Floating Heads and Hair Ladies

Winsor and Newton colored ink in sketchbook

Dec. 2010

Well, it's kind of embarrassing how long it has been since I last posted...since then, I have moved to the center of the country (to a new job in Chelsea, MI, from the Quimby artist colony in Portland, ME, for those not abreast of my recent activities). It took awhile for internet to happen in this new place, but never fear, I am now connected to the great interweb, and consequently I have a slew of drawings to post. I have been doing a lot of self portraits over the time that I've been in Michigan...it is often easy to do self portraits just as an exercise because I am my own most readily available drawing subject, given the presence of a mirror or an untarnished mind's eye, but here I'm doing a little self-examination...or just some surrealist versions of myself, to dig through my ideas on the changes and new situations happening in life. The likenesses are not perfect, but there you go. A note on the hair ladies, which may not be so self-focused...I've been fascinated with hair, kind of inexplicably, for a long time...I love how it can be so symbolic, of emotions (like how the Victorians viewed their hair), of longevity, of a part of your visual and emotional identity (I also really like how hair can very easily become creepy). I also adore Frida Kahlo, and how she was always painting her hair in different arrangements to represent different things...just lovely. Anyways, enjoy! The drawings that come along with the floating heads are just some whimsy from my brain. More to come, and much sooner this time!