A note before we start: Today is Father’s Day. My cards arrived late. I will probably send both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards next year instead of sending them late. If you were waiting for one this year, I am sorry. It was a hard decision to make but I think it is for the best.
It is with sadness that I want to acknowledge the events of late. My thoughts are with the families that have suffered either through the raids or the shootings in Minnesota.
Now to today’s topic. The image above is an exercise part of a new project I am working on. I was selected to be part of The Art of Letters Symbiosis V this year. Symbiosis is an international mentoring endeavor founded by Singaporean artist and calligrapher Dorothy Lim-Chew. After application, an interview is conducted by Dorothy, and you are informed of acceptance or not. If accepted in the program, you are paired with a mentor and two other mentees. My mentor is no other than the amazing Gabriela Soba from Spain. My experience so far has been amazing and I want to share what I am working on and where I think this is going.
When we started meeting, which for an international group like this is a challenge, I proposed three ideas. One had to do with movement (if you know me and have been here a while, you know I love movement). I wanted to photograph dancers. But I wanted them to be oblivious to me and practicing daring moves. Since I do not have funds to compensate them, I offered to give them the pictures and any video if any was taken. I called the Mobile Ballet and though they were excited to have me come over but it fell through. My interest is not in legibility or letter recognition though I would use letters. My interest was in capturing and mimicking the energy in their movements. To capture and feel that, I needed to be present, I needed to see the dancers move in the space and play with both the camera and sketching.
Then, I approached the Alabama Ballroom Center. We were both so excited to help each other and they were very open to the idea. Our schedules however have conspired to keep us apart thus far.
At this point, and consider that I am talking about four months of planning and thinking, I am really discouraged. So much that at one point, I emailed both Gabriela and Dorothy wanting to leave because I felt behind. So behind.
Life has a way of working out challenges and obstacles. After arriving from Paris and sitting on the floor sketching and thinking, I remembered the Matisse immersive virtual experience I shared with you two weeks ago in The Paris Factor essay: Dance Dance Dance—Matisse. In it, you experience 10 minutes of Matisse’s process and ideas as the mural came to life. The mural is of three dancers.
What did it for me is that Matisse was not a dancer. Unless I am missing something from art history and his life, he did not dance. But he imagined dancers and movement as a celebration and joy and physical abandonment. He imagined bodies reacting to music. And to experiment with the energy in the line on his drawings, he would stick a charcoal pencil to a large dowel. This was an epiphany for me. I started thinking well, if I can’t see the dancers, I will imagine them. It helps that I used to be a dancer. And my hands will be the dancers. The brush and the stick will help me in not gripping too harshly or tightly to the tools and would invite a certain looseness to play with the lines and shapes. My epiphany drove me to the store to buy dowels in 36” and 12”.
I confess that I was and still am, a tad afraid and tentative but there is only one way forward and that is to do it. I tested my ideas and not all of them are great or promising but they are part of the process to get me there. I also ordered a large roll of mixed media paper to roll out when I am more confident in what I am doing. To get my feet wet, I started on smaller paper: 18 x 24 and smaller pieces. I also tested with the long and shorter dowels. I discovered that if I am working close to the paper or surface, I need to use the 12”. If am working farther and on a larger surface, the 36” would be better.
Needless to say, I am looking forward to make progress on this after this week. I have some previous engagements I need to fulfill but as soon as this week is over, oh yeah! I am diving in!!
Without further ado, below are my notes and experiments. I welcome any feedback you might have as I am still testing the waters with this new direction.
I have a mentoring meeting tomorrow where we will talk about this. You will notice I was also trying to I add text to one of the pieces. When I add text is a spontaneous flow of thoughts. I do not plan it. I letter what comes to my mind.
Well, wish me luck. I have to have a minimum of three finished pieces but I am aiming for six for the virtual show in October or November. Yes, there is some time but I also teach and have to prep for classes too. My wish is that I can create something worth showing. If you go to the gallery on The Art of Letters, you will see sophisticated work and I would like mine to be sophisticated as well but I also want people to feel joy when looking at my work. In the words of jazz genius John Coltrane “I’d like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words. I want to speak to their souls.” And he also said and I truly believe this about any art form: "I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music…"
Love,
Alma