A flock of artists, a magnolia in spring, and a pilgrim on the way to somewhere...
Dear Sarah - Day 95 of our daily drawing exchange
April 5, 2025
Hi Nikki,
Sounds as if you had a fun night last night!! I was up late, but only because I was reading the new Anne Tyler novel.
This morning after a veggie run to Sunwing Greenhouse, and tea and German apple cake at Tonnoli's, Jen and I went to two (!!) art galleries. It was the last day for a show called Victoria and Expressionism's Second Wave: The Point Group at the Legacy Art Gallery downtown. I think Herbert Siebner is the most well known name in the group, but I was especially interested in seeing work by Nita Forrest (whom I knew from Ivy's Bookshop back in the day) and my old art teacher at Oak Bay High School, William "Bill" West. What struck me about the show was how muted most of the colours were. I'm attaching a Richard Ciccimara as an example.
From there we went to the AGGV and saw the Warhol to Banksy exhibition, which was excellent. It's amazing to come face to face with works of art that you've seen reproduced a thousand times. I adore Lichtenstein, and may go back and draw some of his prints. He was so funny!
The Warhols left me a bit cold, perhaps because of oversaturation or maybe because I couldn't feel the presence of the artist. The images are (for me) culturally but not emotionally powerful. The Banksy's were incredibly affecting--partly because the prints on display were not his most well-known ones. I've attached an example of one that I found quite moving. Anyway, it was a lovely day.
And then I came home and drew the magnolia in its opening-up stage. Tomorrow it will appear in full bloom!
XO S
Hi Sarah -
You know, it was fun last night and a great reminder of how important it is to spend time breaking bread with others - sharing a meal, chatting, laughing, getting to know the tiniest bit of someone else’s world is so enriching. We can get stuck in our own corners and an evening spent gently conversing with others is so much fun. We don’t do it nearly often enough. Next time, I promise, I will get my drawing done before I go out. I don’t think I’m quite brave enough to take a sketch pad with me to do a quick sketch of someone at dinner… though, I suppose I could try to draw the bread?
You had a remarkable, artsy day! Two galleries!! If you do go back and draw something Lichtenstein-inspired, can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Today I did a quick pen without much planning drawing of a walker/pilgrim. At the moment, these daily drawings are doing double duty as prep for the final school project. I still don’t know what I’m going to include and keep hoping that something will just emerge if I trust the process and keep drawing around and toward an end result I can’t envision.
Tomorrow, I hope, will take me another step closer…
Until then -
Nikki