sketchbook: siren

She sings her siren

song

and the current

riffles though her tail

like a gentle breeze

through a leafy tree.

K. van Schoonhoven

I have long been enamored of mermaids. I remember swimming as a little girl with my legs together as if I had a single tail with a fin on it. I read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" before I was 10.

In college, I read Homer's The Odyssey and was thrilled by the description of the sirens. Their song, so captivating, they lured many entranced sailors to their deaths on the rocky shore. Odysseus, determined to hear their song and survive, instructed his sailors to lash him to the mast and to stop their own ears with wax. They sailed past the sirens and Odysseus heard the song, but because he was immobilized, and his crew deaf to his cries, he could not order them to follow the song to their destruction.

Also in college, I "discovered" the Pre-Raphaelites and saw the beautiful painting, "The Siren,"  by John William Waterhouse.

"The Siren" by J.W. Waterhouse, 1900

Now, with a regular habit of swimming and many hours spent on the water in a boat, I continue to entertain an attraction for these mythical creatures. 

Heraclitus: "Knowing many things

does not teach insight."

Mermaids and Sirens in Art and Illustration video.

thank you, Robert Burridge!

I came across this YouTube video of artist Robert Burridge painting pears.

And thought: why not?

Instead of pears, I used the beautiful Marilyn Woods vase you see in the photo. 

finding my way

 When life becomes hectic, frantic, upsetting, confusing, demanding, it's hard for me to figure out a way to find my way back into my creative space.

Oh, I can go into the studio and squeeze out some paint and move color around, but I don't feel a zip of energy. I feel empty. Blah. Beige. Believe me. Beige is not a good feeling.

When I was actively playing piano, I had a similar experience. But, I found a remedy. If I played through the Bach Preludes and Fugues (the Well-Tempered Clavier), I found my way back. You can listen to these familiar, gorgeous pieces played by Glenn Gould here.

Even today, listening to the Preludes and Fugues brings order to the chaos and calms me while at the same time directing me back to my own creative journey.

With art making, Bach works a little bit, but when I add to it a simple practice of Suminagashi, I feel myself resting and awakening. I fill a tray with water and slowly touch the surface with Sumi ink. The oil in the ink allows it to float on the water surface. I manipulate the ink and disturb the surface and watch how the water creates eddies and space. Finally, I create a print of the ink on rice paper.

Like any good meditation, Suminagashi leaves me open and ready for the next thing.

Ink, Water, Breath.

theater of life

Sometimes it seems the stage is crowded and the dialogue overlaps in ways incomprehensible. Then one character leaves and the rest adjust themselves to the hole left by the one. And then, another joins us. So it seems. With death and birth and marriage. So it has been in my life this year.

"All the World's a Stage" by William Shakespeare in "As You Like It"  (Act II:vii) read by Morgan Freeman.

First Friday, October

"It's All about Me ... It's All About We!"
First Friday
October 4, 2013

In Bocca al Lupo Fine Art
2025 SE Jefferson Street
Milwaukie, OR

Hope to see you there!

happens

Here's the palette.

Here are the preliminary sketches.

Let's see what happens!

Tommy Emmanuel. Shows me that sometimes when I think I know what will happen, there are still surprises out there. And sometimes the surprises are good!

abstracting a scene

The gap between representational art and abstract art fills me with some interesting ideas.

In the pen and ink sketch above, I started with a representational scene. Where were the roads/ramps leading down to the water? Where were the trees? Buildings? Cars? Then, I looked at the scene again and asked myself "What are the most essential lines or shapes in this scene?" Each of the following five sketches is a different answer to that same question.

 "What are the most essential lines or shapes in this scene?"

Our time on the boat this summer offered many opportunities for quiet meditations and observations like the one you see above. 

I look forward to my time in the studio now when I can explore those designs with paint or maybe with woodcut. It will be interesting!

plein air in the Columbia River Gorge

Here's my pastel plein air set up at the Vista House in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. 

Early in the day it was not too busy at this popular view point and overlook. To stand in the landscape, open to all it has to reveal, is a heady experience. More observation leads to more understanding and that leads to more personal response to the landscape.

To the East, Vista House View, 10 x 10, pastel on paper

As the morning heated up, more people came. In cars and on bikes. In motorhomes and in trucks. Many people took photographs of me painting. Many people wanted to talk to me. As you would suspect, it spoiled my concentration.

Distracted Abstraction, to the East, 8 x 8, pastel on paper

Instead of getting frustrated by that, I decided to just paint an abstraction of the place, plus my feelings about being so distracted by all of the people. 

Vista House, built 1918

If you are interested in seeing more of the Columbia River Gorge area, I recommend the book Wild Beauty: Photography of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867 - 1957.

More about the Vista House here.

The Weavers sing "Roll On Columbia."

Courtney, charcoal, 28 x 26

I've known and loved her since she was a little girl. As soon as she started to play the flute, I started to accompany her. She sat as one of my first models when she was just 14.

 Now she is a beautiful young woman, taking on the world in her own way.

Her kindness exceeds her beauty.

And right now she is very ill.

I think about her every day.

And I wish her every good thing. Health. Peace. Restoration.

Soon, when she is well again, we will do the happy dance together. 
In the meantime, blessings to her.

Joan Baez. "Forever Young."

summer reading

monotype, 8 x 8

I collected many new art books after taking Joseph Mann's painting the figure workshop earlier this month. Now my reading is all about Matisse, Cezanne, Post-Impressionists, Picasso, Leland Bell, and others. 

Here's a portion of my summer reading list. Maybe you will see something that piques your interest!

Henri Matisse: A Retrospective, John Elderfield

Henri Matisse Drawings 1936

Cezanne, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cezanne His Life and Works in 500 Images, Susie Hodge

Post Impressionism, Nathalia Brodskaia

Picasso and Photography: The Dark Mirror

Anne Baldassari

Leland Bell, Nicholas Fox Weber

The Killers "Read My Mind."