Ledger Pages

I've got it....the answer to the vague question I wrote about early in the week. The notion that change was in the air, that the dailies were about to take some kind of turn, but I wasn't sure what that was. I'm always amazed how these ideas float to the surface, as if held underwater and yet by their own will, they slowly rise to the surface as if searching for air. One minute, still just a shadow barely visible beneath the surface and then...the gentle moment of breakthrough and the first breath where the idea is able to speak of its own accord: ledger pages.

It happened this morning as I was drinking my tea on the deck, vowing that I wasn't going to push myself too hard today on my day off. Once the breakthrough occurred, I realized all the little notions that had come together to help it to the surface. In the post last Monday I had talked about the need for a daily practice that honored the day, that marked its passage, that left a trace. And then there was the struggle of art vs. product and the need to make something visual, but not wanting to be too concerned about the weight of making "art" and yet, there is an Etsy shop dedicated these daily ventures
and so they must be something that communicates in some form, that might make a connection with someone who will want to invest a small sum to have it. And then there was Diana Behl, the artist featured in the Inspirations a few days ago.....and my favorite piece of hers always lurking in the recesses of my mind, and which I really must have....

Diana Behl

The ledger page represents an accounting, a balance sheet of the day....a record of the pluses and minuses, the events and non-events of a given day's business. In this case the practice of creating daily ledger pages builds a metaphoric record of the accumulation of my own history and the quiet passage of time.

Part of the problem of late is my inability to be able to set aside time each day to work on the drawings. I come home from work with my energy pretty well spent and mostly just want to sit with a glass of wine on the deck or front porch to unwind. I understand now that the daily ledger sheets will have to be made early in the morning and perhaps become an intuitive unveiling of the previous day. We're already getting up at 6:20 in the morning to do yoga (with our neighbor Sue and our favorite yoga DVDs with Jason Crandell or Rod Stryker) at 6:45. So, I'll just get up earlier and start with a ledger drawing to set the tone for the day. It clearly isn't working in the evening. This will take me back to my days years ago of rising early to do the morning pages exercise in the Artist's Way. You don't think you can get up a moment earlier, but you do and turns out your day unfolds with more energy and balance for having started with that practice of writing....in my case it will be something happening on a ledger page. Of course, I couldn't wait to get started, so I printed a couple pages from some online templates and spent a little time in the studio playing this morning. I think that when I list these in my shop, they will be featured more like a letter and I will mail them in a related hand-drawn envelope, rather than as a work of art to be framed. Still playing with that idea...

August 3, 2012

detail 1

detail 2

detail 3

Clearly the idea of the ledger drawings for the daily practice is informed by this latest body of work, Notes from the Ancestors. I have two new ones to show you, although they photographed poorly. The tones are much warmer in the actual pieces, as the beeswax gives the paper the color of butter, which is not so evident here. I'll have to rephotograph them before I post them on my website.

Notes from the Ancestors no.3

Notes from the Ancestors no.4

Enjoy your day, keep your eyes open.....you never know where your inspiration will be coming from.

Thanks for taking part in the saga of my "dailies"....see you in a few days!

Inspirations: Diana Behl

Hello! It's the first of the month and I'm here to introduce you to a new artist, Diana Behl, whose work I very much admire, which serves as a never ending source of inspiration for me. This is the first time I've done an Inspirations post on an artist that I actually know in real life and it's a treat to bring her work to you. Diana is an artist here in South Dakota who teaches printmaking at South Dakota State University in Brookings, which is about two hours from here. She's a delightful person and makes beautifully sensitive work. You'll get to know her through her work and the responses to my questions below. She has also included an insightful statement on process at the end. Hope you enjoy this work as much as I do!

Can you tell us a little of your background and what brought you to making art?

For as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in making and creating. Imagination and play in childhood naturally unfolded into the choice to seriously pursue art.

As an artist or as a student, did you start out as a printmaker or did you migrate to that discipline from somewhere else?

