Project Echoes 09.03.10

OK, a little late this time, but today is my catch up day. I think sometimes I suffer from having TOO many ideas and not knowing where to start…so once again, I will just START.

This elephant ear plant is in my front yard.  It has been there for quite some time. I have always seen pattern and graphics everywhere, but since I have started this project, it has taken on a whole new meaning for me. That same plant that I have been staring at for quite some time started to look like it was moving…calling me.

I was letting our dog out to do her “business”, a beautiful and fun-loving jet-black Flat-coat Retriever named “Bailey” (named after the Dr. on Grey’s Anatomy - “Miranda” was too long)  and I glanced over and kind of stopped in my tracks.  I think I did the thing that dogs do when they hear something…they sort of tilt their heads to the side (which makes sense, since the leaf was calling me!)  I found myself standing there doing that…looking at the leaf from all angles.  I really liked the back of the leaf because the veining pattern was much more pronounced. And that is how my next subject for my Echoes project “found me”.

 Once again, I picked up the Moleskine and my Pens and went to work.  This one went surprisingly quickly.  I stared at the photo of the leaf, did some mental gyrations in my head, and pictured how I wanted it to look. After I had finished my drawing,  this time, instead of the usual pattern extractions that I do, I played around with variations on the whole leaf theme. Some of the variations are more literal, while some much more abstract. I even overlaid the interior of the leaf graphic with one of my other floral patterns.  VERY psychadelic!  I tend to really like the more abstract approach, but I am really feeling this one overall.

Perhaps in the future, I will play around with creating a pattern repeat for wallpaper, textile, or bedding.  In the meantime, hope you enjoy.