Saturday, June 27, 2009

From Weird and Distant Shores


Illustrations from From Weird and Distant Shores 
by Caitlin R. Kiernan
© Richard A. Kirk

These two illustrations were drawn in 2002 for From Weird and Distant Shores by Caitlin  R. Kiernan. Both of them were drawn in ink on Arches hotpress paper using a combination of brush for the darker out-lines and black areas, and Rapidograph pen for the pointillism. This might have been one of the first books where I scanned that art in-house rather than sending originals out to be scanned. 


The first image was for a story called Between the Flatirons and the Deep Green Sea where there is a mention of something that sounds like an ammonite “giant whorl, big as a bicycle wheel.” I drew what that image triggered in my mind, something simple and sculptural. I have often been struck by the found sculpture in fossils. With this illustration I tried to set up a contrast between the girl’s knotted body and the weight (timewise and physically) of the ammonite from the late Jurassic. The impossible spindle forms holding the ammonite give the piece a surrealist flavor which is heightened by the distant horizon of the littoral zone. If I were to redo this piece I would probably eliminate the detail at the bottom of the piece and replace it with a dark tone to emphasize the sculptural aspect of the piece. I like the way this piece interacts with the story and yet could stand alone. 


The King of the Birds has a simple triangular composition to anchor the detail. Birds are a recurring motif in my art. As an artist their vast array of forms fascinates me. I also find their particular brand of intelligence intriguing. My take on this character was a creature that was able to transition between the human and non-human world. His human face looks one way and the bird face another, physically though he is a protean combination.  Caitlin captured the character beautifully in the story


“They lead him forward, all these twittering, squawking spirits of the dead, phantomswift wings that make no sound but the velvet rustle of lost time, the memory of lost skies, and the King of Birds gazes down with golden, curious eyes.”


Friday, June 26, 2009

Escape

Escape
© Richard A. Kirk 2009
Illustration for From Weird and Distant Shores 
by Caitlin R. Kiernan

I am going through some files, pulling selected illustrations for my website. I thought I would post some of them here too. I could not believe the date when I brought out this one. 2002. How fast the time goes by. This illustration was done for Caitlin R. Kiernan's From Weird and Distant Shores, short story collection published by Subterranean. I always liked this particular image. It uses some solid black, which is something that I don't do that often anymore because it can lend a comic art quality to the image, which is not what I am about. I think it works here though. I remember enjoying drawing that big leaf very much because of the wavy outline.

Richard.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Awakening

Awakening
© Richard A. Kirk 2009


Detail from Awakening

The dreams are epic. They have seemingly consumed many more hours than have elapsed since you fell asleep. Dreams open into other dreams like endlessly branching corridors. You have become part of what is going on around you, no longer simply a wanderer, but a participant in the flowering of random subconscious seeds. Then suddenly, a hand is on your shoulder shaking you awake. At first the dream tries to assimilate the touch but its already over and you float up, out of the labyrinth, to awaken.


Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Divine Invasion


I went to the Meta Gallery yesterday in Toronto's Distillery District, to see Kris Kuksi and Andrew Jones' Divine Invasion show before it came down. Despite showing with Kris in Berlin a couple of years ago, I had never met him in person or seen his work in real life. The sculptures are beautifully composed and fantastically detailed. Having seen them only in photographs, I wasn't prepared for the interesting way the light plays off the surface of the pieces and the strange shadows they cast on the wall. The show was comprised of several large works, some miniatures and a couple of hanging pieces (one of which seems intent on drilling into my head in the photo above). If you haven't seen it, the Meta Gallery is a lovely space to experience art, spacious, well lit and beautifully sited in a historic industrial area which is full of galleries and shops.

I really enjoyed Andrew Jones digital images, which were placed in the other half of the gallery; a rich, glossy counterpoint to Kris' matt sculptures. These works rewarded close inspection or viewing from across the room. My favorite was Artumnal, a compositionally sweeping image that draws the eye into a nocturnal vortex.

An additional unexpected treat was a peek at three originals by Alex Grey, who will be showing at the Meta Gallery later this month. I'll be there!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Anatomical Garden

Periwinkle Sea
photographs © Richard A. Kirk 2009



I am amazed what some people will discard. I found this little collection of hand painted anatomical models in a dumpster among old text books, lab furniture and equipment. As I climbed in, I have to say I could not believe my luck. There is an amazing amount of anatomical detail painted on the surface. The wombs have doors that open on tiny hinges. Being paper mache (I am guessing) the models are extremely fragile. They really are beautiful things even if the nose on this baby looks like it came to a bad end in a changeling fairy tale or Edward Gorey took a detour into a career painting anatomical models.

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, 'You'll all be drowned!'
They called aloud, 'Our Sieve ain't big,
But we don't care a button! we don't care a fig!
In a Sieve we'll go to sea!'
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear

Narcissus

Here Narcissus, tired of hunting and the heated noon, lay down, attracted by the peaceful solitudes and by the glassy spring. There as he stooped to quench his thirst another thirst increased. While he is drinking he beholds himself reflected in the mirrored pool--and loves; loves an imagined body which contains no substance, for he deems the mirrored shade a thing of life to love. He cannot move, for so he marvels at himself, and lies with countenance unchanged, as if indeed a statue carved of Parian marble. Ovid

Jacob's Ladder

Lungwort

This model is made of something more robust than paper mache but it is missing a lung!

Hyacinth

Finally, horrified by the number of mosquito larvae in my pond, I decided it was high time I got myself to the water-garden nursery. Its a place that I love visiting because the ponds, filled with every kind of water-plant imaginable, also teem with tadpoles, frogs, fish and turtles. In some places the tadpoles are so thick they form a mat like black velvet at the edge, where the water is warmest. My pond is modest, so I only buy a couple of plants and some mosquito killing fish but I always start fantasizing about creating a giant pond as I leave. Today we were told a funny story. Apparently another customer had complained that raccoons had been pulling the hyacinths out of his pond. They were having fun popping the plants like bubble plastic! Water hyacinths remind me of jellyfish, trailing their tendrils. As common as they are, they are truly beautiful plants.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Bumble Bee

A bee that expired on my porch
photograph © Richard A. Kirk, 2009


It has been an amazing year for bumble bees. The garden is full of them. Perhaps it is something to do with the long winter.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Photos from May 22, 2009

Fossil from the shore of Lake Huron, May 22, 2009

Orange stone

Tree in the early morning

photographs © Richard A. Kirk 20009