Interlude: My visiting artist lecture.

And just when I thought I worked in a vacuum, the students in the advanced drawing class at LMU in Los Angeles published their responses to the visiting artist lecture I gave back in January. It's on a private sketchbook blog. I just read over responses and saw their work. Great stuff! I can't publish for privacy reasons, but they were inspired by my technical and conceptual approach, specifically my "ability to pick up a brush and dive in without hesitation or any sense of pressure involving a finished product," and my "unique style that has an intrinsic movement to it, something that clearly happened with time and hundreds of paintings." Yes, I needed to quote that. There's more, but that was the gist. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with them. And it's funny you know, because I don't really consider myself a drawer, yet for a few years in LA, in between the large paintings, I was manically drawing, and I did create hundreds of drawings. Thanks again to Jane Brucker, Professor and Chair of the Drawing Department for inviting me.

It was late, so that's hot tea, not coffee. At one point I accidentally dipped the brush into my thermos mug instead of the water jar, which made a nice segue for a discussion on why one should not eat and drink at their work table. It was cold, which is why I am painting while bundled in a scarf.

The topic was, What is Drawing? I gave an experimental watercolor demo and lectured about my work. I also included a couple of sketches in my slide lecture, including one of my studio back when I made the Tornado Face Drawings. I revamped my entire workspace to accommodate my production mode that month. I mentioned this in my lecture and it became the source for their homework assignment where the students were to sketch their ideal studio space.

Blast from the past: My Zen-like Studio with Ikea Furnishings and the Tornado Face Drawings. 

I'd like to go cry now. No, not really. Just wistfully missing that studio. 

(republished from January)

My friend, Cole and I did a collaborative drawing of the Eames Living room installation at LACMA. We weren't supposed to take photographs, so I sat down to sketch it. I went on a sketching kick for a few days after that. I'm not very consistent with sketching. I should be. It's quite fun and Cole's a good inspiration for that.