Just For Fun Art

Love this quote by Douglas Malloch so I did a drawing . 8 1/2" x 11" pen, watercolour

it was given as a christmas gift

playing around with Origami... little turtle... 

fun and sure takes some fiddling to get those folds.. need more practice

a host of whimsical beings in my sketchbook, 8 1/2" x 11" , pen and watercolour

doing my paperwork practice... origami kangaroo from brown paper.

and an occasional game of chess, man, do I need practice to remember how each character can move

And...my tattoo artist son, Max, working on a huge fantastical Wolf charcoal drawing. 

He is never without an art making instrument in his hand

Hope you are all doing some enjoyable creative pastimes and letting it carry your imagination away.

Cheers, from Desideratum

Cat # 6

"Black Cat"

An older "Tom",   going into one of those trance like stares that almost puts them to sleep.

*

The black cat has had much written about it over time and is connected with much superstition and symbolism. 

Bad Luck...  satanism...witches... sorcery... evil incarnate... a coat the color of mourning...   History reports black cats were mercilessly put to death just for the color of their coat and its associations.  Superstition is silly isn't it. Just things we make up, convince ourselves about and decide to believe. Silly Humans, and we think we are so smart.

I have even read black cats were unfortunately referred to, as "the rabbit of the poor" and you know what that means.

Yet they survive, proud and beautiful, their coats shimmering in the sunlight... and the moonlight.
 Sleek and still with an air of beauty and mystery.

 Long live the black cat!

 *

...approx. 4" x 6", charcoal, conte, chalk on heavy brown paper...

 I love how these mediums grab and react on brown paper.

... sinking into minute portions of it while other particles remain lying on top.

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Other Cats in the series:

Cat 1

Cat 2

Cat 3

Cat 4

Cat 5

Cat - Pre-Series

Gwen Buchanan at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio,  New Brunswick, Canada

Hands #14 - After Durer, My Interpretation

I will always and forever be inspired and enthralled by the works of Albrecht Durer.

... the long fingers delicately offering up a simple sprig of two small leaves... the ornate cuff with the deep folds... 

of course his original work has far more nuances than mine here, but I am glad a good deal of his work remains for us to emulate and appreciate. 

Working on this drawing now, seemed very fitting as it felt like an offering of Spring.

approx. 8" x 12", charcoal,  in my sketchbook

Expressive Drawing

Untitled...  by my son, Max Ackerson

Expressive drawing is the form of art that I am drawn to the most.

I want to feel what the artist feels and what the subject portrays.

I want to have a reaction.... to ponder.

I want it to capture me... to make me spend time with it. 

I want it to draw me in... to make me examine it deeper.

 I want to search out the lines... 'till my senses absorb the message.

I feel Max achieved a beautiful sense of Expressiveness in this drawing...
It is so very sensitively done.

...maybe I am a bit prejudiced, being his mother but I believe he did a magnificent job.

Actual drawing size: 6 1/2" x 10" plus mat, charcoal, conte on colored Canson paper. 

Max turned 20 years old on Christmas Day, 2013.  He has drawn "constantly" all his life and is presently attending the College of Craft and Design in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in his first year and enjoying every minute.

 

Cat # 5

"And the Orange Cat Sits and Stares, Waiting... Waiting..."

"The time has come" the Walrus said, "to talk of many things,

 of shoes ~ and ships ~ and pretty birds before they're on the wing".

A Cat's spin on a Louis Carroll Quote 

 Approx. 5 " x  7",  conte chalk pastels in my sketchbook

.

Drawing of Saul Bellow

 Saul Bellow lived from 1915 to 2005... Writer, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature

He was compassionate and intelligent with an especially dry sense of humor. 

A quote of Saul's that sums everything up:

" We are all such accidents. We do not make up history and culture. We simply appear, not by our own choice. We make what we can of our condition with the means available. We must accept the mixture as we find it — the impurity of it, the tragedy of it, the hope of it."

8 1/2" x 11"  in charcoal, I worked from an image I believe was from the late 1950's.

Cow Skull in Black and White

 Best use I've found for the Stock Exchange section of the newspaper....... other than starting the fire.

Tea Time

Gwen's Teapot

 During the winter, my husband John, my son Max and I, had a drawing get-together every day for 2-3 weeks for about 45 min. each session.  It was a good way to talk about art and inspire each other during those long winter days.  Each day we took turns deciding what the subject would be and what medium we would use.   

On this particular day I chose conte  and we all drew our Silver teapot.  It is an old one that we found at the Sussex Flea Market years ago and has been in use in our kitchen ever since.  I asked the older gentleman, who I bought it from, if it made good tea and he replied that it always did when he used it.  I only asked him that because I have had teapots in the past that really did not make good tea... not sure why... but he was right, it did make good tea.  

