New Work

Here are a couple of new pieces I will be showing this weekend. I'm excited about this series made with Sumi ink and mixed media on rice paper and mounted on aluminum. Both pieces are 24 x 18 in.

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Recent Work

I've been doing a lot of birds lately. I'm moving toward including more representational elements in larger mostly abstract work, but I'm enjoying these small studies on their own. They bring together several techniques I've been trying to combine for awhile. All are 12 x 12 in. wood panels.

 

 

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Looking and Drawing

I've been drawing more (and posting less) lately. I'm still looking for a way to combine some of the techniques I've used in the past into a new synthesis. Creativity, in my opinion, is not really about making anything new - all the elements and principles and potentials are already in place. But as we explore new ways of relating and perceiving we create an inner experience of both cause and effect. We just happen to leave bits of physical evidence here and there.

But that is getting beyond the subject of this post. All this searching I've been doing has put a serious crimp in my painting productivity. So I'm looking to drawing to get back in the flow. Drawing is a great way to focus your attention outside of yourself.

This drawing was done with sumi ink using crude split-reed brushes and pens that I make from dried grasses and bamboo. Broader washes are done with a traditional Chinese calligraphy brush. It's one of my favorite techniques. I love the unpredictability. And I think crows are pretty cool too. The second version is digitally colored and composited with part of an old painting for the background.

Some of my ink drawing tools

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