Debbi Friedman’s Blog

“Spirit Stones”, colored Pencil and Graphite, 17.5″ x 13″

I am delighted and honored to have received the CPSA Great Explorations Award for Exceptional Achievement in the Explore This! 9 Exhibition for my drawing, Spirit Stones, shown above.  This is my first acceptance into this particular CPSA show, and I was stunned to receive news in the mail of the award.  There are fifty three wonderful pieces of artwork currently on-line from February 1 through January 31, 2013 in the show, which can be seen at the CPSA website link here.  All of the art must combine mainly colored pencil with any other media desired, and it’s interesting to see what other artists are doing in this regard.

For “Spirit Stones” I wanted to play around with arranging these stones  in a tall vase and convey some humor at their predicament.  Some appear happy, some perplexed or chagrined, to be suspended in a vase of water staring out at the viewer.

The Cast of Characters

There is also a review of the EXP!9 exhibition on Katherine Tyrell’s Making a Mark blog site.  Katherine writes about the top two awards (Eileen Sorg, CPSA, CPX having received the EXPY Award and the Prismacolor Best of Show Award for her wonderful piece, “Foiled Again”):

“I took a look at the artwork before reviewing the award winners and I have to say I wasn’t at all surprised by either of the two top awards as these were both pieces which prompted me to stop and look longer.  I think it’s also very interesting to see how big an impact can be achieved through the use of understated and almost monochromatic colour – particularly when there is a level of content to the artwork which goes beyond keen observation and impeccable technique.

It’s also worth noting that both pieces contained humour – and I’m always keen to applaud those who meet the challenge of including humour in a subtle way.”

“Spirit Stones” is the second drawing I’ve done with stones that have suggestions of facial parts on their surfaces.  The first drawing, “Stone Faced”, was done for the CPSA Silent Auction last summer in Covington, KY, in conjunction with the annual convention.

Stone Faced, Colored Pencil on Canson Mi-Tientes

I’ve been collecting all sorts of stones for years; sometimes I’m looking for certain colors or shapes, or struck by finding stones with lines encircling them.  I’m always on the lookout for stones with faces or mouths in them, and not all make it into my drawings.  The stone below was calling out for a face, and now resides in my studio with other found objects I’m fond of.

Currently my website is being redesigned, and I’m excited to have the new site go live.  I have approximately twenty drawings that aren’t on my current site, and the new format will display everything much better.  I’ll announce the new site when it’s ready, and as always, thanks for reading!

This is the drawing  I worked on last spring.  It’s done on Strathmore Bristol Board with Caran D’Ache Supracolor II Watersoluble Pencils and Prismacolor Pencils, and measures 14″ x 23″.  The colors are a little washed out, but this is my photograph, not a professional photo.   I had purchased this small vase (it measures 2 1/2″ high x 4 1/2″ wide) at a church rummage sale and filled it with tiny white stones, placing on a teal-colored piece of rice paper.  When I added water to the vase, the stone on the far left turned this deep ochre color, which I found very interesting!  Stones can look dramatically different when wet or dry, which is just one of the ideas I enjoy exploring in these drawings.  I wanted the stones to look like they were glowing like a lantern.  It’s hard to convey with words what I want to express with this drawing, but I hope it suggests remembrance, peace, and the endurance of the human spirit, much like a chalice.

Meanwhile, I have been to the CPSA Convention in Covington, KY, which was a great time.  I had the chance to hang out with several close friends from across the country, make new friends, take a workshop with John Ursillo, and tour a little bit of Cincinnati.  Some terrific write-ups of the convention (and accompanying photos) can be found at: Lynda Schumacher’s Blog and Kendra Ferreira’s Blog.

It’s been four plus weeks since I’ve worked on any artwork, which feels like an eternity.  I was all set to get back to work yesterday, when I sliced off a part of my right index finger using a mandoline to make ratatouille.  Suffice it to say, I needed medical attention, and now have a huge protective bandage on my hand.  It’ll be a few days before I can hold a pencil again, and even longer before my finger pad regenerates.  I’m a little concerned about my finger recovery and hoping for a quick recovery without complications!

