I’ve decided not to have a newsletter. Having a blog plus a newsletter is too many things in a world of too many things. A business person would probably tell me to keep the newsletter and ditch the blog because newsletters give you metrics. But I love blogs. I started blogging in 2007; it’s a format where I feel at home. (See Hitchhiking to Heaven if you want to make jam or Fairfax to Fairbanks if you want vicarious visits to the Alaskan Interior.)
I know it’s okay not to have a newsletter because I was in the shower when I realized I could let it go. Receiving flashes of insight under running water is such a well-known phenomenon that researchers have dubbed it “the shower effect.”
Practically speaking, I’ve folded my newsletter mailing list into the mailing list for blog posts. If you’re getting this post by email and you don’t want to be on this list, click “unsubscribe” at the bottom of this message. Otherwise, on we go!
Inky Fingers
Last month, I started doing these small ink studies. I was feeling overwhelmed in my drawing class; we had about six different exercises to choose from for homework and this one seemed clearest to me. Back in class, I found that I wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed, but I was on my own in choosing this exercise for stress reduction.
Others had their own preferences; no one else thought this way of seeing silhouettes was simple, much less soothing. What you do is render the top layer first, then bring in the layers underneath little by little, leaving white space to show places of overlap. When my teacher described this, I immediately understood what she meant and could do it without making sketches first.
I’m not saying this to brag. It was interesting information about how my brain works. Other students instinctively made easily flowing lines or moving, energetic scribbling lines or could emulate the styles of Matisse or Diebenkorn. Not so for me. I just wanted to layer inky shapes for hours on end. So that’s what I did.
How Did the Winter Market Go? Not Great!
I got such lovely feedback on the ink drawings that I made prints of the ones I liked best. Tony Molatore at Berkeley Giclée went beyond the call of duty to get them done quickly and I brought them along to the Fairfax Winter Market last Friday. I had hoped for another successful event, which was in no way what happened.
This market was very different from the art walk in September. Think lots of young kids excited to be out in the street feasting on holiday treats after dark. And parents just trying to keep up with them. I did have some great conversations about pigeons with people of all ages. But very few people were shopping — and, oh my goodness, it was cold. Rachel and her neighbors helped me pack up and move into the tiny space at SOON. Shortly after that, she and I decided to close up shop early.
My bird prints have been selling well at SOON, but I came home from the market with almost everything I’d carried down there, including most of the ink prints. If you see one you like (they’re all shown in the photo at the top of the post) it would be easy for me to drop it in the mail to you. They’re $24 each, packaged in a 5 x 7 ready-to-frame mat that doubles as a greeting card. (They’re not your typical greeting card, though. Tony does wonderful archival giclée printing. I ordered and signed just three of each.) Reply to this email and let me know or, if you’re reading this on the website, use the contact page to get in touch.
Happy holidays to you all!
