Happy Holidays

Wishing you all a most loving, warm and happy holiday, and for us all, a peaceful, uplifting and hopeful New Year.

Figure drawing 12-18-2008

It was the last session in 2008- and what a year it was indeed. These figure drawing sessions really are so good, to keep the skills dusted off and honed, as well as meeting other artists. Last night we had some amazing young artists come draw-young
and just deeply talented- all of us drawing for the joy of it. I have met many fine people while facilitating these sessions, and in the giving of my time, have received back in many unexpected ways. Perhaps the best part, is that I had no expectations other than getting myself to draw from the a model each week. Little did I know! From these sessions came an online teaching job for the Art Academy in San Francisco, curating my first show at Hopper House, and four calls back to Guantanamo- the practice of live drawing so essential for a court artist. To those who visit this blog, thank you, and my wishes for all to have a healthy and happy 2009.

Omar Khadr- December sketches

Today's motions to bring photographic evidence out today was denied. His defense team suggests that the photos
may shed doubt on the charges that he was responsible for throwing a lethal grenade. Khadr's
tribunal is slated to begin January 26th in Guantanamo, though many question whether this
will happen as the Obama administration comes in.

9/11 commissions

Here are more from Monday's court session, a big deal with families of victims from 9/11. I was concerned that they would feel I was being a predatory or opportunistic sketch artist, but found when I spoke with them that they were very open to me sketching them. Some were not, understandably, so kept out of view behind the curtain that separated media from them, and the folks who allowed me to sketch them sat out front. It was a little awkward perspectively to draw them at one angle while standing and balancing my board and materials, and then look through the glass windows and get Mohammad and 4 others in, all the while moving my pastel pile around. This being in part an excuse for sketches I'd hoped could have been a bit more polished- but you do what you can and have to live with it. I feel incredibly fortunate to be sketching these tribunals and working with the media and military. We'll be back in court on Friday for Omar Khadr's commission.

Guantanamo Bay 9/11 co-conspirators sketches

I'm here in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for the week, to sketch at the commissions. The high-security court has us in a back room behind three layers of thick glass and I have to stand in order to see, balancing the board on a window ledge and chair, with my pastels sitting on top of the paper, moving it as I drew. That explains the awkward holes and drawings.. or tries to. As it turned out, the 3 days we were to be in court with Khalid Sheik Mohammad et al, with victims' families in attendance for the first time ever became only a day in court. I had intended to do a much more in-depth series of portraits of the accused; but reserved the first day to show the families in attendance. The families in my sketches were willing to be drawn and had brought photos of other victims to represent those who could not attend. The next case up is Omar Khadr this coming Friday.

Women's History Poster 2008

Here's my latest project - National Women's History month poster. It was a killer because I had to do it TWICE; my photoshop file got corrupted. Oofta! What I learned from this, is that even with Time Machine running things can make you go mmmmmwwwaahhh.
Note to self: burn a disk if working on an intensive digital file.
Anyway, the poster went pretty quick the second time around!