Renee with Turban

Renee with Turban, 2011
mixed media on paper, 22" x 30"

The stunning Renee Johnson modeling for my Mixed Media Portraiture class.

A Leo Moon

Henri Rousseau
The Sleeping Gypsy

It's high summer and we have fully entered the sign of Leo the Lion. Love this painting because I happen to have a Leo Moon...

Imprinting

A student of mine happily at work at Pickwick Independent Press.

The Girls, I, monoprint

The Girls, II, monoprint (ghost)

A July bouquet brought from my garden to the print studio...

Adding a second layer of information to the monoprint plate...

The Girls, III, monoprint

The Girls, IV, monoprint (ghost)

The Girls, V, monoprint with colored ink and pastel

The Girls, VI, monoprint (ghost)

I'm back in a printshop again! After graduating from MECA with a degree in Printmaking in '06, I have not done very much of it! That's about to change since I've recently joined Pickwick Independent Press and have started teaching there as well.

Here are some of my recent monoprint experiments - a series about sisters - specifically, me and my sister Sue. Susan and I are one year apart - almost but not quite Irish twins, and we certainly have many of the characteristics of true twins. We were dressed alike and were inseparable, and were referred to simply as The Girls in our family of six for quite a few years. This series begins to speak about issues of identity, symbiosis, codependence, interdependence, independence, and love...

The Noon Hour

The Noon Hour, etching
Isabel Bishop, 1935

While on my lunchbreak at work yesterday, I looked out the printshop window and saw this beautiful woman on the sidewalk below talking to her friends. It was 100+ degrees on the street, yet she looked so fresh and animated as she spoke that she practically danced as the hot wind blew her dress all about. She looked as though she'd stepped directly out of an Isabel Bishop painting, and indeed, I felt like I was channeling Isabel while observing her from my fourth floor perch.

(I actually know this woman - her name is Renee Johnson, and she is a professional model, an actress, and a dancer. Seeing her in her 30's inspired outfit on this record breaking scorcher of a day was like a cool breeze!)

Summer Break

I haven't been posting regularly, but I'll be back. Right now I've got alot on my mind...

Farnsworth Friday

Jo I, detail

Jo III

Jo II

Jo I

Three of my drawings from today's Life Drawing class at the Farnsworth. Ink, charcoal, pastel, and acrylic on heavy paper, each 29" x 41". Heading out of state for a week's vacation - see you back here next Friday! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!