Proven

I have had a theory for about 20 years: teaching sucks all the creativity out of me. (So, maybe that means that technically I suck. . . :)
I find it very hard to paint, write, design while teaching.

Hats off to my colleagues who are able to do both- often while also raising children. Sadly, I just can't. Seems two is my limit. I can raise children and teach -or raise children and create.

So, I'm looking forward to the holiday break and getting back to my canvases and my book.

And I'm even more grateful for the summer sabbatical that allowed me to get back to creating for a brief moment in time. It was filling and wonderful. And I miss it.

KB

Thank you, Dr. Seuss

My book continues to develop, but I am disappointed by how much time I have spent writing and re-writing it. There aren't that many words on 32 pages, for heaven's sake! Pacing is EVERYthing, though.

My daughter Sarah is getting into reading biographies. She checked one out last week that has made all the difference to me. It seems that the late, great Dr. Seuss spent up to a YEAR per book just getting the words and rhymes just right. I have gotten mine polished and paced over about 7 weeks and have already completed the studies, grids, etc. for all the illustrations. And, I have about 8-9 images completed.

I'm not feeling quite so slow and foolish now. Mind you, a good "humble-ing" does everyone good now and then.

KB

Asleep (and not so much)

This book requires seven or eight images of this little girl asleep (or faking sleep).

The best thing about today's work: the subject announcing "That's me!"

KB

Almost

I got considerably further with this ink drawing and should complete the final rendering tomorrow or Thursday.

KB

Pencil Drawing

Busted!

I'm working on the illustration when the little girl has been caught and looks unrepentant and a bit naughty. This reference shot of Sarah just cracks me up! Hopefully the finished drawing will magically appear here Monday :)

KB

Billie and I

Alas, we have had construction going on in this house for exactly four weeks today. Hopefully, today is the end. I have (except for a fruitless trip to the mall) been hiding at my easel with a brush and my good friend Billie Holiday. Normally, it would have taken longer to get this far, although there is still a LONG way to go. I vividly remember all the red blooms on this vine clinging to the building.

I haven't tried scumbling with acrylic before today- boy is that different.

Back to the book tomorrow. It is kicking me, but I like what I'm getting. I'll post something at the beginning of the week :)

KB

Research at the mall

I hate the mall. I don't have anything against it particular- I just loathe shopping. I am also not a very "fluffy" lacy girlie person. So, I am off to the mall to look at lace and frou frou.

(Frou Frou always makes me laugh. Sounds so silly- and is also the name of a rather randy, rude magazine at the turn of the last century >:D)

Catching up with the new painting- I'll not show all the steps- too tedious. I'll post again when it is completed.

KB

Finished (part 1)

This canvas is finished for now. Like most things with me, I'll need to sleep on it for a day or two (or ten) and then look at it with fresh eyes. I've already started the next one, though. It also features one of these rounded doorways. They are quite deep sometimes, as I recall. The doorways I mean. Brings to mind the words of the original hippie, William Blake:

"If the doors of perception were cleansed
everything would appears to man as it is, infinite"

Thanks to The Doors, most have heard of that line. The next clarifies:

"For man has closed himself up, till he sees
all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern."

Here's to looking at the answers in plain view!

KB

Getting there

Painted for several more hours today- it is getting there. I hope to finish by Monday -and start the next one.

Y'know how sometimes you need a vacation from a vacation. I'm feeling this. I can't remember working this hard OR getting this much done!

KB

Two Days Closer

Two more days of working on the St. Paul painting. Getting closer, but still not done. Too HOT to be outside any later today- will start earlier tomorrow.

Time is Flying!

It is tough to find time to read everything on my wish list. I cut TV out about 25 years ago and watch less than an hour a week. Still, its a challenge. I've been reading a lot these past 5 or 6 weeks- about a book and a half a week. Right now I'm reading a great book: The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles by Martin Gayford. If you have loads of time, I'd recommend reading Letters to Theo first, but it is awesome.