Thanks for reading,  Debbi

Finally I feel like there’s time to write a blog post and share some images I created last winter and spring.  I did several drawings combining leaves and stones, working on a smaller scale and exploring ideas of color and the interplay between the colors of the leaves and the shadow they cast.  One drawing was conceived as a triptych, but may be re-cropped to display as diptych, with the stone/leaf on the far right being it’s own drawing.   I’d love to get some feedback on this idea from readers.   It’s shown below cropped into two drawings, as well as as a triptych.

Then there are two little drawings that stand on their own…. I loved working on the shadows of the leaves, which really did reflect all of these colors!

The new issue of “Practique des Arts” is out, and I can finally share both the piece I created as an exclusive for the magazine as well as the article.  Auburn Vessel, above, was completed last December after working on it for most of the fall.  It measures approximately 18 x 19 inches.  The article, below, shows many of the stages, so I won’t go into detail about the working process.  It is, unfortunately, difficult to read as is (font is too small) and a bit blurry when enlarged.  But it is in french, so unless you can read french, there’s not much lost.  And the stages are pretty self-explanatory.  If anyone has any questions, I’d be most happy to try and answer them.   There is also a link to the article on my website news page, which you can access here.  Thanks for reading!

I’m going back to the leaf drawings I enjoyed doing so much, but combining them with stones.  I’ve been working on this drawing, Prismacolors over Caran D’Ache Supracolor washes, done on Bristol Board Vellum.   I have a couple of new ideas to explore, including a triptych.  While this drawing is not complete yet, there is enough here to share.  The stone needs more development, as well as many areas of the leaves and shadows.

I am excited to be heading off to Strasbourg and Paris in a few hours.  We will be visiting friends in both cities, and I am very eager to see friend and colleague Elizabeth Patterson’s current exhibition of Colored Pencil drawings in Paris at the Galerie Louis Carre.  It will also be a great opportunity for my son, who has been studying french for four years, to hear and practice the language.  And, to eat!!!  Oh, and I suppose to take in some art…..Thanks for reading, and a bientot!

It has been such a long time since I’ve written a blog post, but I have not fallen off of the face of the earth!  I have been busy with my art, and finally have a couple of new drawings to share.  Continuing with my Stones series, I have a Stones Pile, and a small Stones/bowl.  I’ve come to group them into these categories in my mind:  Piles, Vases (with and without water), and “zen” studies.

The drawing above is in the Pile category. It’s done on Canson Mi-Tientes paper with Prismacolors and measure approximately 11′ x 17″.  The upper right corner of the background is the actual paper without any pencil.

The drawing below is also on Canson Mi-Tientes with Prisamcolor pencils, and measures 8″ x 10 1/2″.  It’s a fun little drawing that took only a couple of days to produce.  I purposefully kept it looser and less detailed, if one can call my work those things!

I’m excited to share the news that most likely the drawing I did as an exclusive for the French Art Magazine Practique des Artes will be published in their upcoming April issue.  At that point in time I can share the image and article here on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

I spent the past two weeks working on these three little stones drawings.  It’s always fun to do these smaller pieces and work out some ideas quickly.  Well, I suppose quick is a relative term – quick for me!

I have more ideas for little drawings to do in the future, but now I’m on to another larger stones drawing.  It’s a piece that is being executed for publication in an art magazine that wants an “exclusive”, so I can’t reveal the image until it’s completed and published.  It’s exciting to think about sharing the stages of my drawings in this venue.  I would have been doing this piece regardless, but their timing was excellent.  It’s going to make me think more clearly about delineating the stages of my more complex drawings.  That’s always good practice and helps one to be able to better “present” their art, whether it’s verbally or pictorally.

Thanks for reading!

And Presto-Magic, the rocks appear!!!  I had a lot of fun drawing these stones. The reflections, shadows and distortions were quite challenging, especially where they all converge at the same point.  The most obvious place for this is just under the meniscus line.  The overall color probably isn’t accurate due to the lighting in my studio and my photography skills, so I am very excited to see how it looks after my photographer does her work.

