- Published on
I've had a hectic schedule lately, which has made it tough to dive into a new intricate print. The sketch from that first house concert kept calling my name. It's an unusual sort of print for me, very little detail, but I was happy with the image and wanted to try to make something more from it. It's also a lovey sort of simple thing to do in a busy week. So I did this, of Larry Unger and Audrey Knuth, and I'm not pondering a small dance piece in the same style to go with it. I intentionally made this one the same height as "The Waltz", my smallest of the dance prints, thinking perhaps I'd end up with a series for my spring show. I'm just starting a much bigger print, so I haven't gotten further in my thinking, but it's germinating on some subterranean level.
In the meantime, I'm grateful to Audrey and Larry for a marvelous weekend in their company and for the music they played in my house.
- Published on
I am both listening to and sketching an awful lot of music lately, which is a lovely state of affairs. Nine days after hosting my first ever house concert, I hosted my second as well. My friends and one of my favorite local bands the Side Street Steppers had musical friends coming through town, and I have a bigger front bigger front room than they do. So they brought some more great music to my house and opened the show (above).
Their friend Putnam Smith, who not only plays banjo but also owns a printing press, brought his band the Swamp Brothers. Banjo plus letterpress was all that was needed to talk me into hosting them.
I got their name wrong in the sketch below. Putnam was going through all the iterations they had tried along the way, and when I'm drawing I don't always process everything verbal going on around me, so I ended up with Swamp Boys instead in the sketch...
Their friend Putnam Smith, who not only plays banjo but also owns a printing press, brought his band the Swamp Brothers. Banjo plus letterpress was all that was needed to talk me into hosting them.
I got their name wrong in the sketch below. Putnam was going through all the iterations they had tried along the way, and when I'm drawing I don't always process everything verbal going on around me, so I ended up with Swamp Boys instead in the sketch...
I did a little audience sketching as well, though with three bands in the living room, fully half the audience was also part of the show. That's Ben Hunter on the left and Christian and Vera of the Steppers on the right.
The third act, amazingly playing in my own house, had just won the International Blues Challenge that week. It's a huge competition here in Memphis each year, with two winners, a solo/duo category and a band category. Out of all the musicians who descend from around the world. I was delighted some traditional blues (fiddle, acoustic guitar, harmonica) had won the contest this year and even more delighted to have them play in my home. Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons put on quite a show.
Interestingly, both groups have a printing connection, and I managed to barter for all their cds. Putnam letter presses all his cd sleeves, and Joe's mom is a gorgeous block printer and did all the art for their album. I'd love to do some album artwork sometime. Putnam really liked my recent favorite print, "the Waltz," so my favorite waltz partner and I have now gone to live in Maine. Joe and Ben wanted some letterpress cards, so I got their cd as well, and an invitation to visit the art space they run in Seattle. It was a lovely evening of music and art.
- Published on
It was the Cabin Fever dance weekend in Maryville, TN, this past weekend, and I drove east early to visit one of my favorite towns. It had been a crazy enough week that I had been having dinner in my car between meetings, so the evening I arrived I went to my favorite tapas place for a lovely salad, a couple of small pork rolls, and a flan. I had thought I was too tired to sketch, but the flan was so pretty I couldn't resist.
I enjoyed walking around town and hitting the book stores and my favorite brocante, the Downtown Market. It's an indoor flea/antique market with several lovely clothing vendors. I found two cashmere sweaters, real silk pajama pants, and red velvet coat that makes me feel like a movie star. I also sketched my favorite trees there while I was wandering around.
I enjoyed walking around town and hitting the book stores and my favorite brocante, the Downtown Market. It's an indoor flea/antique market with several lovely clothing vendors. I found two cashmere sweaters, real silk pajama pants, and red velvet coat that makes me feel like a movie star. I also sketched my favorite trees there while I was wandering around.
Dinner on Thursday was at a newish place with the alluring name Nightbell. A sweet little upstairs place with small plates and cosy corner sofas. The duck confit on a waffle was just lovely, as was the baked Alaska, my first time to ever try it. I did this sketch largely in the dark. Very dim lighting, but I was charmed by the brocade sofa next to me and had to try.
