line work... a meandering

a calm intent descends over me, the paint-filled brush resting lightly on the page 

ready for the day's brush practice, the motion to take it across the page begins... shining blue ink laying down in a straight line from where I begin to where I momentarily rest again before lifting the last of the stroke into the air

dip the brush in the paint, a gentle swirl, bring it to a point

again and again, first horizontally, then vertically, the page fills with line after line

they are all the same and yet not

taken as a whole they become something more than what they are individually

its interesting to me how doing the same strokes again and again, day after day never becomes tiresome

from the brush I turn to the pen

writing the landscape, literally

using the written word to evoke a scene makes for an interesting way of "drawing"... no thought of trying to depict tall grasses nor fallen wood... no gravel, nothing

just a drawing of meandering shapes using words

an exercise that completely empties the mind of everything but the letters of the word I am writing

in addition to "writing" scenes I have been seeing how small I can get with handwriting... the goal is texture and though these are actual words I am again striving for texture and to take the letters to the point of abstraction, where the writing, unless magnified would be difficult to read

I'm not there yet but working at it

this morning I took a brief break to indulge in the making of a different kind of texture, this time with folds and a wash of sumi ink

 smitten again, this time with the methodical nature of measuring, scoring, and folding, this way and that

thinking this technique will fit nicely with the wabi sabi work that is never far away from me

and so the studio explorations continue... 

quiet, methodical, and meditative

and eminently satisfying