Drawing Archives - Page 2 of 4

Snow Day Gleanings from the Studio

February 10, 2019 by Iskra 2 Comments

In the Studio Iskra

As the snow falls it is putting me in a thinking space. Much as I make fun of Marie Kondo it may not be such a bad idea in the erasing whiteness and silence of winter to sort the collected stacks and stacks of paper, to hold each image and ask in one’s own way, do you bring me joy or anxiety or curiosity and would I miss you if you were gone?

I work on paper. Lots of paper. As a calligrapher I may make one mark hundreds of times, each one on a different piece of paper. In the drifts, in the light from the eastern window, the pages seem simply to melt into the snow. Some fragments have a secret worth asking about. They go in new stacks.

Time And Numbers Iskra

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Industrial Silence | (And Save the Date!) #MakeAmericaCreateAgain at CoCA

March 20, 2017 by Iskra Leave a Comment

Industrial Light Photograph by Iskra Johnson — Industrial Silence, © Iskra Johnson

Industrial silence is a three part harmony of dripping rust, heavy metal and the slanting light of late afternoon. If you listen carefully you can hear walls corrugating and wire mapping a path through the milky green of ancient skylights. In the distance, there is the hum of large trucks idling, and close up the interrogating roar of generators programmed to shock a tourist out of reverie. There is always the cantor and the choir of crows and gulls, one shrieking, one mewling, and sometimes thin coils of rubber poised like snakes. Most of the written words are warnings. Wear your steel toe boots, don’t touch, don’t trespass, turn this crank to the left and then up, do not drink what is in this barrel, although I always hope somewhere in the sans serif commands I will find an anthemic “raise high the roofbeam carpenters!”

Every silence is different, but each one reminds me of the other, so as I walk through train yards and factories on Sundays when everyone is gone I also think of Berlin, [Read more…]

Morning Pages | Contemplative Drawing Practice

September 20, 2016 by Iskra 1 Comment

metaphysik-mixed-media-iskra — Vocabulary Practice, Mixed Media Drawing © Iskra Johnson

“Procrastination and mourning are tied tightly together: for to procrastinate is to mourn the precariousness of your creation even before you bring it into the world.

We should perhaps spend more time dwelling on the rich virtuality that precedes the fall into existence. That is, after all, what true contemplation must be about: a commerce with the irreality of things, a learned habit to see them from the privileged perspective of their pre- and nonexistence. Rather than get caught up in the misleading appearance of the material world, we transport ourselves back to a moment when the world, with all its holes and imperfections, hasn’t happened yet.”

— Costa Bradatan, From The Stone, New York Times, September 17, 2016

When I read “Why Do Anything? A Meditation on Procrastination” this weekend I wept with recognition. Accompanied by an exquisite illustration by Leigh Wells, the piece cuts right through to the contradictions and poetry of the contemplative state. [Read more…]

“Any Day: Artists on Death” | August Exhibit at Gage Academy

August 7, 2014 by Iskra 2 Comments

Gage Academy hosts an unusual exhibit this month guest-curated by talented artist Elana Winsberg:

“Any Day is dedicated to the sensitive exploration by artists who are compelled to make work illuminating the many facets of death, life before death and life after death.” The exhibit runs through September 19th, and the opening is Thursday August 14, from 6-8 PM.

Gage Academy of Art

1501 10th Avenue E.
Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 323-4243

When I was asked to be part of the exhibit I initially told Elana I had nothing to offer on the subject. Ha. This must be denial at a pretty strong level, since I have done several bodies of work on the theme, both from a personal and political perspective. With a little bit of coaxing I submitted a piece from “What Does Heaven Look Like” and two others of a more personal nature from “Drawings in Dust.” This is a great opportunity to show among artists I admire greatly. Participants include Mitch Albala, Josie Furchgott Sourdiffe, Sam Hamrick, Emma Jane Levitt, Kathy Liao, Greg Lundgren, Memuco, Pamela Durga Robinson, Kurt Vance, Margaret Swanson Vance and Elana Winsberg. Greg Lundgren will present a lecture on ritual, legacy, memorial and the role of the contemporary artist Thursday, September 18 at 7:00PM. Greg is an innovator in the field of contemporary memorials and monuments and this will be a lecture not to be missed.

You will have to attend the show to see my three drawings, (suspense….) but here are some additional ones from the series I did on mourning and loss, using the vehicle of the decoy as a resonant object.

Cygnet_charcoal_dust_pigment_drawing — Cygnet, charcoal dust and powdered pigment, 13″ x 21″

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The Parrot Tulip, a Drawing for Easter

March 31, 2013 by Iskra 1 Comment

Tulips For Easter Mixed Media Drawing — “Parrot Tulips, Easter,” pencil and powdered pigment © Iskra Johnson

Last night I went for a long walk on Easter Eve. I came home at dusk and sat by the pond in the near dark to watch the dogwood tree. It has just this year fulfilled its promise. Every branch but one holds the shape of embrace so characteristic of cornus, and at the end of each twig is the spring-shaped tear which doubles as a single hand, reaching towards the sky. If I were more Japanese I might fret over the wrong branch that sprouts with no awareness of proper social skills or courtesy or the long tradition of arboreal beauty straight up in the midst of graceful arcs. I might know what to do with it and stand for an hour with my honed shears and change this tree’s life.

But the beauty of sitting in the dark is that there is no work to do. At dusk I have no pruning shears, no hoe and no spade. All I can do is sit helpless surrounded by a garden being its untamed self. In one ear the gargoyle spouts a water melody and in the other traffic starts and stops and purrs the comfort and annoyance of civilization. Between the two a flock of some kind of bird drifts overhead with the sounds of ripples beseeching. I cannot locate these birds by continent or season; their mysterious v-shaped song makes a wake between pond and highway and leaves me in a place of perfect peace.

This morning light dazzles every wall. I will set the table with ceremonial bowls and offer bright colors to the day.