Category: Renderings

Sweating the Details

“I should never have made my success in life if I had been shy of taking pains, or if I had not bestowed upon the least thing I have ever undertaken exactly the same attention and care that I have bestowed upon the greatest.”

Charles Dickens

Detail of an unfinished work now nearing completion…hopefully.

I recently finished listening to an audio recording of Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop. Dickens is a favored studio companion, his intricate, well woven tales can keep me engaged for days on end. He was a master storyteller and when Curiosity Shop came to its conclusion, I marveled at the care and dedication to detail he lavished upon even the most seemingly insignificant innkeeper, scoundrel or parlormaid. It is a great treat to become so well acquainted  with all of his characters, the experience is so rich and gratifying.

Such attention to seemingly insignificant details is my delight at the easel as well. I am aware that a broader brush or  a simpler stroke might just as effectively convey a desired message, but it wouldn’t be fully my own, or frankly of any interest to me. I take great pleasure in works that are convoluted, those possessing complicated compositions with seemingly infinite opportunity to discover detail upon detail.  I recall the northern Gothic painters, where the doorknob of some distant castle sparkles as brightly and as prettily as some fair maiden’s jeweled bodice; where every tree is embroidered with countless , meticulously rendered leaves. Many find such works frankly too rich in detail, too time consuming to comprehend, not at all suited to our contemporary world’s blunt (brutal?) aesthetic and ever-increasingly limited attention span.

I however stay the course, trying as best as I can to stay personally true,  and  as Dickens stated, taking the pains necessary to develop the work fully to my satisfaction.  The following images are of works in progress, one a rather large oil painting, hopefully nearing completion, the second a work on paper. Both seem to be expanding in scope as each studio comes to a close. But I am increasingly confident that they will let me know when they are finished…fingers crossed, soon.

Detail of WIP
Detail of WIP, colored pencil, white charcoal, on toned paper.
Detail of WIP, one panel left…hopefully.
Working out details for an upcoming “Stuffed Painting”.
Detail of WIP; oil on canvas.

The Convoluted Way

 

Detail of The Anchorite’s Cross

In my ongoing examination of sacred work, an extension of my own feet-in the-ground-butt-in-the-pew spiritual experimentations , during the past Holy Week I spent my studio time with the Way of the Cross. I have resisted attending  Catholic Mass for decades, I’ve attended Episcopal services off and on for years, and while I have felt welcome, I personally felt ill at ease, a nagging longing that something was missing-no matter how High the service. So I did experiment, I attended Good Friday services at a pretty little church in Eagle Rock, and it was sweet to see the devout earnestly visiting each Station, uttering by rote their own passionate pleas. But the service itself, a public forum , where congregants, in the manner of our Protesting brothers and sisters were proclaiming their own gospels. It was too much for me to bear, and shamefacedly, halfway through, I slithered out of my pew and back to my studio. I haven’t given up yet, but in many ways my studio is my temple. The following drawing is my own fervent desire to Walk the Way of the Cross; on my own path.

The Way of the Cross
2019
Sanguine and white charcoal highlights on toned paper
18 by 24 inches

In this synoptic composition, from left to right, I have depicted our Lord as the Ecce Homo, the terrible mocking rabble, Pontius Pilate, the Holy Fool Lazarus, the Fishermen’s boat, the Blessed Mother as the Dolorosa, the Baptist, the Crucified Lamb and Veronica with her Veil.

Relating to this theme is a recently recieved image of The Anchorite’s Cross , part of my Embodied: St. Anthony & the Desert of Tears installation.

The Anchorite’s Cross
2019
Mixed media: acrylic painted canvas, recycled fiber, beads, bells, embroidery floss, poly-fil, vintage furniture and metal work, vintage fabric.
Cross 60 by 32 by 10 inches approximately; total installation variable upon site.

The Stations of the Cross are rarely out of sight, for decades this Victorian Station, Station V, with Simon willingly or begrudgingly helping the staggering Lord, has hung over every drawing desk since meeting David 26 years ago. This is how it looks today.

Wilshire Blvd. studio
2019

In addition to Christian themes, I have tackled classical themes such as my well explored affair with Herakles, like Christ, I find him irresistible.

The Labors of Herakles
2019
Sanguine with white charcoal highlights, on toned paper
Diptych, total 24 by 36 inches

Orpheus another tragic hero that inspires me.

Orpheus’ Descent
2018
Sanguine and colored pencil on toned paper
18 by 24 inches

And of descending into the Underworld, Christ’s own Harrowing of Hell.

The Harrowing of Hell
2018
Sanguine, white chalk highlights on toned paper
24 by 18 inches

I’m actually supposed to be drawing instead of posting so I must complete this post but the view from my new studio is distracting me delightfully.

