Life Is In The Balance

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  

There are many steps in creating a drawing. It all starts with an idea that moves into a plan. The act of drawing is like taking a journey on the map you have found/created. Just like a real road trip, things happen along the way that were not expected. Some are good and some are bad, you have to roll with what happens. That's the way I feel about this image in particular. There were twists and turns that I felt were going down the wrong path but when I got there, I knew it was exactly where I wanted to be.   Primrose and Oregon Grape, 30"x30", mixed media on paper, 2023 These images are created as part of a series of images funded by the New York State Council on the Arts that celebrates/visualizes the connection of all life on Earth, the interdependency of each organism with all others. What does that mean? This is not a new idea and has been expressed by innumerable cultures since the dawn of human awareness. My favorite expression of this concept is from 5th century ...

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...