Learning to Paint: Again

Mostly I draw. But through the years I have

occasionally painted, each time learning a bit more.

 I recently studied someone's gallery painting

because I had to write a poem in response to it.

Oooh, the craving to paint without my ink lines was sparked.

This is Day #1 of a new 5.25 X 3.5 " WCbook. From a photo 

I took in Acadia National Park, 2024

Rules: 

1. No ink lines but pre-pencil design OK.

2. Subjects: WC interpretations of Anything

3. Work fast, with little judgement & deliberation

4. Make notes about what I learned

Experimental Sketchbook Class: Time & Space to Create

Some of my work during the weeklong class.

It was perhaps the best art class I've ever taken at University. 

We were encouraged to experiment.

Push out of our comfortable ways.

I started getting scribbly & messy (not shown here)

so it was a relief to do some minimalist drawings.

Zoom grids became an integral part of my experience.

I wandered out of my familiar box.

I cut up one of my watercolor "still life" grids

and pasted fragments into a booklet.

And then, relief, back to the familiar~ 

except with a bit of a grid.

A grid containing The Tiny Fears of Rita

Les miniscules craintes de Rita

We tried a wax resist/ink wash/charcoal layering technique

that Maine artist, David Lewis, uses.

(His drawings are very sophisticated & refined...) 

We collected shadows by tracing actual shadows.

Some of the students turned their results into imaginative

imagery, unrelated to the original subjects, and then 

turned them into handmade books.

I loved my Swedish Ivy design & didn't transform it,

except to put it into an accordion format.

Last class exercise: Do 20 versions of the same object, 

using various papers & drawing materials.

I got 3 done in our half hour allotment...

But THIS is the idea which I most want to continue

at the moment...20 objects? 50? 100? 

Maybe they would be painted and drawn, then,

hand sewn together into a paper quilt that folds 

into a book. We shall see...

The beautiful thing is that I have SO many wonderful

inspirations & directions with which to continue.

Thanks to my instructors & to the class, composed of

young undergraduates, graduate students,

& some oldsters like me. 

So much inspiration,

& this is only the tip of the iceberg...

The Practice of Calligraphy

Sample sheets given to me by a master calligrapher/teacher.

The coloring and notes are mine.

Calligraphy.  

The practice can be calming & satisfying.

But it can be frustrating, for one who is not

naturally gifted at it.

Gaye Godfrey Nicholls writes in Mastering Calligraphy:

"Calligraphers revel in the sensual, sinuous 

& arch elegance of italic..."

"Calligraphy 

is about discovering the pleasure 

of watching pigments in water meet, 

fall in love, 

& create new colors on paper..."

"You watch your own hand take over & create the forms

for which you have striven for so long. "

It takes practice, she writes. Maybe 3 years, maybe 7...

It takes persistence & patience. (I say.) 

Here, perfection is sought, not just progress.

 They say to set up a center where you can leave 

your practice work out & practice everyday.

I do.

Still, I am not perfect.

I may never be. It takes acceptance.

Inbetween writing the letter "a" over & over

on lined paper,

trying to get it to be consistent,

one can play with some letter designs.

Even if the letters haven't been mastered.

It gives one something to look forward to.

Meanwhile, one can take a little break from the concentration

& precision, & play at making seasonal decorations. 

I Finished my Book!!

This is a continuation from my previous post.

 Stopping to face my situation of the too many ideas 

& projects that had started to form,

& asking for help did the trick! 

Beth wrote to Just choose one project & finish it.

Not rocket science, but it helped to hear it from outside 

my own brain which was turning somersaults! 

Organizing my space & hiding the other projects was key. 

And accepting that my finished book would not be perfect...

All along there were decisions to be made.

What to do with the wildflower cutouts that I had drawn & painted 

from photos that I had taken for my project?

I had to abandon my original idea of 

making the flowers pop up from the page, 

(something I love to do in my little handmade cards),

because I had a cover that I'd bound that I'd wanted to use.

A new stiff white paper replaced the green Mi Teintes. 

(Thanks, Fiddlehead Artisan Supply for being right in town!!)

From there on, the book seemed to make itself.

Book Arts prof. Rebecca Goodale says that there's nothing

like the feeling of you & the paper working together "as one."   

(I'm paraphrasing...)

The beginning.

It's an accordion book, but can be view one spread at a time.

The middle.

The end. 

 One of my favorite parts was writing text,

inspired by my original thoughts on my subject. 

Lots & lots of editing to keep it focused & brief.

I had written in the previous post that "there was 

so little left to do" on this book. 

Haha!...Little did I know!!!

 

The cover came last. 
I wanted to decorate it more, but I had a deadline.
The handmade books, the final projects 
from our Book Arts Class will be on view at USM 
during September with a lecture & reception on September 9.

The book was delivered yesterday, & I am exhilarated!

What joy to start with vague thoughts & ideas 
& to work with them 
as they evolve into concrete words & images~
Bound into a book!
I got to experience what my young art students
used to experience!

And, I finished it!!

Thank you to USM & Rebecca Goodale's 
Summer Book Arts Course!

Exploring Rather Than Wandering

 

Sketchbook Wandering. 

I've done it here for almost 7 years!!!!!

Sketching & writing still bring me joy & comfort, 

as when I took a pause from last Saturday's winter festivities

at a café on Main St. I sat by a wall.

My sketchbook transformed the scene to interesting theater.

There are people who appreciate my sketches, 

& some have learned from my process.

But:

Change might be starting...

Expression, discovery, exploration, reflection, 

& who knows what else! 

I've been experimenting with making marks 

with a brush & "high flow" acrylic paints.

(Thanks, for introducing me, Beth. Go to Sew Sew Art.)

My marks turned to shapes & my shapes 

arranged themselves.

Aaaah, order...but maybe not too much...

More will be revealed...