Islands of Stillness

Islands of Stillness

​"Islands of Stillness"  and "All These Intrusions" - acrylic and charcoal on toned paper, each 18" x 24".  Ready to frame.  Available here and at Artfinder.

Life drawing month continues here in PDX.  Last week's model was Stephen.  And oh how I struggled!  Each gesture and sketch seemed stilted and awkward and emotionless.  I couldn't get myself in the pocket of the easy drawing that  I felt in prior sessions.  But I persevered, pose after pose, until I had a stack of what I thought was pure crap. 

The next morning, I placed all the pieces on the studio floor and studied them.  To my delight, there was an ethereal-abstract-otherworldly feel in those drawings.  Which inspired me to bring a couple pieces to completion in an entirely different style than I originally expected.  And it may inform a new direction for me.  It is still percolating, but I am curious to explore more.

What happened overnight to turn crapola into something new and exciting?  No magic fairies worked under cover of darkness to make improvements to my efforts.  But my inner lens had been completely transformed - maybe by fairies, maybe by a good night's sleep.  The day of the class had been filled with interruptions, annoyances, irritations and frustrations.  My head was not in a good place. 

​"All these intrusions, majestically unfair and not of our timing.  So we spin and drop and catch and land.  And sometimes, we fall into these little islands of stillness...from which we are renewed..." MARK NEPO

A little "island of stillness" in the studio a day later and my headspace was renewed.  Along with  faith in my own two hands, which knew just what to do (apparently) even without a cooperative mind.  Now that does sound like the work of fairies...

All These Intrusions

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Today I am delighted to introduce emerging artist and my new intern - Fiona Denihan.

After just one day of putting her fresh eyes on my cyber presence, she developed goo-gobs of suggestions and new initiatives to help me achieve world domination (muwahaha).  In return, she will receive brand  and web development coaching to launch her own art into the wide world.  Look for some mad malarkey in the near future as Fiona teaches this old dog a few delightful new tricks. :)