BARBARA FUGATE Drawings And Paintings

Seattle's March of the Penguins

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On June 12, Meet my Penguin!  She along with nearly 60 other decorated penguins will be auctioned as a benefit for the zoo.

My Penguin is an "Atman", or a "Soul of Penguin".  She is made of gold leaf, silver leaf, acrylic paint, glass beads, and a photo transfer of a drawing I made at the zoo.  After living with my penguin form for a few days awaiting "her instructions", for my inspiration...I realized what was really missing/what was needed was the life spirit of "penguin".  I turned to my sketchbooks filled with drawings from Woodland Park Zoo's residents, including the penguins.  I found a penguin drawing to breathe life into my  form...made a photo transfer of it with acrylic gel, covered it with glass beads and then lots of silver & gold leafing later...is this atman. 

 

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo is launching it's "March of the Penguins" auction Friday night at both the Seattle Center Space Needle and Greenwood Collective. 
In celebration of community art and inspired by Woodland Park Zoo’s all new Humboldt penguin exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo and The Greenwood Collective joined forces to spread art and conservation awareness throughout Seattle. Woodland Park Zoo provided artists, amateur and professionals alike, with 22-inch fabricated penguins. The Greenwood Collective managed artist submissions, providing workshops, materials and artist guidance for this project.

Here are the details.

Woodland Park Zoo and The Greenwood Collective launch
Penguins on the March, a Seattle neighborhood art exhibit
Artist-decorated, fabricated penguins debut at Space Needle and The Greenwood Collective

Woodland Park Zoo and Greenwood’s shared creative work space The Greenwood Collective launch Penguins on the March at two corresponding exhibits on June 12th starting at the base of the Space Needle in the morning and closing at The Greenwood Collective in Greenwood-Phinney.

Sixty-two Seattle artists of all ages and experience levels painted, embellished and decorated fabricated penguins as a community celebration of art and wildlife conservation, inspired by Woodland Park Zoo’s brand new Humboldt penguin exhibit, which opened in May.

After its June 12th launch, Penguins on the March will begin migrating into Ballard, Fremont and Greenwood-Phinney, where you will find individual penguins prominently featured in front of neighborhood businesses in July, August and September.

WHEN:    Friday, June 12, 2009
WHERE:    10:00 a.m. – noon (official program begins at 10:30 a.m.)
The Space Needle, outdoor, near the valet entrance
FREE: Open to press, penguin artists, family & friends, and public

And then at The Greenwood Collective, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
8537 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
FREE: Open to the public during Art Up/Open Up Greenwood-Phinney monthly art walk

The Space Needle Artist Celebration
Official launch program begins at 10:30 a.m. featuring debut of 50 penguins and guest speakers
- Featured speakers: Woodland Park Zoo, professional and amateur artists, Greenwood Collective
- Live Penguin Mural by Bherd Studios
- Woodland Park Zoo’s Humboldt penguin wagon will distribute fun penguin giveaways
- Penguin mascot will entertain guests and passers-by
- Interviews available with artists and organizers

The Greenwood Collective Artist Celebration
- Featuring 30 penguins on exhibit between 6:00 – 9:00 p.m., plus artists
- Opening during monthly Art Up/Open Up Greenwood-Phinney neighborhood art walk
- Interviews available with The Greenwood Collective and penguin artists
- Look for the Penguin Mural by Bherd Studios on Greenwood Ave between 85th St and 87th St

After migrating through Seattle, the penguins will be auctioned off to benefit Woodland Park Zoo’s field conservation program. Woodland Park Zoo supports 38 wildlife conservation projects in 50 countries worldwide, including the Humboldt Penguin Conservation Center at Punta San Juan.

ABOUT Woodland Park Zoo
Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting international standards in education, conservation, animal care and exhibitry. The 21st century zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats in Washington state and around the world. By inspiring people to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.  Opened in May 2009, the all new, 17,000-square-foot Humboldt penguin exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo transports zoo visitors to the desert coast of Punta San Juan—home of the largest colony of wild Humboldt penguins in Peru. See the zoo’s colony of 20 penguins in the naturalistic exhibit, featuring shoreline cliffs, crashing waves, rocky pools and beaches, and underwater vantage points that will offer guests nose-to-beak views as penguins splash, dive and “fly” underwater.

