Neighbour Cat enters the chat - 2025 04 14

 


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Magic and Mark-making - 2025 03 20

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  Pencil crayon, pen and ink, acrylic ink on paper, 6 1/2" x 5" Last night I decided to stay home and work on my drawing instead of going out to take part in an evening with the Vancouver Folk Song Society.  It was hard to make the choice, because both of these activities are my contribution to the antidote for authoritarianism and feel equally important.  I had a key pattern in progress and I was ready to put the third, final layer of lines, colour and washes. I was curious to see how it would turn out and that is where I put my energy. In his book, "Celtic art: The methods of construction", George Bain has a chapter on Key Patterns. I have added information from his book to give background about the meaning and significance of key pattern design. Some Chinese key patterns belong to periods prior to BC 1,000. In the British Museum there is an Egyptian carving showing a key pattern and interlacing dating BC 3500 - BC 3000. Square and diagonal key patterns engraved o...
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Creative Works - 2025 01 24

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  Acrylic ink and brush, glass pen, pen and ink on paper 9" x 6" Last evening my neighbour, and friend, Louise, came over for a drawing session. For many years we have passed each other on the street, this was our first time sitting down together to draw. I laid out a selection of papers, brushes, graphite, glass pens, ink pens, and acrylic inks on the dining room table. We used a collection of glass shot glasses for mixing ink washes and tones.  We started at 7 pm and finally wrapped up at 10 pm.  I was surprised by the drawing I made. It is a combination of techniques I have been exploring since I first started drawing in my late teens. A descriptive, dynamic contour line giving a sense of the edge of form, giving definition for a form to emerge. Symbolic markings of triangles, circles and short lines. Organic tracings of splash marks, their reach extending into exploratory threads. Tonal washes that give substance to shapes and definition between the emergence of shape...
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Women have power - 2025 03 07

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  I learned a new word last night at Drawing Together - horror vacui, or kenophobia - refers to a phenomenon in which the entire surface of a space or artwork is filled with detail and content, leaving no empty space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_vacui_(art) . The underlying philosophical principle is based on the idea that 'nature abors a vacuum'. Thus, empty space in a drawing or a manuscript goes against nature.  Alison was reminded of horror vacui when I showed the drawing I had been working on - an early exploration in using a circular frame for working up a step pattern.  There were four of us last evening drawing at the dining table. We each had our own sources of inspiration for our drawing projects: medieval art, pet bunnies, scenes from a movie, and celtic design.  We listened to a powerful recording of Alexandra Olasavsky's song, 'What Happens When a Woman' has power. I had heard a rendition the night before at Vancouver Folk Song Society evening c...
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