I spent the rest of the weekend at a house party at my sisters. Nine of us total in the house, and I was way too busy dancing and playing a few tunes to sketch.
For purely self indulgent reasons, I'm going to include this photo from the weekend, taken by Lanny Huddleston. This is my favorite way to find joy when I'm not making art, and Charlie Zisette, with his marvelous dips, made me feel just lovely this weekend. Sometimes it's good for me to move away from the micro movements of carving prints and move my whole body instead. This is the very best way I know how to do that.
- Published on
.....This time I played. That's my bass, still in its case, with the empty chairs waiting to be filled. I decided sketching was better than sitting around and thinking about being nervous. Andy Cohen sometimes asks me to play bass for him when he's in town. It's always a wild ride, because he usually does plenty of songs we haven't rehearsed and often songs I've never heard before, but it's fun, and I get a front row seat to watch him perform. And it's sweet that he wants me. Usually I just play in a weekly jam in someone's back living room.
It was a double bill, so I did get to sketch for part of the concert. Below are Andy and his wife Larkin listening to his friends open the show. I realized when I scanned this in that I went from dinner on Monday to Saturday night without sketching, but I had a home show to put on in between, so that took up a lot of the week.
It was a double bill, so I did get to sketch for part of the concert. Below are Andy and his wife Larkin listening to his friends open the show. I realized when I scanned this in that I went from dinner on Monday to Saturday night without sketching, but I had a home show to put on in between, so that took up a lot of the week.
Here are the other concert sketches. My watercolor marker didn't work as well as I remembered it doing before, and I ended up soaking through the page and getting more bleed than I normally. Or like to. But it's just a sketch book.
- Published on
I'm behind on my scanning and posting since it's been such a busy month, but I spent a couple of afternoons going to the forest just to enjoy unseasonably warm weather and escape mentally from all the zoo destruction of our park.
It's lovely to take a camp chair (I have a sit-on-the-ground one that's quite light) and settle in with sketchbook and journal and make an afternoon of it.
This one below is much older, but I think I forgot to post it. We've had several lovely spells this winter for forest sketching.
- Published on
I had not only never hosted a house concert before last week, but I had never (amazingly) been to one. That is now rectified on both scores. Larry Unger, amazing waltz and tune writer as well as exquisite player, and Audrey Knuth, a marvelous fiddler who amazed my whole crew here, played in my front gallery. I love having my house full of music, and it was also a lovely excuse to invite some different folks in to see my art. We jammed afterwards, and my house was utterly happy with all the music and joy.
Mr. Darcy had a great time too. He lay at Audrey's feet for most of the concert. He was utterly fascinated by Larry playing the jaw harp. He'd never heard anything like it and made hilarious faces.
I did two kind of labored and fussy watercolors and finished with the quick pen sketches above once I was warmed up. I wish I'd done more of them. The left one made me especially happy. I'm still having trouble capturing greater detail in my people sketches. Guess I'll keep practicing.
Mr. Darcy had a great time too. He lay at Audrey's feet for most of the concert. He was utterly fascinated by Larry playing the jaw harp. He'd never heard anything like it and made hilarious faces.
I did two kind of labored and fussy watercolors and finished with the quick pen sketches above once I was warmed up. I wish I'd done more of them. The left one made me especially happy. I'm still having trouble capturing greater detail in my people sketches. Guess I'll keep practicing.
- Published on
Memphis Theological Seminary is celebrating African American history month in February, and I suggested a series of Exodus paintings for the chapel bulletins. I love how the chaplain, my excellent boss, lets me run with the things that are calling to me. She suggested that the phrase "Let my people go" has special resonance, so I used it as the background for each image, and I like the continuity it provides. It's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and to collaborate with. That's been a beautiful upside to this job.
It's chronologically out of order for the book, but I want to do a series of Biblical women for March (women's history month), so I ended with an image of Shiprah and Puah, to bridge that transition between the months. I continue to be amazed that we have remembered and celebrated the names of two midwives several millenia later. Powerful.
It's chronologically out of order for the book, but I want to do a series of Biblical women for March (women's history month), so I ended with an image of Shiprah and Puah, to bridge that transition between the months. I continue to be amazed that we have remembered and celebrated the names of two midwives several millenia later. Powerful.
