Only Way Out Is Through

Drawing based on Inktober sketching, 2017

Current mood. Both figure and ground.

Print out this image for coloring and drawing in meetings, commutes, and other seated occasions. 

Revival

January of this year was the last time I posted anything here. This may mean it's time to pull this thing out by the roots and lay it on the compost heap of projects alongside KnoxLooks and abandoned studio projects.

In the meantime, here's one of the things I've been doing this month: an ink drawing a day for #Inktober on Instagram. It's been challenging to stay on top of the drawings, but the repetition of the task is helpful. Drawing in response to prompts I think are lame is helpful. Drawing when I'd rather do something else is helpful. It's the kind of gentle resistance visiting artist Johanna Winters cited recently in talking to SNC art students: we tear muscles slightly so they grow back stronger. So too in the studio do we introduce prompts, challenges, and materials that tear our making muscles a little and help us grow.

Below is one of the images from the month. The rest are on my Instagram feed here. You can also spend some time perusing the hashtags #inktober and #inktober2017 to see some of the millions of images posted. Lots of bare-chested witches last time I checked. That's not my jam, but right on for daily drawing.

From the Day 15 prompt "mysterious"

Let's Draw

I am honored to be part of Let's Draw, an upcoming art exhibition at James Watrous Gallery based on a long-running radio show by the same name. From the gallery's website:

"Let’s Draw" was developed by Wisconsin’s own WHA (now Wisconsin Public Radio) as part of the station’s School of the Air program. These weekly broadcasts wove together stories, dramatic readings, music, and instruction into lively half-hour programs that brought art lessons to rural and underserved communities around the state. The driving force behind Let’s Draw, James Schwalbach, emphasized originality and free expression. Schwalbach’s mantras were "We do not copy" and “Art is fun,” and he urged students to “Sit up straight, hold the crayon loosely, and swing your whole arm with a great big grin on your face.” After introducing each’s week’s theme, Schwalbach would say “There’s that big sheet of paper, and you’re just full of ideas, so let’s draw!”

Every time I read about the "Let's Draw" radio program my heart starts to beat a little faster. What an amazing thing: the gospel of everyone drawing-- on the radio! The show will be up from February 10th - April 9th with an opening reception Saturday, February 18th from 1-3 PM.

Revolution Sourball

Have been recently inspired by Mierle Laderman Ukeles's work and read her Manifesto for Maintenance Art 1969.  Was especially taken by this line from it:

Two basic systems: Development and Mainteance. The sourball of every revolution: after the revolution, who's going to pick up the garbage on Monday morning?

The entire manifesto is Ukeles's smart and funny declaration that, from here on out, everything she does is art. Washing dishes, finishing reports, staying young -- it's all Ukeles's Art. We'll be reading it in Intermediate Printmaking soon and I look forward to talking about its contemporary implications.