Travel, work, looking at art...

Not a lot of making art. Here are a couple of photos from around the neighborhood.
Happy May!

A few more drawings from class

Here are a couple more of the 23 x 34 charcoal drawings. This model was very fun to draw - lots of muscles! Tonight I was kind of wishing I had signed up for spring term, but I have plenty of other things to do!

Drawing Class finished for the term

I just finished a term of drawing at The Drawing Studio. We work from photos and models. The first one is of my sister and her daughter. I used the same photo I used when I accidentally made them into zombies. Sorry for the flash. They say you need to get the eyes right. I think the mouth is really important as well since I did not get it quite right here.



The second one is from a photo of a statue. We don't usually end up with a presentation picture since we are practicing and working towards our 1000 drawings, but I wanted to post something! I enjoy working in a large format (these are 23 inches by 34 inches), but the charcoal dust and black hands are really a pain. Two showers, two days of dishes are the minimum needed to get my hands sort of clean.



It is pretty fun and I'm getting quicker and more comfortable at putting marks on the paper. I'll probably not take the class again until fall. I'd like to work on some color projects next.

Postcard Swap - received!

Yea! I've received one postcard a day for the last 5 days. They've arrived from New Zealand, Singapore, the US - including one that doesn't have a return address or a legible postmark! It's very fun and they're all handmade, beautiful works of art. I LOVE having something that I can hold and keep. It was fun participating in the November Journal Challenge and viewing the artwork of others, but it's even more fun to receive the artwork of others.

I finally made it down to the basement to work on an encaustic painting this week. However, today I'm off to paid work. The bank account is empty so time to try to fill it up. Repeat to myself: I do not have a trust fund, I do not have a trust fund. ;-)

Postcard Swap - my cards

I created various versions of these cards while I was on vacation using inks, stamps and a stencil made from a heart punch. I decided not to be too ambitious since the idea was to have fun and not stay up all night creating original watercolor paintings.

On the other side, I wrote a quote from Wendell Berry:

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

I have to say, I also like his:

Don't own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire.

Um, and I don't like to complain, but I haven't received anything in the mail yet! If I don't see anything this week, I might need to ask if I happened to be left off the lists!

Click here to see the Flickr group of the other postcards that were created and sent.

Postcard swap

This looks fun - a postcard swap. Make 10 and receive 10. I'll post photos in a week when I'm done.

iHanna Blog Postcard Swap

January 2010 - the Quiet Returns

Sadie drawn from above with a purple Sai pen, December 2009

Our holidays are almost over - we had another Christmas party with Bob's parents on Saturday, they leave Wednesday and we can put everything away for this year. The festivities really are enjoyable, but are all-consuming. Today I slept a long time, then kept quiet for the afternoon. I haven't spent much time making art - although wrapping presents and baking cookies are still creative endeavors. I'm looking forward to easing back into painting and encaustic.

I did start attending an Intermediate Drawing Class last week with my friend Jan at the Drawing Studio. It's nice to have a scheduled evening of art to look forward to! As I keep hearing, consistent creativity keeps you in the flow! The fun thing about the intermediate class is that we can use paints in addition to charcoal and graphite. The class is longer at three hours so there are 2 breaks, more sessions with live models and freedom not to do all of the assigned exercises. The instructor points out that interesting work may be produced in the last hour when everyone is tired out.