Inside the Sketchbook

Study of Tree Bark, 2013, Krystal Booth

Ink on Paper, 11x8"

Nothing is as exciting as a drawing of tree bark.  Nothing.

Okay, well maybe somethings are more exciting...like the lifestyles of gypsies and plywood cut-out yard flair.

Weed or Weed Not

A photograph taken last week that I may use in a work soon -

Why do we classify dandelions as weeds?  Is it because they do not require pollination and populate in abundance?  They are actually quite beautiful - little sunshine petals on hollow stems that magically transform into unearthly soft white strands that float on air.  The design found within the structure of this seed head is what caught my eye.  It looks like a magnified sophisticated cell of some sort that would be found in our bodies, or maybe a planet protected by a strange atmosphere.  What do you think?

Dandelions represent being taught by our Mothers to make wishes and being delighted to see the seeds take flight.  They make me think of Mrs. Eattinger's dandelion jelly and playing in the yard with my childhood best friend and neighbor, Amy.  We used them as makeup by smearing them on our arms and under our chins.  They remind me of yellow polka-dotted school yards and grabbing them with our fists, wearing them in our hair, and sitting in trees and slides while pulling the petals out.  We would hold them up to our faces as we talked about boys and were so careful to only pull one out at a time.  

It was one of our first experiences of realizing how grown-ups really did have bad vision as they saw them as a nuisance. They called them ugly weeds.  We saw them as little smiles in the grass and as our favorite accessory. 

If we find ourselves having grown-up vision, we need to look closer - if only for a moment before mowing them all down.  

Have a wonderful weekend, and love to all!

What About This?

On our latest excursion, as mentioned, we took quite a few photos and here is one of the tree bark photos I took with my cell phone.  I wanted to kick myself for forgetting the camera in the car, but the photos actually turned out after all.

Matthew and I were both free from our jobs yesterday.  We were relaxed as we pretended we didn't know what work was, and excitedly made our way to the Beaverton Library on 5th, and to Blick's Art Supply store at Cedar Hill Boulevard.  These places may seem mundane to some, but we are captivated by their contents.

We were both children that loved to play pretend on our own.  He made new gadgets and tools by taping and tying different combinations of toys together.  His room was a space station.  He would fly a star wars toy around the house and pretend he was on it, but then he took it a step further by actually having the interior of the jet inside a specific location in his bedroom.  I am convinced that if he had been handed a video recorder we would have some of the most entertaining sci-fi home movies.

I enjoyed being a scientist by mixing different concoctions of shaving cream, mouthwash, and facial astringents in Dixie cups on rainy days.  The bathroom was a laboratory, though at times the experiments moved into the kitchen to include carefully eyed measurements of ketchup and mustard as new variables.  Inevitably, nothing would happen.  There were no explosions or green gases as hypothesized.  The only certainty was that they would be thrown out by my parents once the cups had sat by the sink for a few days.  I was lucky to have patient parents.

So is it any surprise that we would love bookstores, libraries, and art supply stores?  These places are where imaginations are celebrated and we are free to dream up new adventures and creations.  The main question seems to be one of considering possibilities, "What about this?"

I ended up checking out a couple of drawing books, Experimental Drawing and Lessons in Classical Drawing, and renewed David Rothenberg's Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution, and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.  I've been making my way through the George Orwell book for the past week and a half.  I am on page 74 or so, and it is a only 213 pages long.  I'm a slow reader when it comes to reading fiction from my favorite authors.  I feel as though I need to savour every word.  Iris Murdoch's books take forever.  

I would say that Kurt Vonnegut's books are the exceptions.  His pace is very fast, but I still prefer to hear his voice...or what I imagine his voice would be like if he were reading it to me between puffs off his cigarrette.

Blick's gave way to buying new materials that we haven't tried before.  I've been researching avenues of layering different elements of drawing and painting that have led me to a Faux Encaustic method using soft gloss gel, and heavy gloss gel.  I'll keep you posted on how that all goes in the weeks to come.  Currently, I've been drawing different organic forms in my sketchbook and also working on a 24x36" painting commission.  I had to break out the Turpenoid instead of the Turpenoid Natural for this one.  The Turpenoid Natural is just too oily for the thin coats of color unfortunately.  Open windows and fans are in full force. 

Surprisingly, my hopes of explosions and green gases have reversed. 

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Love to all -

Work and Play

My district manager asked how the full time schedule was suiting me.  I partially lied by replying that it was great and then changing the subject.

The paychecks have been necessary and well-earned.  We've all been working so hard at the store this summer.  The busy season of summer in a paint store is intense, but we often make sure that we have fun in between the serious-get-down-to-business, throw-these-80-gallons-in-the-shaker-and-ring-them-up kind of times.  The physical and mental demands are actually pretty exhausting.  I have problems matching faces with names and paint companies, but at least I don't forget a face or the personality behind it.

