Recent creations

Check out my Island blog (a temporary venture for this year on Dominica) for some new creations!

http://thestudyandthestudio.blogspot.com/2014/05/recent-studio-activities.html

February: Island Canvas'

February's drawing theme is Flora and Fauna. Welcome, February!

Alternative surfaces. They are everywhere. My stone, seed pod, stick habit is raging now that I live on a tropical volcanic island. You should see the stones, sticks, and seeds! Ahhhh!! I can't get enough.

Anyhow, once I get over my astonishment at the object, sometimes I'll paint it.

Here are some of the bits of the flora and fauna I've painted... or painted on so far.

A coconut end nub.

My craft paints ... I finally found some at a grocery store in Roseau. 

Coconut nub. 

Coconut nub.

Coconut nub.

Seeds I found on the beach. 

Priming the canvas... 

Left: A sprouted coconut.
Right: The scene up our hill. 

Left: Cocoa seed pod on the tree.
Middle: The view of Cabrits/Fort Shirley
Right: Bird's eye map of Dominica. 

Beach rock (volcanic)

2014 on Dominica: Year of Drawing

Hello from the little Nature Island of Dominica!

I've been on the island for a week now and am getting acclimated to my tiny section of the island. I'll be ready to explore more of the place soon, I'm sure, but I've got plenty right here for now. The island is wild. There are sunny rain storms, rogue cows, and colorful fun-house looking homes all over the hillsides. The clouds move faster and life moves slower. The locals smile easily if you make an effort to be polite. Housetops are mostly unfinished so that home owners don't have to pay taxes on them. The roofs are flat cement with lose cinderblocks and rebar sticking up out of the cement. Andy and I often climb the stairs (with no banister or anything to protect you from the edge) to the roof and sit on cinderblocks. The view is unreal. And I want to draw!

The view up the hill...

I've decided to make this year a year of drawing. I will hopefully have more time to draw and the slower pace of life seems conducive to time sitting and drawing.

Rather than drawing randomly I will have a theme each month and draw within that theme during the month. I might switch them around but here are my ideas so far. Any ideas for the last two months?

January: Island Structures

February: Flora and Fauna 

March: Sky and Sea

April: Food

May: People

June: Medical School

July: Vessels 

August: Travel

September: Creativity

October: Everyday

November: ............

December: ..................

Here is my first one for January:

My neighbors.

See more of island living here: www.thestudyandthestudio.blogspot.com 

Creating during Graduate School

There is an elephant in my room. But its not grad school. Unlike this picture, the elephant in my room has been creativity. I was trying to ignore it. I was trying to pretend to be solely an academic. The elephant grew. My focus in Arts Management classes is on papers, projects, readings, and tests... as it should be. But recently, struggling with the lack of creative time, it was suggested that I find some sort of collaboration or accountability to try and help make the time.

Fortunately, around this same time, a fellow visual artist in my program and I started to share about this issue we both face. As we talked, we naturally began to collaborate and compare "notes," spurring each other on to draw and create. Our mediums and styles are so different. He works primarily in metals and his drawing style reflects the engraving principles in which he trained. It is inspiring to see his work and watch him create.

While it would be great to use this inspiration towards some interesting collaboration and work in ceramics, I don't have consecutive days to devote to pottery. Certain steps in the pottery process require consecutive days. So, until I get a handle on that, I've been drawing and creating in mixed media. While a bit rusty, I think I'm getting into somewhat of a rhythm. I'm trying to do anything with composition, color, and line, easing myself back into the world of creativity.

It is amazing how I try to be an island, and yet, how, over and over again I am shown that it is along side of others that we all really thrive. The act of reaching out, both to seek help and to support someone else, is essential, especially in the seemingly solo world of art and craft creation.


 Recent work in completed/progress:

Leaves and Leaf Stems, Book pages and Maps,  Paint and Paper.

Urban Population Map of the DC Area

Nature.

Detail: Stack of stones. Each of these is labeled with location and date.

Detail: Stack of sticks. Each is labeled with location and date. 

Smooth round stones painted with acrylic paint.

A commission for Robin. Slate garden sign. 

Mini Chairs.

Posts from a Spanish Diary: Entry #2

At Masia Albadas (the name of Seth's home in Spain), the natural beauty of the surroundings completely captured my heart. I still wake up and think about walking outside to my terrace to look out at the mountains, almond and olive groves, red tile roofs, stone walls, and dry river bed. When I got to Spain in August the heat from the day remained in the terra cotta tiles on the terrace. This made for a warm surface to lay on at night and look at the stars which were deeply layered in the dark sky.

The interesting thing about this natural beauty is that while it was inspiring in some respects, I lost any interest in taking a sketchbook outside to draw. Maybe I was too overwhelmed. Maybe I saw a lot of stereotypical elements in my drawings when I did attempt it. I don't know. The further I am removed from Spain, the easier it gets to think about drawing it. So perhaps some line drawings will emerge eventually but for now, Spain stays in my heart.

This video is taken from a little hill down the road from Seth's house. Seth's is the stone house directly above the bend in the dry river bed (under my finger!) at the very end of the video.