My new studio with a view (10th floor), Wilshire Bld., LA

Back to the drawing board.

 

 

The Labors of Herakles ( 7 out of 12 ain’t bad)

New drawing just completed, I believe this may be it . I’ve depicted the first seven Labors but to be frank , aside from our hero’s wrestling match with the fearsome Cerberus, I’m not particularly interested in drawing them . I’ll wait and see if inspiration strikes . But for now the first Seven:

1- the Nemean Lion , slay the poor thing

2-Lernean Hydra, slay that poor thing

3-Ceryneian Hind, capture that poor thing

4- Erymanthian Boar, capture that poor thing

5- Augean Stables, clean that filthy place

6-Stymphalian Birds, kill those man-eating things

7- Cretan Bull, capture that randy thing

Leonard Greco

The Labors of Herakles

2018

Sanguine pencil with chalk highlights on toned paper

18 by 24 inches

When and if I return to the balance of his Labors I will continue with the continuous narrative composition as a diptych.

But for now , calling it a day .

Oedipus & the Sphinx (or Self Portrait of the Artist as an Inquisitive Flea)

Detail

I’ve finished a new drawing as a tribute to my analyst Dr. Thomas, as he is Jungian I think he will appreciate the layers of symbolism.

“Oedipus & the Sphinx
or
Self Portrait of the Artist as an Inquisitive Flea”
2018
Sanuine pencil, white charcoal highlights on toned paper
24 by 18 inches

Fairyland ABC

My ongoing body of work Fairyland I am beginning to see has its roots and inspiration in the nursery. I find myself harkening back to my childhood. We hadn’t a nursery, or day care, in fact, due to my mother’s mental illnesses my childhood was spent in self care and self nurturance. I raised myself best as I could. One of the delights of my solitary childhood was stumbling upon the Victorian and Edwardian library of my maternal grandmother’s own (isolated) childhood nursery. One such delight was Walter Crane’s enchanting Absurd ABC. I spent many quiet hours poring over Crane’s vivid and complex drawings, imagining better worlds. I owe a huge debt to Crane. 

Walter Crane
“Absurd ABC”

With that alphabetic primer in mind, I turned the focus of my daily drawing practice to the ABC’s; each day producing a primer that would have suited that little boy (and the fellow I am now). Later in life I discovered other primers and have experienced inspiration in ornamental alphabets such as this medieval ( neo-medieval?) illuminated primer.

With that information in mind, my Alphabetic Primer of Fairyland:

“A” is for Aladdin
“B” is for Baal
“C” is for Commedia dell’ Arte ( & Chinoiserie)
“D” is for Death
“E” is for Egyptomania
“F” is for Faun (& Fairy & Floral)
“G” is for Greenman (& Gryphon & Ganymede)
“H” is for Herakles (& Hydra)
“I” is for Imperial Rome ( & Impermanence)
“J” is for Jester
“K” is for Kells, Book of
“L” is for Lazarus
“M” is for Minotaur
“N” is for Nereid
“O” is for Opera
“P” is for Pierrot (& Pollarded Trees)
“Q” is for Quetzalcoatl
“R” is for Rococo
“S” is for Salome
“T” is for Theatrical Temperament
“U” is for Uranus (& Uncomfortable)
“V” is for Viking
“W” is for Witchcraft
“X” is for Xibalba
“Y” is for Yankee Doodle Dandy
“&” is for Ampersand
“Z” is for Zanni

This isn’t my first alphabet, back in 2012 I went to task working on my Primer of New Spain ( see side bar for link ). However I lost steam and interest, as interesting as Mesoamerican art and culture is, it isn’t MY  story. From now on I am focusing on what is true to me, Fairyland is home.

The following is “D is for Dog” from the above mentioned Primer of New Spain.

 Dogs are always “true” to me.

“D” is for Dog
2012
from “Primer of New Spain”

Link:

https://boondocksbabylon.com/2012/11/30/d-is-for-dogs/

With that, I close this post. For the record all of the images are 8 by 10″, on toned grey paper, sanguine (mostly) pencil and white charcoal highlights. I continue my daily drawing practice, starting most studio days with at least one decent drawing. I imagine revisiting the ABC’s once again. 

 

Lenten Indulgences

“He has Risen.”

 

(source: http://damascenegallery.com/shop/image-subject/icons-christ/the-resurrection-of-christ/)

Those were the words I heard every Easter, fervently claiming them myself. Now, I am less certain of what I believe. It feels more complicated, more fraught ;one day the Old Gods have all the answers, the next Jesus Christ. I take the truth from where I can.

