Life Is In The Balance

On September 9th, I had the wonderful opportunity speak with an enthusiastic group of Narrows Botanical Gardens visitors about the Life Is In the Balance series of drawings. I briefly discussed my academic background and related work from my fifty year career as a professional artist. There were questions about the materials used in the original drawings and how they were reproduced to be weather resistant. I talked about each one of the drawings in the order they were created and identified the plants and where they can/could be found in the gardens, when seasonally appropriate.     Photo:Luz Diaz The most informative for the visitors, and the most fun for me was to go around the gardens and visit a few of the locations where they could see the plants that inspired me.  As luck would have it, the milkweed seed pods were "ripe" and full of seeds. We reminisced about our intrigue as children with the floating seeds. We all had forgotten how soft they are. Photo: Luz D...

In my beloved Chinese redwood grove at Narrows Botanical Gardens   Please join me on Saturday, September 9th  from 2 - 3pm at Narrows Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn  for my Artist's Talk for the exhibit Life Is In the Balance Learn about my process in making the drawings, the 40 year history of my making work that has a very similar structure in sacred geometry and radial symmetry and how my four years as a volunteer at NBG informed this project.  Find out where each drawing's subject matter is located in the garden. I look forward to answering your questions and talking about the art and nature and visualizing the connection of all life on Earth.  If you have questions, please contact me at krharris46@gmail.com.

Chinese Redwood Grove at Narrows Botanical Gardens On Saturday, August 19th I taught a drawing workshop at Narrows Botanical Gardens in conjunction with my Life Is In the Balance exhibition. I was thrilled to welcome 15 participants to our drawing studio, inside a grove of Chinese redwoods in the Gardens. We had artists from 4 to 70 years old. My students from the Bay Ridge Center were well represented and a welcome addition.     I brought a number of drawing pads and pencil and as I introduced myself I handed out the supplies. The students first task was to open the tablet and write; My Nature Notebook and their name. I challenged them to  continue to fill the notebook with drawings from nature after they left the workshop.     For those who chose an alternative to drawing the trees (complex subject matter) I had a collection of natural object for them to draw. There was a cicada, a few seed pods, a small branch from the redwoods complete with pinecones. ...

At the opening event for Life Is In the Balance, I had the delightful opportunity to have conversations with about 25-30 park visitors about the artwork. It was so gratifying to hear how much the work was appreciated and how it added to their experience in the park. Narrows Botanical Gardens are truly a valuable resource for the community. I am so happy to make this contribution for the two months the artwork will be on display. Don't miss out. July 15 - September 15   Kristin in front of newly installed artwork: Narrows Botanical Gardens, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn I got an interesting array of questions, most frequently what were the materials used to make them. Seeing drawing reproduced on vinyl is not something that happens everyday and many thought they were paintings on canvas. I informed them that the originals were mixed media on paper, which of course could not be displayed outside. I explained that the work was inspired by the gardens and all of the plants/fauna exist in the par...

I am so pleased to see this series of drawings completed. That said, there is much more to come in the Life Is In the Balance project. Details will be provided when exhibition dates are firmed up. Funded by the New York State Council on the Arts, Life Is In the Balance is a visual reflection of the connection of all life on Earth and the continual give and take as life self-regulates and perpetuates in balance.   I find this a wonderful miracle. The specific subjects were inspired by a park in New York City. My choice was Narrows Botanical Gardens in my neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. As a result of this series, I have a new awareness of the process of drawing as a conversation between the artist, the subject and the paper and tools used. These drawings were definitely a collaboration. Every step of the way created a new reality that was a factor moving forward. That certainly makes it more of a challenge and so much more satisfying than believing I know where I'm going...

  Life is in the Balance_Drawing 5: Apple Blossoms I have been delinquent in keeping the blog updated....not in drawing. (It's too much fun to stop for very long)  Apple Blossoms with dandelion flowers and bees is a tribute to spring. I have been gaga just drifting from one flower or flowering tree to another.  A current obsession is writing haiku. These two are appropriate to express my mood and how it is visualized in this drawing. Still under the spell  from one flower to the next It's finally spring   Gift of renewal Energized the whole world The glory of spring   This drawing is just about finished. Thanks for your interest in my work. Learn more about my artwork to inspire careful observation of the natural world on my website, KristinHarrisDesign.com .  