ABOUT The Greenwood Collective
The Greenwood Collective is a creative event and work space located in the heart of Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood.  This group of independent creative professionals exchange knowledge, resources, and inspiration in an effort to strengthen their overlapping communities.

If you're in Seattle--Go experience this!

My good (and highly talented) friend, Lucia Neare, is presenting this month's Lullaby Moon on Golden Gardens beach (Ballard) this Sunday at 8:30PM.  This is number eight out of twelve in a series--happening once/month on the new moon.  If you're in Seattle--you need to go.  Lucia's work is wondrous, magical and unmatched in detail-imagination-sophistication-playfulness.  Here's the official announcement for the show.  I'll be there among others assisting with props, etc.  and above all soaking up the magic!

Lucia Neare's Theatrical Wonders presents

 

Lullaby Moon VIII

 

 

 

Enter a world of wonder in Lullaby Moon VIII on Sunday, May 24, at Golden Gardens Park, Seattle. Twilight revels begin about 8:30 pm just north of the Bathhouse.

Lullaby Moon VIII is envisioned and created by Lucia Neare, with choreography by Olivier Wevers, musical direction by Matt Goodrich, theatrical direction by Cathy Madden, and technical direction by Damian Amrhein.

Lullaby Moon is a year-long invitation to Seattle to explore a world of dream. A celebration of the night sky, the series of performance events brings bedtime whimsy and wonder to parks and other public spaces throughout the city, enlivening and enlightening the dark time of each month. Performances take place on each new moon for an entire lunar year beginning in October 2008. Lullaby Moon is supported by 4Culture's Site Specific Performance Network, the Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the generosity of private donors.

For more information, please visit lucianeare.org.

Wall Drawing Commission

One of my great joys in life...drawing on walls!  Last Friday night I installed birds on the ceiling and walls of a home in Bellingham, Washington.  Here are a few pictures of the flying budgies and one perched hummingbird, too.  I forgot my digital camera, so I had to take these shots with my phone camera...thus the low resolution and a bit dark. These birds are inspired by my drawings in sketchbooks from visits to the zoo in Seattle where there are free flying budgies and other birds in a large aviary.

Presentation on Saturday on Gesture Drawing

This Saturday I will be giving a presentation on Gesture Drawing.  I am the capstone speaker for a conference organized by the Alumni of Seattle University's Master of Arts in Existential Phenomenological Psychology.  The title of this year's conference is "Giving Voice to Experience:  How Experience Becomes Evidence".  You can visit their website for more information at http://www.seattleu-grad-psychology.com/research.html

I'm excited to give this presentation and demonstration on Gesture Drawing to a room full of practicing Psychologists and graduate students of Seattle University.  Cross-pollination is always fun--bridging the gap between areas of study.  Especially study involving how we experience and perceive our world.  Gesture Drawing is a perfect fit for this overlap of research, since Gesture Drawing is experience visualized.  The phenomenological method is very much what I know to be the method of the creative act:  a discovery of the world without expectations. 

If you're interested in attending the conference, please refer to their website (click on this link) for more information.

Thanks for visiting!

(Dawing: Barbara Fugate, Gesture Drawing made with watercolor on 24x36" paper.)

Portrait Drawing of Hans Today

This afternoon I had the great pleasure of drawing from Hans (Handsome Hansel was his race name of one race only).  Hans is a 13-1/2 year old greyhound, and still mighty handsome indeed.  He was a bit reluctant at first to take the "model stand" but he soon settled into my couch and was the perfect portrait model.  Here's a photo of Hans and the drawing as well with a detail.  The drawing is 16X20" on ivory colored Fabriano paper and made with sepia chalk and watercolor washes.  Thank you for visiting. For portrait commission inquires, please email. 

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Life Drawing on Sunday

Two selections from Sunday's life drawing session--both drawings are just over 30x40".  They are drawn with sepia chalk, watercolor. The figure more in profile also has soft pastel.  Both are available for purchase--email me for inquiries.  Thank you for visiting.

Here's an interesting comparison between my drawings (and drawing in general) and photography.

