Carrasco Studio

Art Among Armadillos. Rooting Around for Mural Directions

A friend of mine since highschool has commissioned me to paint a 5'x9' mural in the entry of his new home in the Texas foothills.  Usually I paint on canvas and ship the painting out, but this time he said he wanted me to paint on site and install my "aura" as well as my mural.  Of course it sounds like fun.

And, after I finish, Phil will fly down and we'll take off for a trip with my best friend Norma (from San Angelo) to fabulous Big Bend....one of the wonders of the world, in my opinion.  If my friend, (I'll call him "A") wants to go, he can come too. We'll go at the end of October, so the weather should be perfect.

Anyhow, we are right at the beginning of the mural design process, and I thought some of my subscribers and Facebook friends might find it interesting.  In fact, I would love to hear comments and input. Please!

Here goes....................

 

Dear A.
For your 5'x9' entry mural, I have included 4 possible ROUGH designs to give me some direction in where you want to go. You mentioned that it would be fun to have an abstraction instead of the usual cattle grazing in bluebonnets mural...something different to "annoy people".  Love it.

So, instead of my usual initial pencil drawings, I did them in color, since you stated you wanted the design to be abstract, and color is so important in an abstraction.  Abstraction, to me, is  where nothing  recognizable as figurative....the painting is geometric or a loose color field with what we painters call "marks". The language of paint and color...value, color, texture and shape are paramount.  But, to a lot of people , abstraction can mean stylization, a loose sort of rendering or an impressionist approach. I present these beginning color sketches are to help me understand your vision and show me a direction for your mural. You should be able to  see how I  went from figurative to increasingly abstract. You can pick one or pick and choose...your wishes (with my input) are my command.

You sent me some photos of your house in the hill country near Austin, and some of your landscape...Texas natural with some of the flowers, the live oaks and the cedars.  I have been in Austin several times and loved it....it's freewheeling openess and mix of people and cultures, and the land, especially the land.  I was fascinated when a friend took me out to her acreage and we waded down her spring in the shade of the oaks and cedars....the ancient aquifer water dripping  down in trickles and falls from  the limestone ledges , the lush line of growth and creatures along the spring, the heat and the sound and presence of insects and birds.( Ack, the ticks!)

So, what I tried to include in your renderings....all except the last true abstract version.....(1) the spring and pools, (2) the rounded pillowy shapes of the live oaks and the cedars (especially striking to a Pacific Northwest native used to the sharp points of firs and hemlocks), (3) the purple blue of the blue bonnet wild flowers, (4) the stacked limestone ledges, and the (5)  hot blue of the sky and  (6) the glare of the Texas sun. And, of course, (7) some nymphs (except in the abstraction.)  De rigueur for a landscape. 

#1 is impressionist and loose, the next, #2 and #3, are more stylized, and #4, of course would be the abstraction.

When I asked you about the bodacious level of the nymphs, you said you wanted them not so defined.  A gleaming haunch seen through the water, a giggling girl leaning around a tree.  After all, your mother does visit, although I know your 102 yr. old mother. She is sharp as a tack,  has probably has seen it all and when it comes to actual seeing , doesn't see much at this point anyhow.

 Let me know your wishes, oh Tall Person among Cedars.  We'll come to a fabulous conclusion.  Hope to hear from you soon.  J

Do offer suggestions....we appreciate any feedback, viewers and friends, and remember, these are ROUGHS!

Attack of the Teen Aged Ducks

Ducks at Highpoint pond        ©  Jennifer M. Carrasco 1/21/10

The mallards born and raised on this pond since last spring are used to being fed, and while they don't really attack, they are very enthusiastic when they see people park themselves at the edge of the water.  " O boy", they exclaim in quacks, "bread on the water", and they churn over, with chevrons of reflected light in their wake.  If you feed them, fights and exclamations ensue.  Splashes, sparkles and honks.

A very pleasant evening in the late summer sun was spent with friends in the meadow, and later, on my front lawn with roses, hummingbirds and a sunset Tiepolo sky.  Thanks for coming!

For the stalwart who attempted the West Seattle bridge construction project and turned away in despair, I apologize for not reminding you about the hideous traffic.  In the years to come, we will again have a convenient connection to the mainland.  Just remember, if you plan to visit at this point, pack food, water and a sleeping bag.

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 7/21/10  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission.

Hola! What lurks in yon grass?

I'm inviting you to join me on next Tuesday evening, July 20, 6-9 pm and spend some time painting and/or drawing in the meadow, next to the HighPoint pond and all the ducks, barn swallows, cedar waxwings, goldfinches, dragon flies and clovers and grasses, and reflections in the water and fresh air. And it's FREE.  It's accessible to everyone...nice level walks, sloping meadows and viewpoints everywhere.  Tame, safe, and very pretty.

One of my students, Engrid, mentioned to me that she was noticing all the different lovely shapes of the meadow grasses.....the bobbing plumes, the delicate patterns of the crisscrossing blades and stems.  Think about it.  Right in front of our eyes!  We must draw and paint them!  And bring your camera too....

 

Bring what you need for creating, composing or just getting composed, and come sit in the grass with me.  I won't be teaching or even talking, for that matter....just sitting in a peaceful little meadow in the middle of the city  with my watercolors and pen. 

The meadows of the PNW are miraculous to this very Eastern Washingtonian, (Pomeroy Washington in Garfield County, to be exact).  Not only are they lush and full of clovers and wildflowers, but THERE ARE NO RATTLESNAKES!

Let's say hello to summer....it's on the wane already and we'll need to fix it in our hearts to help us brave the rains of coming winter.  And, of course, if it does rain on the 2oth, all bets are off.

