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Dixon has been my refuge really always but especially since the start of the pandemic. I've been trying to get myself on a schedule to go once a week or so and just drink in a little art even if I don't stay that long. I'm not managing that, but I get there pretty often. Yesterday I went to see the stunning Vuillard that's on loan from Cleveland for just a couple of more weeks. I'm going to miss it when it's gone. And then I sat in the residence a good while. I love their chairs with a coffee table of rotating art books. It's such a peaceful place. I sat for ages looking at the Berthe Morisot across the way and the Courbet next to me. I noticed a statue that I didn't remember, which is apparently on loan for a bit. I decided to get my big sketchbook out again, after having fun with it the night before sketching Henry. Since Dixon only allows dry media, I'd actually had the foresight to grab another one of those graphite crayons for my going out sketching kit, and I used it with the neocolor watercolor crayons to do a big, fairly loose sketch. I put a little water on it when I got home, but only for the central figure.
Driving home Park I spotted Shreya's Wood Fired Pizza, which I had read about the Daily Memphian as having butter chicken pizza. They were just opening up, so I did a quick sketch of the wood fire oven while waiting on my pizza. It was delicious, especially the generous chewy crust. It's always fun to try a new place, and I was glad I did.
Driving home Park I spotted Shreya's Wood Fired Pizza, which I had read about the Daily Memphian as having butter chicken pizza. They were just opening up, so I did a quick sketch of the wood fire oven while waiting on my pizza. It was delicious, especially the generous chewy crust. It's always fun to try a new place, and I was glad I did.
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There's a 1900 Parisian cafe show at my local museum just now (Dixon). I love that time period and the whole slew of different styles they had going on, and Vuillard is one of my favorites. There is one stunning Vuillard on loan from the Cleveland Museum of Art, and I'm so grateful to be getting to spend some time with it here. Once again I'm having to make do with the artificial colors of pencils and crayons since it's only dry media in the local museum, and it's a little too candy colored. I also sat on a bench across the room, so it's just an impression from there instead of trying to get all the details in, but I loved sitting and drinking it in for a while. A perfect sort of Saturday.
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I had such a welcome day yesterday. Events have overtaken me lately, and I've barely been getting through the necessaries with no time for the soul giving extras. I kept yesterday morning to finally see the new Parisian Cafe paintings exhibition (clustered around 1900) at Dixon yesterday. Like all large group shows it was a mixed bag, but the good stuff was really good. There was a stunning Vuillard, who is one of my favorites, and a lot of great prints (always happy for me) including a lifesized Steinlen cabaret poster that was beautifully designed and executed. I love that 1900 era, with so many different styles and subjects burgeoning. Clearly in a specific subject matter you don't get as many of the symbolists I love from that period, but they did have a Munch I'd never seen before, and there were a lot of recognizable artists as well as a bunch of new ones to me.
Beautifully, the museum cafe has designed a special menu just for this show. I treated myself to a salad Nicoise outside with the trimmed trees that also feel like Paris and the Rodin sculpture in the background. It was good to see art and take time to sketch again, and I did a big, loose piece in my biggest sketchbook with a dip pen, some green ink, and a bunch of watercolor on top.
That evening was a bonus urban sketchers outing to Shapeshifter Art School. They have two new shows up in their galleries, and it was such pleasure to just relax and sketch and talk with friends. I ended up sketching our founder Elizabeth Alley, who is also a founder of the school. She has been such a light to the art community here in Memphis.
Beautifully, the museum cafe has designed a special menu just for this show. I treated myself to a salad Nicoise outside with the trimmed trees that also feel like Paris and the Rodin sculpture in the background. It was good to see art and take time to sketch again, and I did a big, loose piece in my biggest sketchbook with a dip pen, some green ink, and a bunch of watercolor on top.
That evening was a bonus urban sketchers outing to Shapeshifter Art School. They have two new shows up in their galleries, and it was such pleasure to just relax and sketch and talk with friends. I ended up sketching our founder Elizabeth Alley, who is also a founder of the school. She has been such a light to the art community here in Memphis.
