Perspective. A choose your own adventure story.

I live in a beautiful building that was built in the 20's. It looks like a German castle. It has stained glass windows on the outside and faux finished marble panels on the inside. When you walk through the front door, you are lead into a cage that is made up of iron vines punctuated with brass flowers. I really love my building. The other residents are generally great. They say hello and they make eye contact. There is a certain level of respectfulness here that I haven't found in past places that I have lived in around NYC.

That being said, let me tell you about a few things that have happened lately in my building. The other day, I decided to do laundry. The laundry room is in the basement of my building. All the machines were empty and doing laundry went smoothly until I pulled my whites out of the dryer. Green gum had melted over my sheets and a new white shirt. Of course this had to happen to the white load! The high heat of the dryer insured that the gum was permanently adhered. I scrubbed the sheets with a scrub brush and detergent. The green spots are now slightly lighter but they did not go away. The new white shirt was a lost cause.

 

I was so seriously angry that I thought about writing a scathing note and posting it in the laundry room. It would say something about being an adult and checking your pockets before doing laundry....or something about having respect for others. Sigh. Instead I just let it go. The damage was done.The image below is a necklace that I made out of the damaged shirt. I added some feathers and a sequined ribbon as well. I call it Icarus.

 

A few days before this, I noticed that there was a note taped up to the wall by the mailboxes in my building. It was addressed to the person that stole an umbrella that was hanging off of this person's wheelchair. Whoah. Seriously. Bad. Karma. After reading this note, I went upstairs, dropped off my things in my apartment, and grabbed one of the many umbrellas that I get for free at work. I brought the umbrella back downstairs to the mailboxes and put it on a ledge there. I left a note for this person and said that I get free umbrellas....so if wasn't stolen in the meantime, they could have mine. The next morning I found this note on my door.

 

 

I guess the lesson here is just to make the best of things no matter what happens and to try to move on. It is OK to ask for help and it is OK to voice an opinion. The action and the attitude that matters is your own because this is the one that you can control.

Here's to sunny days and things going your way!!!

xx-Sarah
 

Drawing in painting: The Iron Dragon and it's bones

Drawing in painting. When I talk about painting and drawing, the two things get all mixed up and they overlap. I believe this is because good painting skills start with good drawing skills. Drawing is the bones of painting. Where drawing is concerned, I believe that it's really the skill of learning how to see without letting preconceived ideas influence what is seen. Drawing is also about understanding how one perceives space and how 3D space can be translated into 2D space. 

Getting back to the subject of painting, when an artist begins a painting in oil, they choose a pigment with a fast drying time and they use a lot of turp or mineral spirits. They begin sketching with a brush and this beginning is loose and non-committal. The artist knows that the under painting will be covered up, but the direction, movement and feeling may remain. The second stage is about laying in flat color over the under painting. The third stage is about adjusting lights and darks, and it is about sharpening up the edges. After this, esthetic changes are made and details are added. Details are added only after the foundation is laid because "a room cannot be decorated unless the house is built and the walls are up." 

This is a suggested sequence in the life a painting. It is one that I follow over and over again. Other painters may take a different route, but I feel this way allows for a nice build-up of paint insuring a fat over lean layering which promises that over time the painting will be stable and the paint will not crack. 

The pictures below were quick snapshots that I took while I was painting an oil painting that I call Iron Dragon.

Stay tuned for more updates on all things having to do with art!!

All my best to you!

-Sarah

Feathers for Flying

I’m starting over and I’m happy that I am! In my suitcase are 4 old blog posts that refer to art. All the other posts are long gone, deleted and living in the far reaches of my memory. I now have new direction! I’m not sure where I’m headed, but I’m excited about going! What can be expected are more posts about Painting, Drawing, Jewelry, Food, and Music. I want Schrift Script to be about Art for Art's sake!

Please check me out at www.newyorkdrawingschool.com, the New York Drawing School Facebook page, www.thesoursmusic.com, The Sours Facebook page, and www.sarahschrift.com. I am a phoenix that is trying to be an eagle! Come fly with me! We have a lot of ground to cover!

The picture below is a new necklace that I just made. I call it A New Rime for the Ancient Mariner. It was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798). The poem can be found here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253

Just so you know, I don’t believe in curses. I believe that we all make our own luck. Furthermore, if you have to wear a bird around your neck, it should look like this:

Stay tuned for more art, wearable and otherwise! xx-Sarah