Quick Ink Wash

Carolyn Jacobs, quick 20 min. ink wash on Arches 140lb paper

To me, the secret of grace is learning how to move within your limitations.

New York--November, 2011 edition

New York in November.  I got lucky---the weather was fantastic, so there was nothing to distract me from the work and my aching, ham-like feet.  First on the agenda was a trip to Danese to see the April Gornik show.

Light in the Woods, April Gornik
see more at www.aprilgornik.com

I had high expectations for this show---maybe unrealistic expectations. There is a sense of stillness in the work.  It is not about representing or rendering nature, but being within in.  It is lovely, but I walked away feeling somehow unfulfilled.  I still haven't figured out why.

Then on to the de Kooning retrospective at MoMA, and the teeming masses of people taking advantage of Target Free Friday. A woman with her eyebrows plucked into a constant state of surprise.  It was really too crowded to actually enjoy the exhibit, but it is a striking exhibit all the same.  de Kooning is a little uneven, I think.  I really don't like the "women" series at all, but the man sure could wield a paintbrush. My favorite series is the black and white theme.  God, I wish I had painted those. They are utterly perfect.

Painting, Willem de Kooning, 1948
MoMA, http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/dekooning/

On to the Metropolitan and the Steigliz and His Circle exhibit.  I enjoyed this show, which included many of the 291 artist he promoted.  Steiglitz was really promoting some wonderful and radical work early in the 20th century. I think he often gets  a little overshadowed by the O'Keeffe fame.  My favorite O'Keeffe works have always been the abstract pieces she exhibited with Steglitz early in her career.  I was excited to see watercolors by Arthur Dove, Charles Demuth, and John Marin in this exhibit. They are just so fresh and experimental.  Love.

Charles Demuth, Yellow and Blue, 1915

http://metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/210008728?pkgids=175

Next, I spent some time in the Africa/Oceanic galleries, which are fascinating.  The Head of an Oba with a carved tusk inserted into the top is powerful.  I can certainly see how they are representations of physical and spiritual powers. There is something rather sweet about the Dogon Couple.  And, I feel this will creep into my work somehow/someday:

 Power Figure, Congo
He's got all sorts of mystical and mysterious powers, including a little stomach shelf to hold medicines. I want one.

 

Bis pole

I want a bis pole too. These are just amazing and intricate, and majestic. They were meant to honor the dead of the Asmat people, as well as a reminder to avenge their deaths, because they believed no death was accidental.  After the ceremony/feast, they would be allowed to decay naturally and nourish the earth.

Watercolor demo at the Mint Museum Grand Opening

Angela at the Mint
watercolor, 30x22"
30 minute demo for the Mint Museum Grand Opening
October 2, 2010

Watercolor Figure Study

Michele
watercolor on 300lb Arches cold press
July 2010

Begin as you mean to go on....

Update-o-rama!! I've been a bad blogger over the last few months....

James, watercolor
collection of the model

Fauna....sprawling...:-)

Fauna, sprawling (30 minute timed sketch)
watercolor, about 24x18", November 16, 2008

Retrouvaille, number four

Retrouvaille, number four

watercolor on 300 lb Arches, 8x10", september 29, 2008 at 9:30pm
A very hard day.

Belated Happy Birthday, Maureen!

Lucy and Pat
watercolor, 11x14", september 13, 2008

Michelle, reclining

Michelle, reclining

ink on Arches 140lb watercolor paper, 16x20", september 12, 2008

From the book "For the Time Being" by Annie Dillard

"Throughout my whole life", he noted later [French palentologist Teilhard de Chardin], "during every minute of it, the world has been gradually lighting up and blazing before my eyes, until it has come to surround me, entirely lit up from within."

Retrouvaille, Number Two

Retrouvaille, number two

watercolor, 11x14", september 9, 2008

"Of all the Ten Commandments, 'Thou shalt not murder' always seemed to me the one I would have to worry the least about, until I got old enough to see there are many different kinds of death, not all of them physical. There are murders as subtle as a turned eye. Dante was inspired to install Satan in ice, cold indifference being so common a form of evil."

Ann Truitt, Daybook, 1982

Nicole

Nicole, watercolor, 16x20"

I think I've found my new favorite way to work....after watching a demo by Jon Houghton, I just threw the paint on the paper. I am liberated!

Exposing Scarlet; CPCC Responds

This image is on display in Pease Gallery through March 31, as part of Artsfest at CPCC. Please visit Exposing Scarlet: A Visual Response to the Scarlet Letter in Ross Gallery, and CPCC Responds in Pease Gallery.

Portrait of My Mother, For My Daughter

pearls, watercolor on 300lb Arches paper, mounted on canvas, 24x30"

One day I found a sweet looking photograph of my mother as a child. “Are you holding a doll in this picture?” I asked. “No” she said. “I’m holding my dead sister”. It was common in Appalachia during that time to record life and death through a photograph. As I read the Scarlet Letter, I was conscious of the role of nature and the impact of civilization. Nature takes without conscious thought or deliberation, as with my little aunt I never knew. Pearl, regardless of her conception, survives by nature’s whim. Today, nature doesn’t always decide fate…she could be created in a test tube or vacuumed from her mother’s womb. In regards to nature and science, I do not propose that one is good and the other bad…they are simply facts of life today. Portrait of My Mother, For My Daughter acknowledges the grace that allows my mother, myself and my daughter to survive by nature’s whim and without civilization’s intervention. The pearls in the painting represent the lives that are not so fortunate.

Watercolor Demo----"High Rocks"

High Rocks, Pippa Passes, KY

watercolor on 300lb Strathmore cold press paper, about 20 x 16"
landscape demo for my watercolor class

Detail of "Meet in the Forest"

Detail of Meet in the Forest.
I think the previous post doesn't really show the cool texture of this drawing....

Sketch for "Couple"

Sketch for Couple, watercolor about 16x20", 2008

Meet in the Forest

Meet in the Forest, watercolor, 11x17", 2008
For upcoming Exposing Scarlet exhibit at Pease Gallery

St. Francis at Whitman Ranch, Christmas 2007

St. Francis at Whitman Ranch, Christmas 2007

watercolor, about 5x7"

It was just me, St. Francis and the fat little squirrel who watched the sun rise on that foggy morning. What a lovely way to start a freakin' cold day....:-)

Watercolor Sketch of Jo and Al Whitman

Jo and Al, Christmas, 2007
watercolor, about 5x7"

This was just a quick sketch done while they weren't paying attention, though Jo caught on later on........