Last week while we were visiting my father, I had some time to do some sketching -- and wished for more. Maybe later this summer. I was inspired by the wildflowers -- wild phlox and daisies and Indian paintbrush -- and some of the ceramics my mother enjoyed, and it was great to sit by the lake and draw.
And back at home, there were peonies and lupine in my garden - faded now, but committed to paper and scanned for posterity, in all their busy elegance!
"What do you mean, lupins?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkhx0eqK5w
Posted by: Duchesse | June 20, 2016 at 06:58 PM
I'm trying to find ways to get back to sketching, not that I'm any good at it, but I want to do it and I know that will take some work first creating habits. . . .You continue to inspire me -- thanks! So much of your life seems designed to support your creativity. . . and then the creativity supports the life. . .
Posted by: Frances/Materfamilias | June 20, 2016 at 11:49 PM
It's nice to see the subjects and note how you have brought so much out of them. So pretty!
Posted by: Hattie | June 21, 2016 at 12:20 AM
In my high school art teacher's pottery class we often heard him telling us to be "true to the medium" and the opposite of this, for him, was a porcelain rose. But the impulse to immortalize the beauty of exactly what does not last long is deep in us. I gazed for quite a while at the photo and the sketch of the blue-green flower/ceramic pondering the lineage of this desire and the different artistries and hands at work here. Thank you so much, Beth
Posted by: Vivian Lewin | June 21, 2016 at 06:57 AM
Oh, Beth, these are lovely. I especially love the watercolor at the top of this post.
Posted by: Rachel Barenblat | June 21, 2016 at 07:58 AM
Duchesse, omg, I'd never seen that! Sooooo funny!!
Frances, believe me, nobody's good at sketching without practice - I should post some early drawings to prove the point. And I still do clunkers at times, and very often a sketch that has good parts and not-so-good. The thing is to do it enough that you enjoy the process and lose yourself in it and in discovery of the subject. I'm going to have to think about what you said about life and creativity, because I so often think that modern life (including mine) is designed to thwart and frustrate creativity, and that in order to incorporate it we have to make choices that deliberately go against the grain. I'm constantly trying to carve out time to write or make art or do music. When I went down to my father's, it was really hard to find that time, but I was determined to do at least one drawing while there, and happy that I managed two. I feel like it's a constant fight against the demands of life, work, and other people to find the time to be a creative person and develop one's gifts and loves. When I was about forty and feeling miserable and torn between many things, I made a conscious decision to stop feeling guilty about this, and make the time every day if I could - even just an hour in the morning. It has made a huge difference in my happiness, and to my surprise, the work has progressed little by little. The people close to me have not only survived but had a happier friend/wife/daughter to be with, and it was a compromise I could live with - I didn't feel I was abandoning my responsibilities, just being true to myself. Every woman has a different set of priorities and responsibilities - and developing ourselves and our talents is harder for us than for most men because of this - and more of us also lack the confidence. But we owe it to ourselves, and we need to encourage each other.
Hattie - thank you! My mom studied ceramics in art school and had a small collection of things she liked, especially majolica. I really enjoy looking more closely at those objects now.
Vivian - thank you for looking closely at that flower and making a point that hadn't occurred to me at all. Speaking of porcelain and flowers, have you seen these? http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/10/zemer-peled-ceramics/
Thank you so much, Rachel. I'm glad you like this work!
Posted by: Beth | June 21, 2016 at 09:57 AM
Thank you! This is so motivating -- and as you'll have seen on Instagram, it pushed me past my hesitation and self-judging to a small sketch in my book this morning.
Posted by: Frances/Materfamilias | June 21, 2016 at 06:00 PM
I like these lovely, loose sketches. But. I am indignant that you came to see your father and did not see me. Next time, meet me halfway in between!
Posted by: Marly Youmans | June 21, 2016 at 09:42 PM