Saturday, March 31, 2012

KU!!!



Man, oh man... KU pulled themselves up after the half and won the game. What a thriller! Final NCAA Championship game is Monday night: KU vs. Kentucky. I'll be in class, darn it, but surely can find a student with a smart phone to keep me posted!

Rock Chalk!

Monday, March 26, 2012

How Do You Draw An Iris?

A young man walked into my room at the end of class one day last week and asked, "How do you draw an iris?"

I asked, "Do you mean the flower?"

He said, "No, I mean that part of an eye."


Hmmm, I thought. This is a bit of a stumper. 

I finally said, "I suggest that you find a good closeup picture of an iris and study it. Then try to draw what you see."

That wasn't good enough for him. He asked me to direct him to another teacher who could provide a better answer. He said, "I've asked about ten art teachers so far and no one has an answer for me." I think he must have been looking for a one-two-three guide.

Drawing is an act of discovery that no one else can do for you. It involves looking, seeing, practicing, and finding your own way. Guidance and skill-building can help a lot. And the wonderful thing about drawing is that there are an infinite number of ways to do it well. There are many ways to draw an iris.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

From the Blue Lagoon?



Joe's find from the swap this morning... a family of little ceramic creatures.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Stormy Weather

We just returned from a spring break in Portland and the Oregon coast. It was a week of terrific R&R amid a full weather spectrum: rain, more rain, wind, more wind, sleet, hale and even snow! Fabulous.

We spent the first and last few days of the week in Portland. Here we are at Pioneer Square, waiting in a drizzle for the Max.

I love this head on display at the Portland Art Museum.

And then we saw more heads painted on a construction site safety wall in a downtown street. Art everywhere!

On our drive over the mountains to Cannon Beach, it started to rain...

Then near the summit, it started to snow...

But then we saw light at the end of the tunnel (ha ha). 

Here is where we stayed in Cannon Beach - the second floor window on the right was ours. When we weren't out getting drenched, we lounged inside by the fireplace  and watched the weather drama through the window.

We had a perfect table by the window at a local restaurant...

...and the fire was blazing by us.

I spent several afternoons at this table, cutting a variety of linoleum blocks I'll use in an art project I've been working out in my head.