, after nearly a year of on-and-off working on a large drawing (my 5 x 3 foot “Sybil”), this will likely be done within a month or so, too. This piece has been difficult, not only for technical demands, but because something was lacking. I have really been passionate about the idea since the beginning, however the drawing felt unresolved until last week: while discussing the piece with a fellow artist/mentor, the solution came to me in such an Aha-Erlebnis! moment that it took me by surprise. Now, I cannot wait for this one to be done, too!
One thing at a time, though…and the studio has to be clean and ready for the studio tour which is only about three weeks away…
A new Strange Tale is finished; this one is in pencil on Moleskine sketchbook paper (with stitching at the fold), 8.25 x 10.5 inches. Strange Tale #36: Later that evening, she found herself entangled within her own creation
The flickr version (always much nicer detail) is here.
The catalog for the Beautifully Strange exhibition that will be opening in late March is now available for presale. Profiles on artists in the show and details about purchasing the catalog are here.
2013 is nicely underway and I have been busy in the studio, but the large drawing that I have been working on since late last summer is presenting me with a low threshold for studio fatigue; I have noticed that I can do about 20 or so hours of drawing and then I have to make something else for a few days, after which I readily go back to the larger drawing. I am happy with the piece – it is not a lack of interest - and I want it finished, so I suspect this has to do with the technical and perspective demands. Oh, I will draw veins, bark, leaves, sky, flesh, bone and fabric with an unrestrained and endless enthusiasm. However, a typewriter, ellipses, and cables do not fall into the enthusiasm category, and periodic breaks are in order. My most recent diversion from the drawing has been to make a set of nesting dolls.
A few years ago, a fellow artist in my critique group gave me a do-it-yourself matryoshka doll kit, and I recall her telling me to do “something interesting” with them:
Since then, I have had the merry little box on the studio shelf and I knew that I would get around to it when I was hit with an idea. As I - once again - approached the edge of my typewriter threshold, my eyes landed on the box and, no doubt compelled by the compulsion to avoid another typewriter key, I felt suddenly inspired:
What is wonderful about the matroyshka dolls is that they are so conceptually ideal – fitting together in layers like onion skin, each one opening to reveal the doll underneath - an interesting medium for a self-portrait. I have no doubt that this little doll project is a study or stepping stone to something that will be larger and more refined (these are tiny - ranging from 1.8 to 5.25 inches)…and definitely something drawn…I am mulling the possibilities.
In the meantime, below are photos of the dolls, one-by-one with some multiple views. By the way, I do not envy anyone who has to photograph sculptural work - particularly if it is shiny (ugh - I thought drawings were difficult to photograph). First up, the main doll (and yes, all the others fit inside this one) which I think of as Self-Portrait at 43 :
The first inner layer:
The next inner layer:
And next:
Last (but certainly not least):
The dolls are not quite finished - I will put a final glossy varnish on the set in a week or so, conveniently at just about the time I need another break from the large drawing.
(By the way, I went for the full Russian experience and decided to simultaneously listen to a beautifully researched biography on Catherine the Great, which I highly recommend for anyone who shares my penchant for female historical monarchs.)
I will be exhibiting two new drawings in a show in Troy, NY, opening in late March. The show, titled Beautifully Strange, will also have an exhibition catalogue and there is currently a blog previewing the artists in the show.