From an article on Eudora Welty's photography in April 2009 Smithsonian magazine, Welty is quoted:
"I learned in the doing how ready I had to be.  Life doesn't hold still.  A good snapshot stopped a moment from running away.  Photography taught me that to be able to capture transience, by being ready to click the shutter at the crucial moment, was the greatest need I had.  Making pictures of people in all sorts of situations, I learned that every feeling waits upon its gesture; and I had to be prepared to recognize this moment when I saw it."

Sketchbook Drawing class for the month of MAY

New class offering!  Back by popular demand...drawing in sketchbooks from animals, plants and trees. 
Please email me to register.

May 5, 12, 19, 26 (4 consecutive Tuesdays):  1 pm – 4 pm / Class Fee:  $115
SKETCHBOOK DRAWING (Woodland Park Zoo, Volunteer Park, and the Conservatory)
Come draw in sketchbooks for four consecutive Tuesdays at Woodland Park Zoo or Volunteer Park.  The animals, plants and trees are wonderful subjects for studying Form, Space, Texture and Mark-Making.  Our “models” at the zoo come in a full range of sizes, shapes, and personalities, keeping us challenged and entertained at the same time.  The many plants at the Conservatory and Volunteer Park’s trees give us unending variety as well.  We will draw in sketchbooks with mostly conté crayon and some ink wash. All levels welcomed.  

Photos below:  Joan drawing at the Conservatory; Barbara (me) reviewing student work at the Conservatory; Nancy drawing at the zoo (more students behind).

 

 

Drawing from Life Last Night

In "The Language of Drawing" Edward Hill states more than once that drawing is an experience.  I believe that, practice it and know it's true for any type of art-making. 
While drawing last night the conversation in my head vacillated between two ideas:
(1) drawing is an experience of the present--it's aim is to be as cognizant as possible of every breath, heart beat, emotive/energetic shift in me and the model. The drawing is devoted to them, how they present themselves at that moment, including what they look like.  My focus remains locked on them, their skin, contours, and proportions.  
(2) drawing is an experience that traverses into alternate planes and my job is to hook into whatever journey (energetic journey or spirit?) presents itself and draw from that image.  The more universal, open, accessible the marks and resulting image the better--a visual likeness to the model is secondary if at all a part of the art.  The model is inspiration, a springboard, a way to make images of "a person" rather than of "them".  Less specificity the better.  I react and respond from the gut first and foremost with my marks and color choices.  The drawing is more about movement, energy, reaction, recognizing/realizing something of the human experience, rather than a visual likeness.

Here's a selection of the drawings I made last night during that internal debate and visual exploration.  These drawings switch back and forth between these two tactics/modus operandi for the artist, me, as I made marks on papers while observing the model.

All the drawings are a minimum of 24"X36" up to 30"x40".  I used charcoal, chalk, drawing ink.  Some are Gesture Drawings (ranging from 30 seconds to 1 minute) and others are 20 minutes up to 40 minutes (drawing of a woman seated in a chair).
Most are available for purchase.  Email me for pricing. 

Click on images for larger versions.  Thank you for visiting.

Photos from April 4-5 Portrait & Self Portrait Painting Art Workshop

Thanks Leslie for the photos! 
Here are a few pictures of me teaching my latest art workshop taught in West Seattle at Youngstown Cultural Art Center in West Seattle.  The subject was Painting the Portrait & Self Portrait with an emphasis on the use of color and composition to best represent the person being portrayed--rather than focusing on the face and its proportions.  What a fun group of folks I had to work with--they made great portraits exploring the ideas I presented, coming up with their own translations fresh and new.  Beautiful work everyone!  Thank you for being a part of my workshops.
My next workshop is at Gage Academy:  Expressive Figure Drawing April 18 & 19.  Go to Gage Academy's website for more information and to register.
 

Photos from April 4-5 Portrait & Self Portrait Painting Art Workshop

Thanks Leslie for the photos! 
Here are a few pictures of me teaching my latest art workshop taught in West Seattle at Youngstown Cultural Art Center in West Seattle.  The subject was Painting the Portrait & Self Portrait with an emphasis on the use of color and composition to best represent the person being portrayed--rather than focusing on the face and its proportions.  What a fun group of folks I had to work with--they made great portraits exploring the ideas I presented, coming up with their own translations fresh and new.  Great work everyone!  Thank you for being a part of my workshops.
My next workshop is at Gage Academy:  Expressive Figure Drawing April 18 & 19.  Go to Gage Academy's website for more information and to register.