Post one of the Art Pairings Series.
This is a fun blog series where I pair my different art series with books, music, and activities. These curated lists will be a combination of my direct, and indirect, inspirations as well as other things I felt would complement a specific series of work.
Artist Statement:
In this series, I have deviated from my more emotive and colorful paintings. These drawings are still, contemplative, and peaceful. I used plant medicines and herbal teas to stain the paper and a single black pencil to capture shadow and light in these simple scenes.
These women are set in ephemeral moments, picking apples, gathering herbs, tucking a blouse into worn-in denim, or relaxing in the dapples of tea that lend these works the illusion of a sunlit autumn evening. My figures have an air of vintage simplicity to them. Dressed in puff sleeves, billowing skirts, and scarves that adorn crowns of long natural hair. I've combined my life-long love of vintage collecting and art making here, referencing pieces in my wardrobe for drape, pattern, and texture.
The process for creating the nude figures involves more movement than the other drawings. The paper fibers have been stained with herbals, but this time, I've used ponderosa pine needles and the smooth edge of an obsidian chunk to swirl ink and wildfire charcoal to mark the page intuitively. In the space between obsidian scraped and pine-scratched ink, I sketch nude landscapes depicting the undulating and imperfect-perfection of the body. The smudges and streaks frame the drawings to give a moody, natural, and tangled look to these levitating figures.
These drawings bring me a meditative pause from my other artworks. They are a golden hour-gossamer-nostalgia-daydream-love letter from me to you.
Playlist:
Read:
Herbal Rituals: Recipies for Everyday Living by Judith Burger
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals by Huston Smith
Poetry by Dickinson, Angelou, Lorde, Nin, Witman, Plath, Oliver, Gibran... Or any of your favorites.
Watch:
Think comfort movie, female gaze, vintage fashion...
Practical Magic
Who Are You, Polly Magoo?
Mahogany
Love Witch
The Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan version, duh)
The Holiday
Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding
Little Women (1994)
Song of the Sea
Anne with an E
Snack:
Make tea. (the kind depends on the season.)
Eat cake. (I prefer a decadent, not too sweet, moist chocolate cake.)
Fresh-picked local berries or apples.
Do:
-Look at vintage photos of your mom, your grandmas, your aunts.
-Go vintage shopping, try on things you wouldn't normally. Look for vintage furs, silk, linen, and anything handmade. Try on scarves, hats, and jewelry.
-lay under a willow tree with a book
-enjoy the breeze, the sun, the rain, the wind.
-go apple or berry picking
-ride a horse, pet a cat, feed a goat
-darn you're socks, patch you're jeans
-go on a picnic
-hold a friend's baby
-hold a friend's hand
-have a fun crush that doesn't go anywhere
-daydream
-drive with the windows down. Try it at golden hour, at dusk, at midnight.
-harvest herbs, and make a tincture.
-paint watercolors on the beach with river or sea water
-go to a cozy coffee shop
-journal
-go on a trip. To the next town over or as far as you can go.
-wear a straw hat
-strike up a conversation with a stranger!
-go to the farmer's market
-romanticize the mundane for a day
-write a letter
-look at the wildflowers.
-thank the moon
-get still. Be quiet. Listen.
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