We just got a couple new images from Christian Skagen’s “Horizontal Fields” series, which we blogged about last week (with my apologies for having flubbed the title; sorry — it’s “Horizontal Fields,” not “Horizontal Lines” as I first wrote).
Anyway, click through to see some pieces Christian made with J. Herbin Rose Tendresse and Bleu Azur and a Pelikan M250 EF:
Karen recently struck up a conversation with Norwegian artist Christian Skagen, who shared some of the vibrant ink-and-hot-pressed-paper drawings he’s been making for a series entitled “Horizontal Fields.” Here, for example, is a drawing Christian made with a Sailor Sapporo EF, 300gsm Arches HP, and J. Herbin’s Rose Tendresse:
Here are close-ups of the three works that are framed at the top of this post (be sure to click the image to see a larger version and appreciate the full intricacy and texture of the lines):
Some great new stuff at our Flickr group! For example, this sketch by Sophie, who’s also posted some beautiful Handalas, modge-podge photo transfers, and a fun, off-kilter watercolor:
See more of Sophie’s work on her blog and at her Flickr page. Also not to be missed: Stephanie’s vibrant mandalas, and this lovely whisper of a drawing by Gentian.
Thanks so much for sharing your work with us!
Karen posted this on Rhodia Drive last week, and I thought our readers might enjoy it, too — a poem by author Tree Riesener about J. Herbin ink.
As always, we love seeing the artwork that our little community produces, and poems are no exception. So writers… keep it coming, no matter what inspires you!
Les Encres de Monsieur Herbin
Encre Authentique, “Lawyers’ Ink,” for orders of execution, though paper crumbles, glowing in the night for three hundred years, enduring black legalese, these letters.
Grise Nuage, grey clouds of 1943 for Irene Sendlerowa, savior of children from the Warsaw Ghetto, for her heart broken, but never broken, of little ease, these letters.
Bouquet d’Antan, please please don’t leave, words in sorrowful faded rose, desolation unremembered, only watching the rain, writing, sorrow without surcease, these letters.
Cafe des Iles, never say you love me, and if we meet, I’ll pretend I’ve forgotten your face. Faded brown written on leaves, let them blow away in the breeze, these letters.
Violette Pensee, I will bury your bottle in fragrant petals, write by the light of candles on turtles’ backs, pen delicate lyrics of love and loss, plus an occasional tease, these letters.
Eclat de Saphir, flashing blue scooped from the sun-glinted ocean, sign room service for two, “Etouffee d’ecrevisses, Pinot Grigio, Mousse au chocolat,” caprice, these letters.
Lierre Sauvage, shadowed green, forest tree, flow as I copy out Akhmatova, “The glass doorbell rings, don’t touch me,” thoughts Stalin’s shadows could not seize, these letters.
For more information about Tree Riesener, visit her blog or her website.
Fall is back-to-school season for many of you, and I’m wondering: how many notebooks, sketchpads, fountain pens, and art supplies do you bring with you? Do you wait and buy new supplies at school, or are there certain essential items that follow you from home?
I moved at least twice a year from the age of 18, in college, till I was 28 or so, and there was always a core set of books I’d tote with me no matter where I went (Beckett, Musil, Woolf). But I never brought any writing supplies except a couple of Pilot V-Balls — I’m a pretty recent fountain pen convert — which gave me a nice excuse to visit a stationery store in whatever new neighborhood or city I was going to. I suspect that’d be different now (I was careful to pack one Habana and two Rhodias on vacation last month), though of course I’m now quite happy in my little Brooklyn house and have no plans to move.
What’s your routine?
Karen recently spoke with quilter and art blogger Marie Johansen of Zquilts. Here are her thoughts on inspiration, textiles, and creativity…
1. How do you come up with your ideas? What inspires you, and where do you go to get inspiration?
Obviously my beautiful, nature filled, surroundings have a huge effect on my inspiration, but I seem to just get ideas in dreams at times (where the idea for using the inks came from last night) or ideas will just pop into my head. Gosh! That sounds kind of corny I think! Sometimes, when I am having a “dry” spell or frustrating time with a project, I start doing something in a different medium and a solution to the problem will surface. I get pretty snarly if I can’t do something ‘art-full’ every day and even the judge has finally gotten used to me knitting or sketching through staff meetings! It took him about 8 years to figure out that I concentrate better on the ‘drier’ topics at hand when I can do some handwork during the meeting!
2. How do you design your artforms—on paper, on computer, or just from your hand to fabric?
I know we say it a lot, but Karen and I are so awed by the creativity of the people we’ve gotten to know through this blog. The most recent example: this lovely, subtle, and evocative drawing that Gentian made on an Exacompta sketchpad (see a close-up here).
Keep it coming, everyone…
We just started working with Wet Paint Art in very cool pass-around project. Here’s the plan: we send them a Clairefontaine sketchpad, and they ask the artists that visit their store to draw, paint, watercolor, etc. on one of the pages. As each page is completed, Wet Paint Art sends us digital pictures of the work along with a bio of the artist, and we put it up online.
Question is, where do we share all this fabulous art with our fans? A Flickr group? Here? On a new blog that’s dedicated to the project?
Next question: if we were to pass around another art book—I imagine it would have to go through the mail, but who knows—would any of you like to participate?
Thanks!
One of the coolest things I saw last month at the National Stationery Show: the “graphite writing objects” of San Francisco sculptor and artist Agelio Batle, and in particular, this hand, which is made from a cast of the hand of one of his sons. (Unfortunately, my picture came out blurry, but there are better photos on Agelio’s website.)
Because it’s solid graphite, the whole object writes, though I suspect I’d use it sparingly if I actually owned one since it’s such a lovely piece. When I took the hand for a test drive at the NSS, it felt smooth and pleasingly solid, and drew a sharp, dark line on the page. Other items in the series include flowers, leaves, and animals like alligators and owls.
One of the coolest things about being a part of this blog is the opportunity it gives Karen and me to learn about random, fun, and interesting corners of the internet—and get to know the people involved.
We were thrilled to discover that Izuno Travel’s Jordan Needham likes the look of our journals. We were also thrilled to discover Izuno Travel itself. It sounds like an interesting project, and it’s been great to read old posts and learn about the site’s mission. I particularly like Jordan’s “Long Live Shantytown” photographs, which, if I understand correctly, were inspired by her realization that “Colby Jack cheese, sliced thin, resembles [the] coastline of the earth at around 10,000 ft.”
