Figure Friday -

Getting back into the swing of 'real life'. Trying to reassert the feeble beginnings of routine and 'balance' (life can't be all about gardening. Or can it...?)

Today, a couple of my POBL cohorts came to my Life Drawing session - I was especially interested in a recent technique that the awesome Kathleen Kemly has been working on the last 6 months or so.

She's been drawing from life with her left hand (see? photographic evidence! and yes, she is normally right handed) - to great effect!

(drawn by Kathleen)
There are a couple of reasons for this - first is to bypass all the drawing 'habits' and the visual shorthand that comes from them. Since your hand doesn't know what to do out of habit, you are forced to really *look* again -

(drawn by Kathleen)
- and secondly, it helps to de-lateralize your brain. Easier to get right into the right hemisphere. Ones' non-dominant hand may not be as facile as the other, but see how lyrical ones' lines can be?

(drawn by me)
So here are my first, tentative attempts with my left hand. So hard! And amazingly exhausting!

(brain dead -back to the right hand)
It sooo fried my brain that after about an hour of that I was reduced down to only drawing feet...

Retreat 2008 - Part VIII (Journey to Fairyland)

I've been saving this final installment from our retreat last month for the art 'treat' at the end of this post to be completed.

Off behind the cabin and into the woods and over the stream is a path that leads into what has now been dubbed fairyland...

The stream is lined with hummocks and gnarly roots and other places that the fairies live.

In fact, if you look closely, you may see some of their houses.





Fellow POBL-member Kathleen was so inspired by the enchanted surroundings that she painted this piece of fairy wonderfulness.

Magical place, all around, indeed. :-)

Studio Spotlight -

This week I made a visit to the studio of Kathleen Kemley, one of my POBL cohorts. She generously volunteered to help me lay out initial sketches on a new book project of mine (I am sort of over-scheduled [what's new, you ask?] and she is killer-fast at this).

She lives in a darling house (complete with gardens and backyard chickens - she's one of my role models!), full of original pieces of art and inspired accents.

Her [very clean and orderly] studio is lovely - filled with character and light. A terrific combination of functionality and personality.

It's especially fun to see someone, whose work you are quite familiar with, in their 'natural habitat'. :-)

Studio details... (I am totally coveting her light fixture.)

It was a lovely afternoon of fabulous surroundings, good company and a big head-start on my latest project. Thanks Kathleen!