Houses: 489 New Beginnings Corner of Dallas/Beach/Transit Roads

 January 26, 27, 28, 2021

Drawing #1 Series Houses in Victoria, B.C. 18x25 cm

Returned  to the area to do photography and had planned to draw using drawing board, charcoal, pencils and erasers. It was too windy so returned to studio after photo shoot. 

Things I am considering are my process with the image and materials used to create the house, the story I remember being told by my Mother Sheila and my response to the exercise.

My Artistic Approach

Image was created working back and forth intuitively and using photo references.

I first used a smooth drawing paper, sprinkled powdered charcoal and added water to charcoal to create an underpainting. I liked this way of working to evoke feeling of waves, the motion of the sea and expressive trees. The house was drawn and then worked into drawing with charcoal, pencil, and graphite pencils. Thought about parents age at the time and included transferred image of  Mom graduating from The Academy Of Dramatic Arts in Toronto at age 24 and an image representing Donald her husband and a small fetal form representing me. Tried to capture the energy of the place with waves, wind, rocks, trees, logs, light house and beech rats.

Mother’s Story

Sheila lived at this location when she was pregnant with me. Donald her husband was away at sea for periods of time.  She described her experience of seeing the lights from Trial Island Light House flashing on and off, sound of waves, coming up against the house which hung over the beech. In the bedroom there were noises between walls that she believed to be beech rats. Emotionally she felt sadness as her smother was ill in  hospital and died two months  before my birth. She felt lonely. My parents met and shortly after conceived, so dealing with new relationship and pregnancy mid 20’s.

My feelings and response to this work was very gentle mark making, quiet and wanted to imbue tender, loving care.