Wabi Sabi e-studio

I've been imaging ways to 'move a house', that is to open up to new forms of creative exchange.

As a way to ignite this process I'll start a series of on-line e-studios this spring.






The first will be an exploration of the imperfect beauty of Wabi Sabi, an ancient Japanese aesthetic. Last year I began offering studios to explore this concept at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. The range of work that has emerged is dynamic and inspired.

To prepare the way to offer an e-class I'm learning how to translate a studio to an e-format... and I'm taking photographs of Wabi Sabi imagery to post on the class site. Here in the west there's no real frame of reference for the juxtapostion between nature and human that defines the Wabi Sabi world. That frees us to provide our own sense of discovery. We begin by traveling with camera in hand noticing what we notice before entering the studio to create a contemporary work.

Celebrate what inspires you today.

drozda photos: twig reflection, knife marks on cookie sheet, tree and fence rail

The Wabi and the Sabi

I was given a copy of Wabi Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers by Leonard Koren several months ago. It thrilled me to have a name for the way that I love to look at the world. A name for a particular aesthetic view. This first book led me on a journey and that inspired me to offer an adult fall Wabi Sabi studio at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. My seven adventurers and I are heading into our third week of discovery and exploration.

The first week I showed slide images that I had gathered through my cameras lens. Then we experimented with simple materials like charcoal and graphite on large sheets of white paper.

Yesterday it was time for the artists to share what they had discovered as they wandered through their week capturing images through their cameras. In the studio we played wildly with monoprints. I also gave them the assignment of visiting the blog of Ian Foster to take in the marvelous world view that he shares as artist/photographer. A Google of Wabi Sabi led me to his work and now I follow his blog so I can easily return and enjoy the beauty that he shares.
The main idea behind Wabi Sabi is a simplicity, an imperfect perfection...and that isn't something that can be easily described (I love that) yet it can come to be recognized. The primary element of Wabi is imperfect/natural and with Sabi comes an aged patina...so we could say that which has Wabi Sabi has a natural patina, a gentle aging. I like that. I hope that I personally can accomplish that as I continue to age :-) and in the meantime there are a small band of us at CACV delving into the opportunity to discover and then create our own work based upon what we find. I'll share how it unfolds over the next four weeks.

I thank Kay Hoffler, Lisa Campbell, and Carol Chewning of the Wabi sabi studio for these images.

Egrets post for Sharmon

click on image to enlarge

Sharmon made a request and so here...

are the three paintings posted yesterday from the series 'Bird Watching'.

Titled: 'Lake Smith #1', 'Lake Smith #2' and 'Daybreak'.

Each work is on canvas 20 x 24" and in each I'm playing with my customary layers and scratchings. In #1 and #2 the flower centers are filled with glitter glue and just to play with the surface a bit more I've varnished all three in combinations of flat and gloss to give the impression of water reflecting juxtaposed with the dull quality of the early morning fog.

Thanks and enjoy Sharmon!

Art as Play

I recently heard that we, our brain and the direction it will take us, is fully formed at age six.

May this sprite retain her clarity and joy.

I think I'll take my inner six year old into the studio for some real playtime today.

Joy of Discovery

I so appreciate that there surfaces a simple purity and magic when we discover that something is inside just waiting to show itself to us.

The 7 year old here thought he was going to draw his first mountain goat. He had selected a photo to work from. Twenty minutes later the delight came when he announced "My mountain goat turned into a mythical animal." He proudly asked me to 'stop the studio' so that he could announce his discovery to the other 10 artists.
Uncontaminated delight shared with all.

For the Birds

It's day two of the annual Backyard Bird Count. It is such a wonderful opportunity for taking a few minutes and relaxing with the beauty that surrounds.

Here at Wren House we have a bird's eye view of wonder most every day. These Great White Egrets being snapped yesterday back in the cove on Lake Smith.

It's cold here in Virginia after a few days of balmy and when the temp drops the cove becomes a haven for Cormorants, Hooded Mergansers, Egrets and Heron.