I LOVED Arles. It is a dinky little OLD Roman town in the south of France, but there is something magical about the light and the atmosphere. Ah yes, and the site of the painting I'm working on is in the same region. Interesting connection.

I can't believe midterm grades were due yesterday. Time is flying for me! Books, Paintings, Writings, Exhibitions and Lectures, and the book illustrations. My mind swirls with ideas and information.

I miss AiCh- coworkers, students, creative energy. It'll be good to go back.

Acting on that idea

On July 19th, I dreamed of interpreting some photographs I took years ago in the south of France. This is the first day in a couple of weeks that isn't obscenely hot (I prefer to paint outside) so I have returned to the canvas I started. I remember the spot vividly- St. Paul de Vence.

I have a long way to go, but already know which scene I want to paint next. Nice.

Seems like a dream instead of a memory. Next week it will be my 21st wedding anniversary. Fitting to be painting this- I met him on that same trip over 23 years ago :)

KB

(BTW, it isn't huge.: 3' x 4')

Laura Ingalls I ain't

I took the girls to a presentation at the James K. Polk birthplace. "Threading the Story: The Form and Function of Spinning and Weaving". Very interesting- I hope to look into spinning lessons this week. The whole process from plant to clothing is really something.

Just outside this photo: a cell phone and a bottle of water. Laura Ingalls I ain't :)

Be careful?

Attended a lecture in Spencer NC at the Transportation Museum today. "Moving into the Carolina Backcountry: Colonial Era Transportation in the Carolinas and Virginia 1585-1785" by military historian Tom Magnuson. It was GREAT. I have spent many hours hiking and generally walking in woods. He opened my eyes to so many things one might think I would have noticed before (but didn't). He touched on politics, economies, laws, changes in technology, evidence left, etc. I feel full of new information and ideas. Nice.

(Gotta love that the NC Transporation Museum welcomes you with a great big BE CAREFUL)

Sculpture Exhibit fan

Salisbury, NC is hosting a sculpture exhibition all around town. I highly recommend it! Here are some of my favorites. If you can't get to Salisbury, you can see them through the link -but my shots are better >:)

http://www.visitsalisburync.com/things-to-do/artworks-galleries/salisbury-sculpture/default.aspx

Many are just so playful! Be certain to at least look at Doug Makemson's Bear. It is in front of the Farmer's Market. Love the "No Pets" sign behind it!

KB

(I think it is okay to post my images since they are outside and I'm not making any money on this.)

Tears for a guard and Hans Hofmann

This week, I went to Weatherspoon Art Museum for an Andy Warhol exhibition of polaroids (good), and an Andrew Mesches show (very emotional and interesting).

The other show was the real draw: Hans Hofmann. Two large rooms of his paintings- including some preliminary drawings and studies. AMAZING!!! He produced 50 paintings that year. FIFTY. Even with my trips for exhibitions and lectures, my book illustrations (which are kicking my butt!), my paintings and writings, I'm feeling a bit inadequate.

Hofmann's work is passionate and layered. Expressive and immediate. Lyrical. I actually shed a few tears. The guard kind of laughed at me and said there had been a man in the other day who reacted the same way. Then, he quietly asked me to explain what it was I saw that he was missing. His words are still ringing in my ears.

Tonight, I'm filled with gratitude. For those of us who taste color, feel music, hear lines and shapes, etc. we are truly, truly blessed.

K

Reference

My reluctant model (unpaid hostage/daughter) has agreed to let me post a couple of vague reference shots . . .

No sense of timing

Dropped off my younger daughter at day camp early this morning and sat down to sketch for 30 minutes or so. Four hours later, I realize I ran over a little. Errands will have to be postponed- this is too much fun.

Don't you love it when time and space allow you to get carried away?

Sketch

A sketch of the bedroom based on the scale layout. Colors selected: celadon, cream, rose, lots of gold.

Bow Hunting Skills

Use it or lose it.

It seems that doesn't apply to everything. In what feels like a former life, I had skills. (Okay, not bow hunting, computer hacking, or nunchuck skills).

