I stole a little time Monday morning with my paints and art journal to capture these last tokens of the summer sunshine. It felt good to slow down and connect with my creativity, with the light, with the ripe tomatoes sitting on the table in front of me.
The open window brought in the sounds of my fountain and the warbling of a Song Sparrow. Time stilled. Life expanded. All that existed were two tomatoes in the sunlight in the moment. Peace.
I hope you can steal a little time in your day today to create for self-care.
Friday's Osher Figure Drawing class brought us model Sophia, whose remarkable creativity and flexibility inspired us all. We began with 3-minute gesture poses in which we focused on the skeletal underpinnings first, then added in contours and shading.
We moved on to 4-minute poses, focused on drawing wrapped lines of cross-contours to help us understand how to express Sophia's foreshortened forms.
Sophia put a Herculean effort into the back bend pose below, with much of her body weight held by her right arm. We shortened the pose length to 2 minutes, yet everyone managed to get a full drawing. Energized by Sophia's effort, we artists drew faster, intent on capturing as much of Sophia's pose as we could.
We incorporated a study of drawing feet into our foreshortening theme, taking 10 minutes to draw Sophia's feet in a close-up study.
We finished the class with a long pose that included foreshortening and excellent lighting to show Sophia's contours.
Many thanks to model Sophia for inspiring us with her joyful spirit and expressive poses!
Our Osher Figure Drawing term began last Friday, and we were fortunate enough to have Hector as our model.
We began with 2-minute mass gesture poses to warm up. We swept the side of our charcoal over the page to express the forms of Hector's body. We moved on to 3-minute poses, adding several descriptive contour lines to the smoky silhouettes.
Changing to a more abstract approach, we played with using only 5 lines to capture Hector's 1-minute poses.
And finished up with a 15-minute pose:
And a long pose of nearly an hour. Hector had brought along a beautiful woodland scene backdrop, and some silk flowers, inspiring us to imagine him as the King of the Forest.
A delightful morning spent swept away into the Zen of figure drawing. Many thanks to model Hector!
The rainy summer has produced an abundance of flowers in my backyard garden. Lately, I've enjoyed snipping a bundle of zinnias, marigolds, calendulas, & Queen Anne's lace with a Purple Coneflower to top the bouquet. Basil and spearmint add a lovely green backdrop to show off the bright colors.
A pint jar of fresh flowers on my desk brightens the energy and gives me something beautiful and natural to focus on while in a Zoom meeting. Recently, at the end of one such meeting, when my note-taking was done, I added a sketch to my meeting notes.
I have wanted a fountain in my yard for the longest time. Having admired the elegant WPA-era fountains in public parks and gardens, I've always imagined one in my yard but never quite put the resources toward my vision until this summer.
I began bringing my imagination to life by creating my own "FrankenFountain" out of buckets, pots and quart canning jars.
Great for creating a vision, but I wanted something more refined. I searched online and found the one that suited me. When it arrived on Friday morning, I was ready with a location prepared with a level sand base for it to rest on.
But I wasn't prepared for the feelings that came after my husband David and I finished assembling the kit, filled the basin with water and powered it up.
I expected to be charmed and delighted by the beauty of this new garden feature, but I was mesmerized by the flowing water.
The fountain married with the stones and sand conjured images of early civilizations that demonstrated their organization by providing a public square with a fountain. I could envision early Romans in togas assembling alongside me as I stood enchanted by the musical water.
Simple running water represents the best in human civilization -- unity & cohesiveness that allow members to work together to improve everyday life for the people. What a surprising balm after daily news of division and rancor between humans.
I realized that the fountain wasn't just a beautiful addition to my garden, but a gift of self care. And I felt it fitting to bring out my art journal and watercolors and paint it.
Wishing you a Labor Day weekend filled with self care, positive energy and light.
