building complexity layer by layer

unpacked, tidied up, organized, full of inspiration and sick as can be

nine days on, one of the symptoms of this cold/flu is a pretty good bout of brain fog which hasn't actually been a bad thing... think of it as forced slowing down of my creative impulses that has allowed for a bit of a breakthrough in a subject that has long stymied me

mark-making

though true to the definition of what brain fog is it came about in a rather meandering way

follow me if you will...

it began with a desire to explore text written to replicate the weathered marks on driftwood

which led me to looking at a series of small collages on driftwood I made several years ago

and though I was initially looking at these with a thought to the marks on the wood I became enamoured all over again with the layers

which immediately led to a desire to make larger collages inspired by driftwood

which reminded me of collage-type work I had in mind for the pilings along the river

which led to thinking yet again about how water weathers wood

wind and water

which led to  a desire to explore water, wind and wood

but when I got the bag of driftwood out to select a few pieces to work with I realized my thoughts had strayed from interpreting the marks on it with text

you might be wondering how all this could be attributed to brain fog... well, that bit of thinking took about four days, and was about as in-depth as what I've written - nothing specific, just a vague desire to explore water, wind and wood in one book, studies that look at them separately as well as where they intersect

whilst excited about the prospects of those explorations I searched for a blank sketchbook and came upon one where I had intended to explore mark-making

 mark-making has always felt like somewhat of a vague and mysterious subject to me - almost every artist I knew of did it but I could never really quite figure out how they approached it, how to get started, what kind of explorations to try and what to do with whatever it was I came up with but I knew it was a way to add complexity to my work and this was the book where I had intended to try and figure it out 

 I had glued down a photo of the river in winter and drawn some bare trees beneath it based on what I saw in the photo which I intended on also working in stitch but I realized pretty quickly I was completely missing the point and so it got set aside

through the fog it dawned on me to take the idea of the trees, the bare limbs, and work with them in a more abstract way that didn't immediately read trees and branches so I turned the page and tried something a bit different

better, barely

since the image below was taken I have done two more drawings, each trying to push the marks further 

 

in my usual fashion it will take a few iterations to get there but turning the page upside down for part of the drawing process is helping with that

and since they're pretty basic I'm stitching each one though I am considering adding other elements, one inspired by the dead leaves still attached to some branches

so a few things to explore with the branches and then I'll be ready to tackle the guardrail  shown in the other photo on that page

so I was pretty excited to finally feel like I had found a way forward with the mark-making thing but then 

what of the water, wood, and wind explorations?

that idea had also taken a firm hold and the studio floor was littered with wood, scraps of cloth, and paper

which is all very exciting and wonderfully inspiring

but does not yet address interpreting the marks on driftwood in text

which is where this saga began

sigh...

like I said, brain fog

take care,

Jillayne

the days of cold

 

home again, where the grass is greening and the days are rather mild 

I look at the weather for the north and the bitter cold has only now begun to ease... if you can call -23 an easing

the shock of the change never ceases 

when unpacking my art supplies today I spent some time looking at the last few works I did there...

on the Friday before my departure I met up with a friend to make paper - we used cotton linters and I had gathered some more pine needles as I wanted to do a free-pour with the pulp and emboss it with fresh pine needles

before I went to her house I made cranberry scones to have with our tea and as I was packing up my supplies to head to her house I noticed I hadn't washed up the plate I put the frozen cranberries on to thaw... a nice-sized puddle of juice had pooled near the rim so I grabbed a nearby tiny pinecone and a piece of cotton paper made in our previous session and quickly did a text block using the acorn and cranberry juice

one of the final prompts for my sketchbook work was "something to let go of"

on that particular day it was -36 with a fierce wind and I was feeling disappointed at how few walks I had been able to take... I didn't want to leave feeling that way so "letting go" of that seemed a good idea

worked in layers, first with a graphite pencil and small text, rubbing that back, then again, and again... that was followed by somewhat larger text, this time with a charcoal pencil layered over top and more rubbing back

the final few layers were with an ever-increasing size using a 1.0 felt-tipped Calligraphie pen with a chisel nib

I love the tangle of it, perfectly expressing the mixed emotions of the moment

on my last full day, a final walk by the river and noticed this jumble of ice the wind and current had formed

fractured and layered, the bright blue-green deeply colouring the ice shards

zooming in over and over, this was my favourite 

my finishing prompt was "inspired by a walk in nature"

a different calligraphy pen this time, one that runs beautifully with a light brush of water

at first I found the purple a bit alarming but after a minute it began to grow on me

it was a good four weeks, plenty of time for reflection and thinking about what's next, learning more about what matters and what doesn't

feeling ready to dive in

take care,

Jillayne

river inspiration

the bitter cold and wind have eased, the warmth of the sun returning

not for long, but a nice reprieve all the same

this image of river ice was taken on a particularly cold day in February - I love to look at the flowing river and the way the ice forms and changes over time... I had to zoom in quite a bit for this one but was delighted to discover the markings of the layered ice when I saw the image on my laptop

my first urge was to try and interpret those marks with some of the work I've been doing lately with text

before getting in to that though I sought to familiarize myself the look of the ice and water overall

I realized fairly quickly that I was way off the mark with my first attempt... it never fails to amaze me, the difference between what there is and what I think I'm seeing when I first start a drawing of any kind

rather than try and fix it which for me, always results in over-working things, I switched to a clean page and began again

much, much better

today I walked the river again, a different section this time, and was surprised to see it was almost completely frozen over, just a small patch of icy water in view

zooming again, along with some cropping and I have a couple of images that look promising

