Latent Presences

I am fascinated by the numerous ways of approaching art-making. One of my student colleagues, Chelsea Lawrick, reminded me of an approach by Allson Lambert when I visited her blog, Secret Places.

Lambert uses charcoal and black pastel, photo on left links to more of her pieces:
"The process continues--redrawing, ripping, scraping, and layering--creating an almost sculptural surface of frayed, stratified paper covered with shadings of black and gray. The result is a profound sense of presence. Each drawn head or figure is virtually the imprint of a soul, with the artist's laborious process seeming to echo the decisions, thoughts, and feelings that through a lifetime have subtly engraved themselves on the person's spirit.  " (link Latent Presences   for full text and photos of her work).


It reminds me of Harry Kent's exploration of mark-making using oil and charcoal and that he wants to experiment with fabrics for textures and colour as well as combining other paints with traditional oils. You can see images of his work at his blog http://tachisme.blogspot.com/ 

I don't have any drawing or painting studio courses this fall but I think I'd like to use Lambert's technique as an independent project. I would need to make use of the university's studio since mine is in the corner of my kitchen where charcoal dust doesn't get accommodated very well.