I’ve started work on two new pieces, both of stones.  One is a small,  zen little drawing, and the other is a larger composition of stones in a water vase with new angles and colors.  I’m going to see how it goes working on two pieces simultaneously, as I’d love to increase my output.  (I know, wouldn’t we all!)  As always, thanks for reading.

Here is the second stage of my current and very violet/fuschia still life. And Oh Em Gee, it looks like I forgot to draw the stones (wink wink Jeff George)!

No, it did not take me two weeks to draw this much of the glass!  I am almost done with the stones.  The colors are really working wonderfully off of the background and it amazes me how much it pulls together when the concreteness of the stones are in place.  I know I mentioned in my last post that the glass was definitely the most challenging part of the drawing, but it’s not!  These stones have very intricate interplay with the glass and water, creating complex light distortion and reflections. I used a piece of glass propped up on blocks when I set up the initial still life,  and then cut a hole in the fabric directly under the vase.  Then I played around with shining a flashlight up through the bottom, as well as having another light source from above.  It’s subtle, but doing this did create different illuminations in the set-up.

It’s really been quite fun to do this one.  Next post will be the finished drawing.  Thanks for reading.

Here is the first stage of my new still-life drawing, and as mentioned in my last post, it’s very purple – or fuschia, magenta, plum, eggplant. . . . whatever you want to call it!  It’s also large (for me) measuring in at 22″ x 16.5″.  I’ve completed as much of the background as I’m going to do for now, and will most likely tweak some areas later when the vase, stones and water are in place.  I used a Caran d’Ache watercolor pencil layer to begin, and after blending it with water  I started in on the dry layers of Prismacolor pencils:  #924 solid color stick, more loosely applied for texture, and then Black Cherry, Lavender, Raspberry, and then Indigo, Dark Umber, Violet Blue, Black Grape, Tuscan Red, Orange and Olive Green in places, depending on the desired color effect.

I’ve started on the glass now, and it’s definitely the most challenging part of the drawing.  The top of the vase has so many aspects to it:  light shining through it, light reflecting off of it, color distorting through the glass, and stones/water reflecting on the sides.  Plus I’m changing the colors from my two reference photos, as one is very pink and the other is very dark purple.  So this is really a color creation.  I’ll post another photo when it reaches the stage where all of the glass/water areas are complete, but not the rock areas.  I’m executing this one with the same approach as “Counterpoint in Green”, which is archived on my blog in  April, May and June of 2010, if anyone is interested in referencing it.

Here is the little Hawaiian Pebbles drawing I recently finished. My sister-in-law who often visits family in Hawaii gave me these little stones and they are all quite “aqua” in tone. But to accentuate them, I photographed them after wetting them in water. It really brought out the colors. If I have time, I plan to do another drawing of them “dry”, as the color is so delicate and soft.

At present I have started a much larger drawing of stones in a water vase, with a very plum-colored fabric background. Mean Mr. Plum, Purple Haze, Purple Rain, hmmmm, I can’t think of any other purple connections – can anyone else? The color is super-saturated and not for the faint of heart. I’m going to start blogging more actively now that summer is coming to a close, so look for a photo update soon! Thanks for reading.

Myself and Lynda Schumacher with our artwork

 Another CPSA Convention has come and gone and what a great one this was in Dallas.   So many artists who are good friends congregated for this annual event that, despite the 100+ heat, I think it’s safe to say all had an incredible time.  There was a fun member’s meeting with door prizes, a slide show of every piece that was entered into the competition, and a silent auction.  There are workshops, and an awards banquet.  This year I was so honored to receive an Award for Outstanding Achievement for my piece “Counterpoint in Green”, shown above on the left.  This photograph also features good friend Lynda Schumacher, CPSA (MI) and her piece “Canadian Cowgirl”.  In addition to receiving an award, I earned my signature status in the CPSA (given for being juried into three shows within ten years) and Lynda earned her five-year status.

Dianna Soisson with "Beyond All Boundries"

 I’m taking a moment to highlight several, but by no means all!, artist friends who had their work on display in Dallas.  Dianna had an incredibly powerful piece of a leaf floating down a waterfall (above).  Below is Kendra Bidwell-Ferreira’s delicate “Sea Foam”.  For those of you who live in the Boston area, you may have had a chance to see the two person show that Kendra and I had last March at the Wellesley Free Library.

