NEW CHARCOAL AND PASTEL WORK FOR EARTHLY BLISS EXHIBITION November 11-26, 2011



"Summer Bliss" Charcoal on Paper  22x30  inches

Artist Statement for EARTHLY BLISS Exhibition

November 11-26, 2011
The Art Spirit Gallery
Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA
http://theartspiritgallery.com/html/exhibresults.asp?exnum=7356&exname=%2D%2D%2DKatherine+Nelson+%2D%2D%22Earthly+Bliss%22

 Earthly bliss is ephemeral, magical, mysterious, and peacefully reformative within the immutable rising and setting of the sun. Therein lies the spirit in abundant changing wheat fields, the lyrical furrows engraved on earth, the spectrum of foliage, the rhythmic flow of the sky. The dynamic and dramatic elements of nature captures and flirts with my imagination. Drawing revitalizes ones spirit and evolves into a mysterious celebration of life.



"Up the Hill in Wheat" Charcoal on paper 22x30 inches




Charcoal as a medium, visually enunciates Nature's interlude. Charcoal's ethereal quality enhances the immortal and corporeal natural essence of my subject matter so hard to describe but to which I am deeply drawn. I depart from color without sacrificing elements of light, value, shape, texture, and thereby, further exaggerate the subject. Charcoal is technically a dry medium but I find it to be totally fluid as I manipulate it across the surface of my paper.


The illuminating character of charcoal enhances the divine unpredictability inherent in nature. It inspires us to rejoice in the transitory qualities of nature itself and reveal one's spirit.



Madame TokTok Children's Drawing Workshop at Palais de Tokyo Museum, Paris, France




Madame Tok Tok Childrens Workshop Venue, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

 

Last March I was delighted to create a drawing event for the Madame Tok Tok Art Education forum that captures the sensations and understanding of children residing in a global community.

This drawing event was a special invitation for a cultural arts exchange and was a collaborative effort with Elke Robert, Coordinator for the Tokyo Arts Club and Tanguey Pelletier, Curator of Education, along with Marc Alizart, Curator at the museum.




Standing (center)  in front of the triptych,  "EuroVillage", a  drawing which is an  example for the workshop



I presented my drawings and charcoal techniques accompanied by live demonstration and video in an imaginative studio setting in Madame Tok Tok. This drawing workshop is a  one or two day "drawing event" concept. Children are invited to participate in a group with the purpose of creating collaboratively a EuroVillage in charcoal technique.  Children interact together sharing their diverse views, drawing styles,  residential design, as well as the creation of overall communal areas of their village.


When the drawing workshop began, Tanguey Pelletier read the children a fictional story about the image behind me to stir up their imaginations a bit further before drawing. Every workshop offered at the Tok Tok forum begins with a story!




Discussing creative options





The workshop teaches youngsters concepts of collaboration along with individual invention thus unifying children with cultural diversity. Children were required to share their ideas and work around a table in a circular format  while creating a "EuroVillage" and from there begin to recognize the unity in their diversity.


Eager listeners!

 

Actively engaged in collaborative drawing



Children drew on 2-D and   3-D surfaces



  Students were encouraged to utilize some of the demonstrated drawing techniques and also invent their own within the exploratory processes of the charcoal medium.

Assisting youngsters with drawing



The children drew in a delightful range of styles and experimented with a variety of charcoal techniques. Children created with enthusiastic energy, spontaneity, and in a variety of perspectives. Their drawing techniques resulted in many textures and values on the grey scale. Their invention was fascinating!



The warmth and creativity within the walls of the childrens' studio make
this venue unique and very special to the Paris community!

 

 



 















Issue 68 of Willow Springs

Issue 68 of  Willow Springs has been released!

The cover features "The Stairwell Below" 2010 
Charcoal on paper.

This is a drawing from my recent Nocturne Series.
I posted a statement below about my inspiration for this group of works.

Inspiration

Inspiration comes from a miraculous place. I find the notion of inspiration  itself to be sacred. Places which I refer to as "iconic landscape" have their own sense of spirit and inherent inspiration.  



Tranquility  2009
 Katherine Nelson
Charcoal and Pastel on Paper



Bluebell Forest Path  2009
Katherine Nelson
Charcoal and Pastel on Paper

Spring brings the bluebell forest into full bloom and with it textures both smooth and complex. This tops my list for one of the sacred, quiet, and heavenly places to find inspiration. This forest is outside of Waterloo, Belgium.

              

Nocturne: Recent Works and Statement



"From the Stairwell Below" 2010. Charcoal on Paper. 22x30.
Katherine Nelson
















Nightfall descended like a black velvet curtain which cloaked my world in mystery. I spent my last few months in Europe exploring silent streets and landscapes of suburbia. The darkness resonated with the unknown around each corner. I selectively sought compositions containing my own individual visual definition of the film noir genre in a singular still frame format. I avoided humans in my images only desiring to leave evidence of their past presence. Graffitti, soot stained stairwells, empty cars, rural roads illuminated by man made light took me away from my daylight in which I am comfortably familiar. Eliminating sunlight as a source I discovered street lamps, spot lights, lit windows, and the soft moon as sources to illuminate the nocturne. Drawing night on white paper is a building process which requires isolation of the whites to remain untouched by charcoal. I enjoyed this much like a challenging game working with soft rather than hard erasers to build nuances of illumination within the imagery.

Lonely yet romantic, familiar and strange, nostalgic and figurative, foreboding and yet oddly comforting, the nocturne drew me out into new light.”      –Katherine Nelson

"Open Garage Ahead". 2010. Charcoal on paper. 22x30
Katherine Nelson





Willow Springs 2011

I am very excited to be the cover artist this year for Willow Springs. Willow Springs, a literary journal featuring poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and award winning author interviews is published twice yearly for Eastern Washington University. For the Spring Issue 67, they chose the image titled The Deep Bend in the Road 2007, a charcoal and pastel drawing which is a part of my Palouse series. Copies are available by going to their website or by picking one up at one of their bookstore retailers. Many thanks to Samuel Ligon, Editor and Jason Sommer, Managing Editor for Willow Springs.

http://willowsprings.ewu.edu/

http://thebarking.com/