We just passed Summer Solstice and up here in the Pacific Northwest, it means that the sky still holds some light at 10:00 pm and brightens with the birds at 4:00 am. Plenty of light for art making!
Although I appreciate the time and solitude for art that the pandemic offers, I'm struggling to hold the paradoxes of this time. There has been much suffering, both from the pandemic and the sorrow and rage that prompted nationwide protests. At the same time, we have found new ways to connect with each other. The inability to gather in person has forced us as artists to think in new ways, to reflect on how we can teach and share our art with the world right now.
For my part, I've found the desire to make art has only grown stronger. I've taken part in Zoom classes and an online sketchbook challenge and both inspired me to consider my work from different angles. My first full summer on Whidbey Island adds another inspiration; altering my palette to include the varied hues of this area.
Spring Wind, 20” x 15”, Monoprint collage
In the Studio
Every Tuesday morning throughout April and May, I spent an hour drawing leaves, trees, rocks, shells and imaginary landscapes with my friend and mentor, Sara Post. Her solution to cancelled workshops was to offer drawing classes online. Her 1-2 minute challenges produced a kind of line that I've been looking for but hadn't found on my own. A more fluid and improvisational hand is making its way into my collage work.
In case you want to get in on the fun, she's beginning a challenge on June 30 called, "Drawing Every Day" and you can contact her here for more information.
Also in early May, I was contacted by an art consultant in Boston curating work for Boston Children's Hospital. I didn't have work available, and so set off on a two week printing and collage frenzy in the studio. It was an opportunity to work larger and to incorporate a more subdued (read soothing) palette and asemic writing. You can see one of the pieces, Spring Wind, above. I've spent the last two days printing up collage paper and look forward to jumping into more such works.
Asemic writing is a wordless open semantic form of writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content", or "without the smallest unit of meaning". With the non-specificity of asemic writing there comes a vacuum of meaning, which is left for the reader to fill in and interpret.
Samantha Kay
Introductions
Last, and definitely not least, I want to introduce you to a new person in my life: my granddaughter, Samantha Kay. This is my first experience as a grandmother and from the moment I saw her, she captured my heart. As far as acts of creation go, giving birth is the pretty much the ultimate.