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The Artful Readers Club for January
Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures by Cathy Johnson Sat in front of a local church on a sunny Saturday, then picked some flowers to examine. I only had a pencil so I added the watercolor later. Armed with few supplies, I went to one of my favorite spots and doodled. Lines added in Photoshop before posting...timid me. Please note: I recommend this book for any artist at any stage...my reference to 12-13 year olds in this review, is remarked due to the value of journaling. It's actually a very sophisticated book on many levels. In a brief shuffle through the pages of Artist's Journal Workshop , I found myself conflicted. The book contains numerous examples of a style of art making that toggles between the hugely personal and a publishable 'look'. So, with that...the book set up on my shelf for nearly a year. Now, after an honest read, I still feel a bit conflicted...but in a way that offers some inspir...
Head-dress with rays like the sun, made out of colours of rainbow – an exploration of ego? The sun gives light like this? Of the power of the individual to make art and its costs, including the self-confidence required and the loneliness of the studio? I can’t help but feel there is a sort of return to the image of the Native American and an updating of it.
ReplyDeleteFalling leaves, autumnal theme of death and regeneration. The turquoise rays which stand out so much in the colour scheme – blue is associated with nobility, with the true gaze, with the heights of heaven above?
The white space behind is a significant structuring facet of the painting. It is perhaps significant that the hair is colourless – is there an imaginary scalping going on here, at some level?
A fish swims to or springs from the lips of this blood clouded, Janus-faced totem (significant, because we’re actually coming up to the end of year and January – Janus’s month) with a bloody tear and a fire smoulders to his or her left… A very complex piece of work.
The whole piece is made up of an illustration of a leaf from a Redwood Tree. It is a spin off of the idea of a tree spirit. It is only a section of a very large drawing/painting and colored in Photoshop. I didn't use the obvious tree colors just for something different.
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