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I got caught in a downpour at Dixon last week and for a second time found myself waiting it out on the porch sketching the three fantastic butts of the Rodin Three Shades from his Gates of Hell masterpiece. After posting I was asked if I could post the series of sketches I've done of those statues, and it sent me down a small rabbit hole. Above is the same scene two years ago, but with fountain pen and a wider viewpoint. It's honestly one of my favorite all time sketches, catching that crazy spring rain. Here is last week's version, closer up and in watercolor crayon.
I tend to sketch scenes I love over and over again, and Dixon is one of my favorite places to sketch. Here are the guys from the front for a change, with the overall view of the museum entrance.
I've also sketched them from inside a tent at one of the evening events Dixon puts on.
And finally with Autumn foliage, once again from my favorite front porch bench.
Dixon and Rodin are a great combination. They had a traveling show of his work my senior year in high school, as I was headed out to become an art major and hopefully an artist afterwards. I was unprepared for figure drawing, so I spent a lot of time that year sketching the Rodin sculptures to prepare myself. One of my favorite t-shirts in my college years was a Rodin shirt from that very exhibit. (Black is also super handy for art majors since it doesn't show charcoal.) I just recently dug out old photos of me and sketched myself for my memoir project in that same shirt. I wish I still had it (and my Arlo Guthrie shirt), but they seem to have dropped away over time. But here I am in my art major prime for a book hopefully to come later. You apparently never outgrow that, can-I-really-do-this feeling as an artist, that pushing into something new. It feels like full circle, all tied together by both Dixon and Rodin.
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I treated myself to a day out today. I've been working on the memoir but not really sketching lately, and it's good to do work that's looser, not for publication, just for myself. (Not to mention that I don't want to show too much of something I'm hoping to publish, so I haven't had a lot for the blog lately.)
The Mary Sims exhibition at Dixon is amazing. I've been several time with various people, but I hadn't take a bunch of time just to drink it in slowly. I went round the whole thing, sat and looked at various pieces, and finally figured out a couple I'd like to sketch. I love her crazy intricate still lifes with shadows that are as robust as the objects themselves, but I knew I'd make myself crazy trying to capture one (especially with the pencil/crayon I'm limited to inside the museum). So I headed back for my other favorite works, which were the early portraits. The top one is maybe my favorite piece in the whole show, but since Dolph Smith is one of my favorite local artists, that may not be an objective assessment. I love that he and Mary, both lions of the Memphis art world, are united in this piece. And his sweet wife Jesse memorialized as well.
I also sketched this graphite and acrylic portrait. It's so minimal (flat background, as all hers are, just not something I could catch with dry materials). She uses graphite so extensively on her canvas work, which isn't something I've tried at all. The effect is wonderful. And I loved seeing her use so much gold paint. I'm always drawn to the metallics and then wonder if I'm just being cheesy, but it's good validation to see her love them as well.
The Mary Sims exhibition at Dixon is amazing. I've been several time with various people, but I hadn't take a bunch of time just to drink it in slowly. I went round the whole thing, sat and looked at various pieces, and finally figured out a couple I'd like to sketch. I love her crazy intricate still lifes with shadows that are as robust as the objects themselves, but I knew I'd make myself crazy trying to capture one (especially with the pencil/crayon I'm limited to inside the museum). So I headed back for my other favorite works, which were the early portraits. The top one is maybe my favorite piece in the whole show, but since Dolph Smith is one of my favorite local artists, that may not be an objective assessment. I love that he and Mary, both lions of the Memphis art world, are united in this piece. And his sweet wife Jesse memorialized as well.
I also sketched this graphite and acrylic portrait. It's so minimal (flat background, as all hers are, just not something I could catch with dry materials). She uses graphite so extensively on her canvas work, which isn't something I've tried at all. The effect is wonderful. And I loved seeing her use so much gold paint. I'm always drawn to the metallics and then wonder if I'm just being cheesy, but it's good validation to see her love them as well.
It's been a rainy day off and on, and there was flat NOBODY in the cafe at early lunch time. I went ahead and actually ate inside, which was a treat. Usually I'm wearing a mask indoors. And I had fun doing a quick fountain pen sketch at the same time. I really should get out and draw more people as I'm working on the memoir, which is so figure heavy. It's never been my strong suit, but I am having a good time. This was actually my first sketch of the day -- I was starting a new sketchbook with a short, happy memory. You can see the spot for my name and information (which I ALWAYS fill out in case I lose a book) in the bottom left. Now that I'm home with my waterproof ink, I'll attend to that.
