Saturday, June 29, 2013

Foolishness




You know, it occurs to me that toilet paper folds bear a resemblance to the drapery folds that are so common on Baroque statues.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Wrench and Banana




This is basically a simple observational drawing. However, when is observation just observation? Both objects are important objects in my life. I eat a banana every morning, and use the wrench every night to turn on the spigot in order to water the garden. So, the choice of subject matter betrays an element of self expression. These objects were the first to occur to me because I use the every day. You will notice I did not draw a food processor. That is because I never use a food processor. Perhaps one of these days I should make drawings of objects I would otherwise never notice.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

15 Minutes in the Morning

This morning, I went to the dentist instead of the studio. But, I did take a few minutes to draw at a diner while waiting for the dentist to open.




Monday, June 24, 2013

And He Was In The Desert...

This drawing represents what people maybe was when they looked at John the Baptist (on the right) vs. what being in the desert maybe was actually like (silhouette on the left).


There is a hermitage retreat place where I used to go in Minnesota. Sometimes going there felt claustrophobic and crazy. Imagine being alone with your own thoughts for 24 hours! Once though, I experienced this sort of timelessness. Every movement in the forest became interesting - the progress of the shadows, the squirrels, the changing light of the day. I sat it the cabin and watched the day pass. Weeks later, back in the city, I was not feeling so peaceful. A wise person told me to go back in my mind to the hermitage. I imagined myself in the cabin, and felt in my body the effects of the experience of timelessness once again. She said to me (and yes, I know it sounds cliche), "See, the hermitage exists inside of you."
So I say to myself this morning, even though I have never been there, "The desert exists inside of me."

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Cookie Drawing




This is an example of reducing a highly charged subject to its visual properties.



Friday, June 21, 2013

Firefox (Not the Browser)

One of my *very important* readers told me I should have more captions. The following drawing does not exactly have a caption. But, it has a (sort of) poem. And, no. I won't explain the poem. It is a hard thing to be both vulnerable and modest. If this blog - and this art - is open to the public, that means it is not a good forum to display things that are of their nature personal. However, if art is to effect others in a meaningful way, it has to effect them, in some way, on a personal level. So, how to resolve this dilemma? I think it is resolved by appealing to universal experiences. If the particular experience which inspired this drawing has elements that are common to all men, and this drawing is my expression of that experience in my own language and medium, then I hope my audience will experience something of those common elements according to frame of reference and common experience of each.
And now: The Yarn Dog FireFox


This is the yarn dog Firefox.
He lives in the mountain
spending a lot of time
with the mountain man.

Sometimes he comes in
to play with the Little Girl
or sits looking out over the garden
with the Old Woman.

Woman in White he avoids.
She is too melodramatic.
Always wringing her hands,
she cannot see him.

Gift from the man at the gate.
Little dog.
----------------------------------------

Just for the record though, a lot of the things I post have a back story only to the extent of "Oo. I enjoy that form/color/je ne sais quoi. Let's draw it." Like little 'mater here:


Saturday, June 8, 2013

Tantrum

Tantrum:


Tea with the old woman:


Flock of Birds:


So, sometimes observation (as a part of drawing) means interior observation.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Impractical Work or The "Studio"




This is a drawing from the "studio" which means it is a product of observation and expression created for no materially practical purpose. I have been fortunate lately to have had opportunities to apply creative skills to projects outside the "studio" lately. For this I am grateful. It is gratifying to be useful. These projects I am choosing not to publish in my blog because they have their own audience already. This drawing is an affirmation of the necessity of the "studio" to being an artist. I thought about not drawing for the "studio" this morning because I have other practical creative work to do. However, I have learned that in order to remain available for practical work as an artist, I need to be creating impractically. Of course, this means the impractical work is really practical. It's just not apparently practical.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Good Shepherd




Drawn from an icon I found on the Internet.
For possible use in ministry street art.