This weekend I did a little website cleaning and rearranging. Whenever I do this, it provides an opportunity for me to look back at work I may not have looked at in a while.
I like to revisit work and see if something I made a few years ago still interests me, and if I can learn anything from it.
This is a work I re-discovered: Dig Deeper
This is monotype printed rice paper, ripped and cut to size, collaged to 140# watercolor paper and mounted in a shadow box oak frame.
Creating this work recalled the pleasure I had as a young girl completing my assigned daily job: setting the dinner table each evening. I love putting things around the table in just the right order. I loved putting the knives, forks and spoons in their correct place.
This composition has that kind of orderliness. The elements are contained within imaginary rectangles. It does not depict much depth. The graphic arrangement makes me contentedly sigh “aahhhh.”
Sometimes, forms in a row feel just right.
But, at the same time, I think I created some interesting contrasts.
In the “above” section, large leaf stencils create static leaf shapes. I enjoyed creating four in a row, each same-but-different.
In the “below” section, I printed from roots pulled from my garden. I like their liveliness, and the way they contrast the leaves.
Finally, I rediscovered how much a simple palette speaks to me. All the colors I mixed in this work contain some portion of raw or burnt umber. The Cerulean Blue plus brown becomes more subtle. The Cadmium Red plus brown loses its brashness. And, because all the sections were printed as monotypes, there are slight variations in each patch of color. Nothing is too flat.
The demands of framing keep me from creating paper pieces more frequently. (Frames are bulky to store and can be costly.) But I do love the beauty of a genuine deckle edge watercolor sheet, floating in a frame that shows it off.
Everything in its place. . . aaahhh.
Thanks for re-visiting this paper artwork with me. If you’d like to learn more about it, please visit my website HERE.
For all of us: focus each day
on the good that needs to be done
in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
How I keep in touch:
BLOG POSTS - once a week: Mostly about what I am creating in the studio. If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail, please subscribe here: I post and send by e-mail each Sunday evening. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL
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EXHIBITS AND COMING EVENTS
STUDIO TOUR – IN DELAND, FLORIDA
Come visit my studio
Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8 2026 10am – 5pm
Visit local artists’ studios and see how they work. Information about the artists and map of studio locations: www.artstours.org
In Ormond Beach, Florida . . . TRIO
through March 1, 2026 at Ormond Memorial Museum of Art
My work, Three Yellow Doors, is part of this SAQA juried regional exhibit
In Lewiston, Idaho . . . SAQA GLOBAL – PRIMAL FORCES: FIRE
January 6 – March 28, 2026 at Lewis & Clark State College
My work, Nothing Remains But the Loss, is part of this SAQA juried Global exhibit
In DeLand, Florida . . . A SENSE OF PLACE
January 8 – March 30, 2026 City Commission Chambers, DeLand City Hall
My work, Escape to Quiet Waters, is part of this exhibition by ArtsEtc Surface Design Group