New Series of Drawings

Hello! I've earned a sabbatical from teaching full time at the Art Institute of Charlotte. So for the next ten weeks I will teach classes only on Wednesdays. I am using the majority of my time the next few weeks to begin a new series of drawings.

In my art during the last decade, drawing has been part of the process: the starting point for a painting. Drawing was not the final result. I'm returning to the beginning of the process for this series.

The subject of my drawings will be the human figure. The human form is endlessly interesting, leading artists to return time and again. I have studied and drawn the figure since my first comic book in 3rd grade. I studied the figure further in many of my art classes at the University of Georgia. I have continued to learn and draw the human figure as an figure drawing instructor at Ai-Charlotte since 2000.

My drawings will have a theme: the weight of society on people.

Society puts tremendous pressure on its citizens. The pressure to succeed weighs on the public and individuals. There is great pressure to consume as well; we are all pressured by market forces, peer pressure, family obligations, and demanding jobs. Instructors for example, are pressured to be subject experts, industry leaders, class room disciplinarians, administrators, and entertainers. If societal pressures are not enough, we also pressure ourselves to advance in our careers in addition to being perfect children, parents, spouses, friends, etc. In other words, we pressure ourselves to “have it all.”

In the midst of this weight, it is important for art and artistic concepts to maintain a place in society at the conscious as well as subconscious levels. How can art to address the pressure in our lives? How do these demands on me and those around me become art? Does art add to or alleviate the pressure? What metaphor can be used to show the weight on people in society? Who in society carries the most and least weight?

In this series of drawings, I will explore the figure and its role in the context of today’s pressure-cooker society. Through a series of drawings, I will attempt to address the above questions, reflecting on our society. The series, called “weight,” uses the figure as metaphor to explore the weight that society places on us. The series will, hopefully, be a metaphor for our lives.

I have drawn and painted the figure throughout my career. However, I have never undertaken drawings on a large scale. Large scale drawings will hopefully have greater impact on the viewer, but are much harder to execute successfully than small drawings.

So please enjoy the drawings and the process I will show in this blog.