Thursday, January 5, 2023

 First plog of 2023. Here's hoping it is a healthy, productive and rewarding year for us all. 

Lulu and I had gone to NYC to see our respective children and our new grandson, Sweet Baby James, who filled us to capacity with joy and promise. Inmeasurable quantities of both. We also had a fabulous time with Josh/Shannon and our beloved granddaughter, Paige. Nick and Frankie took us out for a couple of memorable meals, as well.

The weather sucked and the toursists are back in droves in midtown so getting around was brutal as was the weather. We had planned on seeing the Edward Hopper show at The Whitney but it was an impossible task. We did manage to spend some etheral time at MOMA which filled our cups to overflowing. I got to spend some quality time with a pair of Jackson Pollack's large works which brought me to my knees and to tears. 

I've always loved Jax work but I think I finally got to fully experience his total gift. I was able to immerse myself in the work. Felt is. Saw it fully and was left in total awe. I'm reminded of how Helen Frankenthaler felt after seeing his work. I think I had the same experience.

It was good to be back home with our cats and the comfort of our studio which there is no place like for both me and Lu.

Suffice to say, a burst of energy translating into some good work that I would like to share.

It's fitting that this should be the first piece that I did in the New Year (1/2/23). The size is 42"x58" and the material is muslin and comes off of Lulu's LeClerc Nilus loom. She needed to replace the two aprons and I just loved the look and feel of the fabric. I used fabric paint and acrylic ink as media. Titled, "Crosstown Traffic." (Thanks, Jimi!)

This is on fabulous Arches watercolor paper, 23"x32. India ink, oil crayons, graphite and oil stick. Titled, "FLW Red Brick #1"

This is on 18"x24" Canson XL watercolor paper (delicious) with thinned Mattise gesso undercoat with grey oil crayon base. Speedball Superblack India ink and oil crayon. Titled, "FLW Red Brick #2."

This is the 2nd of the series that have two events linked. The FLW is Frank Lloyd Wright and a story was told to me about how FLW would always include a red brick in his drawings and was asked to remove them. He would then make sure that there was always a red brick in his completed projects. My wee homage to FLW. The other event is that I was entranced by a stunning drawing I saw in our dear friend's home in Williamsburg by Claes Oldenburg. I appreciated his work but had never seen one of his drawings and was totally knocked out.  "FLW Red Brick #3."

This is the 3rd and final of the 18x24 FLW series. Same materials used and the process is the same. Thank you for looking, and I hope you got to see.