I don’t know who that person in the USA is, or how they are choosing random blog posts, but I have taken to looking at what they have chosen, and re-reading what I wrote… sometimes it’s last month, sometimes it is six years ago, but they are choosing well! Thank you, whoever you are (I’d love to know if you would like to leave a comment)
https://elenathomas.co.uk/2019/03/17/why-i-am-drawing-and-why-i-stopped-stitching/
…and…
https://elenathomas.co.uk/2018/03/09/superconductor/
These two provide the rationale behind why I turned back to drawing after years of working with textiles, and why I have stuck with it. I have no idea if I will have another change in a few years time, but for now, THIS is why I draw…
I am still enamoured with the texture of the paper and how it feels under my fingers. I love how it responds to the graphite, or more recently the old fashioned dip pens, that don’t always deliver a pure line, and the nibs that react to small flaws or the texture of the paper. This exploration of materials and equipment, the connection of my brain through my hands to the surface is kind of exquisite. The using of old inks and watercolour is soft, responsive. It has a delicacy, but can also be bold and strong. It follows my mood, and also my physical state… it picks up on who and how I am at every given moment I am connected to the paper. I come to love the moments when I move from not being happy with a blotchy scratchy bit, to seeing that it is part of me. Without knowing it, my state of being has transferred itself to the paper.
Sometimes I am seduced by the aesthetics, which is absolutely fine… but for me, the thing that takes it further and deeper are the times when it’s not that perfect execution of line… I needed to remember that at this very moment as I return to the studio after a busy time away from the work.
Thank you for the reminder, mystery reader!
