Monday, April 11, 2011

Three Grounded Girls, Paint, Ink, Pencil

Spring (Grounded Girl Holds Still)
4/11/11
acrylic, paper, 5"x8"

Well, I've taken out my paints.

Grounded Girl is a bonafide "THING". I don't know how long she'll last (Flying Girl lasted a couple of years and honestly isn't quite done yet) but she's here now.

I feel an upswelling of something with her, so I'm going to go with it.

Oddly, Spring was inspired by this painting, by Shaun Downey. Don't ask me how it turned into what it turned into. It just did.

Made of Rain (Grounded Girl is Part Of It All)
4/9/11
Ink and Paper 8x5"

This Grounded Girl came a few days before. It was raining. I think. Or maybe it was not. The hatchmarks feel like days passing, like rain, or like breaths. Or maybe not. I had the idea that the dark background would have the same kind of hatchmarks, but in white, and she would be one and the same, kind of like a part of the universe, but I worked so hard on that background and it came out so nice and texturey that I decided I was going to let it stay and let that girl exist the way she is.


Idea (Wild Grounded Girl)
4/7/11
Pencil, Paper 8x5"

A couple of days before, I drew this one. Good old pencil. Like back when I was a student or first learning how to draw delicate work. I don't do a lot of delicate work now. I have a tendency to go too far towards "pretty" drawing, or so I feel, and I often try to go back the other way with rougher or wilder gestures. But the truth is, the pretty is a part of me, and perhaps I should go with it, instead of trying to go against type and be "serious" and deep. If I could find a way to manage both pretty and serious, I might be quite happy with myself.


Shh. I don't want any of you who know me to start nodding your head as if you have just psychoanalyzed my personality.

I'm just going to go with it, and not over analyze. I'm going with the flow and seeing what comes out.

Speaking of, I have revised/rewritten about 18 pages this week. Yay me. It's been a long time, and I think I have finally gotten to pay attention to the writing itself, not just the structure or the story. Put in a little of my "pretty" if you will.

And if my blogging rhythm is off, down from my usual three or four posts to only one a week, well, it's just because I am wrapped up in spring cleaning and working and kids and cooking and writing and painting. And I'm not pushing myself to paint every day or blog every day or even write every day. I'm just going with my flow, and committing to the work, and seeing where it leads me.

I do intend to put some prints of these in the shop, but I am a little bit behind in that area. I've got quite a back log of work. I was hoping to get my new camera first, so I could take better pictures, but the flow has had other ideas. Oh well.

Where is your flow leading you, lately?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, a whole new series to look forward to! I'm too fond of Flying Girl to be able to say, Oh, great, now you're grounded! --but I always look forward to what's next.

Rocio @ Casa Haus said...

Hi there! So nice to meet you! Thanks for your visit to Casa Haus, and your comment on the jellyfish tutorial. I'm glad many people like it, especially because it's my daughter's idea. =)

I love your drawings! I think they are pretty cool, and feel connected to them. I paint myself, but I haven't done that in 2 years. =( I got married, and in between that and my job, I just didn't have the time nor the energy. I'm very happy, though, that ideas are finally flowing to me again. I don't know if you can relate, but it means a lot to me to start feeling the energy to do something that makes me very happy. You can take a look at some of my paintings here: www.rociojimenez.com

I'll keep dropping by... it was really nice meeting you!

Rowena said...

Oh Jan, there might still be some flying girls popping up now and again. And who knows in what ways grounded girls will evolve. It's all a journey, even when standing still.

and Rocio, it's great to meet you. The kids love the jelly fish. This process of creating and being a creator can be quite involved. After having kids I spent years NOT painting. This blog actually became my journey back to creating. And so it serves again whenever I lose my creative habit and need to build it up again, like this winter.
I checked out your blog, but really want some more time to explore.

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