Page 93 - Demo

t the start of the new millennium, John installed my new Wacom drawing tablet and Corel Painter program onto my iMac computer. Suddenly, it was a new era, and my art changed dramatically. I was no longer limited to using a mechanical graphite pencil oncotton paper. Now, without being exposed to the art materials I was sensitive to%u2014such as cedar pastel pencils and paints%u2014I could once again work in color. And with our just-purchased Epson photo-quality printer in John%u2019s downstairs office, any fresh-ink odors emitted from it would not affect me upstairs.I immediately found I could manipulate every imaginable element of a drawing%u2014placement, tone, simulation of different media, opacity, size, etc. As I grew more comfortable working digitally, I discovered completely new ways of expressing myself. Features such as multiple layers, masking, and tracing, plus a vast number of special visual effects, made experimentation inviting and fun. Plus, I could print copies of a completed work with just the click of a mouse.This modern computer approach to art was exciting and liberating, but drawing with a stylus on a digital tablet did have its limitations. I found it very difficult, sometimes impossible, to draw very fine lines smoothly and easily. Also, with my first version of the software, the stylus was less-than-sensitive to pressure changes, so pushing down harder to make a wider or darker line was not very successful. Fortunately, this changed when Painter released a newer version. I soon concluded that digital art was unlike anything I%u2019d ever done before%u2014it was truly a unique medium with its own plusses and minuses. There were some things I could accomplish in seconds when working by hand that took much, much longer using this digital medium. On the other hand, there were tasks I could achieve almost instantly using Painter, that would have required hours, if not days, to do manually%u2014if I could do them at all. After a period of trial and error, I made my first real digital piece, Ah, Everything%u2019s Just Ducky. In it, I used computer-generated textures (plaid weave and flower patterns on two chairs), gradients (two chairs and sky), with simulated soft pastel (water lily flowers), and colored-ink (water), to create a most curious scene. Next came An Odd Circumstance, which portrays a reversal of reality, with a parrot, a cat, and several rats in an unexpected situation. This was followed by Kaleidopoodle, an abstract composition combining kaleidoscope-like views with poodles. Once it was completed, I happened to think about the word %u201cgoatee%u201d which I%u2019d recently heard spoken. It was such an odd word that it inspired me to make Goat-T, a collage-like collection of goats with variations on tea, the Model T, and the letter T. In time, I worked on a pair of self-portraits. Tiger-Tiger was inspired by our two Tibetan tiger rugs, and Lucy & Me brought a distant ancestor into the present, for a pleasant stroll with me. How similar we two females probably are%u2014despite vast distances of time and place! Ballet Moose, Scent All the Way Home, and Sheep Tricks (at Night), are elaborate presentations of plays on words%u2014one of my favorite creative methods of inspiration. A print of Mermaids Taking a Break from Luring Sailors to Their Deaths was displayed in a juried exhibition at Indiana University%u2019s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction%u2014and is now a part of the Institute%u2019s permanent art collection. As I continued working digitally, I created a number of themed sets. Crow and Corn and Rat and Rye are a decorative pair made in a simulated woodblock style. In them, I combined two important human food sources with clever crows and rats who do their best to rob us of them whenever possible. With Duck and Cover and Sitting Duck, I was inspired by two common phrases. Back in the mid-1950s, an alarm would sound in my elementary school and, immediately, our teacher would instruct us to, %u201cDuck and cover,%u201d which meant we children were to quickly crouch under our desks. These practice drills trained us to protect ourselves (although ineffectively) from a nuclear attack by the evil Red Communists in the Soviet Union. %u201cA sitting duck,%u201d is a common phrase for a person with no protection against an attack or danger. In my portrayal, the duck is safely lounging. The next pair of drawings I did was Rubber Duckies with Turtle and Rubber Duckies with Bluegill. These were made as baby-shower gifts for an expectant mom carrying twin boys. What could be a more appropriate present than images of a turtle and a blue gill with schools of minnows observing bewildering flocks of bright-yellow rubber duckies bobbing just overhead? Circus, Circus shows acrobatic dogs performing astounding feats. This was followed by more dogs at other locations known for such overthe-top theatrical displays: Vegas, Vegas, and Branson, Branson. Fabric of Life is my version of a popular television advertisement that aired a number of years ago. In the ad, viewers were reminded of the natural, wonderful, all-American qualities of cotton clothing%u2014back when synthetic fibers were increasing their market share. In my interpretation%u2014painted in gouache some years ago (page 21)%u2014a different type of fabric is made up of young, attractive men and women, intertwined and woven together with symbols of love and fertility, over a spring-like, pale-green background. Later, I was inspired to digitize it and print it onto a piece of cotton fabric, which became the top layer of a quilted wall hanging. This wall piece includes festive ovum and sperm dangling from heavy thread. They%u2019re made of painted, self-hardening modeling clay, as are the penis heads on the wooden dowel support rod. Additional materials include glass beads, cotton embroidery floss, and wool yarn.Besides making prints for display, I%u2019ve also enjoyed creating Christmas and birthday cards%u2014since 1972 (left).