This week there has been the thrill of an added bonus ...for the past three nights a Bald Eagle has been roosting on a dead but sturdy Loblolly pine limb that hangs high over the water .

Here's a link for the Bald Eagle nest at the Norfolk Botanical Garden 5 miles from my home

A Kind of Summer

"Always maintain a kind of summer even in the middle of winter" Henry David Thoreau

The Winter session of Saturday in the Studio begins tomorrow at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. These shots are from last summer and they capture where the kids and I invest our time whenever possible. They will have coats on but even tomorrow we may be able to do a bit of exploring...as the sun will be shining and the temp may hit 60 again as it did today.

Last But Not Least

Here's the last installment...the teacher whose classes were doing the bird sculptures also had some of the young artists do bird paintings based on my style....tempera on watercolor paper. and here are three more of the upper level artist's paintings...acrylic on cardboard...

Hands That Do No Harm

The last group of artists worked on Mandala pieces, either on paper or silk, that addressed the ways in which they intend to use their own hands to do no harm as they interface with nature.

Gifted and Talented Kids

Each days projects happen simultaneously ...so while the younger artists are creating birds the older are painting using a style of layering and carving that I demonstrate...the piece on the right can be followed though its three stages...nature is the theme.

Birds of a Feather

I have had a most wonderful week working with art students at the gifted and talented zone in Old Donation Center... here is one of the projects that I introduced...and some sweet results...sculptural birds from recycled materials...

Flow-ers

Before going into the Old Donation Center art studio the 4th graders stood out in the hall and played an intuitive game that I call 'How observant are you?' In this instance the idea was to look at and talk about 'The Wish Fulfilling Tree' a large painting that I brought along to hang in the hall outside the art room during my week at the school. Together we addressed the concepts of symbolism, where artist's find ideas, varied techniques, color choices, etc.

After a good round of discussion and terrific insights we went into the art room, closed the door and I asked each artist to now see how much of the painting they could recall from memory using the colors they like and simply having fun with the process.

River in the Sky

I love visiting the elementary schools in Virginia Beach. I usually spend one week working with all the students, one class at a time.

Since I am an artist who is inspired by the nature right outside my back door, I tend to focus on the mysterious assortment of water creatures and birds that live with us here.

As a gift to the 500 students who I worked with in April at King's Grant Elementary I painted a ceiling tile to hang near the library.

Nature Nurture...

What a great way to begin the fresh new walk around the Medicine Wheel of Life (i.e. Spring Equinox) than to celebrate kids exploring, discovering and simply playing freely out doors. I recall so clearly my mom responding to any of my whines of 'what is there to do?' by ushering me out into the yard where I could climb a tree to perch with a favorite book, romp with my pup or take a good walk with him in tow to our favorite haunts in nearby John Muir Woods where I would follow racoon and deer footprints along the edge of the creek or just lie on my back watching clouds float by....ahhhhhhh.

April is Children and Nature Month...started in 2006 grab a kid of any age and go outside and wander. http://www.donnaionadrozda.com/CHILDREN_AND_NATURE.html

Go outside and play

It's been a grand day for walking in the woods. Bright and beautiful. Robins gourging holly berries. River path meanders, Hooded Mergansers bobbing, diving. Spanish moss waving gently, Pileated woodpeckers darting, swooping. Sun brilliant off the water. Loblolly aromatherapy.

I'm reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. http://books.google.com/books?id=Lo4qAgAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:Richard+inauthor:Louv
a book I'll be recommending to parents whose children spend time with me in studios this semester and beyond.
Author Thomas Berry says, "The simplest, most profound, and helpful of any book I have read on the personal and historical situation of our children, and ourselves, as we move into the twenty-first century."
Take a look.

Turtles in Ties

This past weekend I traveled four hours to Lynchburg College where I presented a workshop for The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts http://www.vmfa.museum/osp/drozda.html . There I met a grand group of young artists and together we created field guides called Nature Notebooks.

Afterward I was introduced to http://www.turtlesinties.com/ Bilingual Media for Kids creator and fab artist Kristin Harris...visit her new personal website at http://www.kristinreiberharris.com/