Edwina for JKPP

9x12 inches, colored pencil on tan notebook paper

Edwina, for Julia Kay's Portrait Party

I am not a huge fan of the annual Christmas rush, and also not fond of snow or cold weather, except that winter allows a retreat into my upstairs studio and has given me a chance to work on colored pencil portraits.  They seem to be getting more and more detailed, as this one of a woman whose illustrations I have admired for ages, shows.  I was almost equally challenged by her soulful face and by all those tiny highlights in her "big furry hat."  Sorry, I've been watching Stephen Colbert.  

Anyway, what I have discovered in diving into these nearly monochromatic drawings, is that I love the process of developing the image, deepening the dark values, adding the lights that add to an illusion of depth.  I feel as if I know the person, though I have never met her in real life.  

All these drawings are in a bound sketchbook.  Sometimes I put an old mat over the image to see what it might look like framed, but basically I just keep them to look at, trying in each one to develop the process more fully each time.

 Why I am staying inside.

Not So Big

So, I swore I'd work larger, and I lied.

This afternoon, after some chores were out of the way I sat down in the upstairs studio and looked at the bigger-than-usual abstract on the wall, looked at a pile of 5x7 inch pieces of "old dog" watercolors that were torn up and gessoed, and decided I wasn't in the mood for abstraction. I wanted to see what I could do with an old photo I bought at the consignment shop last spring.  A new dog from an old one.

I enjoy working from old photographs, like the chance to really examine them, find the parts that speak to me, and see if I can make an interesting composition.  What I found most touching in the photo was the joy I imagined I saw in the dog, standing on his hind legs, his head inclined toward the man.  I did a little study on tracing paper, and taped it into my notebook, making an effort to simplify and combine shapes.  I wanted the finished painting to be more abstracted than it ended up being, but unlike some of my recent efforts, it didn't hurt my eyes.

Maybe I'll try it again later, only larger.

Or not.

Midsummer

6x6 inch collage, in my sketchbook

Unbelievable, July is nearly over.  When I was teaching July was the only month that was reserved just for vacation activities - camping, biking, gardening, or whatever was good.  I don't do much of any of those things any more, except a bit of gardening, and that has been curtailed because of my stiff and sore knees.  The  flowers that come back on their own every year are still a source of joy, though. The bee balm has been glorious this summer, as are the lilies.  I try to cut some most every day and bring them inside to enjoy.

This summer has mostly been about the series of cemetery tours that I've been leading in connection with a local group that is restoring the chapel that was built around 1900.  My tours, which highlight interesting people from Janesville and the surrounding area, and old headstones and monuments, is free, although the chapel restoration folks are there every time serving cookies and water, and accepting donations to help pay for the new roof, foundation work, and stained glass window restoration.  The tours, which have been well attended, are fun to lead, but take lots of time to research, plot out, time and rehearse.  I finished writing the last one this week, and I look forward to not having the constant deadline hanging over me. My last tour is August 9th.

I'm also nearly finished with an online workshop centered on composition in connection to collage.  The teacher does work I admire, and I very much enjoyed a one day workshop with her last summer.  I'm not so sure that I'm getting as much from the online lessons, maybe because they were very specific, and there were a lot of them.  So many of them, in fact, that I had trouble keeping up.  That, plus the limits the instructor placed on the materials we could use, began to wear on me.  The class lasted five weeks, and I'm still not finished. I only post some of my completed assignments, because I just used whatever paper I want, which it not what the instructor had in mind.  The little collage at the top of this post is an example.  I just I just have problems following directions. Surprise!

My other summer art involves the community figure drawing studio at UW Whitewater.  I've miss a couple, but the sessions I've attended were great fun.  Thing is, what do I do with stacks of drawings of undraped models?  I suppose I must just look at it as practice, and not worry too much about the drawings, some of which I quite like.

I try to get out and socialize when the opportunity arises.  I spent a week in Kewaunee and Door counties recently, visiting my dear aunt, who is 85, and my brother and sister-in-law, who are a few years younger than I am.  It was fun visiting, going to art galleries, and driving the convertible with the top down.  Seems like there aren't all that many days in the year for doing that sort of thing.

Carpe diem.

Recent Illustrated Journal Entries

Pen and ink with watercolor pencil, from reference photo taken in Door County in June.

Pen and ink with watercolor pencil, from reference photo taken in Door County in June.

I subscribe to a website called "A Word a Day," and this was the quote included from poet Ezra Pound:  "The only thing one can give an artist is leisure in which to work.  To give an artist leisure is actually to take part in his creation."

That got me to thinking about why I have done so little drawing and painting over the past month.  One excuse I've allowed myself is that all my sketchbooks were in a display case at the library.  That's foolish of course, because I went out and bought myself a new Moleskine. A person would think that in summer a retired person like me would have all the leisure in the world to make art.  But instead I have been weeding and planting flower beds, baking rhubarb treats, cleaning out the closets and attic and hauling loads to the Goodwill store, driving north to attend a doll show, visiting relatives, and riding my bike.  I got lots more artwork done when the weather was not so sunny and warm. Still, I have been busy, and for me one aspect of a happy life is being able to do lots of different things.

My other excuse for neglecting my drawing is that my little upstairs studio gets hot and stuffy in the summer.  The air conditioning just doesn't seem to reach that room.  It's not so bad when I can have the window open, but on humid days like recent ones, it gets awfully close.  After our recent flooding, painting outside requires heavy applications of bug repellent, since we have an unusually fine crop of mosquitoes.  

So, perhaps the best thing is not to worry too much about how much I'm producing right now.  I can enjoy the extra space in the attic, and now have some room to store the overflow of paintings I just brought home from the show at the library.  Then I can think about doing some drawing in my leisure time - maybe downstairs at the dining room table, where it's cool and mercifully free of mosquitoes.