Monday morning I attended (for the first time) a “Drawing is Free session”, hosted by Chloe Briggs at @drawingisfree_org The “Drawing is Free” sessions (free and open for all) is a digital workshop where people come together to draw. There is no teacher, but the host, Chloe Briggs, organize it so that the participants take part…
John Bokor
I know next to nothing about contemporary still life, about who’s working within the genre, what kind of paintings they make, and why – . But I have noticed there being a lot going on in Australia at the moment. So that’s where we’ll start. Today I will show you the work of John Bokor:…
Notes for a new week
I have this praxis of writing morning pages (the Julia Cameron way). I have done them on and off for many years. I do them first thing in the morning. I write by hand in a room lit only by candles (– this to try to fool my inner critic to believe I’m still sleeping…
A short note on working on paper
I have prepared 11 birch boards in different sizes; they are covered in layers of color and wild marks. They are hanging on my studio wall, but I’m not ready to go into dialogue with them yet. Maybe soon, or it might take some time. It doesn’t really matter; I trust the process and expect…
Some days are all about colour
“I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To…
Playing around in negative space
I have found making acrylic sketches in my sketchbook to be so freeing – having no focus on outcome makes experimenting a lot easier This week I have been working on a challenge given by Debbie Mackinnon Debbie: “There can be no positives without the negative and so this week is all about finding, exploring…
I find my way by doing
I love the physicality of making art, art as craft, and the specific qualities of the materials I’m using. The creamy messiness of paint, the dry dustiness of pastels, the sharp line of a pencil, the smudgy charcoal… not to mention the substrate; paper, card board, canvas, wood – and how it allows for all…
Witness
Sometimes the mountainis hidden from me in veilsof cloud, sometimesI am hidden from the mountainin veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,when I forget or refuse to godown to the shore or a few yardsup the road, on a clear day,to reconfirmthat witnessing presence. Denise Levertov
Drawing within the lines is for babies; making sure things add up is for accountants.
Monday morning in the studio; just me and some pottery – playing with a very long handled brush & a wooden stick. Burnt umber on white paper.
Exercise
“Make a list of three artists whose work makes you uncomfortable. Then make a list of three specific things about each artist’s work that make you feel this way. Read the list back closely; ask yourself if there’s something about what these artists do that you share. Really think about this. It’s also a great…
sub rosa 