That said I feel more attuned to what has been called by the Irish as the “thin places”, the space between the world of man and the world of the spirit. This lenten season, instead of forgoing any particular vice, hindrance or pleasure, I simply drew. With a pencil in hand, promising to whoever listens to my private thoughts, that no matter what, each studio day I will produce at the least, a decent enough drawing. No promises of masterworks, just a commitment of time and energy before I began my studio day.

I once studied under a Russian Orthodox monk and iconographer Vladislav Andrejev, he, through the translation of his sweet wife Olga, told me that art making must be considered a prayer to the Divine.

That I believe in.

The following is a result of my Lenten Indulgences ( a little nod to dear old Luther) :

2018 Feb 6
Jezebel and Ahab
2018 Feb 7
untitled
2018 Feb 8
untitled, neomedieval study
2018 Feb 9
Ecce Homo
2018 Feb 12
Betty Brown
2018 Feb 13
Mummer
2018 Feb 16
Perseus
2018 Feb 16
Young Anchorite
2018 Feb 19
Faun
2018 Feb 20
Arlequino
2018 Feb 21
Studies
2018 Feb 22
Centaur
2018 Feb 23
Folly
2018 Feb 26
Polyphemus
2018 Feb 27
Birdboy, marginalia study
2018 Feb 28
Womba (Ivanhoe series)
2018 Mar 1
The Fair Rowena (Ivanhoe series)
2018 Mar 2
Bauble study
2018 March 5
Frontispiece design
2018 March 6
Proserpina & Cerberus
2018 Mar 7
Hades
2018 Mar 8
Underworld mummer
2018 Mar 9
Eurydice
2018 Mar 12
Night terror, dream memory
2018 Mar 13
Orpheus
2018 Mar 14
Mummer
2018 Mar 15
The Jewess Rebecca (Ivanhoe series)
2018 Mar 16
Leprechaun
2018 Mar 19
Winter
2018 Mar 20
Spring Awakening/Cernunnos
2018 Mar 21
Rape of Europa
2018 Mar 22
Pilgrim’s Journey
2018 Mar 23
Lavinia
2018 Mar 26
Abraham and Isaac
2018 Mar 27
Jonah and the Leviathan
2018 Mar 28
Job

 

2018 Mar 29
The Tree of Judas
2018 Mar 30
La Dolorosa

And that is it.

Happy Easter and happy All Fool’s Day!

 

 

The Harrowing of Hell, a recurring passion

The Harrowing of Hell
2018
Sanguine pencil, white charcoal, toned paper
24 by 18 inches

The theme of the great Harrowing of Hell, that period in time in which the Church seems to hesitate a bit, unsure of what really happened, that time after Christ sheds the mortal coil and isn’t seen for a few  days. Where he is said to have descended into the Underworld as a triumphant New Adam and liberates lost and languishing souls- that, that moment , fascinates me.

It has for quite some time, as a youth I placed ink to paper in an attempt to imagine such a  mythic moment ( the use of pomegranates as a decorative motif, seemed at the time,  a brilliant allegory and  subtle reference to Eurydice)

Youthful stab at a subject too grand…(1980-81?)

As the first(and latest) image attests, the theme still beguiles. Having only recently listened to George Saunder’s astonishing Lincoln in the Bardo (thank you Audible, now I must actually read it). I have been taken with the in-between time of death, redemption and the ambiguous souls left floundering;  the Bardo as Saunders asserts. Death isn’t always with me in a dismal way, but it is endlessly fascinating. I don’t actually want to know for sure what the path ahead holds for me, but I am darn curious.

The first introduction to the theme of the Harrowing was Albrecht Dürer’s spectacular depiction of it (Dürer is a heartthrob figure for me in so many ways).

Albrecht Dürer
Descent into Limbo

One can easily see Dürer’s influence on my work, going back to my teens. Clearly I stole from the Master in this youthful depiction of the Fallen Adam.

Unfinished drawing of Adam and fallen Bishop of Rome.

What I had failed to comprehend was what was meant by Hell. In time I came to realize not so much the eternal fires of a wrathful God, but a waiting station, the  vague Limbo of my youthful Catholicism.

The theme has been explored countless times; the following, are a few favorites.

The ubiquitous follower of good old Bosch.
A lovely example from 1504.
14th century
Petites Heures de Jean de Berry
A gorgeous depiction of the Harrowung of Hell, only vaguely attributed as “Renaissance”. Lovely nonetheless.

My own inspiration was more random, less planned; in my last studio move, an accidental composition made itself available to me. I suspect I will returning to theme again. Perhaps next time Christ will be more triumphant, more muscular in spirit, less hesitant. Although, truth be told, hesitancy seems a reasonable stance. 

The Harrowing of Hell
2018
Sanguine pencil, white charcoal, toned paper
24 by 18 inches