Unfinished Project #2

There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath…

I’ve been working on this Sketchbook Project since the beginning of last summer.  It was originally due in January, but they extended the deadline until March.  So of course I stopped working on it regularly, and now I’ve lost focus.  Which is why I’m not a big fan of extended deadlines…just another excuse to procrastinate.  But it IS due in March, so I’ve got to recollect my thoughts and get back to work.

My inspirations for this sketchbook come from Paul Jenkins, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Paul Simon.  The theme I chose is “Parts of the Whole”, so I’m combining these influences on each page.  From Basquiat, I took the idea of putting sheet music into a collage.  And the music is Paul Simon’s song “Patterns”.

I’ve been thinking of doing embroidery based on the art of Paul Jenkins for some time.  His layers of color seem perfect for layers of stitching.

So…back to the drawing table.  You can see my completed Sketchbook Projects here:

https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=kerfe

More Tigers

Have I mentioned that there are less than 4000 wild tigers left in the world?  Well, it bears repeating.

The amazing thing about tigers that I recently learned is this:  there are more than 4000 tigers privately owned and in captivity in the United States.  And less than 400 of them are in zoos.

Seriously?  Think about it.  3500 tigers being kept as pets or performers.  Equal to the amount left in their native habitats, “free to be”, as we used to say in the 1960’s.

As to the art, I’ve been painting lots of big cats and decided to see what would happen if I drew them instead.

I’m still painting them…a bit stuck on tigers at the moment.  Well, the library keeps letting me renew the book.

You can see more big cats and other endangered species here:https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/painting/endangered-species/

Hand in Glove

 

In January I posted “Unfinished Project #1” as part of a resolution to complete this year some of the many things I started in years past.  This is a collaboration with Nina:  we each took one hand of a pair of gloves and remade it, and now they are coming together again.  Even though the vintage gloves I bought on Etsy turned out to be difficult to work with–it’s a very dense synthetic knit and hard to both stitch and color–I think they work as reflections of our art.  And they also look good together.

Nina used colored pencil and marker, and I used embroidery floss and buttons.  She likes bones and I like eyes and masks.

We will definitely do another collaboration, but with more forgiving materials.

And I’m ready for unfinished project #2.  Not sure I’ll be able to attain a once a month completion rate, but I’m off to a good start.

https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/unfinished-project-1/

Invisible Eve 17

Valerie

Time.  It expands, fills,
and then retreats and chokes.  Where
are those minutes now?

Once I smiled.  The lines
are in my face.  Time turns like
grey hairs.  Minutes.  Years.

I’m finding it useful to do more than one version of these faces.  When I draw the surface, somehow something underneath jumps out at me, and it’s not always the same thing.  A reminder not just for a portrait, but for seeing people in general:  there’s a lot you miss, especially if you are not really paying close attention.

See more about “Invisible Eve” at http://www.yousefkhanfar.com/

To see the rest of this series:  https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/faces/invisible-eve/

Dreaming of the tropics 2

Ann wondered why I didn’t put in a wraparound porch on my little cottage. So this is a bigger version, with an open porch in front, a swimming pool with diving board and located right on the beach. (It’s so close a hurricane would wash it away but hey, it’s my fantasy). It reminds me more of Montauk than the tropics but it would be cool to have a place like this.

Small painting

This just fell out of a sketchbook that I’m taking to work with me. Old etching cut up and combined with color, very good example of my work. It was to be a greeting card but apparently I saved it for another purpose.

Spotted Woman

I tried to paint on some paper I had that turned out to have a non-porous surface…since it wouldn’t absorb the paint, I took rice paper and made a monoprint.  Black eyes! among other things.  So I used pen and ink and oil crayons to add details.

Yes, I’m still working on cat paintings, and this is the leftover paint from the jaguar, hence the catwoman feel.  I like the slightly out-of-control effect of monoprints.  I’m sure there will be more, maybe with a bit more actual intent to start with.

Dreaming of the tropics

It would be a little house like this on the edge of the sea, my own private beach and trees all around growing mangos and papayas. In reality there is snow everywhere. Nice to dream and draw.

On the Death of an Infant – Turner – Collage 2

A Bust in NYC as Well

…but still pretty on the trees.  Broadway is totally clear.