Untitled

New work! This is a 60"x48" oil on canvas. The image is from a storm cloud in Northern Colorado last June; not an epic storm, just a pretty one.

I have spent much of my life watching these thunderstorms grow over the plains of Colorado. It was very nice of the weather to cooperate during my family visit last June; lovely weather overall and a small thunderstorm.

This shows the underpainting (used to lay out the composition, establish value, and as a tool for layering) and the finished piece. This piece is not yet titled.

Dawn

The Need for Solitude

"Solitude" mixed media, 16x20 on illustration board

I've been spending a lot of time walking this summer, particularly through the woods all around Port Townsend. The rhythm of walking, the quietude, the sights to be found: all these things quiet my mind like nothing else can.

This piece began as a failed watercolor; it was not very interesting. I added layers of charcoal and clear gesso to the piece which gave it depth and the illusion of having detail. The final coat is an oil glaze to further enrich the surface.

Happy walking and painting,
Dawn

Birth of a Tree (drawing...)

So here is a drawing process for you. I have been experimenting in the studio with drawing effects and have come up with a mixed-media approach that is making me very happy. The final surface is rich with process and almost patina-like effects. I have been very inspired by the work of Larry Thomas in California; he has a series of monumental drawings that are amazing. Johanna and Shirley at Akamai Art here in Port Townsend were instrumental in helping me figure this out.

The first three images are straight up charcoal on watercolor paper. At this point I realize I have made a critical compositional error in the diagonal branch at the top right hand side of the piece, which detracted from the overall movement. Image 4 shows how much I was able to erase but, by image 5, I have employed a layer of Acryla Gouache (Holbein) to cover the mistake. Aaah, gouache. The artist's whiteout.

Next I fixed the holy living hell out of it so that I could apply a layer of clear gesso without lifting the charcoal. Clear gesso has tooth to it that colored gesso does not, a perfect layer to seal in the first layers of charcoal and be able to work more layers on top. This is fundamental as the next multitude of layers include more vine charcoal and oil washes. I used about 10 layers of oil washes, which involve a little tiny bit of paint in a ton of pale drying oil and mineral spirits. This serves to encase the charcoal and gives the drawing that luster I mentioned.

This process is very happy-making. It feels like encaustic as you are sealing in various layers; both watercolor and oil painting; and drawing.

The last image is a detail, in which you can kind of see what a cool surface this is.

"The Grove" is 25"x38" in size, available unframed for $125.

Dawn

Drawings

New work, done as part of my graduate studies. I have been thinking about trees a lot, easy to do when you live up here.

When I was finding myself again last summer, I went to visit my friends in Novato, CA. I spent hours walking the dry California hills above their house, delighting in the isolation, the views, nature above giant tracts of humanity. I also delighted in the trees. Weird, oddly shaped trees, trees I was not familiar with. These trees make me think of European myths and about dryads and tree entities, beings being trapped in trees or becoming trees, trees becoming people. Some of their forms are so surreal they look like mythical beings. Some of them just Feel powerful.

Inspired greatly by Larry Thomas, I began some larger drawings on good paper. It feels great to be drawing “seriously” again.

This first image “Lost and Found” (top) is supposed to be non-representational, though I began with source photography. I fought the image of the bird that kept reemerging until, finally, I realized it needed to be there. This piece is charcoal and pastel on Stonehenge paper, 22x30" in size.

The second piece, “California Trees” (middle) is from a very complicated image, vast patterns of branches. I remember at the time thinking about the patterns of light and shadow as a language spoken by nature. Also charcoal and pastel on Stonehenge, 22x30" in size.

“Offering” (bottom) is a looser quicker image, influenced by the joy of a new paintbrush (Liquitex Freestyle Paddle brush = too cool!) The immediacy of ink and concentrated watercolor and a springy brush gave me freedom. I did not draw this out ahead of time. The focal point of the lighter branch resembles a dryad, she and her tree. This was not intentional but fits. "Offering" is on Rives BFK, 22x30" in size.

Each of these drawings are available unframed for $100 each.

Dawn

"Vessel"

My new painting is titled "Vessel." I began this piece during my oil painting class, and my students commented on how the under-painting looked like a ship. This was complete serendipity. As I have spent so much time drawing and painting boats in the course of my graduate work, the structure of the boat unintentionally manifested itself into my under-painting of trees.

I, unfortunately, did not get a good picture of this under-painting as I was anxious to finish the work. If you look at the overriding structure of tree trunks and branches, though, they kind of resemble masts.

When I started thinking of this image I was on a walk through the woods contemplating the power of becoming a vessel, of allowing yourself to step aside and let higher powers move through you. It is counter-intuitive that, in relinquishing your own ego and sense of yourself, you become more powerful. You allow yourself to become more than you can possibly be just on your own two feet. The trick is in getting yourself out of your own way!

Thus "Vessel" is a play on words but is very much on my mind on all counts.

The piece is an oil on canvas, 24" x 48" in size, and my ego is allowing me to sell it for $995.

Happy painting, walking, and contemplating to you as we head towards June!

Dawn

The Birds Go Pirate

Well I tried, but the the birds have their own agenda. After painting them and drawing them in their little canoes repeatedly they decided they wanted to evolve in the grand scheme of nautical history.

They pirated these ships.

I am not proud of this, but they are particularly driven in their need to find and claim new migratory routes. Plus these boats are more stylish.

The first image is the first pirated vessel. The pieces that follow are part of a series depicting the fleet. You will not see the birds on these ships as it is an issue of scale. The boats are huge, the birds are busy.

What I like about these two ensuing images besides the conceptual component are the lines and the flat washes. Frankly, they remind me of the children's books I grew up with in the days before full-colored illustrations were affordable. The fresh linear elements excite me. The layered sense of space came about through transparency, as if you could see through all the ships to the horizon. It is meant to create a sense of limitless space and ships innumerable. All of these pieces are mixed drawing media and tempera paint on watercolor paper, 22x30" in size.

I am a bit afraid of what the birds will make me do next. At the moment they are in their pilot quarters pouring over maps...

Manifest Destiny

One of the series that came about through my graduate work at Goddard College. This entire series is tiled "Manifest Destiny." It is a combination of the academic research I am engaged in, which involves the Romantic artists of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. What fascinates me about these artists is that they were scientifically oriented, they traveled great distances to create their images, and they were obviously blown away by the landscapes they found in the American West. The dichotomy is that, in creating these paintings of the wilderness that so inspired them, they actually aided in its destruction.

This series began with the sculptural element: birds in boats (scale is 4" to 15", media is ClayShay(r)). The birds came to me. It is partially based on perceptual imagery from the Pacific Northwest, namely the fact that I often see a line of birds resting on a log out in the Strait. These are usually cormorants or gulls, but it inspired the idea of migratory birds building boats and heading West, looking for better migratory routes they could monopolize. I love these birds, but there is a seriousness about them that cannot be denied. Their ultimate goal is to take over the world...

From the sculpture came the drawings, which are all mixed drawing media on various paper. Their scale ranges from 11x14 to 30x40. I like the fact that they have a textile feeling to them, which speaks to the historical element. It is a big step for me to work perceptually from a conceptual element.

The birds have big plans--watch for their latest escapades here!
Dawn