 

This past weekend was a great relief as Matthew and I had a couple of days off together.  We went to Washington Park - again.  We just can't seem to get enough of that place!  We took a trail that we had not ventured on before and ended up in a little clearing that was dominated by an owl.  Matthew spotted a couple of owl pellets on the ground and as we looked around, we realized there was not a squirrel, bird, chipmunk, elephant, or viper snake in the area.  The owl's presence was well known in the area to all others who lived there.  (Perhaps elephants and vipers don't live there normally, but maybe they would consider relocation if the owl would move away.)

We took several photos for drawing references for later of tree bark, leaves, tree branches, flowers, and any other thing that caught our eye.  We ended our park venture with a session of Ninja drawing, which is quickly turning into a favorite park pastime.  The outcome of sketches are not wonderful.  I tried to draw people that were clear across the park from us at one point and ended up with a tiny scribble of a figure that looked like John Lennon and when I tried to correct it, it just made it look like it was John Lennon as an Egyptian Sphinx (see above).  To add insult to injury, I couldn't spell Sphinx.

But some days are like that and I think it is just to keep us guessing and laughing at ourselves.  I hope that despite how busy we can get that we all seek and find opportunities to enjoy ourselves enough to keep us enlivened with energy.  A little jumpstart of looking at a pretty flower, being an explorer for a day with a loved one, or drawing people who have no idea that you're drawing them doesn't hurt!

Love to all -

Makeup and Hot Glue Guns

Anyone like lichens?  This is what I've been drawing in the sketchbook lately.

Sketchbook, lichens, Krystal Booth, 2013

After years of drawing pads, sketchbooks, and journals, I have found my favorite one - Crescent RendR No Show Thru Paper Sketchbooks.  The one I'm working out of now is the hardcover 8.5x11" version.  In terms of my excitement about this sketchbook, it can be summed up by the audience member (Amy Poehler) at 2:39 of this Oprah's Favorite Things skit on SNL.

I watched a couple of Ryan Trecartin's videos online this morning and I was certainly entertained, horrified, and completely disoriented at times.  It was as if I was watching my brain's understanding of what went on in my early twenties or what a condensed bad acid trip would be like if there were endless amounts of makeup and hot glue guns.  Trecartin made my morning coffee time seem like an experiment of the mind.  Would my brain explode if I actually made it to the thirty minute mark?  Will I go insane and never come back?

In the end, it just made me want to go play with him and his friends with costumes and wigs overflowing.

If you want to be confused, overwhelmed, annoyed, and entertained, watch these:
http://vimeo.com/trecartin/roamie-view-history-enhancement
http://youtu.be/Z5nclmEYkqk

Gumption

gump·tion  

/ˈgəmpSHən/

Noun Shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.

Synonyms initiative

Do you have gumption?  I've been described as having it in years past - "That kid's got a lot of gumption!" but I don't really believe that it was gumption at all.  Instead, it was a concoction of naivety and hope.  It's easy to have gumption when you have ignorance as a dear friend.  I've taken unknown risks before and it was easy and exciting because it was just that - unknown.

But what about gumption when you are more aware of the risks?  When one is knowledgeable about the pursuit in front of them and is aware of the risks and decides to go for it, well, isn't that more what gumption really is?  After all, I would hope that there is a difference between bravery and foolishness, but then again, that judgement is all about point of view.

For instance, the more I learn about approaching galleries and dealers, the correct approach, the dos and don'ts, the more I have slumped away from it.  My posture has never been worse.

None the less, I am currently practicing gumption.  I used to have this down a bit better, but as time wears on all of us, sometimes we lose a bit of our feisty nature.  We can get comfortable or tired.  I've been both over the past year, but am not ready to give in just yet.  So courage and confidence are being worked on in preparation for things to come.  Small steps.

Through the Trees, 2013

Oil on panel, 16x12"

Krystal Booth

*Inspired by nature walk in Tualatin Hills Nature Park, and

my entry into the cover contest.

I have entered a cover contest for the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District Activities Guide for 2014.  They issue three of them per year.  While it is not as prestigious as winning the Turner Prize at the Tate, and I am sure that I will lose to a five year old's brilliant drawing of a sunshine landscape with smiling stick figures whose charm is irresistible, my work was submitted and I would love it to be one of the three selected images for the year.  It is definitely a step up from the Snoopy coloring contest won in the second grade.  

Surely, I did not send this paragraph along with my submission.

The submission was an attempt to get back some gumption.  Were there high risks?  Not especially - it was only a clicking of a button to submit it for their judging.  The risk is that it will not be selected and a kick to the ever-childish ego will ensue.  At this point though, who cares?  I'd rather fall on my face than not share my work.

I will be sending an initial Letter of Intent for a project grant this week.  The project is a great one for my local community and worthy of sharing.  Spoiler alert:  It is not cold fusion or time travel, but simply a series of paintings.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend and practicing the mastery of gumption in your lives too whether you know it or not.  Courage and Love to All - no form of these two are too small.