Back From Morocco

Sketching at the Sofitel Marrakech

Watercolor on paper, 11" x 8.5"

This was one of my last memories of Morocco. It was the afternoon before we were to fly back home and I spent it taking some "free time" around the pool at our hotel. We had been on a whirlwind tour with no time for me to do any sketching, so I wanted to get one en plein air piece of art in at the last minute. I find that this is a way for me to distill the mass of new information by focusing on a scene and trying to make it distinctive of the foreign land I have been in for two weeks. The lanterns hanging from the trees as well as the white-washed walls and lush vegetation are distinctive of Marrakech in particular.

Shoulder Drawing with Overlay from Michelangelo's Notebook

Pastel and conte crayon on board, 17" x 14"

Now I am in the studio and I have projects that need to be completed before I can start on my Morocco Newsletter. Six weeks before going on vacation I had surgery on my left hand (luckily I am right-handed). My surgeon, Dr. Louis Catalano, has "worked" with me before as he repaired my torn rotator cuff in 2006. I think of our relationship as a collaboration as he fixes my broken body parts and I process the experience into artwork. He embraces my desire to make a visual record by sharing information and images that intrigue me and I show my appreciation by creating a work of art.

New Hand

Oil painting on canvas, 12" x 12"

This time around I did the painting above to celebrate my new hand and I created an iBook for Dr. Catalano with the images of hands from various paintings and drawings that I have done as well as from famous artists. What do you think of when you picture an iconic artistic image of the human hand? See my answer below.