Archives For ballerina

There are many of benefits to being an artist:

*Free, yet thoughtful, Christmas presents (as well as wedding, birthday, baby, anniversary, and, ahem, any presents…)

*An excuse for any quirks or eccentricities, aka being weird

*A ready excuse for wearing odd or mismatched clothes, or for having embarrassingly shabby fingernails

*Having a creative storehouse at your (dirty) fingertips

Another fabulous perk to being an artist is that if you are at your daughter’s ballet recital, and your phone (yes, I didn’t bring a camera) is unable to take photos due to the lighting, you can doodle your way to preserving memories.

I sat down at my kitchen table the Sunday evening after her glorious “Under the Sea” ballet performance and doodled a few of my favorite ballet moments:

The little 3-year-old “beach-goer” who frolicked around the stage, refusing to follow the plan:

Scamper, Ink Doodle

Scamper, Ink Doodle

The sweet little ballerinas dressed and accessorized to be “jellyfish,” with tentacled umbrellas:

Jellyfish, Ink Doodle

Jellyfish, Ink Doodle

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Nora, 3 months, Graphite Sketch…Today is the birthday of Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist famous for his figures of ballerinas, bathers, and other turn-of-the-century subjects. He also happens to be my favorite artist and major influence on my own art. I especially love Degas’ pastels…the vibrant contrasts, the intense markings, the vivid colors. His preparatory sketches are often a combination of strong, dark shadows mixed with precise, yet loose, lines. I like to study his work and absorb what I can into my own way of seeing color and interpreting subjects. In homage to Degas, I chose a figure drawing for my daily sketch, drawing my sleeping baby girl (who was a bit squirmier than I expected, once drawing commenced!) I used my darkest pencil, marking in the shadows, contemplating the art of Degas as I recorded this day in my baby’s young life.

The Tub, Edgar Degas, Pastel

Two Dancers Resting, Edgar Degas