Janet's Place

Palisades Painting

I finally finished my colored pencil painting of the Palisades in Lake Superior.

This is a detail of the painting:

This is the photograph I took that inspired the painting:

Portrait Drawing with Richard Halstead

In September I began a Portrait Drawing workshop with Richard Halstead. Richard is a noted portrait artist. One of his most recent commissions was the official state portrait of former Governor of Illinois, George Ryan. More important to me, Richard is a gifted teacher. The class meets in his studio in the Noyes Art Center in Evanston.

I attend the Saturday afternoon workshop. When I returned from my Minnesota Art Expedition I searched and searched for just the right opportunity to continue my study of drawing. I found this workshop through my friend, Lucy Smith.

There are about ten students in the class. Most people are painting in oils, a couple are using pastels, and three or four doing charcoal or graphite. Since I am beginning, I have been using vine charcoal. We have one model for the month and can work on one drawing the entire month or start a new one each week.

So far I've done three:

This is Scott from September.

This is John from October. I spent two classes on this one.

The last class I worked on a second drawing of John. This is charcoal and white pastel pencil on gray Mi-Tientes paper.

More to come ...

Chapungu Exhibit

I've lived in Chicago 25 years and I finally got to visit Garfield Park and the Garfield Park Conservatory. My friend Beth and I went on September 23rd. It turned out to be a glorious day. The current exhibit at Garfield Park is Chapungu Sculpture from the Chapungu Sculpture Park in Zimbabwe, Africa.

The sculptures in the exhibit tell stories, record history, show everyday moments, honor, mourn and celebrate. Created over the last 50 years, the sculpture is the work of three generations of Shona sculptors from Zimbabwe. Stone used includes serpentine valued by sculptors for its variety of colors and density. Other stones are springstone, opal stone, limestone and verdite. These monolithic pieces weigh up to 6000 pounds. The artists use hand tools. First the stone is roughly shaped and then it is gradually refined to produce shapes and details. Sanding produces texture and lines. Many artists then heat the stone and coat it with wax to bring out the beauty of the stone and surface textures.

Here is Beth at the front of the Garfield Park Conservatory.

This is the sign for the exhibit.

Entranced by the Mbira, made of Opal stone. The mbira is a musical instrument that blesses every important event of our lives. (Notes from the official Guide to the Exhibition.)

Euphorbia in Bloom, Opal stone. A spiny and harsh-looking plant with fragile and vulnerable flowers.

Another Opal stone sculpture and a detail of that sculputre.

Spirit Bird Prays for Rain, Springstone. Pouring out the special beer, Chapungu intercedes with the ancestral spirits, asking Mwari, the great God, for good rains.

Spirit Bird Prays for Rain, details.

Earth Spirit, Serpentine. All things have a spirit - nothing is inanimate. Trees, rivers, mountains, stones, carving stones. I come from the Earth. I am the Earth spirit.

Two more Chapungu sculptures inside the Conservatory.

Last year there was a major exhibit of Chihuly glass at Garfield Park Conservatory. The Conservatory was able to obtain one of the installations for permanent display. At first glance when you are walking by this pool, you wonder what those strange plants are. Then you realize they are glass.

Beth and I ended our visit by walking the Labyrinth. It is a very peaceful and meditative experience and was a wonderful conclusion on such a beautiful day.