Posts Tagged ‘zen circle’
Dream Well
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017
Dream Well, 5″x5″ watercolor and brush pen on Arches Cover buff paper
May is here! I hope you had a good April, the cats and I missed seeing you terribly while I was convalescing.
Dusky lavender swirls like liquid, bounded by broken lines like a dream of an object, soft and subtle and strange.
Dip into the dream well and see what you pull up from its depths. The shallowness is only an illusion; the well of dreams goes down forever, full of endless possibilities and impossible futures.
This lovely mixed media piece is quite small at only five inches square, the soft buff of the paper making it perfect to warm up a space that needs a little imagination.
Dream Well, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the stuttering strokes of pen filling in the borders where the brush stuttered first, making waves in the soft, warm violet well. Below, this tiny artwork is resting peacefully in a frame, perfect for a small meditation nook, or even just your desk at work.
Dream Well, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, primatek, watercolor, zen circle
Shadow
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Shadow, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
This is really more of a zen spiral than a circle, but the softly broken brush strokes at the top make me think of a zen circle anyway. The pigments pooled and settled with the texture of the paper, giving it more detail than you would think for such a small, simple painting.
Everything about this painting is subtle, muted, desaturated. It makes me think of shadows on a cloudy day, softened by the lack of direct light but still there if you think to look.
Shadow, 5″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Shadow, detail, by Amy Crook
The photo above is tinged blue by the sun, but you can still see the textures of paper and paint, and how they interact to create layers of detail. Below, you can see it in a frame, hanging out with my cell phone for size.
Shadow, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: for sale, watercolor, zen circle
Red Irony
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Red Irony, front cover, by Amy Crook
I have a few of these little folded over pieces of thick, stiff watercolor paper just waiting for me to find something to do with them. This first one had its front painted weeks before the last of its inside panels got their decorations.
When you unfold the first panel of the little square, you get a different Zen circle and surprise tentacles:
Red Irony, detail, by Amy Crook
The inner circle is smaller and a little more broken, and the tentacles seem to be reaching for it, toward some mysterious end.
When you open it further you find that the tentacles are now reaching for a mysterious blue-black circle of paint, accompanied by an appropriate Lovecraft quote.
Red Irony, inside panels, by Amy Crook
From even the greatest of horrors, irony is seldom absent.
-H.P. Lovecraft
The starting F has been decorated with twining red tentacles, this panel done with pen and ink in matching shades of blue-black and blood red, rather than watercolor like the rest of the piece.
Red Irony, 10″x4.25″ watercolor and pen and ink on watercolor paper.
This piece is unframed, and really is more suited to standing snuggled up with old books where it can surprise the unwary, and hopefully make them smile at its odd message. The paper is quite stiff and the materials archival, so it should be able to withstand a bit of wear and tear, though I’d still keep it out of reach of little fingers.
For completion, here’s what the back of the piece looks like, though I may add a signature to the blank back panel before it gets slipped away into storage with the rest of my watercolor pieces.
Red Irony, outside panels, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: calligraphy, for sale, lovecraft, pen and ink, red, tentacles, watercolor, zen circle
Zen Comma
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Zen Comma by Amy Crook
I painted the central “zen circle” swish of this piece and then let it sit for a while. It looked so much like a comma, and the blue-black watercolor was so stark against the white, it really needed some words to go with it. I debated on a quote, on writing something myself, on printing or handwriting, and eventually came up with this. It’s one of my favourite quotes from a book, the end of a longer piece about the way we integrate pain into our views of the world.
Zen Comma, 6″x4″ watercolor, brush pen and ink on watercolor postcard, $99 with free shipping.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: brush pen, don h debrandt, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor, zen circle
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