 And, by the way, whoever sent me that case of beer via FedEx (with no message).....A big thankyou!  Manna from heaven.  Who needs roses. (I have my own)

 

Help Help. Poppies on Fire

For those who know me, my idea of perfect bliss is to sit on my stoop on a summer evening as the sun goes down....a beer in my hand, the sun setting behind the Olympics, and all my flowers nodding their heads at me.  Hi flowers.  Hi Jennifer.

Here is Phil's leaning tower of peas...with, of course...poppies, archer's thyme and bachelor buttons.  

I tend to belong to the gardening school of wretched excess.  This was my sweet pea harvest of a few years ago.  I haven't been able to replicate it since.

The following photo was of my garden in October 2005.  It looked like an example of Agent Orange.

Here is my front garden now, June 27, 2010.
The mulch on the median is the remains of red clover that I pulled up after it bloomed. The raised beds have veggies and potatoes and nasturtiums, and I have  squash planted that usually (IF IT WILL EVER WARM UP THIS SUMMER) clambers over the mulch.

The tree on the left is a pie cherry tree.  Birds don't like the sour cherries.  I adore the translucent red of the fruit, and I love cherry pie. Like with my scheduled refrigerator cleanup, I bake once a year.

Home on the Value Range. Drawing Lesson #4

 

Line  value drawing with cross hatching. 1981

Lesson 3  Drawing on the right side of the brain.

1.  Look at drawings...memory drawing of room and  Ed Koch....Shift?   Judy’s question...analytical? More analogy, relational, holistic.Suspension of time, no decoding speech, active without anxiety.When is the crisis time for young artists?   Look at drawings of Koch and have each student “explain”  their room drawings. 
 

Yeah, I know....this is an iris in my garden, not an ironweed....but the poem is so lovely and applies to iris as well...."profoundest violet", indeed.

Ironweed

By Robert Morgan

There is a shade of purple in
this flower near summer’s end that makes
you proud to be alive in such
a world, and thrilled to know the gift
of sight. It seems a color sent
from memory or dream. In fields,
along old trails, at pasture edge,
the ironweed bares its vivid tint,
profoundest violet, a note
from farthest star and deepest time,
the glow of sacred royalty
and timbre of eternity
right here beside a dried-up stream.

1.  Iris......modified contour line. Mark midlines on your paper view finder. Stare at my leaf and negative space until you see the shapes of the negative.  Hold up your viewfinder and do the same for the iris.  Try drawing the negative spaces (Right brain) instead of the iris.  Don’t tilt or move your head and arm.  Get comfortable first!

2. Again, draw your hand holding something on the plastic.Then cover a sheet of your notebook with charcoal and rub it in with a piece of paper towel to get a medium value tone..


3. Do hand exercise., pg. 106-110  Pick up some of the highlights with your eraser.  Darken some shadows with your charcoal.   Hand out Escher drawing....look at the shadows and highlights.

Assignment:  Read chapter 6.  Apply charcoal to your paper. Using the viewfinder (prop your paper viewfinder) over a complex vegetable like a radish with leaves, a tomatilla, or three green onions.  Let some of the veggie parts go off the edge of the view finder.  Draw and shade the veggie(s) like you did with  the hand exercise.

Have a flowery day.

Bearded Iris                                                                       ©Jennifer M. Carrasco 5/12/10                                         

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 9/17/09  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission

Offerings to the Lilac Buddha

I wish I was light enough

to climb to the top of my lilac bush,

drape myself

across its crown of flowers

and take a nap.

Spring Glitter

Today when we got our day of sun, I went for a walk (Yes!  I can! Now!) down by the HighPoint catchment pond.  Everything was shining....the water, the new grass and the punctuation marks of bright yellow dandelions.  The grass was so sleek and so green I wanted to get down on all fours and munch it like a Holstein.

The wind was sharp and it cut tiny glittering knives in the water as it swept across its surface.  All was bright and tossing and wrinkled with lights.  And miracle of all, there is a wood duck couple who seem to have set up residence in the weeds at the pond's far end.  Of all the male ducks, Mr. Wood Duck is the most natty.  His suit of black and red and white and  his blue beak are immaculate.  His feathers are tailored to perfection and his head looks like it has been plastered down with Brilliantine.  All he needs to complete his outfit is a pair of spats.

Whenever I see such glitter and sparkle, I think of this poem by Robert Herrick.

Upon Julia's Clothes

Whenas in silks my Julia goes,

Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows

That liquefaction of her clothes.

Next, when I cast mine eyes and see

That brave vibration each way free,

O how that glittering taketh me!

           

Easter and Passover Greetings: Book of Carrasco

"Honor thy tulips, for they shall inherit your spring."

Book of Carrasco: Cruelest Month 68: Psalm 4-5

Shalom, bunnies and renewal and reflection. 

Sap is rising. Don't forget to take time to be silly.

Happy Easter/Passover.  Resurrexit Sicut Dixit, folks.

What's Black and White All Over?

In this case, it's fairly straightforward.  ZZZZEEEBBBRRAAS!

I dug this out of my files to send to a friend who loves zebras. It's from a job I did last year for a room for a very young client.  In fact, he wasn't born yet.

The room was 20 by 16 feet, and 9 feet tall, and the mural covered all walls.  On the West side was the jungle in twilight, and on the right side was dawn on the veldt.

The excited parents traveled in S. Africa and were in love with the country, and wanted their baby to share some of their visions.  Here baby and I are in front of his new zebra friends.  He doesn't look very impressed, but I'm sure he'll grow into his parent's (and my) African dreams!

I am finally starting on my next big project....a 7'x12' mural of a magic forest. 

I was getting very tired of working small.

Spring, tra la

Today Phil is going to help me get out in the front garden so I can coo over my tulips and daffodils.  O frabjous day!