I was heading out, and the rain suddenly burst back on the scene in a pretty impressive downpour. I decided to sit and sketch this scene I'd been eyeing anyway. I love drawing Rodin. I started with the crayons since I'd had them out for the museum pieces but added some real watercolor on top. It was a lovely way to pass the time until I could walk more easily to my car.
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I'm lucky enough to have sketching friends to meet up with and share a meal and sketch. They are important to my happiness and quality of life. We met at Dixon, hoping for food truck Friday but driven indoors by rain. I did four quickish sketches inside the cafe. My favorite is that top one with a limited palette but more depth and shadow than the others. My brown pen got cleaned recently and is too anemic with the water. I need to do a little more work on it, so I switched to a water soluble blue/black ink and then used my super tiny watercolor kit that rides in my purse instead of getting out my full one. It was a great catch up, and I love having happy occasions in my sketchbook to remember later.
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I've been quiet here partly because I'm working on two illustration projects for Memphis Magazine that I can't show yet and partly because I was having some serious internet problems and couldn't share my scans. So I don't have a lot of new material I can share, but here are a couple of recent(ish) sketches that didn't make the blog. The first was an art lunch with friends, which is one of my favorite things to do, and I clearly had tea.
The second was a really neat lecture at Dixon a couple of weeks ago. I got to a number of those and usually sketch, so I'm trying to figure out different media and styles to vary the sketches from lecture to lecture. This was local artist Carl E. Moore, whose work I admire a lot, talking about his practice and his art. Instead of diving into paint I kept it just fountain pen and brush pen. I also used a higher vanishing line than I usually do. Often I'm drawing what's on the wall behind the speaker, but here I left more space for audience and kept his figure central to the sketch. I was pleased with how it turned out, which is not something I say a ton about my sketches. I love doing them, but they don't usually measure up to the image I had in my head before starting. This one was different than I meant it to be, but I was pleased with the result.
The second was a really neat lecture at Dixon a couple of weeks ago. I got to a number of those and usually sketch, so I'm trying to figure out different media and styles to vary the sketches from lecture to lecture. This was local artist Carl E. Moore, whose work I admire a lot, talking about his practice and his art. Instead of diving into paint I kept it just fountain pen and brush pen. I also used a higher vanishing line than I usually do. Often I'm drawing what's on the wall behind the speaker, but here I left more space for audience and kept his figure central to the sketch. I was pleased with how it turned out, which is not something I say a ton about my sketches. I love doing them, but they don't usually measure up to the image I had in my head before starting. This one was different than I meant it to be, but I was pleased with the result.
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I gave myself an art day out today after turning in the cover art for Memphis Magazine's February issue a couple of days ago. I know artists who are disciplined in their work hours and days, but I am not one of them. I work through a lot of weekend time but give myself days off while everyone else is at work (which is the nicest time to take them except for seeing friends who are off work on weekends). Also my time off is muddy anyway, as non artist friends have pointed out to me, since sketching is often part of a day out for me.
Elizabeth Alley was talking at Dixon on her art residency in the arctic circle, which was fascinating. I love the noon Wednesday lecture series because it gets it on my calendar to take a museum day. And I love vicarious travel and artists talking about their craft. A perfect excuse to get out. And it was great. I chose paradise blue ink to do some of the sketching in because it felt as appropriate for the chill of the subject matter as it does for the blue of the Caribbean. That was the one I spent the most time on, but then she got to her slide of a polar bear track, and I grabbed my tiny purse sketchbook to record that.
It's 70 degrees today and gorgeous, so after walking through the printmaking exhibit again I ordered a peach tea latte and a blueberry muffin to take out into the gardens. Day out indeed. The drink making is delicious but a little slow, so I sat down to wait and sketched the croissant in the case while I waited. That's my gamboge Windsor and Newton watercolor marker as color. I love their juicy, saturated markers.
Elizabeth Alley was talking at Dixon on her art residency in the arctic circle, which was fascinating. I love the noon Wednesday lecture series because it gets it on my calendar to take a museum day. And I love vicarious travel and artists talking about their craft. A perfect excuse to get out. And it was great. I chose paradise blue ink to do some of the sketching in because it felt as appropriate for the chill of the subject matter as it does for the blue of the Caribbean. That was the one I spent the most time on, but then she got to her slide of a polar bear track, and I grabbed my tiny purse sketchbook to record that.
