“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

]]> http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/08/23/a-new-drawing-to-share/feed/ 1 http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/07/04/drawings-from-last-winter-and-spring/ http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/07/04/drawings-from-last-winter-and-spring/#comments Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:32:13 +0000 Debbi http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/?p=1045 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!

]]> http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/03/28/finally-its-out/feed/ 10 http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/02/17/a-new-drawing-and-a-vacation/ http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/02/17/a-new-drawing-and-a-vacation/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:42:44 +0000 Debbi http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/?p=1013

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!

]]> http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/02/17/a-new-drawing-and-a-vacation/feed/ 4 http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/02/10/im-back/ http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/2012/02/10/im-back/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:35:23 +0000 Debbi http://dlfriedman.com/myblog/?p=1003

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.