So I’ve self-assigned to do heart-themed art this month, in preparation for the February group show at Harmony Collective Artist Gallery. This pic is me being a little resentful of the assignment. But I need to pay attention to why; I’m trying not to be shy about making pictures that are purposely dorky. I think it’s just that the valentine-shaped heart is so much used, and has such a thick goo layer of familiarity. This one harks back to those grade school paper valentines that some people would give all their classmates, with the corny sayings. I loved and hated them at the same time. The imagery had something so appealing, but they were so cheesy and insincere.
I guess I’m ok with spending a month on sweetness. Not that love and hearts are always sweet, but I’ve spent enough of my life censoring that which I thought was unserious because it was pretty.
The theme of February’s Group Show at the gallery is “Hearts and Love”. I don’t know if I’ll be willing and able to stick with the theme for every daily this month, but it will be somewhere in the back of my mind in any case.
Meanwhile, I broke back into my acrylic paints and am enjoying the different kind of marks and effects I can make with them. Also remembering that they tend to take more time, and call for more revisiting than the ink and crayon sketches I did last month!
so ends this month of black-and-white, with a hint of the colors to come.
If you happen to be in Brattleboro VT in January, do stop by the Harmony Collective Artist Gallery, where you can see my December drawings in person, as well as many other monochromatic works by gallery artists, in our very first themed Group Show!
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