It's 70 degrees today and gorgeous, so after walking through the printmaking exhibit again I ordered a peach tea latte and a blueberry muffin to take out into the gardens. Day out indeed. The drink making is delicious but a little slow, so I sat down to wait and sketched the croissant in the case while I waited. That's my gamboge Windsor and Newton watercolor marker as color. I love their juicy, saturated markers.
Sitting outside at Dixon feels a tiny bit like Paris. There are tables behind rows of pruned trees and boxwood hedges with a view through to a Rodin statue. It always makes me think of the sculpture garden at the Rodin museum just a little, and it's a happy place for me. Sometime I'll sketch that view, but Elizabeth's talk about drawing patterns on her trip stuck with me, and when I looked down at the table base, I drew that instead. I did a whole series of sketches of my black boots when I was traveling in Paris, so again it felt like a small flashback to good times. It was a truly excellent day out.
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It had been a kind of crazy week, so I was looking forward to seeing friends and hanging out with the Memphis Urban Sketchers. The day did not disappoint. We had a good crew there at Dixon (two visits in a week!) painting the gardens. It was chilly but with sunshine, and I've broken out my favorite tweed jacket and knitted hand warmers, just in time for November. I was drawn to these enormous leaves and the bright red chairs in front of them. I started with Diamine leaf green ink and a dip pen, moved to watercolor, used a little bit of red watercolor marker along with paint on the chairs (and regretted using that bold marker for my label and date, but there you go), and finished with a little Derwent inktense pencil on the bottom pavement. That whole section got a little muddy on me and I needed to lighten it up a little. Overall I was pleased, even if the bottom bothers me a little. I always seem to see the choices I regret when I look at a piece, but I like a lot of this one.
And then, once in a great while, I do something I'm really happy with. That night I sketched Henry on the "banjo chair" (that he, of course, thinks of as "Henry's chair" instead). I started with a simple line outline in inktense charcoal pencil and added water soluble graphite with a brush after. It's a little bit sparkly in person even. I've been greatly enjoying rediscovering that small tin for evening sketches. I had meant to add watercolor to the chair around him, but I managed a little uncharacteristic restraint when I got this far and stopped. I ended up really loving the composition. There was one line under the window and above his ear that got too dark with water on top. I was sorry I'd gone there, and also uncharacteristically, I got out the super fine sandpaper I use to take out margin ink spots on my prints and took it out again. I don't usually bother in my sketchbook, but I was so pleased with this overall that I wanted it to be really right. I tend to cover the full page, full on in paint, and when I can stop myself before that point, I often really like the results. Life goals...
And then, once in a great while, I do something I'm really happy with. That night I sketched Henry on the "banjo chair" (that he, of course, thinks of as "Henry's chair" instead). I started with a simple line outline in inktense charcoal pencil and added water soluble graphite with a brush after. It's a little bit sparkly in person even. I've been greatly enjoying rediscovering that small tin for evening sketches. I had meant to add watercolor to the chair around him, but I managed a little uncharacteristic restraint when I got this far and stopped. I ended up really loving the composition. There was one line under the window and above his ear that got too dark with water on top. I was sorry I'd gone there, and also uncharacteristically, I got out the super fine sandpaper I use to take out margin ink spots on my prints and took it out again. I don't usually bother in my sketchbook, but I was so pleased with this overall that I wanted it to be really right. I tend to cover the full page, full on in paint, and when I can stop myself before that point, I often really like the results. Life goals...
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Mary K VanGieson, a fellow urban sketcher and longtime, hugely active participant in the Memphis art community (she gets out to ALL the shows I miss), gave a talk at Dixon today about eco prints and her current exhibition in the museum. She was funny, informative, wise, and inspiring. I love this free lecture series at Dixon, and I was thrilled to see a packed house show up to learn from her. I saw so many friends. It felt great to catch up with art friends, learn about a new printmaking technique, and see the trio of printmaking shows currently hanging at Dixon. What a happy day. I didn't take in my bigger sketchbook, but I used my tiny purse one to both sketch and take notes.
