Starters

[Mark Runge]

Improvisation is the first manifestation of intuition. As a working artist, I find that it is important to experience the free play of improvisation. Through this free play, ideas and images come to live upon the surface I work. As many artists before me, I need to shift consciousness to experience this free play. And like many artists before me, I experienced destructive methods of making that shift, such as alcohol. I came to realize that such destructive behaviors contradicted my purposes for making art, which should be spirited and sacred. I began to develop my meditation practice and an exploration of the senses of art making. But I still lacked the capacity to let go of myself and embrace the Spirit of making art. When Deborah introduced me to Touch Drawing (TD) in 2005, I realized immediately its potential as a positive and constructive means to access intuition as an art-making process.

I first thought that using TD as merely an art-making process was a selfish use of an expansive gift, but as I have discovered through the implementation of TD in my teaching and my art practice, spiritual growth and healing can come to the artist or the viewer from making touch drawings and displaying them as traditional art objects. It is my intention that this group discusses TD as an art process that concerns itself with the senses of art making, the touch drawings as art objects made to be displayed, and TD as taught in a school setting as an art practice that expands students’ art-making abilities.

Smiles to all.

[Deborah Koff-Chapin]

Mark, this is a great theme... thank you. I'll reflect a bit and write sometime, and we will be inviting more people to the community soon and get things moving.

[Kathleen Horne]

This is great, Mark! Hello from Cortes Island, BC! I just got back here and found, to my delight, that after doing a TD workshop here last summer, several friends have created wonderful art works with last year's TD's. I am always amazed at the different directions that people go, once they have "permission" and the idea that anything is possible.
More later..
Hugs,
Kathleen

[Heather Hull]

Hi Mark, I just started teaching art in a local public school and am interested in sharing T.D. with a couple of my students right away, that I believe this would benifit greatly, I will be taking in materials tommorrow so I'll keep this group posted. Heather

[Mark Runge]

I would love to hear how receptive they are to it and if you get any feedback from other teachers. Please let us know.

Big smiles to you.

[Mark Runge]

Did you introduce TD yet, Heather? I cannot wait to hear how they received TD and how you offered it to them.

Big smiles to you and the beautiful baby and the wonderful house and studio!

[Dana Wilde]

Hi Mark & Group! I am very interested in this topic.

I would love to hear about different ways that people are finishing and presenting their TDs for exhibitions and/or sale.

I would love to hear about people's expereinces with different types of adhesives/sealers/mediums. Has anyone ever mounted on glass?

I finally discovered a use for canvas in my life: to mount TDs on! (Other than that, i can't stand the stuff).

Thanks for whatever you can share! (Also, if i missed some content where folks already discussed this, plese point me there). Thank you!

Dana

[Mark Runge]

Dear Dana,

I am glad that you joined the group. Sorry for the late reply.

First, I love the idea of putting them on canvas. I'd never thought of that. I assume you are using tissue paper to mount. One of the things I love about the tissue paper is once I am done emoting and I decide to work further on an image, I can collage stuff under the paper or draw and paint on the back and have the color show through. And I love some of the effects that come to tissue paper, but I find that rag paper is better suited for me to make pretty images. I guess you can mount the rag paper, too, do you?

I use matte medium or modge podge for all of my collaging and mounting needs. Both are non-yellowing plastic binders.

I had a show at the end of last year where I presented about 20 TDings. Since I had a lot of pencil and charcoal drawings that had to be protected by glasss, I could not afford to frame and glass the TDings. So I mounted them on foam core and put a black matt board over them. The presentation looked great covering a wall.

I can see why making cards or other objects besides "art" is important, both Deborah and Kathleen Horne have show me that. But I have not moved in that direction yet. After I make the TDings, I put them away because they are sacred before they are public art (although sometimes it just feels right to get one out immediately). So I find myself going back through the piles looking at images that are there or the potential in a piece. This is when I think that Deborah and Kathleen have it right. But I've seen both of them make "art" out of the images too. There must be a balance somewhere in there, but I am not good with balance.

I hope this helps and others chime in.

Smiles to you.
Mark

[Kathleen Horne]

HI Mark! and welcome Dana!

I love mounting TD's on canvas and then painting into/developing them with acrylics. Sometimes I use a single drawing for this, and sometimes I collage a few, or pieces of a few together. I love the depth and texture that comes, and I paint mainly with transparent acrylic glazes, so the original image and line shows through. I use tissue paper for the touch drawings, and mat medium or fluid mat medium for mounting.

Big hug...
Kathleen

[Rowan Mayhew]

Hi Dana & Group! I, too, am very interested in this topic.

I've been a sumi-e painter for many years and am going to experiement with a similar mounting technique. Has anyone tried this already?

Also, I'm an encaustic artist and thought I'd try incorporating the oil TD's into that medium as well. I know from past experience with incorporating sumi-e that depending on the thickness of the rice paper, the tissue will just 'disappear' so the colours of the wax will be important. Again, any trials and errors out there that might be useful?

Thanks for listening - I'd love to hear more.

rowan

[Irvin knowlen]

As an art student, my inclination and desire was to visually get to the heart of what is. I was drawn to "primitive" art as it seemed to touch or go there. African, Eskimo, American Indian, Petroglyphs etc. Somehow, it had to come from a source within touching the very heart of life itself. So I began to make drawings in my sketch books by closing my eyes, placing the pen on the paper and let my pen go where it may and lets see the results. Which usually was not to satisfying. Sort of like a poke in the dark. With my first painting I tried to paint "what is" which was a visual wreck because I had no internal spiritual base to draw upon or eyes to see. I tried very hard to be an agnostic or atheist. That not working I tried transcendental meditation, Buddhism. None of which were able to fill the terrible emptiness within or get me there to (What Is). How do I get to this What Is? I quit art school and went back to work as an advertising artist.

Living in Minneapolis I had access to the Walker Art Center where two major exhibitions of Miro and Picasso were for a month or so. I would take two hour lunches and literally eat their art with my eyes. I bought books on Picasso, Miro, Klee, Motherwell, Diebenkorn, David Smith, Hockney and others who's use of line, color, texture, and space intrigued me or hit a note somewhere within. I even have books of drawings by children.

After six months at the advertising job, barely hanging on to reality, I placed myself in the hospital. Two months and 12 shock treatments later they released me and put me on some heavy duty medications and I returned to work. I decided to start going to church and give Christianity a try. Reading the bible from cover to cover and made some discoveries. When Moses was to go to the Israeli people and say he was sent to deliver them from their bondage he asked God who shall I say sent me? The response was "I AM who I AM", tell them "I AM" sent you. Then when Christ trying to explain his divinity said "Abraham looked forward to this day" He was questioned "you are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham? His reply was before Abraham was born I AM. This seemed to be what or who I was looking for!

Since then I have gone to that source for strength, guidance, comfort and council as I release this energy for life into my Touch Drawings, my relationships, my behavior. The actual experience of the Touch Drawing allows me to pull together all my past and present into the "making of art" I get excited and great pleasure in this process. It is like going to church and singing right out loud.