As an undergraduate at Bowling Green State University I started out in graphic design, and gradually shifted over to printmaking. I discovered intaglio with copper plates while studying with Janet Ballweg, and the process just clicked. I haven’t been able to shake it off yet!

Where you find inspiration?

My ideas are gathered from everyday life, memory and simply the idea that form is content (an idea inspired by Ben Shahn). I’ve recently been very interested in Corita Kent–a former screenprinter who taught at the Immaculate Heart College in California. I found a list of “general rules for a student” that she wrote that has really helped me find solace in my recent studio work. And of course, offer to my students. My favorite rule is:

“The only rule is work. IF YOU WORK IT WILL LEAD TO SOMETHING. IT’S THE PEOPLE WHO DO ALL OF THE WORK ALL THE TIME WHO EVENTUALLY CATCH ON TO THINGS.”

It’s very true! Steadfast commitment in the studio often creates ideas with which to build an entire body of work.

Who are the artists who have inspired you along the way?

Squeak Carnwath, Cy Twombly, David Carson, Crown Point Press

Any special books, films, music that have special meaning for you?

The Shape of Content – Ben Shahn
Letters to a Young Poet – Rainer Maria Rilke
The End of Print – David Carson

Can you talk a little about your process? Do you work intuitively or do the printmaking processes require you to have a more careful plan for each work?

I work on many different bodies of work at once–various works on paper including drawings and collages, mixed media works on panel and intaglio prints. Working in this way informs each process (and process informs the images, and their construction) and keeps me on my toes. It helps to combat monotony in the studio.

In general I work intuitively, and I have as many as 15 images in the works at any given time. Each mark informs the next. And each piece informs the next image. Each medium has its own language and I think that is evident in each body of work.

Because the intaglio medium can be costly and arduous, a bit more planning is required than a collage or drawing. Therefore, I try to have a loose plan when I begin a new print and aim to embrace the unexpected as the image evolves.

What's the best part of being and artist?

Boundless possibilities.

If you could have a small gathering for lively and interesting conversation around the dinner table and you could invite anyone from history....who might be on your guest list?

I think I would be more interested in observing a lively conversation around a dinner table! Guests could include: Ben Shahn, Cy Twombly, Noam Chomsky, Squeak Carnwath, Carson McCullers and Chan Marshall.

On Process

My work explores an assortment of paper-based media in the forms of prints, drawings, collages and cut-paper installations. Paper has a presence that captivates me. The expressive and aesthetic qualities it embodies when coupled with favored materials articulates a poignant language. Its texture, color, and weight captures a variety of markings: the tactile sense of a graphite line moving across its surface; observing the liquid of a marker gracefully being absorbed into its fibers presents contentment. Similarly, delight and challenge are discovered when pairing items to work with, engineering small details on copper plates or carefully crafting objects.

Memory plays a role as an impetus to record. Stimuli are derived from snippets of the seemingly ordinary, to an ineffableness that challenges clarity. These visual moments of inspiration are boundless. This begins as fodder; the outcomes have arrived through a process of investigation, reinvention and trial and error.

Each mark, addition or deletion aids a fraction that defines a comprehensive whole; slices are pieced together to form a nonlinear narrative. The physical journey within the space of a composition creates a backdrop for metaphor or story-telling. Each chosen medium characterizes this space. Printed information from a copper plate becomes imbedded within the surface of paper, while thoughtfully selected ephemera treads in a more shallow navigation. Moody atmospheres and intimate or heavy mark-making lead to paths that are unanticipated, and may create an earnest whimsy. Ideas uncover, solutions unfold. Working intuitively with paper-based media pilots a profound, selfless moment. Artist unites with spectator. Invited to make connections, they meander or reflect, and observe findings of a shared nature.

Find out more by visiting directly with Diana through the following links:

www.dianabehl.com
https://www.facebook.com/dianabehl
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dianamarie/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/papersleuth (temporarily closed in early August for vacation)