ON THE EASEL

'Ancient Waterfall Scroll'

I am carving into a beautiful piece of birch plywood.  The dark part you see here is actually the glue between the layers of ply. I am thinking Japanese scrolls, Japanese woodblock prints, the floating world of Japan and the work of 

Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) 1760 – 1849

http://www.katsushikahokusai.org/

 
 https://www.artsy.net/artist/katsushika-hokusai

You may know of his work:

I find this quote attributed to Hokusai most inspiring:

In the postscript to this work, Hokusai writes: “ From around the age of six, I had the habit of sketching from life. I became an artist, and from fifty on began producing works that won some reputation, but nothing I did before the age of seventy was worthy of attention. At seventy-three, I began to grasp the structures of birds and beasts, insects and fish, and of the way plants grow. If I go on trying, I will surely understand them still better by the time I am eighty-six, so that by ninety I will have penetrated to their essential nature. At one hundred, I may well have a positively divine understanding of them, while at one hundred and thirty, forty, or more I will have reached the stage where every dot and every stroke I paint will be alive. May Heaven, that grants long life, give me the chance to prove that this is no lie. ”

So I study his work and then carve and paint my interpretation. In my un-mastered skill of carving and seeing. The older I get the more I realize how much more there is to learn.

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Here after much carving with chisel and hammer I finally get to the details.

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And now I begin the painting.  I use thinned acrylic paints and ink in many layers and go back and carve into the color. It is a process that I have worked out over the years that gives me the depth and feel I enjoy.  I will also leave much of that beautiful grain show through. It looks like water already near the bottom of the scroll doesn't it?  
Oh, I love to trick the eye. 

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I am planning on completing this work in the next few days in time for the up coming 
May, 2015 exhibit at my favorite gallery:

Ciel Gallery
128 East Park Avenue
Charlotte, NC  28203
phone: 704.496.9417

704-496-9417

hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 6, 
Gallery Crawl, Southend, Charlotte - first Friday of every month 11 - 9 

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I thank you for visiting my blog.

ON THE EASEL - to be continued

Reflective Hearts

Getting ready for Reflective Hearts 

 
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A little preview:

"Reflective Hearts Spirit Guides"  
24" X 46"
acrylic on carved plywood
 

A bit about my process for this piece.....

I look for plywood with grain that looks interesting or just a slight grain as in birch.  After getting the plywood home I usually lay out how I want it cut and my husband and I work together measuring and figuring out how to get the most from what I have purchased.  While cutting up the wood last month we kept avoiding one piece because of the line of knots on the back. After all the wood was cut,  piled up and ready to be taken to the studio I spotted the avoided piece and saw something that caught my eye. Not only did I like the knots in the wood it was warped perfectly!  I set the piece up on the easel and pondered it for a while. The idea came to me when I laid it on the work table, picked up my carving knife and began carving around one of the knots.  It certainly looked like a heart to me.  The rest of the day I saw hearts everywhere.  I know it's not even Valentines Day but on my walk with the dog that day, trees, branches, moss, all having the shape of hearts would just leap out at me.

Here's a photo of roots I found on one of my walks you just can't deny it, HEART! 

I know, when you start thinking of something you find it everywhere. I assume because of the show Reflective Hearts, I have hearts on my mind.  Not a bad thing, so if I think of love I will see it everywhere, right?

I carved around the top and sides of the piece giving me a chance to create a 'frame' effect.

The heart-knots became faces so when I viewed the work from a few steps back they appeared as spirit type figures.  The rest of the work flowed but I want to be subtle when I create, you get to use your imagination also.

Please enjoy the progress pictures to follow:

Adding color

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I will have many new pieces at the show and will try to show progress reports as I go along.  Sometimes I just forget to stop and take photos.

I hope to see each one of you at the show.  However that's not realistic because some people on my newsletter list are as far away as Japan.  

So, just stop back often and I will try to keep you entertained!

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You can see my work and Miriam Durkin's at 

www.cielcharlotte.com

Ciel Gallery - 128 East Park Avenue - South End Charlotte, North Carolina
Phone: 704.496.94174
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Thank you for visiting.

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