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Showing posts from September, 2012

Perspectives

We got more hikes in during the month of September. The long walks in the forest gave me more opportunities to let my thoughts wander on my art and the moments that make up my day. possession sound trail "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self." ~ Aristotle The change of seasons and the "new perspective" prompt also spurred me to think about how I want to shape the remainder of this year. on the ferry A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us. ~ Franz Kafka I decided I wanted to read more and needed some way to encourage that habit. A couple of months ago, I heard about Cousera. This organization offers free courses online with professors from universities throughout the U.S.A. How cool is that! I signed up for the Greek Mythology course. My goal and this course fit perfectly, so I've begun reading Homer's Odyssey. Although, I

life cycle

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself." -- William Blake driftwood, port townsend beach There are many twisted, misshapen driftwood trees that I find on our walks along the shoreline, and I wonder how far or short they have travelled. No longer rooted in the soil their contribution to the land still continues in one way or another. My walks in the forest offer me the chance to understand when a life passes, a new life begins. The pain and healing are visible, tangible. white fungus on fallen tree I heard that a fallen tree takes around 100 years to completely dissolve into the ground. During that long interval, other forms of life begin and feed off of the dead tree. moss growing on fallen tree With each goodbye, a

Hours, new collage series, wip

For the last few weeks, I've been mostly drawing. I've drawn five different poses of the female figure. Out of those five, I redrew and reworked four of them.   Previously, someone asked if I work from live models.  For my current series, I've been working from photos of a live model. Hours, pencil on paper,  9.18.2012 Everday, I'd toss each pose round in my head, trying to envision how the pose would work as a painting. I'd go to sleep each night thinking about the poses, and ideas would come to me. I had a vague idea but nothing clearly defined. So the process of drawing and redrawing continued through this week. Hours,  pen drawing on paper Last week, I also started collecting bits of fallen life that I'd found along the trails when we were hiking. I've got pine cones, bark, moss, leaves, and fern fronds sitting on my desk. materials for monoprinting And then it happened. Those previous ideas and all the odds and bits I&#

autumn fog and deer

marina on whidbey island I love the fog and haven't seen it for awhile since summer began. Everywhere, including the water, was quiet and still this morning. The wildlife seems to be more active now that the weather is cooling. We're seeing all sorts of furry animals on our walks and hikes. I have yet to get a good photo of a deer. deer wandering a neighborhood farm What's season are you in, metaphorically or literally?   Weatherwise, we're entering Autumn. Symbolically, I'm entering my Spring. joining 52 photos

morning september walk, august blue moon

The sparkle and shine in my day comes from my walks with my husband in the morning and evening. Along the way, we view the ocean, meet rabbits, birds, squirrels, cow, cats, dogs, and sometimes deer. We pick and eat berries from the wild vines that grow throughout the island. september morning walk One of the exercises in your creative brain book that I borrowed from the library is to memorize 10 poems. You work with one poem at a time, memorizing and then reciting the poem from memory for seven days.   Husband is joining me on this exercise, so today we stopped along our walk to recite our poems. My first poem is by Li Po based on Ezra Pound's translation: Marble Stairs Grievance On Marble Stairs still grows the white dew That has all night soaked her silk slippers But she lets down her crystal blind now And sees through glaze the autumn moon. View of the August blue moon rising over pugent sound off of Whidbey island. joining &qu

female figure sketch, wip

sept 4 sketch Hurray, my hand and wrist are nearly better so I did lots of drawing this week! I've been drawing the same figure everyday and trying to work out the angles and shading. Earlier this week, after doing a non-dominant hand sketch, I drew the figure with my dominant hand (image above). She was headless for most of the week, but today I finally drew her with a face and hair that I like. Although in today's sketch everything is off, but I am liking the pose and will switch to another medium this week. I'm showing you my earlier sketch , as it's still my favorite. It's been awhile since I last drew nudes. It will take some warming up again. southcoastcrawler graciously let me know about the au naturel call for submissions. The entry deadline is in November. I'm hoping to finish a new piece to submit for review. I haven't decided yet on what the nude pose will be. Historically, Egon Schiele and Michaelangelo inspire me. Their

left hand sketching and taking breaks

I love to draw and tend to grip my pen tightly and press down firmly which is one of the reasons my wrist and hand tire quickly. I try to take breaks by doing collages or painting with sumi ink, watercolors, and acrylics. The last few days I've been working with sumi ink and revisiting a nude figure theme. As soon as I'm done I'll post images. I also try working more with my non-dominant left hand. Below is the pen sketch I completed recently in my journal with my left hand. I was sitting at my desk and drew my reflection in the mirror. left-hand drawing Another way I take breaks is by visiting my local library. I love going to the library and walking down the art and cookbook sections. By chance I came across Shelley Carson's book, "Your Creative Brain." She divides our brain's functioning into seven brainsets and explains how to tap into each one. The book also includes some quizzes and exercises which I've enjoyed and found rewardi