Kendra with "Sea Foam" (top)

California artist and inventor Ester Roi (photo below) received an Award for Exceptional Merit for her piece “Social Network” (top).  Ester is such an inspiration and source of information to so many artists, always looking to break new ground with technique.

Ester Roi with "Social Network"

Perhaps one of the most memorable events was the Cowboy Boot shopping trip that several of us had been talking about since the San Jose convention of 2010.  Suffice it to say that we had a successful outing to Pink’s Cowboy Boot Store in Dallas.  We all left with a new pair of boots that seemed well suited to our personalities – for now! (Left to right, Kendra Bidwell Ferreira/Old Gringos, Dianna Soisson/Old Gringos, Lynda Schumacher/Old Gringos, Moi/Stetsons, Elizabeth Patterson, CPSA (CA) Ferrini’s).

Cowboy boot final choices!

On a final and silly note, here’s a photo of Lynda and me cooling off in the freezer section of Walmarts. . . .with their hilarious ice cream novelty packaging.  Just can’t let us gals go out anywhere without a commotion. . .   Thanks for reading!

Here is a post of my newest drawing, another “Balancing Act”. . . in stages.  I started out, as I mentioned in my last post, working with only Faber-Castell Polychromos on Canson Mi-Tientes peach-toned paper.  I have notated under the images which colors were used in that particular photo/stage (reading left to right, top to bottom).  I know there’s a big jump from the stages to the finished drawing, but after a while it’s just too tedious to continue working in this fashion.  Perhaps the stones are calling, and I want to start to do the more creative blending and drawing?   I’ve now started work on a smallish  drawing of some gorgeous, aqua-colored stones from Hawaii that someone gave to me.  I’m using a different approach for this drawing, working on white Bristol Board paper with Caran D’Ache Aquarelles and then dry layers of Prismacolors.

Tomorrow I’m off to Dallas to join other artists at the 19th Annual CPSA convention and exhibition.  My piece, Counterpoint in Green, was juried into the show, and I’m also excited to be receiving my CPSA Signature Status this year.  This is awarded to artists who have been juried into three shows within ten years.  I’ll post some photos from the convention when I get back.  Meanwhile it’s time to finish packing the coolest clothes I can find!

I finished working on this piece over two weeks ago, and have been keeping it on the back burner, so to speak.  I would just glance at it from time to time, and I’m finally getting the sense that it’s done.  It took so long to achieve the feeling I was looking for by combining several photographs  for the setting, as well as achieving the “snow” essence.  I thought I might never finish the snowy areas!  I could have worked on them for much longer, but I don’t think that would necessarily have made the drawing any better.  I think that knowing when to stop working on a piece is an art in itself.

I’ve started work on a new stones drawing on Canson Mi-tientes paper.  I generally like to leave the color of the paper showing through for the background, and this piece is no exception.  I am letting myself  use only Faber-Castell Polychromos for this new piece, and am enjoying using them.  They are much harder than Prismacolors and blend very nicely.  I only have about 35 or 40 Polychromos pencils (if that!) so it’s been interesting to spend more time combining colors vs. being able to reach, instinctively, for the color or colors I want when I work with Prismacolors.

I’ll post a series of this new drawing in stages next week.  Thanks for reading!

I have been working so hard on this drawing and it feels like it’s taking forever.  I am working uninterrupted now that my spring travels are behind me, but it still feels like such slow going!  This drawing is about 22″ x 26″ and there is so much snow and delicate detail to accomplish.  I think I’m going to basically execute the entire background and then go back and insert the fine details, such as little bits of debris on the snow, etc.   Maybe a touch more blood?  There is more blood in my original photograph, but I’m still deciding how much to put in.  Meanwhile, it’s a gorgeous spring here with everything in full bloom, the birds are singing, mating, worm hunting.  It’s an odd juxtaposition to find myself working on this winter scene.

I was recently interviewed by Paula DeMarco, the host of “Art Beat”, for a local cable station.  I’m attaching a link to the interview, which is available on line throughout the month of May.  You can access it here:  Art Beat interview.