I especially like the first one, with those dark trees at the top - they look pretty perfect for some experimental work with text, the ice and water could be worked in textiles or charcoal

I’m heading home the day after tomorrow and now have three good images to inspire my work until the next visit north… 

since this trip has been one of limited time outside because of the cold and limited materials due to space it seems perfect to take home with me some inspiration with limits of it’s own

figuring out how to do what I want with only a few things to hand is a new way of working for me though one I have come to enjoy 

but the thought of having the full range of my art supplies available does make me pretty happy!

take care,

Jillayne

the things I forget...

these quiet winter days... so few distractions

I find myself sinking deeply into felt memories... how the cold looks I remember well and over the past few years being here during the winter has certainly helped reinforce that

how it felt was a different story; there just hadn't been this kind of cold during all those visits and now in the thick of it, I find myself remembering the feel of it  how much the two are intertwined

seeing the whipped snow and ice crystals blow about the air is one thing, feeling it on your face at -35 with a wicked wind chill is quite another

it feels as if you're skin is burning and freezing all at the same time

the mountain tops,  heavy with deep white snow are enveloped in a misty haze... blowing snow, as much up there as down here... stunning against the blue of the sky

with all the snow dust in the air you'd think to see only crystal diamonds blowing about yet when the sun is shining they take on a golden hue, warming in look but definitely not in feel

I've taken a few walks on calmer days but mostly time is spent indoors

enjoying my daily prompts, here are a few from the last while...

below, "looking through a window or door"

again, the living room windows to the forest behind on a sunny day

the greens enlivened by that dancing golden light

I used masking fluid, to hold on to more of the white than I usually seem to be able to

a tangled forest

the prompt below was for overlapping shapes

text from my course was an easy choice

some overwriting

over and over and over again in black

a section with light grey Graphik marker

another using leonardt calligraphy nib with black ink

and a small patch of pale, pale blue watercolour paint

and finally, "winter light"

easiest one of all, I knew all I wanted was the thin-stretched blue of the sky with the gold dust sparkling through the sunlit air

ideally this would also have some crystal-diamonds but I haven't figured that out yet

I may settle for a spatter of white watercolour

I'll ponder that as I stay out of the wind

take care,

jillayne

paper and ink...

ice crystals shimmer thickly in the air...

 dancing in the sunlight as the wind swirls and whirls them round and round

the effect is magical, though it does make me want to stay inside where its toasty warm

inspired by the motion, I picked up a plastic fork, dipped it into a dish of black ink in front of me and did some swirling and whirling of my own

not an easy tool to master but such great fun to try

I'm in the midst of a course on using text as texture with Claire Benn and Take Two where we are encouraged to use, among other things,  found objects such as forks and other oddments to see how they might work as a writing tool

on a walk to find a twig or two I found a good-sized branch torn off a tree during a recent windstorm

clinging to it were several tiny pinecones

fragile, hard to hold but oh so effective

this last one is a favourite - a broken popsicle stick,  any long splinters cut back to create a somewhat "even" rough edge

for the the upper version the stick was dragged to form the letters, in the lower, it was used to stamp them

another thing gathered on that same walk was a few small clumps of long thin pine needles

a paper-making date with a good friend yielded the sheet below

the needles were scattered over the couching sheet and the freshly pulled sheet of pulp was pressed upon it, drying under weight overnight

the result is light and delicate with strong impressions of the needles, clearly visible from each side

so, a paper and ink week

lots of trial and error, experiments galore and a few wonderful outcomes 

take care,

Jillayne

found in the backyard...

early January was lovely  

slow time, quiet days

I spent the first few reading a small stack of newsletters from various artist's in my inbox awaited me - one, from Carolyn Roberts, a beautiful painter in the UK contained a free gift: a pdf file of 30 days of prompts called

"Sketch, Snap, Repeat"

small noticings inspiring quiet work, nothing taxing, just looking, seeing, and recording in a way that suited you

I immediately decided to do it but saved it for my time here in the Yukon

at first I thought to make it about river but it's not possible to get there everyday so instead I chose the view out my daughter's living room windows, out into the backyard and greenbelt beyond

a most inspiring view

the black lines of the deck railing are the first thing you notice, then the mass of trees... somewhere in the midst, a chain link fence

I'm not quite up to date but getting there... the Little Miss broke her foot and with a cast on, couldn't go to daycare... instead, we spent our days colouring, doing puzzles, and playing endless games

they're off on a warm winter holiday now and I have the house to myself... all the art supplies I brought are laid out on the kitchen table and I'm ready to work

the first thing is to catch up with the prompts

the first prompt was "lines"

and circles:

neither of these spreads is finished yet but you'll have an idea of where I'm going with this... so little done,  yet I'm already feeling the value of taking the time to look and think and record

and with these long pages I can include a lot of information and have a play with some of the more interesting ideas that come of it 

so, a beginning

from the land of ice and snow

and sun

a thin winter sun that creates the most beautiful softly diffused light when there's ice fog

a non-cold-fearing friend took this photo during a recent spell of -45 and colder weather, the ice fog shrouding the land, temperatures too cold for the sun to have much success at burning it off

photo - C. Young

she also took the one below after it warmed up several degrees - she knows how much I love the dark open water contrasted with the snowy banks and frosted branches

photo - C. Young

and she very kindly lets me play around with them using various editing functions and using them in my work in any way that fits my needs

its the next best thing to being able to take them myself!

now that my feet are firmly planted in the land that made me I will be spending as much time out and about as I can

filling the well

take care,

Jillayne