Pressure to Climb in the Box

I was in the middle of this drawing, see above, not sure where I wanted to go... when I was asked to make a piece of art that has the name of a color in the title. So I skidded off in that direction and came up with the slightly noisy finished piece you see below. 

"Scarlet Horizons"

To be exhibited at CAL in Half Moon Bay in April.

(sold)

A Glimpse of Dinner

"Out on the Table" at Sanchez Art Center.

Ink drawings and eating utensils sewn onto heirloom tablecloth attached to paintings on canvas.

Playing Outside the Box

This piece is on exhibit at Sanchez Art Center, right alongside

my January 13 posted image, another small pen and ink. 

Down the hall is the large installation piece mentioned in my most recent post.

Earlier this month exhibition organizer Tanya Lin Jaffe encouraged artists to bring in more than one piece of art, the gallery being such a large space, so I created this drawing specifically for the show theme ("Women Who Broke the Rules"). In my mind, we all know where the real fun is and we're breaking rules of normalcy all the time to get there. Creative thought: It's by nature outside the box.

Click on the image to see the true size of the drawing. The digital reproduction makes the lines less delicate than they actually are in person. That's the wonderment of fine ink drawing: the original is always more fascinating than the reproduction. I saw a show of tiny red and black inked lines long ago that I am still remembering, 

years later.

(Red dotted.)

Fluid music was racing through my mind during the days it took me to draw this, and still is. Can I physically play a musical instrument? No. But music is at the core (the spine) of us all. A symbol of the creative spirit we all feel when we do the crazy wonderful things we do.

Emergency Art

Had a snap decision to make last weekend. New art was needed to fill 100 feet of gallery space. The theme of the group show is "Women Who Broke the Rules."The question was: Could I create an installation piece of approximately 25 feet and have it installed within 24 hours?

28 hours later I walked out of the gallery having succeeded. I broke a few of my own rules in making the piece, including incorporating failed ink drawings and paintings with the more successful imagery. (Haven't photographed it, yet.)

Personally the piece was very successful. Breaking rules is what creativity is all about. Opens the windows and doors to new avenues of thought. The little grey cells are now snapping to attention right and left, smashing into each other, procreating madly.

Sanchez Art Center

1220 Linda Mar Blvd.

Pacifica, CA.

East Gallery

Reception 7-9 pm Feb. 22.

Show runs thru March 30.

Musing about the Muse

I've been talking with a friend about these two figures (part of the larger drawing posted earlier). Is this a man and a woman? A teacher and student? A person with demons? A person embracing the world?

Our lives are so full of change that it feels restrictive to define the bubble with certainty of words. Maybe there should be an infinity sign in there.

Heartland Tripping

Tuning In

(Unfinished drawing.)

Paying attention.

That's where it's at.

We don't always like what we see, 

or hear, or feel.

But, with time,

and awareness,

and a few thoughtful lines drawn in the sand,

we can hope to find resonance.

A tiny resonating sound

can be profoundly

inspiring.

Here's lookin' at ya, Sunshine!

Chasing After Beauty...

Ok, so I saw the most beautiful face in the world.
Now what do I do with it?

Time keeps flipping over the cards.
Sometimes they face up beauty.
Sometimes they face up all that negative stuff.

This is why I draw and paint endlessly.
There is way too much to think about
and if I capture a bit of it I can bury it somewhere
and then move on.

This means the beauty gets buried, too.
But as I said yesterday, the beauty is hopefully influencing its surroundings inside the whole.

I'm a great one for finding beauty anywhere at anytime.
Years ago Toby Covich, an art student two years older than me, made what looked like clay turds for his senior project. My mind recalls them draped delicately all over a boat.
Those turds were almost beautiful...
Well, humorous, anyway.
The main humor being that I would actually make myself think turds were beautiful.
I never forgot that lesson.
With TC's td's in mind, for years I've been finding beauty in everything.

What honest-to-G brilliance that guy had... and what a crack up that I fell for it!

Beauty

Last night I saw the most beautiful face in the world.
I wasn't supposed to see it.
I was supposed to have my eyes closed.
I cheated.
I opened my eyes and saw a woman in the throws of ecstasy.
Ecstasy of receptive healing care.
On her face I saw awe.
I saw grace.
I saw self love.
I saw pain.
I saw healing.

I know I won't be able to draw that face. It was too exquisite, too human, too fluid and alive even in its quiet submission.
But this true vision of living, breathing, sighing beauty is now in my head. I am gleeful about that. Right now I am the richest person in the world.

I am rich because each time I draw a man, woman, girl or boy, aged, perfected, or broken, I will be able to infuse that figure with the essence of beauty I saw last night. And every time I see a stranger on the street, if I take the time, I can see inside them and recognize the woman in them that is in ecstasy.

Shaboom-ping-tra-La! That's what it's all about!

Pathway to Where This is

Was sitting here discussing this drawing with a friend.
There's obviously a sense of Guru at the top.
Do we really want to know the inner story behind how anyone gets to a state of wisdom?
Or do we want to open a book and read directions for a quick way up?
Of course we want the quick way up, stepping lightly over all the inner turmoil of other.
I must remember to bring my coat, though.
I hear old monk bones get cold in the winter.