In the busy-ness of everyday life, I lost them somewhere. Week 2 of the quarter and the residual stress suddenly fell out of my body. Underneath it were buried skills. Mine are words and type.

And I am remembering deep loves for poetry and calligraphy.
Ah, my kingdom for a bit of parchment and a gold-tipped nib . . .

Wootten/Sanctuary

I hope everyone within reach can go to Lincolnton and view the Wootten photos. They are lush and moving. I went with my daughter and learned so much from her. We studied the same images and saw such different things.

The contemporary work from Mexico was very personal. Many works exposed souls! There are about 20 emerging artists and maybe 6-8 established artists represented. I studied the work first- then went to the lecture and learned the stories. The Turchin Center at Appalachian State is great. It is housed in the church I attended while in college. It felt appropriate that this work was in the former sanctuary.

Sanctuary: a place of refuge.

Nice.

filling my soul

I was a bit worried that I might have a tough time getting motivated with my children at home in the summertime. NOT so- they are jumping in and wanting to do things I am doing. One has a new interest in Baroque and Rococo design- very cool. The other is now captivated by Monet and has casually asked if we can go to France next summer. She reminded me that she has never been.

Today, I am headed to the photographic exhibition of Bayard Wootten. Sarah has asked to come along. In the next couple of days, I am also attending a lecture and exhibition of contemporary Mexican art. Filling my soul!!

I am still researching and drawing, but the time is allowing me to do things I can't find the time for while teaching. Books, films, photography. (In a little over a week, I have inhaled 5 books and a film!)

The idea about interpreting the photographs from that long-ago trip to Provence is still tapping on my shoulder and has been joined by a desire to do the same thing with some of the photos I took in Nassau a couple of weeks ago. I'm taking the camera today- something interesting seems to be evolving there, too.

Week 2 at school. I miss my coworkers and students. I might have to break down and start friending current students on Facebook so I can keep up with them . . .

The Boudoir

The story is about a little girl who doesn't want to go to bed and continually stalls, much to the frustration of her mum. It has evolved from a bedtime story I made up for my daughter Sarah when she was younger.

I have spent hours designing the furniture for the bedroom in the story. It is Rococo inspired and while reviewing photographs from a long-ago trip to Versailles, I kept getting "lost". The architecture from a small village in Provence still captures my imagination (same trip). Perhaps I'll translate some of these old photographs into paintings . . . (Ah, lost again).

Today's assignment: creating the floor plan for the bedroom. This is essential for keeping the perspective consistent regardless of the point of view. I keep thinking of this as the boudoir- which makes me laugh because boudoir is from another word meaning to pout. Perfect for this little girl in the book!

I'm struggling with her nightdress. What my daughter has envisioned is vastly inaccurate for the period (about 75 years more contemporary). Perhaps a compromise?

I'll try to post a couple of sketches soon.

Beginning

Mirriam-Webster defines Sabbatical as: "of or relating to a sabbatical year". Mine is 11 weeks- no wonder I feel pressed to complete a lot in a little time!

1) I cleaned out all my files and bought a new laptop so I am less restricted where I work.

2) I read a book (no surprise) The Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick. Its about theft in the art world- more specifically Munch's The Scream. WONDERFUL.

3) I took a grand vacation to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. It has been 20 years since I was last in the Bahamas. Absolute paradise- I could feel the stress falling out of my body.

4) I set up my drafting table and supplies. And tunes. They are vital :)

It still feels very strange to miss a quarter start. I miss it!

Background

Like many graphic designers, my first job was designing a logo. (Mine was through a contest). From there I worked at a couple of newspapers, an in-house design department, a publishing company, a radio station, a company that sold wholesale holiday wares- like Christmas ornaments, and did a LOT of freelancing as a designer, illustrator, and calligrapher.

After graduate school, I began teaching college in 1987 and have most recently taught at the Art Institute of Charlotte since 2000.

I have wanted to complete a children's picture book for many years. This sabbatical is the chance to complete some of these illustrations!