Is that you, dear dusty creativity?

Yesterday's and this morning's pictures remind me of high school, when I was a girl studying art. My beloved art teacher, who has since passed on, once criticized my work as too stylized. He thought my stuff ought to be more artistic. I wish I hadn't believed him. But that was a long time ago, and since then I've doggedly stitched back up this false divide in my art.

January 24-25, 2011

Do you see hints of the Jack of Spades, the Hulk in man-form, an Inuit spirit in these little pictures?

I'm glad to see some imagination slink back into my art. Mostly I've used bus drawing as technical practice (e.g. fabric, hair, texture, etc). Maybe the brain just plays with anything it's working on, whatever it is? I like the idea that playfulness and creativity are things I couldn't keep away, no matter what my life circumstances were.

Over the weekend, I read a blog by a lady who spent a few months trying to figure out why she couldn't get herself into the studio now that her kids were finally in full-time kindergarten. At first she thought it was because she was out of practice, not having done much art over the last few years. But in her last entry she said that she had realized that art wasn't that important to her anymore, and that her family occupied all the spaces that art used to live in.

I've made that same conclusion more than once. Buuuut –

Art came back the very next day

Art came back, I thought I was a goner

BA-DUM-DUM-DUM...

Nodding and responding

Drawing and blogging about the city goers in my little world has planted a little seed of curiosity. Is anyone else doing the same thing?

Turns out that OttawaStart.com keeps a list of Ottawa Art blogs. Most are actually portfolio sites, with nothing to follow, but some of them I love! This weekend's find: Dharma Arts Magazine. I love the format and design; it's a truly web-based design, rather than a print publication slapped onto a website. You'll see what I mean once you start clicking! Real estate agents should mimic how Dharma presents this Peace House.

My creative action group (for which this book was the inspiration.) convenes at my house for the 4th time this Friday. We gather in the hopes that rubbing shoulders will encourage our solitary-maker efforts. We've yet to solidify into a core group. Different people show up each time. We still don't communicate much between meetings and the group has yet to really embed itself into our lives.

I'm trying to figure out what else I can do to make it more than just a pleasant two hours a month. Although, of course, that's quite a bit better than nothing. It's the one time every month where I speak up about my art and actual humans (other than my dear mate) nod and respond!

Old people and children first

January 20-21, 2011

The two guys on the right delighted me. Fellow in the flower toque kept swiveling his head, peering around and out the bus curiously, giving me wonderful glimpses of his giant nose. Swear he checked me out when he was getting off the bus. He took a big eyeful anyway.

It won't surprise you that there's a certain demographic among the commuting crowd. More 90-year-old duos, please.

Out of my league, part two

My sister just twigged me to this wonderful pencil artist! Such honest images.

His artist statement's worth a look. He sort of ... wipes away the cobwebs of normal polite talk and replaces them with something simple and gentle.

Attack of the sad people

 So they don't look ready to mobilize. Give them time!

January 18, 2011

Despite the melancholy of the season, it's been a lucky week (though do I regret getting caught by a dude in naval uniform before I produced anything worth showing you. We may not have much fashion variety to feature here in Ottawa, but we do have our men and women in uniform!).

The young lady in the next picture sat a mere foot away last night. Our knees were practically touching! Hopefully she just played dumb out of kindness or disinterest. She must've known I was drawing her. Teenagers know everything.

Don't look a gift commuter in the mouth is what I say. 

It's too bad about that guy growing out of her ponytail.

January 18, 2010

What are you listening to?

January 18, 2011

 This woman was really beautiful. Too bad all you get to see is her nose. I really enjoyed working out all the different textures, crimped skirt, molded leather purse, her hair and fur ruff.

I guess it'd be hypocritical to fault her for staring

People often watch me draw, and I like it. The solitary artist thing is a bit of a drag, really. But yesterday one lady distracted me quite a lot rubber-necking between me and the woman I was drawing.

Was she:

1. Trying to see if I was going to get caught (or is that just my paranoia talking?)
2. Comparing my picture with the object of my efforts?
3. Wondering if I was a spy? 

That last one's there just for fun. I don't really want people to think I'm a spy. I might have to defend myself physically or something one day. That wouldn't work out so well for me.

...

A bit tense in the ole resource centre this morning... It is slightly obvious that I'm not doing anything work-y. They couldn't care less as long as there's no line-up for the computers and such. But it was busy in there today. I brazened through the scan, then fled before I finished cleaning up the scan in Photoshop.

So here it is! Rough! and! ready! 

January 13-17, 2011

Confession: I made up the guy on the top left, based on a lady with hot pink hair and the greatest kisser you ever saw.