Thursday, July 30, 2009
Who ARE you people?
As those of you in my class know, one of the assignments we did was to use line to capture the feel of various types of music -- classical, blue grass, hip hop, death metal, jazz, etc. Since much of my career has focused on reading people rather than music, I thought it would be fun to capture my perception of the members of my GDS class through line. Here's what I came up with. These include everyone in the class, including Paul (the instructor). I also did one of myself at the last minute. If you want to know which one is yours, just let me know and I'll tell you. They're all positive, by the way. I enjoyed thinking about my impression of the good qualities I've seen in this short time we've had class together and then trying to translate those qualities into lines. I hope you enjoy them!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Just Sketches
Ok. I know I'm wordy a lot of the time and always trying to process everything and read meaning into everything. And, no, you wouldn't be the first person to tease me about it.
So...today, I just sketched things I saw without analyzing anything. I was driving home this afternoon and was behind a man and woman riding a motorcycle. He was driving and she was riding. I just thought it was an interesting perspective because all I could see from behind was her! I thought it would be a challenge to try to draw what I saw. I even tried to take a reference picture with my cell phone, frantically dumping the contents of my cavernous purse onto the passenger seat since my phone had disappeared into it. I only just now uploaded it. Looks like it would have helped as a reference. They looked a lot smaller on my cell phone! Duh. Too late now for this sketch, I guess.
I just played around with the shapes a little. As you might notice, she wasn't headless. I just seem to have trouble when I start a sketch, not really having a sense of how much space I'm going to need so I often seem to draw right off the page.
Later this evening, I spent some time sketching a vase that was a gift from a very close friend, Molly. I've always liked the curvy shape and interesting shadows (of the vase, not Molly, although she is quite attractive). I need to learn to be more bold with the pencil. My sketch makes the vase look pretty timid but the vase itself is actually very self-assured.
So...today, I just sketched things I saw without analyzing anything. I was driving home this afternoon and was behind a man and woman riding a motorcycle. He was driving and she was riding. I just thought it was an interesting perspective because all I could see from behind was her! I thought it would be a challenge to try to draw what I saw. I even tried to take a reference picture with my cell phone, frantically dumping the contents of my cavernous purse onto the passenger seat since my phone had disappeared into it. I only just now uploaded it. Looks like it would have helped as a reference. They looked a lot smaller on my cell phone! Duh. Too late now for this sketch, I guess.
I just played around with the shapes a little. As you might notice, she wasn't headless. I just seem to have trouble when I start a sketch, not really having a sense of how much space I'm going to need so I often seem to draw right off the page.
Later this evening, I spent some time sketching a vase that was a gift from a very close friend, Molly. I've always liked the curvy shape and interesting shadows (of the vase, not Molly, although she is quite attractive). I need to learn to be more bold with the pencil. My sketch makes the vase look pretty timid but the vase itself is actually very self-assured.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
I Just Want to Be OK
From the song "I Just Want to Be OK" by Ingrid Michaelson:
Open me up and you will see
I'm a gallery of broken hearts
Open me up and you will see
I'm a gallery of broken hearts
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
See a penny...
Ok. I'm better now. It usually takes me a couple of days to get back to normal (normal for me, anyway) after a long trip. I'm getting there.
I'm reading a book called Open to desire: Embracing a lust for life: Insights from Buddhism and psychotherapy. It starts with an interesting concept that I'm already finding helpful and that inspired my latest sketch.
As part of my midlife crisis, I've been struggling with the feeling that time is slipping out of my hands and I'm frantically trying to grasp and hold tightly to the things I desire or feel I might lose or have lost. Reminds me of one time several years ago when I was water skiing and I fell. I hadn't been water skiing in a long time so I was a little rusty. Instead of just letting go of the tow rope and gently sliding back down into the water, I tightly clung on for dear life while the boat proceeded to pull me, bouncing painfully on the water, skis up in every direction for several yards before I realized that I just had to let go! I was sore for a couple of days after that in some places on my body I didn't even know existed. Lesson learned.
Well...the author of Open to Desire talks about two concepts in Buddhism: one is the concept of desire and one is the concept of tanha (thirst, craving, clinging). If you're familiar with Buddhism at all, you'll know that Buddhists believe that life is about suffering and that the cause of suffering is attachment or desire. The goal of many Buddhist practices is to learn how to let go; how not to be so attached to things, people, etc. Very oversimplified summary by a non-Buddhist (me).
This author argues that Buddhism is about learning to let go of tanha. Here's the story he uses to explain the concept and I really like it:
A Buddist speaker was asked about the concept of non-attachment and that it makes sense in some ways (e.g., not getting overly attached to material posessions) but not in others (e.g., attaching to family and friends). The speaker said, "It's like holding a coin." and he held out one arm with his palm up and his fist closed. "We can hold it like this," and he emphasized the closed nature of his fist, "or we can hold it like this," and he opened his hand to show the coin sitting in the center of his palm. "The closed fist is like clinging (tanha) but with my hand open, I still hold the coin."
The author says that "desire...is a vehicle for personal transformation. Rather than treating it as the cause of suffering, desire is embraced as a valuable and precious resource, an emotion that, if harnessed correctly, can awaken and liberate the mind."
