This Week in the Studio

Sketchbook

composition studies from a recent trip to the art museum: 

William Merrit Chase and Richard Diebenkorn

teaching notes from Artistic Anatomy at the Manifest Drawing Center

diagrams and notes adapted from Robert Beverly Hale and Dr. Paul Richer

Studio, April

Buona Pasqua a tutti, from my studio to yours 

xoxo

Red Queen

NEW WORK: 

Red Queen   |   2017   |   chalk pastel on paper   |   22x22"

I usually listen to classical music in the studio. One of the things I look forward to each Saturday is the Metropolitan Opera broadcast that streams live on the Cincinnati classical radio station. A few weeks ago they played La Traviata, which is one of my favorites. I'm sure I had Violetta's red dress in my head while working on this drawing. Sempre Libera... 

There is something about the color red. Maybe it's my preoccupation with Rothko, but that color has always seemed to have a special kind of power. It lingers in my brain most clearly. All this is to say that I don't think I'm quite finished with these floor tiles yet...

Countless Paths

Countless Paths   |  2017  |   chalk pastel on paper  |   22x22"

These kinds of tiles always remind me of a chessboard. The destination of every chess game is the same: checkmate or draw. Yet, the paths to the endgame are innumerable and varied. It's less about where you are going and more about how you get there. Are you playing for pieces or are you playing for strategy?

The chess metaphor breaks down fairly quickly in art, as we aren't actually competing against an opponent. Art isn't a competition, or a battle - it is connection... communication... creation. It is reaching across the void of time and space to touch someone profoundly, if only for a moment.