Cay Denise

I haven't drawn a face in a long time.  So, today my play was drawing one using a sculpture photo as a reference.  Doing this was to remind myself that I can still do it. French hairstyles for women in the later 1700s called for high hair that sometimes included wearing cushions on top of the head for heightening the style that long locks or wigs were formed over/around.  This reference photo has an elaborate hairstyle that is quite nice as is the pattern in the garment. After drawing the face/bust in a large sketchbook with pencil, I drew over the lines with black pen and decided to leave the drawing as is for the time being.  Taking a photo of it, I used Photoshop Elements to add color for the background and a few elements.  Other than that, it has been left pretty much as the original sketch.  Contrasted with the source image, the head could be larger.  But I started with the head first and apparently didn't alter the body area to compensate.  ...

It was such a delight to see and listen to Julie Fowlis and her accompanying musicians perform in concert over the weekend.  It is the first time I've heard her Scottish folk music that she sings primarily in Scots Gaelic.   The concert was full of energy and great sounds!  In some pieces she'd be singing so fast you'd wonder how she could do it.  The video below has the last piece we heard at the concert and is with the same group that is on tour in the U.S. with her now.   We, in the audience, were impressively entertained!

People have great ideas!  They may be friends, colleagues, artist contacts, or even strangers.  In this case, it was an artist friend who provided the genesis of this new Blurb magazine through a conversation over zoom.   The magazine contains 151 of my favorite photos taken over the years.  I'm using it in an art class where the assignment is to review the photos we are drawn to -- for the qualities that draw our notice.  Easier said than done, you may ask?  Yes, it is.   However, by looking at and thinking about why I like these photos, there are some common attributes.  They may have patterns, textures, depth, play between light and shadow, and/or an overall pleasing composition.  They all have a sense of 'quiet'.  The occasional quirky and whimsical images are always a delight, even though more rare.     In sum, the photos in the magazine (examples below) are one element of my point of view.  That is to bring unnoticed...

Visiting a new-to-me recycled bookstore today -- with a huge art section -- I made some finds.  Among them was a book printed in 1893 titled "Saskia: The Wife of Rembrandt". Having visited Amsterdam in 2024, I was introduced to Saskia through reading about Rembrandt.  Then I saw her tomb in the Oude Kerk (Old Church) while there.  Based on the book, they had a happy life together until she passed on at the young age of 30 leaving her husband and an infant son.  Her father, Rombertus van Uylenburgh (a lawyer and burgomaster), in his early adult years, was having dinner with Prince William of Orange and his family on the night Prince William was assassinated (a long story).  Also in the book, it mentions Rembrandt was commissioned to paint a gallant captain and his company.  The resulting painting was his "Night Watch" that hangs in the Rijksmuseum.  It further says the soldiers were not pleased with the painting.  They ended up going to anothe...

After completing Find Your Joy (FYJ) in December 2025, I signed up for Momentum, a follow-on to FYJ that lasts six months.  It is intended as a springboard for students to identify and navigate our own creative path (clarifying our preferences, likes, etc.); areas of interest/focus for doing our work; practicing a system for exploring new ideas, benching ways of working that don't work or yield successful results, or have worn out their welcome; and, working through blocks, negative thinking, and the things we may have repressed that can surface during the creative process. So far, students have had exercises to draw our chosen subject, explore constraints, and to simply play.  My chosen subject was tree bark (initially Redwood), but the Redwood bark is too dense, layered and fibrous to draw easily.  So, I drew the rings of a Redwood tree stump that includes the bark edging.   The image (above left) was created  by doing a blind contour in white pen first (blind...