I needed the break I took the last few weeks. I jumped into this series full steam ahead and needed a rest!  Very happy to have acted on my strategizing of the last few weeks and put pencil to paper today. This spring there have been an abundance of flowering trees in my neighborhood. They inspired me to indulge in a favorite pass time, writing haiku.                Cherry trees in spring                The flowers like falling stars                Bringing me such joy  Narrows Botanical Gardens has a number of blooming apple trees which did not disappoint. There are many flowering plants at the Gardens now but the apple blossoms really captured my attention. They are especially beautiful but maybe it's also in my father's memory I celebrate them now. He was a great fan of apples and apple trees. He nurtured many an apple tree in his days as a ...

  The monarchs world is opening up. At the top you can see the milkweed seeds being blown around by the wind. Zinnias bloom in the garden during the summer. The monarchs are frequently visit the zinnias. The stage has been set, my concerns now are the color palette and creating a harmonious balance of the elements that are telling this story. More work to be done. Butterflies always make me think of my brother Paul. When we were children he was the one running around collecting insects. I was more likely looking at larger creatures. I vividly remember his setting up a sheet one evening and using a flashlight to attract luna months. They remain one of my favorites today.   My mission with this work is to engage you and encourage you to look carefully and try to see how these organisms relate to each other (and us!). 

Monarch and Milkweed; in progress     Today I am laying out Monarch and Milkweed, the fourth drawing in my Life is in the Balance series funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. These drawing are inspired by a lifetime of immersing myself in the natural world and my experiences as a recent transplant to Brooklyn, NYC. The series is influenced by Islamic geometric art - a beautiful marriage of science and art. I have been creating art referencing this geometry for over 40 years. I appreciated it on a purely visual level but as I am learning more about the philosophy, I realize it is the patterns that are important. Syed Jan Abas and Amer Shaker Salman in Symmetries of Islamic Patterns indicate that the geometry mirrors the harmony of nature and defines that which is infinite and perfectly beautiful. So  it is actually a marriage of science, art and spirituality. It is the significance of seeing those patterns in life that really hit me emotionally. I don't always ...

                                 Waterlilies, mixed media, 30"x30", Caran d'Ache on paper, 3.7.2023   The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. What I need now is a bit of magic. I am adding fish to create a more realistic scene and adding black around the blue circles and rushes to unify the imagery.  I want to also add reflections in the water.  TBD is it pulls it all together!  I do like the silhouette of the dragonflies. I think they would be lost other wise.   I want to remember that a major theme of this work/series of drawings is patterns and seeing patterns. What does that mean and how do we do it? I am pondering that question.

  Waterlilies, 30"x30", mixed media, work in progress     I frequently tell my art students you have to confidently move forward because you can't react to what you can't see. In this case I am calling it jumping into the deep end.  The purple/water will look very different as this image resolves itself but this is the base/beginning. Laying out the entire image helps me see how they balance each other as they evolve. Water gardens are beautiful havens of tranquility. They also represent one of the most basic threads that unite all life, water. The first organisms on Earth evolved in water/mud. Our bodies are 66% water, the Earth's surface is made up of 71% water and the atmosphere contains from .2% - 4% water. We need to drink water to stay alive.  Stay tuned as I work on this drawing as a tribute to the numerous water features at Narrows Botanical Gardens and the calm beauty they provide for the community.  Learn more about my work at KristinHarrisDesign....

 It is such a thrill to see a blank piece of paper and make the first marks.  With this project, it is the compass that is the first tool that touches the paper. My preliminary sketches inform the basic geometry and the creating of that geometry on the final piece of paper confirms it. I know what my subjects will be as I start drawing. I am frequently printing out large (13"x19" prints) of the imagery for constant reference while I am working.   As you can see, my eraser is STILL my best friend. This is a process of give and take. Show me, modify me, show me again.     I am inspired by the water gardens at Narrows Botanical Gardens, but also by my memories of my water garden in my last home in Virginia.  Here is the geometry and the color palette as I anticipate it at this moment.    This is going to be fun! Learn more about my work at KristinHarrisDesign.com or @kristinharrisdesign or @anim8nature  

