blind line

Life has got very busy these last few weeks, and I continue along with the blind line drawings.  They have become a sort of meditation for me, an activity for which there is no hoped-for end result and therefore no pressure.

The drawings have morphed a bit over time, as my hand develops a memory for the shapes and lines.  Some of the coloured-in bits I can also now do without looking, an interesting development.  

Where will this practice take me?  For the time being I just keep drawing and watching and waiting.

patterns and people

I started my morning with a couple of quick sketches.  First an eyes-closed drawing (the colouring-in parts are done with eyes open) and then a portrait of my husband.  

Both done with Sharpie paint markers + watercolour crayons on 130lb paper, 9x12 inches.

Patterns and people.  A good start to this day.

From the Archives (1)

I've been going through some old image files...

I went to Capilano College in 1994-6, enrolled in the Studio Arts Foundation program there.  I recently discovered, to my dismay, that the Studio Arts program no longer exists at what is now Capilano University.

While at the College, I applied for and received an international study grant which allowed me to live in Kuala Lumpur and study Fine Arts at the Institut Seni Lukis Malaysia.  It was a grand adventure, both exhilarating and at times very difficult, as all grand adventures are.  

Among other things I made some portraits while living and studying in KL.

And I continued to make portraits when I returned to Canada.

 



















It's interesting to look through older work, sort of nostalgic and also affirming: I've been at this art practice thing for awhile now, getting on a couple of decades.

Sometimes I feel frustrated with what seems a lack of worldly success... but then I think about all the twists and turns a life can take, and I feel fortunate to have been able to persevere with making art of one sort or another pretty much all my life.

There are many more archives and I may post some more images over the next few weeks.  It seems like a necessary sort of grounding exercise right now.

Thanks for reading :)