Secret Lives

Crystal City
pastel, ink, crayon, watercolor
28 march 2013

I'm trying to close out two sketchbooks that have some unfinished pages in them. And I'm half-way through a new sketchbook. Day in and day out, the elves are at work making pictures of various things. This one languished for a few months between the dark closed pages of its book. I still don't know if it's really finished. It's close though. Maybe… I hate to be so mysterious about it all. Finished is just a feeling you get when when the painting itself gets to finally relax.

I wonder what they talk about when the sketchbook covers are closed. Maybe I don't want to know!!!

A Work Week

Just to demonstrate how demented or scattershot my artist-self is, I will now show you one slightly edited week of sketchbook entries. These were done between March 4 - 11, 2013. These images are generally worked on in the early morning before family duties and illustration work takes precedence. Most of these pictures are 8 1/2 x 11 inches or smaller.

March 4: "three travelers descend a mountain"

March 5: mustard plant doodle

March 7: charcoal & wash drawing of the river

March 7: yellow bird and pea soup

March 7: birds in a secluded thicket

March 9: bear in a boat in thunderstorm

March 10: a muskrat on the ice

March 11: view of water flowing over a dam

above: March 11th doodles

Riffraff

Here are some doodles done in church this morning: the Pointy People scurrying here and there. Looks like business as usual in Pointyville!

Have a pleasant and safe week!

purse-snatcher or hurry-er-upper?

a marble rolled under the oven…

Like Gulliver —only smaller

This dog will go anywhere!

An awkward dancer

self-portrait with Miss Cupcake

Trees like books too!

Not all Pointies are good. No sir!

Comings and Goings

"There is No Void"
27 Feb, 2013
watercolor, collage

Just when you think you've penetrated some mystery and are finally seeing Life at it's most impersonal and natural state…voilà! …here you are again: staring at your face in the mirror! Just try to sneak up on yourself sometime… it seems impossible. Making Art, for me, is a search for these types of surprises and the uncomfortable realities AND the comfort of homecoming that ensue. So there!
Bonne journée mes amis!