Primrose, 2.12.23 version, mixed media on paper, 30" sq   Last night I was able to do the preliminary drawing of all the parts...the fifth primrose the last piece. It is very satisfying to see it come together. The rich color of the Caran d'Ache is worth the effort. It takes a lot of pressure to get the nice solid fully saturated color. Sometimes my hands protest a bit! This versions reinforces my interest in having the next drawing include white silhouettes on color, as in the lower left circle. Learn more about my work at KristinHarrisDesign.com. and @kristinharrisdesign

I have been waiting for new supplies to continue working. Well, I had plenty to do and did keep drawing, just not what I was fixating on doing. I wanted to get the range of tools I felt I needed to depict the primrose seed pods as I see them, full of color and the promise of new life (via the seeds they contained).   #3 Primrose, 30" square, mixed media on paper, 2023   The Caran d'Ache Neocolors arrived yesterday, a third damaged in shipping. What? Oh well, I had a chance last night to experiment with cinnamon and the other lighter, more orange selection I ordered. I am pleased with the results. I continue to be impressed with the importance of contrast and how black punches out form in a way all its own. Color is queen but without a range of values, it's well,  just flat. I want my drawings to jump off the paper. I am very grateful to the support of the New York State Council on the Arts and NY Women in Film and Television for the support they are providing in this seri...

  Drawing #2: Primrose     2.2.23   So begins the perpetual fine tuning of these images. I was not pleased with the color of the seeds pods. Too grey, not the lovely color bending to gold and orange that I am seeing on my samples. Quick order to Dick Blick for Caran d'Ache identified as cinnamon, apricot, canary yellow, desert rose and fast orange? Plenty to do while I wait for them. As I dream ahead I imagine I will not create images that require 5 large drawings of such a complex object....but I'm running with this one as is.   Big Moon, mixed media on paper, 30"x52", 2011  As I review my earlier work (this one is 2011), I was drawn to this image because of the power of the silhouette, especially in contract to the detailed imagery of the rest of the drawing. I will definitely be experimenting with that technique, probably on #3.  Learn more about my work at KristinHarrisDesign.com and @kristinharrisdesign.  

  I am getting swept into this series of drawings in a wonderful way. I have so many ideas and my mind is humming with images. I do have a rule that I must complete each drawing before I proceed to the next. As impatient as I am, I have managed to hold true to that rule as I move from a completed #1Mullein to #2Primrose.     I collected t his stem of an evening primrose from the Narrows Botanical Gardens Pollinators Garden. It captured my attention and will be featured front and center in this drawing of the same name. As you can see, the real object is very small. I shot a photo and printed it 19"x13" so I could get a much better view of the nuanced details in color and form of this plant that retains its beauty as it returns to the soil. The original is close at hand too. I am interested in responding to what I see as the wisdom and perfection of Mother Nature.  These drawings are intuitive combinations of organisms that live together in a community at N...

  Mullein (Final), 32"x32", mixed media on paper, 2023 A milestone completed and the adventure continues.  I want to further set the stage for this series. In my proposal to the New York State Council on the Arts I indicated I would create a series of 6 drawings celebrating/visualizing the connection of all life. I would find direct inspiration with visits to a park in New York City. I will exhibit the drawings at that park and present a short talk about the work. There are many amazing parks in NYC, but my first choice was Narrows Botanical Gardens in my neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Thankfully my friends at Narrows were on board. I have been a volunteer at NBG for over three years. Each drawing is imagery documenting a micro-ecosystem at the park. Mullein above was inspired by the first day I got to the park after I learned that my proposal had been accepted. This mullein is right by the gate where I enter the Vegetable/Flower Garden. It flagged my down and said...L...

A few days before Thanksgiving I received an email informing me that the New York State Council on the Arts was going to fund my proposal to create a series of drawings visualizing the connection of all life through the lens of geometry. I was thrilled. I am profoundly grateful for the funding and the recognition of my work. Life's in the Balance, the project title is a continuation of a creative investigation I started many decades ago and have brought forward through the years. I will be documenting my process and progress in this blog on and my Instagram account, @kristinharrisdesign. Join me.  Life is in the balance. Simply be aware of the oneness of things. (Lao Tzu)