 It doesn't shine anymore as most of the silver plating on the outside has worn off  and even though it is tarnished and aged, it makes the best tea... sort of like it was broke-in.  The surface of the body is covered with scrolling decorative patterns but it doesn't show in my drawing as we gave ourselves a set time limit to complete or go as far as we could with each drawing and I never had time for the patterns.

I thought I could easily round up John and Max's drawings to post too but they are out today and i can't find them.  When they find them for me I'll take some photos and post them...............

*
waiting
*

 John's Teapot

 .... and just a bit later... John has found his.  I find John's teapot very painterly... it has life and flow and feels like music to me.
 His writing is very musical too.  Ok he gets an "A".
Whereas, I am  giving myself a "C"  and a note to tell myself to Loosen Up!

*
and a bit later still ......after more searching
*

 Max found two teapots...

... really fun to see all the different interpretations!

 And as a little connection to this, later on when we were back at our workbenches  making our jewelry lines for our new catalog, we updated our "Tea and Coffee" earrings to this steaming pair of Mug and Teacup below. They have had a great response so far...we'll keep our fingers crossed.

"Take some more Tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

"I've had nothing yet,"  Alice replied in an offended tone,

 "so I can't take more."

from Chapter 7,  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,  by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson,

otherwise known as,   Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898

drawings each approx. 10" x 10"

Cat 2

"Watching for the Dogs"    by Gwen Buchanan

approx.  6" x 7" charcoal, pastels on brown paper

"Cautious, like crossing a wintry stream,

Watchful, like one facing danger on every side,

Ceremonious, as one who pays a visit,

Yielding, like ice beginning to melt,

Genuine, like a piece of uncarved wood,

Open-minded, like a valley,

And mixing freely, like murky water. 

Which of you can assume such murkiness,

To become in the end still and clear;

Which of you can make yourself still,

To become in the end full of life?

Those who possess this Tao do not try to

Fill themselves to the brim,

And because they do not try to

Fill themselves to the brim,

They are like a garment that endures

All wear and need never be renewed."

 Ancient writing accredited to Lao Tzu,

 It is debated whether he was a man or men or a Philosophy...

Daybreak this morning from the studio

 

...Blooming Cornflower by our front step on November 24 ... hardy little plant, self-seeds too

Our dog Pirate, whom cats should be warned of... with the CornFlower in mild temperatures by the Bay of Fundy today. All the leaves have fallen now, only the evergreens give color in the forest and bluff-edge.

at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, NB

Slumber..... Cat 1

Slumber  by Gwen Buchanan

Know that, if you have a warm cozy spot in your house... and... you have a cat... the two shall meet.

Cats can sleep up to 16 hours a day.. anyone who has ever had a cat will testify to this...

 and studies have shown that cats dream... or at least they show the same kind of brain activity that humans produce when they dream.  

They have phases of REM sleep, which is dream time and non REM sleep which is body repair time....

 and why shouldn't they?

Mark Twain, author of the Adventures of  Huckleberry Finn,
 penned a little cat trivia..

"The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid,

will not sit on a hot stove lid again.

Nor a cold stove lid."

"Slumber"  approx. 11" x 14" charcoal and bistre conte, from my sketchbook.

Desideratum Art and Jewelry studios, St. Martins, New Brunswick,  overlooking the Bay of Fundy

There is a Remedy for all things but Death

"Alias, Old Fool"
 by Gwen Buchanan
10" x 10" charcoal and conte sketch, pardon my imperfection.

 I am staring at a drawing of a Friend... it is at a drawing that I stare...
I had never met this friend in real life... only on this mechanical screen in front of me.
A Friend I respected, who made me laugh, who worked hard all his life and lived a good life while he was at it... who shared, who made his own kilts and wore them... spoke out about things that weren't right with the world...  an inventor... a bicycle magician... sailed on battleships,  flew airplanes, drove  transport, knew the bayou blue and the country inside out...
 He was frugal... but never with his friendship......... he was humble, possibly a hermit
and Now he is gone from walking on this earth.
We never met... but we knew each other.  How do I say Good-bye?...... I can't.

.... this previous post was dedicated to him.


Old Fool had a blog or two

Hands 9

A Hand Not Working by Gwen Buchanan

Does blood flow differently through a moving hand... or a hand at rest?

Similarly perhaps, as a mind puzzling out an answer and a mind asleep?

Just wondering....

 This hand fell asleep as it stayed very still... while my other hand worked and searched for lines and shades.  After a while the resting hand felt as if it were someone elses.... something foreign on the end of my arm.

