April Drawings

This month I've been making new drawings using foam-core and cardboard. I dip the ends of each material in ink and make impressions on a piece of paper. The advantage is a new type of mark-making for me. I'm still drawing with the materials but my hand is not as primary. Of course it's mostly been variations on grids but i enjoy the quality of the ink and the spills are sincere and not planned or manipulated at all. This week I'm working on a very large version of these two drawings, (these could be considered studies, even at 44 x 50 inches in scale.

Melissa's Birthday Photo

My friend Melissa had a big birthday last year, I won't say which one, and I made a panoramic photograph to commemorate the occasion. I gave her a print of the image and she immediately had a unique idea on how to frame the photo. It was not an approach that had ever occurred to me, leave it to a non-artist to come up with something unusual. The framing presented some issues to my framer, Leif at 'Wall to Wall' Framing in Chicago. But he loves a challenge and after some time problem-solving, came up with a beautiful finished product. We installed the piece last weekend, made a party out of it, and I'm posting both the original photo and the finished product as it hangs on Melissa's wall. It gives me an idea for a future installation!

Queen Anne's Lace - Triptych

I spent the last week of March house/dog sitting in Wilmette. I did the same thing last year for spring break and the weather was 70 degrees all week. This year the weather was cold, 30 degrees and cloudy. I always try to bring a project with me while in the suburbs and this year being trapped inside most of the time, I cross hatched a triptych of plant forms. The image came from the bird sanctuary near Montrose Harbor in Chicago. The drawing moves from chaos and density, up toward simplicity and clear form. It did take almost 40 hours of crosshatching, but they had good cable and I broke up the days with dog walks. Each panel is approximately 12 x 19 inches.