I have discovered a new approach to drawing. It’s much more like my paintings. Part of this came from being forced to use acrylics thru the winter. I wasn’t thrilled w/ them for painting, but I stumbled into a winning tri-fecta of drawing, vellum, and acrylic washes. I’m using chalk and charcoal for the drawing. I sneak some color in. I’ve also added some collage after all of this, on other works. This drawing is 3′ x 28″.
Womyn, broken computer
I started this drawing in San Antonio, on vacation. This is my first day back in my Fines Creek studio, the winter has made the commute impassable. Anyway, I focused on the theme of the womyn w/ a cap over her head, and stuff going thru her head. I did several drawings there, all w/ a hint of blue, not my usual color. This one bemoans computer glitches. How do we live with them, or without them? Sounds like the dilemma about men!
Experiment
Vellum is translucent surface used primarily by architects. I don’t think it’s paper, maybe polyester? This is the opposite side. I did the initial drawing and the idea hit me to also draw on the other side. And I’m using acrylics, trying to learn more about their properties. They make lovely washes on the vellum. If I display this I may sandwich it between acrylic sheets. Since it’s 3’x3′, glass would be a problem.
My dog Callie has torn her ACL. We had to buy new tires for the tractor. Gregg’s looking for a job. My stomach hurts.
Knitted
The title came after the drawing. I’m learning to knit, and the hat became knitted. I was floundering in many ways this morning and I flipped thru my journal for inspiration. A note said investigate Klee symbols. Instead I started this drawing w/ my symbols. The woman w/ the cap, spirals, and prayer boxes. This is done on architects vellum which is translucent. The white is really the wall behind. This piece is 3’x3′. If I was hit w/ a money bomb, I would sandwich it between sheets of plexi, and display it so you could see through it.
There may not be a money bomb in my future, but thank goodness the snow is melting. Gregg took me to my FC studio yesterday, but we had a meeting, no time to work. The road is still snowy and icy and chains are required. Wah, I’m getting work done here.
Hystero, means womb.
We ignore our wombs, until something is happening in them. Then they become the center of our universe.
detail
This is the eye of “Marsha Broke Her Ankle”. I love drawing big (large?).
Marsha
No, she doesn’t look like this. She broke her ankle. Surgery, 9 pins, a plate, and six weeks off of that foot is going to be a trial. Trying to work and pay for the hospital is going to be …more than a trial. She has no insurance thanks to a preexisting condition. This drawing is my take on the situation. Also, it’s the first time I’ve drawn on vellum. I really like it. This is 3’x2′. The roll is 36″ wide. Gregg’s going to make me a drawing board from a sheet of plywood, so I can draw as large as 8’x3′. I like drawing big, but then how to display it is a big problem. I’m supposed to cover it w/ acrylic sheet, but it’s very expensive. My approach is to pin it to the wall, but then it isn’t suitable for “collectors”. I want to enter a drawing show at UNCA, but not spend a fortune, which I don’t have, anyway, on framing two large drawings. Oh, well, my problems are nothing compared to Marsha’s.
addiction
I honestly tried to do this painting in acrylics, but, damn. I didn’t repaint it with oils, just some highlights and zigs. I was listening to Dylan singing love songs. It hit me what my theme is. I’m a little dim. My theme is women, and even these spirals represent
life. I have a suggestion for an alternate title. Instead of “Changes”, how about “Change(s) of Life”. It made ME laugh!
“The Lacuna”
I’m reading this book by Barbara Kingsolver. Frida Kahlo is telling the main character that a painting needs ” a thimbleful of life”. I dragged myself into my studio once again to battle w/ acrylics, and to pour my life into this painting.
Changes
I have a book about Lee Krasner. She had an artist’s career before and after Pollock. But would anyone have known her if she hadn’t married him? How many women artists can you name?