This may be more than any of you want to know about me but I'm really interested in learning how to hold things, including the people in my life, in a more open way. To have them in my life without clinging or wanting to possess or forcing a particular kind of relationship. The image of the open hand holding the coin is perfect!!
I'm reading a book called Open to desire: Embracing a lust for life: Insights from Buddhism and psychotherapy. It starts with an interesting concept that I'm already finding helpful and that inspired my latest sketch.
As part of my midlife crisis, I've been struggling with the feeling that time is slipping out of my hands and I'm frantically trying to grasp and hold tightly to the things I desire or feel I might lose or have lost. Reminds me of one time several years ago when I was water skiing and I fell. I hadn't been water skiing in a long time so I was a little rusty. Instead of just letting go of the tow rope and gently sliding back down into the water, I tightly clung on for dear life while the boat proceeded to pull me, bouncing painfully on the water, skis up in every direction for several yards before I realized that I just had to let go! I was sore for a couple of days after that in some places on my body I didn't even know existed. Lesson learned.
Well...the author of Open to Desire talks about two concepts in Buddhism: one is the concept of desire and one is the concept of tanha (thirst, craving, clinging). If you're familiar with Buddhism at all, you'll know that Buddhists believe that life is about suffering and that the cause of suffering is attachment or desire. The goal of many Buddhist practices is to learn how to let go; how not to be so attached to things, people, etc. Very oversimplified summary by a non-Buddhist (me).
This author argues that Buddhism is about learning to let go of tanha. Here's the story he uses to explain the concept and I really like it:
A Buddist speaker was asked about the concept of non-attachment and that it makes sense in some ways (e.g., not getting overly attached to material posessions) but not in others (e.g., attaching to family and friends). The speaker said, "It's like holding a coin." and he held out one arm with his palm up and his fist closed. "We can hold it like this," and he emphasized the closed nature of his fist, "or we can hold it like this," and he opened his hand to show the coin sitting in the center of his palm. "The closed fist is like clinging (tanha) but with my hand open, I still hold the coin."
The author says that "desire...is a vehicle for personal transformation. Rather than treating it as the cause of suffering, desire is embraced as a valuable and precious resource, an emotion that, if harnessed correctly, can awaken and liberate the mind."
This may be more than any of you want to know about me but I'm really interested in learning how to hold things, including the people in my life, in a more open way. To have them in my life without clinging or wanting to possess or forcing a particular kind of relationship. The image of the open hand holding the coin is perfect!!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Before and After
Well...vacation time is winding down. I don't even want to think about trying to cram all my clothes into my suitcase again...I'm looking forward to home, though!
One of the things that I'm definitely feeling is the effect of all the eating out. I decided to do a before and after sketch. I think I've gained about 50 pounds in the past week. Here's what I look like now:
Here's what I looked like before:
Just jokin'. The first sketch is a weak copy of one of Botero's paintings. I like his paintings and sculptures a lot. He has some pretty intense social commentary pieces about Abu Ghraib, too. I don't know much about him except that I think he's kind of a rebel. I've always liked his figures -- very thick and hefty. No stick thin people here. It's nice to see images that look more like the other 80% of the population.
One of the things that I'm definitely feeling is the effect of all the eating out. I decided to do a before and after sketch. I think I've gained about 50 pounds in the past week. Here's what I look like now:
Here's what I looked like before:
Just jokin'. The first sketch is a weak copy of one of Botero's paintings. I like his paintings and sculptures a lot. He has some pretty intense social commentary pieces about Abu Ghraib, too. I don't know much about him except that I think he's kind of a rebel. I've always liked his figures -- very thick and hefty. No stick thin people here. It's nice to see images that look more like the other 80% of the population.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Don't Laugh
Last day in Boston. I think I was ready to go home a couple of days ago. I'm really just a homebody. I'm tired of living out of a suitcase. It's been a good trip, though. Boston's a great city.
One of the things I like to do when I'm in a city is ride the subway -- T, El, Metra, whatever it's called in a particular city. This time, when I got off the T here in Boston, it was so funny to see this flock of people exiting the subway and another flock of people moving toward the subway to get on it. So...I tried to sketch what I saw. This is where the post title comes in -- please don't laugh at my drawing! Or...if you do laugh, be gentle.
I conducted an informal poll and the 2 respondents couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be a sketch of. As I've mentioned before, I don't know how to draw people yet. So...instead of trying to draw people, I decided to draw something abstract to represent them. Brilliant idea, right? Apparently, what represents them is an image of a sail, an ivory tusk, or a talon - take your pick. I wanted to capture the movement. I'll keep trying! Surely someday I'll look back on these sketches and laugh my pants off.
One of the things I like to do when I'm in a city is ride the subway -- T, El, Metra, whatever it's called in a particular city. This time, when I got off the T here in Boston, it was so funny to see this flock of people exiting the subway and another flock of people moving toward the subway to get on it. So...I tried to sketch what I saw. This is where the post title comes in -- please don't laugh at my drawing! Or...if you do laugh, be gentle.
I conducted an informal poll and the 2 respondents couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be a sketch of. As I've mentioned before, I don't know how to draw people yet. So...instead of trying to draw people, I decided to draw something abstract to represent them. Brilliant idea, right? Apparently, what represents them is an image of a sail, an ivory tusk, or a talon - take your pick. I wanted to capture the movement. I'll keep trying! Surely someday I'll look back on these sketches and laugh my pants off.
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