laurawythe

Grumbacher sketchbook cover

Give me  liberty, and give me my sketch pad.  It’s surprising how time flies, and how really interesting my mundane world is.  No fancy trips abroad, just everyday stuff.

Rock cut on North of Superior route, plan for print

I drew all the way home from Thunder Bay, with my friend, Cathy, driving.  I can’t imagine how fast my pencil had to fly to catch the views along the North of Superior route.  It’s breathtaking–the rock and lake.

detail of Algonquin Park sketch

I camped and sketched  in Algonquin Park until at night I dreamed only of the trees, of being on the trails with the undergrowth rushing past.

I sketch where I’ve lived–Stratford where Robin was born, Thunder Bay and Guelph where I went to university, and London.

The Green, Wortley Village

Guelph, along the river

View from room in Thunder Bay

Stratford Park

Jeanette, conte

Honestly, it’s all practice and that’s why I decided to study art so many years ago.  There would always be more to learn, more to say, better or different ways to express visually.   I started figure drawing at Ryerson in the Fashion Design program.  Of course, we learned to play with proportions, but the models were not stick figures.

Jeanette, conte

Matt, conte

Jeanette, conte

Jeanette, conte

Lately I’ve taken portrait and figure drawing classes with Hida Behzadi at The Arts Project.  There’s Jeanette and Matt, wonderful models, on page after page.

Green as I am at heart, I have used paper unabashedly  because it’s the only way to practice.  Large pads of newsprint covered with lines and smudges from little sticks of Conte chalk.

And always room for improvement.

Something totally different:  I learned about collage with Hendrikus Bervoets in an Art for AIDS International workshop.  What a fun and colourful way to get into a socially conscious groove.  Each one is a square but even squares can be interesting.

Stone Thrower

Fire and water

Monkey Love

Man on Fire

Seed with a caduceus stem, poster paint

There are treasures, like this one from when my young daughter and I would paint.  I had to be fast and I had to be bold.  It’s not gallery art, but it captures the potential.  We painted out on the back porch when the weather was good.  This one was created in the winter on the floor of our sparse living room.

The sea rose, Conte

And then my personal response to the tsunami in 2004.  Very powerful earth energy.  I expected something wild to flow onto the page, not this geometric, rather balanced piece.  I still wonder at the sense of unfolding, of a plan.

Like many, I use the backs of pages to take phone messages, make lists for shopping, whatever.  With lists and messages, comes doodles.  The Sudoku calendar offered a year’s worth of pages and the perfect size to let my inner doodle live.  Don’t you love gel pens?

Noise on the back of a Sudoku page

The mess of logic.

Sunshine morning doodle

The studio has been quiet.   It’s still not quite right.

Handmade, half-filled sketch book with drawings and notes.

Now I’m looking at what attachment means.

Recently, someone said that it’s one thing to draw and fill pages in a sketchbook, but it’s another to make a business of selling art.  He’s right.  Although I’ve studied art and practiced techniques all my life, I’ve never seen my art as a business.  It’s come from a purely creative need.

And ultimately, it’s meant for sharing.  I get such a giggle looking back through sketchbooks and in my portfolio.  What was I thinking?  It makes me as happy as when I made it.  Like a drug, I want to do more.   I believe that’s why the arts thrive in economic downturns.  We use creativity energy to heal, to regroup, to celebrate.  It’s a way to share loves and vulnerable wishes and passions.

That’s where the $5 sale comes in.  I’m pulling out all my sketchbooks, the drawings on paper, watercolour paintings and prints I’ve managed to hold onto through the years.  I’m cataloging them all, then I’m letting them go.

For $5, you could make up a little portfolio of work that speaks to you.  You can have a collection of art to kick start your own creativity.  You can have a book to look through, then pick up a pencil or paint brush and start a conversation.  Or you may just want an interesting  piece for the coffee table.  All I’ll ask is that you sign off on reproduction rights and the work is yours to adore and use as you want.

Not the greatest business plan, but what a great way to exchange creative energy.

Love,

Laura

Pencil drawing of the kitchen on Langarth Street.

From the series I drew for Stratford Art in Park. Pencil and reflective Mylar film on paper.

Goofing around with watercolour on paper.