byAmy V. Lindenberger, CPSA, instructor and owner of The LindenTree Fine Art Studio
Beginning March15 and running through April 18, The Gallery of The Linden TreeFine Art Studio will feature a very unique and inspiring exhibitby CPSA DC 101 member, Mary Anne Kamph. Mary Anne, astudent of Amy Lindenberger's since 1988, was inspired to createthis particular group of drawings after reading the book, EverydaySacred: A Woman's Journey Home, by Sue Bender, and comingacross a reference to something called "The 100 DrawingsProject". What follows are excerpts from Mary Anne'sstatement about this project:
"Thisproject kept nagging at my mind as something I should do. Ithought it would help me to grow as an artist and since I wassomewhat frustrated by my slow speed in doing colored pencildrawings and with my rather strict adherence to photorealism, Idecided to go ahead and try the project.
'The 100Drawings Project' was a graduate art class taught by afriend of the author who did the project along with herstudents. The students had to take an object and draw it100 times. The object needed to be portable, familiar,simple and neutral in content. It could not have religious,sentimental or heirloom qualities.
I chose a simplewhite vase with handles that had originally held wooden kitchenutensils. . .
The project tooktwo years. I started on October 29, 1998 and finished onNovember 2, 2000. I did all of the drawings/pictures inclass. Some classes I was able to do more than one drawing,especially in the early pictures that were done ingraphite. Only one picture went home and insisted on beingfinished. Some days I arrived at class knowing what I woulddraw and other days I had no idea and searched through the artstudio for ideas to make still lifes or on a few occasionsaccepted ideas from others. My creativity seemed to beinfluenced by my mood and physical well being. When I haddone about 80 drawings, ideas seemed to flood my mind on aconstant basis. . .
My goals weremet. I drew 100 vases and worked faster. My abilityto draw freehand improved and I expanded my creativity to somedegree. I thought I would be ready to smash the vase by theend of the project, but instead the vase still held possibilitiesfor more pictures. . .
The ability totake an ordinary object and see it in many different ways hastransferred over into my everyday life. I look at thingsdifferently -- from more angles and sides -- before I makedecisions or conclusions and I am more willing to takerisks. I also think, with regards to planning an artproject, that making many sketches or just mentally brainstormingis a valuable way to create a picture unique unto the artist. .."
From the groupof 100 drawings, slightly more than half have been selected forthis exhibition. As Mary Anne has pointed out, the vastmajority of them would not be considered"completed" works of art; they are exercises andexperiments done by the artist as she attempted to view the vasein different ways. Come and view the drawings and see what effectthey might have on YOUR creativity!
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