sketchy selections 6: sketchy beginnings

circa 2003

these were my first sketches
of what was to be
my biggest sculpture yet.

i wanted to design a sculpture
to fit right into a corner of the gallery
and really loom over the viewer
in an exciting/off-putting way

the inspiration for the work
came from a Richard Serra piece
titled corner prop in which a
block of steel is propped up in a corner
by a single metal pole at an angle.
the arrangement makes you feel uneasy
but fascinated at the same time.
Here is an example of another of Serra's prop pieces.

i wanted to invoke the same feelings
using bright colors and organic forms,
things that you wouldn't expect
to take you off balance.
And played off of Serra with the title, corner pop.

sketchy selections 5

circa 2005

i am scrambling to post this sketch
based on the sun salutation--
a yoga warm up routine--
before i'm off to work,
when i really should be doing
the sun salutation.

this sketch is all about the
generation of energy
from & back to the body...

NEW Painting Gallery!!!

sketchy selections 4

circa
2002

this
fragile
structure
was
carefully
erected
as a
monument
to a
subject
that
failed
to catch
my attention
at the time.

sketchy selections 3: lost is found!

it was all too perfect,
my lost sketchbook heard my calls,
it knew that the older books
were showing off on my blog
and it craved the attention...
after about 3 weeks of searching,
tonight i walked right up to where
i wanted my sketchbook to be
and there it was, it was too funny.
when i had considered that
my sketchbook was really gone
this was the only sketch
that i would really hate to loose.
this was the preliminary sketch for
the pastel i was planning
and i like it so much more
than the 1st pastel i did.
the sketch was so much looser
with more color & attitude.
BTW: just finished my new Drawing Gallery.

sketchy selections 2

circa 2002

until very recently
my interest in the human form
was something that was only expressed
within the pages of my sketchbooks.

it was alluded to in the work but
i was not comfortable enough with my skills
to dabble in the world of realism;
the human figure was always so daunting.

but secretly i could not resist its allure...
and loved to play my organic forms against the body

one sculpture teacher i had
saw some of these sketches
and dismissed them as too fashion-like

but i have recently discovered that the
human form can be the spark
that pulls someone into a work of art...
it's that recognition that spurs association
in introducing the figure into an abstract work
you create a reference point,
an entryway into the abstract world that
i am attempting to conjure up with the work.

It was only 2 months ago when i finally
displayed this pastel piece
which was my first drawing experiment with the body.

sketchy selections 1

circa 2001

as you may-or may not- have noticed,
i am trying to shake things up in my web world.
i was inspired by dan's new blog banner image
and decided to give my blog a little customized craziness.
and after spending hours tweaking the CSS code stuff
making my blog new and exciting
i realized that the rest of my site could use some revamping..

so i have spent way too much time in front of the computer
tinkering with dreamweaver and will soon have
several much needed new galleries on my site...

and since i have gotten some positive reaction to
putting up sketchbook stuff on the blog,
i am going to finally make a sketchbook gallery.
and what better way to lead up to the new gallery than
to gradually post some "sketchy selections"
images from my many sketchbooks over the years

and maybe, just maybe all this sketchbook talk
will encourage my current sketchbook to come out of hiding!

ever-circling awe

so there we were playing frisbee
on the post-match polo field
when my sister reminds us to look up.

and we immediately spot--
through a flurry of feathers,
thousands of feet up in the air
--two hawks join claws in midair
and go into this swirling freefall!

my jaw was dropped open
as i witnessed this avian acrobatic display...
they were spinning faster
than you could even imagine
it looked so out of place
in the broad daylight of reality
and they were just plummeting downward
i was like the cartoon about to be
crushed by the falling piano
but i was awestruck.

but just as it seemed they were
spiraling towards their own destruction
one hawk spread its wings and went into a glide
as the second hawk fell limp
hanging trapeese-style from the other's claws
together they glided down
(my sister running just below them)
into a rolling crash into the underbrush

a surprised onlooker shouted
"i think that bird just caught a rabbit!"
my sister said "that is no rabbit!"
she had explained to me that
we were witnessing a courting ritual

as the hawk mating spectacle died down
all of the other birds in the area
were drawn into the sky
in an fluster of excitement,
thousands of them swarmed the sky
caught up in the energy of the moment
as if the hawks had electrified the atmosphere
with their wild lust lightning
and the other birds were powerless
against its magnetism.

literary landscapes

just finished reading david copperfield
i was inspired to go to this classic after hearing it
continually referenced in the cider house rules.

it now has a place on the same esteemed shelf as
jane eyre & wuthering heights in my mind.

i am immediately drawn in by the epic wordplay
in these classic novels, every emotion is expertly
driven home through the most carefully crafted sentences..

i am reminded of the theater in the way each feeling
is elaborately costumed in verbiage for the maximum effect.
perhaps these famous authors had less faith in their audience
leaving little to the imagination...

even the landscapes are drenched with emotion,
often used for forshadowing purposes.
here david copperfield describes an ominous sky..

"it was a murky confusion--here and there blotted with
a colour like the colour of the smoke from damp fuel--
of flying clouds, tossed up into most remarkable heaps,
suggesting greater heights in the clouds than there were
depths below them to the bottom of the deepest hollows
in the earth, through which the wild moon seemed to plunge
headlong, as if, in a dread disturbance of the laws of nature,
she had lost her way and were frightened."

magicflorida

the sky has a lot to say in florida.
it is just bigger with more dramatic effect
being on the flat slab of land that is florida
gives you new perspective
on the space we take up.
theres a lot more of it than us...
the clouds loom over the landscape
there's just no escaping them.

grumpy frumpkins

it has been much too long...
i am just about ready to emerge from the
holiday/vacation encrusted cocoon
and become a productive participant
in my own life again...

this is not the morning though...
i am in quite the funk
returning from a sunny florida vacation
in an emotional state...

saying good bye to tropical temperatures,
my amazing sister (as she enters her
final semester in college),
as well as my grandmother
& my bestest friend monica...
add about 19 hours of driving up and down the east coast
and going back to work today
leaves me quite grumpified....

on a lighter note...
florida & family continue to inspire me
as will be evident in the coming posts...