Approx. 5" x 7" conte, charcoal, drawing

Hands 8

Reach 2    by Gwen Buchanan

To reach out with purpose... whether arm's length or far as your mind can fathom...

For that shoulder to grasp, to turn around, to have them see what you see, fully in their mind.

...mind to mind....how much easier it would be.

I sure hope someone is working on this.

approx. 5" x 7" pen, conte, crosshatch, line drawing of my hand from my sketchbook

DESIDERATUM Art and Jewelry studio, St. Martins, NB

Lily

Lily by Gwen Buchanan

 She tells me that her name is Lily... 

  I will always think of her that way.

She cautiously considers her path upon the morrow...

Forward...
Backward...

Come what may.

GB

"There is a Garden in her Face,

Where Roses and Lilies grow."

 Thomas Campion, 1567-1620, Composer, Poet.

 ...my drawing desk just after I finished "Lily"

... yes, cluttered, I know... but really, I need all those things.

Lily... approx. 7 1/2' x 9 1/2", Sanguine conte and charcoal, with matt and frame 16" x 18 1/2"

..  The Hand Series will return with my next post.

Hand # 6

 Accuse, Gwen Buchanan

"But alas to make me 

the fixed figure for the time of scorn

to point his slow unmoving finger at."

 Othello 4, 2, 54... Shakespeare

 

I rubbed away most of the red chalk  to give the background more subtlety 

 and used the eraser to expose the white of the paper as

 the highlights of the hand and the gauze of the sleeve.

 I outlined the finger with graphite to represent the darkness associated with accusation.

 This is my interpretation of  Leonardo's "Study of a Hand"  c. 1483, 

  His was done on dark grey prepared paper with black chalk heightened with white.

It is stored at Windsor Castle Royal Library, England.
also found in "Leonardo da Vinci, Sketches and Drawings", Frank Zollner, Taschen.

 6" x 8" , sanguine conte, graphite, eraser on card stock weight paper

 created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, NB Canada

Hand # 5

 

How do you like your coffee?  Gwen Buchanan

The Turks have a saying...

" Coffee should be Black as Hell, 

Strong as Death and

 Sweet as Love"

 ... I like mine with Foamed milk and Chocolate shavings... 

...a morning Ritual ...

 It got me thinking...

about how many people are taking part in this same morning ritual worldwide... 

...we are doing it Together... but separately,  in different places..  

and as a continual wave as the world rotates...

it's a huge communal Earthly coming together... even if we drink it all by ourselves. 

6" x 10", 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper, india ink, conte, brush, pen
...found a set of 4 of these heavy pottery blue and white mugs at a favourite thrift shop in Saint John last Fall.

...created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

Hand # 4

Sanguine... Gwen Buchanan

"Will all great Neptune's ocean

 wash this blood clean from my Hand?

No... this my hand will rather
 the multitudinous seas incarnadine,
making the red one green "

Macbeth 2, 2, 60  .... Shakespeare

... experimenting ... something about the shade of sanguine...

6" x 10",  pen/ink, india ink wash, watercolor, sanguine conte, charcoal,chalk,  140 lb Arches watercolor paper

To All Those Who Work With Their Hands... Hand #1

Hand with Pen, Gwen Buchanan

For the next while I will be posting a series of  HANDS   I drew during the last 2-3 months...

..

 There will be versions in line, paint, charcoal, conte, chalk, ink..

on plain and colored papers, rough brown paper  and watercolor paper.

This is a drawing of my hand with a pen I have had so long I can't remember where it came from,

but I like the way it feels and lays in my hand when I use it.  

I remember I was wearing that thick orange sweater to warm up 

as my hand was cold from keeping it so still in order to draw it. 

"Reason is our Soul's Left HAND"

To the Countess of Bedford,1... by John Donne, 1573-1631

approx. 12" x10" on brown paper and colored conte.

...created here in our DESIDERATUM Art and Jewelry Studio in St. Martins, 

on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick,  Canada

Charles Darwin

Portrait of Darwin by Gwen Buchanan

 Because of Charles Darwin's intense studies and lifetime dedication to his work...  we understand EVOLUTION.

Ape Skull by Gwen Buchanan

...below... an excerpt from Charles Darwin's....  "Origin of Species"

""As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive, and as consequently there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of survival and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.""

Charles Robert Darwin... Born 1809... died at 73 years in 1882

to learn almost everything about his life,  go HERE ...

I especially like this excerpt from his examination of
 "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals"  

Portrait of Darwin ...........   approx. 11" x 12",  charcoal, conte on brown paper

Ape Skull..............   approx. 8 1/2" x 11" charcoal, conte on colored cardstock

....... both kinds of paper have a great tooth for holding these drawing mediums.