Winter Trip

Last February and March I had a chance to travel to Berlin and London. Cold? Yes, but often sunny, and no crowds. I went to the East Side Gallery twice, evening and morning. What a great use of wall - about 1 mile of it.


We also went to the Jewish Memorial park, Checkpoint Charlie, many museums and restaurants. So much to see and do there, can't wait to go back some day.

London was bril' as usual. I love that I can get around "almost" effortlessly, under or above ground. We were rocked at We Will Rock You and enjoyed some local humor at a comedy club: unlimited drinks and almost saw a row (rhymes with 'cow' :-) in the audience. On my a.m. walk through parks, saw a picture perfect view of the Royal Horse Guards at Wellington Arch.

Positive vs. Negative

I'm at a peaceful crossroads at the moment, in between groups of projects. Recently completed 7 cards for a Valentine's swap, 6 pages in a traveling journal, and these Yup'ik-inspired drawings of dance fans/dance masks.
While looking through The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks by Ann Fienup-Riordan I was inspired to draw these. I just love the imagination, materials, shape, including asymmetry, of the Yup'ik masks. Can't help but wonder if it's genetic? Of course the materials (watercolor, pencil) aren't traditional at all. The second image is simply inverted (thanks, scanning software), but works just as well if not better.
Makes me wonder about taking some of my traditional hand-crafted pieces digital, just to see what's possible. Turns out playing with computers CAN be as fun as playing with art supplies.