As always, thanks for reading!

The hawk has it’s squirrel in it’s talons.  I am enjoying the challenges of this drawing -specificially the creation of all of the blurry masses.  And the contrast between the softness and structure of the hawk and it’s feathers versus the soft form of the squirrel’s fur.  I have moved onto the woodpile and adjacent snow, which is posing it’s own set of demands.  Stay tuned for an update.

“Rock/Candy”, my two-person show with colleague Kendra Bidwell-Ferreira, came down on March 31st.  It was a very colorful and fun exhibit, and I’m a little wistful to have it in the past.  But I have been working hard all along on this new drawing, pictured above in a very initial stage.  This is quite a large drawing compared to the sizes I have been working on in the past couple of years (it’s about 22″ x 28″) and I thought it would help me to start out with the hawk’s head staring out at me,  inviting (or taunting ?) me to keep working on it.

This initial photo shows the head, as well as some tree trunks in the distance that I quickly sketched in with Caran D’Ache Watercolor Pencils.  I did this to  help me to define the parameters of the composition.  The hawk has a squirrel in it’s talons, and I’ve placed it atop a snow-covered wood pile, with some tree trunks and foliage in the background.  I’m working from photographs taken in my yard, and some of you may recognize the hawk and squirrel photograph from my blog pages “Scenes from my birdfeeder #2″.  However, I wanted a more interesting setting and chose to place the hawk on snow-covered wood, similar to the setting of “Winter Throne”.

The photos below depict the development of the hawk’s tail.  In some parts of drawings I first execute layers of Caran D’Ache Watercolor pencils to help establish background layering and depth of color (usually in the darker areas).  (Please excuse the re-appearance of the hawk head photo.  I can’t seem to delete it without deleting it from above as well!)

The photo on the far left shows the tail with the initial layering of dry Caran D’Ache Watercolor pencils.  The photo in the middle shows the same area now blended with a wet brush.  This step aids in the build-up of color and provides me with a “road map”, so to speak, of how I want to develop the area.  The third photo shows the tail nearing completion.  I’ve also started to develop the squirrel’s body, and have been working the three areas (hawk, squirrel and surrounding snow) simultaneously, as there are so many blurred borders between them.  It was a challenge to take on, but I’m nearing completion of this area and will be posting an update next week.  Then it’s on to the wood pile. . .

Thanks for reading,  and happy spring!  ~Debbi

“Rock/Candy” – is currently up at the Wellesley Free Library from March 1st through the 31st, 2011.  Please click on this link for hours and directions:  www.wellesleyfreelibrary.org.  This is a two-person show that colleague and friend, Kendra Bidwell-Ferreira and I are hosting together.  We are each exhibiting over 20 drawings done in colored pencil.  The opening is on Saturday, March 5th from 2 – 4 p.m., and I hope that if you live in the area you’ll stop by and say hi!

This is the third in my new trio of leaf drawings.  It measures 9″ x 15″, done in colored pencil on Strathmore Bristol Board.  I am really enjoying working on this series, if I can call it a series.  I’m planning on doing a very different drawing next of a hawk on a snow-covered woodpile.  But I’m sure I’ll return to this subject matter at some point in the future.  I have an incredible trove of photographs I’ve been working from, taken a couple of years ago on a clear fall day after a very violent night storm.  It knocked down leaves that hadn’t lost their vibrancy yet, and knocked down all at once leaves that usually fall at very different times.  I’ll have to keep an eye out for a storm like that next autumn.  For now, us New Englanders are just trying to survive this winter – it has been crazy with record snowfalls, ice storms, rain, and cold.  Spring and Summer are looking really good right now!

Here is the finished version of Leaf Litter number two, obviously wanting for a better title.  I am pretty satisfied with the final drawing, but have moved on to a new drawing in this series, so that’s where my heart lies at present.  I ended up changing several aspects of this drawing from the original working photograph, which was both a challenge and fun.  I wouldn’t like to be just copying photographs for my work.

As an aside, can people find the image of Cape Cod and Massachusetts in this photo?