The Phoebe Hearst Art Studio : January 2021

Drawing a Tree in a Landscape

This project is inspired by the Spotlight Artist, Georgia O'Keeffe.

Paper or Canvas is vertical or portrait for this exercise.

Lake George

Details of assorted tree elements by Georgia O'Keeffe

All photos for educational purposes only

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

The Hill We Climb

By Amanda Gorman

When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.

We braved the belly of the beast.

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge our union with purpose.

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.

That even as we grieved, we grew.

That even as we hurt, we hoped.

That even as we tired, we tried.

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.

It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.

It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption.

We feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour.

But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain.

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the golden hills of the West.

We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.

We will rise from the sun-baked South.

We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.

And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.

The new dawn balloons as we free it.

For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.

Heritage Minutes: Kenojuak Ashevak

A brief introduction to this master print maker and graphic artist, a Happy Owl!

Spotlight Artist: Kenojuak Ashevak

Kenojuak Ashevak is known for her graphic style unique approach to capturing natural shapes and forms. Her signature image is the Owl.

Here is a brief biograph from Feheley Fine Arts Gallery:

"Kenojuak Ashevak (1927–2013) created some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable images in Canadian art. While she worked in sculpture, Ashevak is best known for her entrancing graphic works including drawings and prints. These works encompass imaginative and varied themes with her most-visited subject matter including birds, particularly, the lively owl.

Ashevak began drawing in the late 1950s in Kinngait (Cape Dorset) and continued up until her death in 2013. Throughout, she was constantly driven to experiment with new media and techniques. Ashevak embraced etching and engraving in the 1960s, lithography in the late 1970s, and etching and aquatint over the last decade of her life. She also experimented with glass and in 2004, designed the stained glass “Iggalaaq” window for Appleby College in Ontario."

From the site:

https://feheleyfinearts.com/artists/kenojuak-ashevak/

One of many Ashevak Museum souvenirs

The Enchanted Owl print that later became a postage stamp image 1970

Ashevak was among the first women to be involved in Cape Dorset's new printmaking shop

The Artist with a few of her prints

Additional images found here:

http://50watts.com/Kenojuak-s-Birds

Creating a Sidewalk Chalk Portrait

Over the past few months I have been using my sidewalk and walkway as an artistic "canvas" here are some step by step images of the creation of the portrait of artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat.