Paper and Threads

And what an amazing day it was with my artist friends Benedicte, Pat, and Teri!  We intended to visit 4 Galleries, but it was really cold and we found other really interesting exhibits in two of the buildings, so we didn't have to go outside as often and saw more wonderful art as inspiration. 

I first learned about William Kentridge, a South African artist through his one man show at MoMA.  The Met then had an exhibit of one of his video art pieces within the last two years.  I'm fascinated by him and was completely shocked that Marian Goodman Gallery had two of his new megasize video installations.  What a thrill to be surrounded by his art combined with music, dance, and South African actors.   Here is a link to the Video of "More Sweetly Play the Dance."  But watching on video it isn't as amazing as being in the large space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-n5Kvw9v4A

 Deliberate Practice:

I sketched two of my two favorite paintings and two wood sculptures from our visits. Each copy is an education for me as I try to learn more about lines, ink, and the use of watercolor to approximate the oil paints used.  I also practiced more handlettering on these sketchbook pages for my Sketchbook Skool 5 homework.

A Painting by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1875-1907), a German Artist who died at age 31 following childbirth. 

Peasant Woman Carrying a Branch circa 1898. 

Two sculptures by Chaim Gross (Forum Gallery) and Frank Walter (Hirschl and Adler Gallery).

A Painting (Untitled) by B. Vithal at DAG Modern Gallery.

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I saw the Picasso Sculpture Exhibit many times since the preview on September 11, 2015.  Last week I went with my husband for what may be my last visit, although there are still more favorite sculptures I would like to draw.  While at home painting two pieces I just drew, I went back and painted a drawing from an earlier visit, and I used these 3 Picasso sketchbook pages to practice handlettering.   Koosje Koene, the first teacher in Sketchbook Skool 5 -Expressing. gave several demos on hand lettering, and our first homework for this week was to practice one serif and one sans serif alphabet.

Years ago I printed upper and lower case alphabets and numbers of fonts I liked from Word and Word Perfect (see sample below).  While I've used them on some occasions, I rarely use them for sketchbook drawings.  On these 3 pages, however, I did look at saved samples and started my homework.

These are my 3 sketchbook pages, now with a variety of hand lettered fonts. 

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Twenty-five NYC Urban Sketchers met at Kremer Pigments (247 W. 29th St, NY, NY) on Wednesday morning for a lecture-demo by Roger Carmona, the Store Manager.  Roger is an artist and an expert on Materials - specifically paints.  During the first hour he told us about many pigments and how they are created: mineral, earth, plants, animals, and synthetic.  They have samples of the many rocks that are ground to make pigments, including the very expensive lapis lazuli and the unbelievably expensive purple pigment made from mollusk shells.  Kremer, a German company, makes pigments and mixes them with various binders to make many types of paint.  During the second hour we watched Roger mix 2 blue pigments with watercolor medium (gum Arabic/glycerin/honey) all the while continuing the lecture and answering MANY questions.  The store sells the pigments, binder mixtures, and ready made paints in tubes and pans and I am dangerously oversimplifying what I learned. 

http://www.kremerpigments.com/ 

The blue paint on my sketchbook page is the mixture he made of French Ultramarine and Phthalo Blue. 

After lunch with my artist friend Benedicte, the two of us walked to The Rubin Museum of Art because Pat told us we had to see two exhibits there.  The first was Becoming Another: The Power of Masks.    The masks, which come from parts of the world represented at the Rubin, were beautiful and each mask came with a story.  Benedicte and I separated to sketch our favorites. 

The Monkey mask was my favorite.  His job in the annual monastic festival dance of the dead is to put black and white stones, for bad deeds and good deeds, on a scale to determine which weighs more when the God of Death is judging a sinner versus a pious man.  Strips of colored fabric are put on the pin on the top of the mask - and hang down covering the back of the head.

The second "must see" art was a photography exhibit by photojournalist Steven McCurry - part of his extensive India series.  This was one of my favorite photos - I really want to sketch these men in their unusual positions.  The website has more photos and terrific short videos by Steven McCurry.

http://rubinmuseum.org/events/exhibitions/steve-mccurry-india 

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Each year I make a "Remains of the Day" book - instructions by Mary Ann Moss - to keep photos and ephemera of my "Art Adventures" with friends.  I just finished the pages in my 2015 book and made a new book for 2016.  I love making these from my many dyed fabrics, and I refer to them regularly to remember the many gallery and museum visits we make during the year.  I have 5 completed books which were begun shortly after I retired.

This is my now complete 2015 book: 

Here is a sample page spread, with a photo of Benedicte, Pat, and Me - along with photos from a day visiting galleries in Chelsea.  Some pages have pockets to hold things, other have lift up flaps - anything goes!

These are photos of my new Remains of the Day book for 2016:

Lastly, I made a new watercolor sketchbook with dyed fabric bookcloth and a pocket for the sketchbook to hold my pencils, pens, and eraser as I walk around sketching.   

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Benedicte, Pat and I celebrated the holidays with two Art Wednesdays: 

The Frick Collection has an amazing exhibit of drawings by Andrea Del Sarto (1486-1530).  I love early master drawings and his drawings, mostly in red chalk, were beautiful!  All of the drawings are on the Frick website:

http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/del_sarto/introduction 

After lunch we continued at the American Folk Art Museum exhibit: Art Brut in America:  

On Dec 30  Pat and I immersed ourselves in the Metropolitan Museum of Art current exhibits - with a brief break for lunch in the museum cafeteria.  These drawing were from my three favorite exhibits.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neopolitan Baroque Creche: 

Jacqueline de Ribes:  The Art of Style

Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of my blog and this week I will post my Goals for art on paper and fabric in 2016.  I don't post all of my art and textile projects, but I remain happy that I have a blog and can share so many experiences with friends from around the world.    

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