V.a.c.a.t.i.o.n.

Down in Key West for the week. Its interesting checking out the galleries, cause the artists down here have a completely different color pallet than the Midwest does…. My mom and I noticed this last time we were in Florida together… but now that I’m in the Keys I see where this color pallet is coming from…. All paintings include a light turquoise, and when you look out into the water, which is everywhere, it’s the exact same funny blue. Key West is a very joyous place to be… seems that everyone is here to find themselves (or get away from themselves, I’m not sure which)…but everyone seems happy, and slightly sun burnt…. Maybe it’s just the optimistic vacationer in me, but I am finding it to be a great inspiration… fresh new color scheme and unique patterns everywhere (from the wood trim that adorns each house, the rod iron gates that show up as stores close)…. I’ll post new sketches soon I’m sure.

Choice one or choice two, choice one or two????

Choice one or choice two, choice one or two???? Negative space was not the goal for this sketch, but I drew myself into a corner… I loved where it was going but couldn’t figure out anything more to add to the bottom half. In a way I find all the empty space as peaceful and zen, but a part of me feels like it’s a puzzle that I just can’t solve. There’s got to be something I could add to the bottom half. So while I was sitting on an airplane I took the time to play around with adding “something” down there (if you look through my old posts you can see the artwork that I collaged in there (though the colors have be altered, and I’ve added a lot to it). It’s amazing what you can do with a computer.

The seedy side

Going to the burlesque drawing class got me thinking about the parts of Kansas City no one goes to... it's ironic to me that buildings can look cold and sinister, not because of the architecture, but purely because of it's location....we were in the part of town that use to be the mecca of the industrial revolution, now it's a blind spot....full of lifelessly empty factories, huge, dark, cold factories.

A new empire named Dr Sketchys

There once was a girl who was desperately bored in life drawing classes, who asked “why do we have to draw such boring poises? They are nudes after all.” This alleged girl decided to start a club where artists would chip in a few bucks and have some burlesque dancers pose for them… this started a revolution that has now spread all across the country. (If you’re wondering if there’s a group near you google Dr. Sketchy’s and your city's name, if your in a big city it’s probably there…somewhere.)

I learned about Dr. Sketchys in Florida about 5 years ago, and quickly discovered they are in my city too, though attending has always been a nervous debate… this is not just a life drawing group with a bunch of nudes, this is life drawing with a bunch of nudes that will make you blush…. And your probably going to get a show too….I was afraid of sitting in bible study some day and blurting out “that reminds me of this burlesque dancer…”… but lately winds of change have struck me, I’ve been rapidly knocking off those things on my list that I’ve trepidaciously set aside for “another day.” So I found a friend would go with me, AND IT WAS AAAAWESOME!

My sketches don’t give it any justice… it’s been a long time since I last drew nudes… and these were just quick 5 minute or less drawings…. But let me paint you a picture:

The address of this group was down in the empty factory district….aka the place where no one goes. When we found the right street with huge ghostly buildings all around we were stopped by a random chintzy train stopping bar…in the middle of nowhere, with no train… yet sure enough, about a minute later a train came blazing through… no horn honking like normal, cause well, we’re in the part of town where no one goes…. But as we’re waiting for the train to pass we see a kid with a sketch book walking around the corner… so we decide to park and follow.

There’s a flyer on the door, indicating this is the place… door was unlocked, but there was no one inside, and there were only a few lights on inside huge factory building…. We happen to spot the kid with the sketch book, who emerges from a dark room filled with who knows what, and he asks “do you know how to get there?”…then suddenly we hear a deep rattle and a few bangs…. And a narcoleptic emo kid emerges out of the corner “You guys need a ride up?”… “um, yeah,…a ride up to the burlesque drawing class?”…no answer, he just turns around and starts walking…. The three of us follow him into the old elevator covered in old Dr. Sketchy flyers…oh good, where in the right place…. We must have gone up 5 stories before the doors opened again… but this is a much different view… music is pulsing from a switch board manned by a DJ… a mixture of indie rock and classics like patsy cline…. Edgy artwork is all over the walls, the place is huge with couches every were, and a bar that looks like its from an old speak easy in the corner… with a bartender that’s all tattooed up, wearing suspenders and bright orange highlights in his bleach blond hair…a dining room table filled with burlesque dancers playing cards while smoking and painting their finger nails…a friendly pitbull weaving around about 50-70 artists, young and old adorned with cameras, sketch pads, markers, etc…. in the back corner is a platform surrounded by chairs, and then surrounded by couches….the place was unreal. As my friend put it “I don’t feel cool enough for this place.”

Distractions

Spring is here!!! Which means thousands of opportunities everything from food expos to yard work and spring cleaning... and I've been doing it all... the one thing I haven't been doing is keeping up with my art and sketchbook :0/  I've got some pathetic paisley art (I do that when I'm not really thinking about what I'm creating) but nothing worth sharing.
Though for two years I've been shuffling my art studio around and saying "this weekend I will get it all organized"... which is what I am actually in the process of doing as we speak. There is light at the end of that dusty tunnel, it will be clean, usable, and welcoming once again, hopefully before the night is over.