BrittConley.com

The Percussionist

Britt — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:35:19 +0000

Well, I’ve had a crazy a week, so am a bit discombobulated. I’m also hyper focused on this musical score I’m visually dissecting with a few other works with the finest tooth comb I own… thus I’m up all hours each night considering every aural nuance of every sound and rhythm and etching it within my visual vocabulary. That said, I’m having the time of my life in that regard. Of course it’s now hard not to dismantle everything I hear to this end. As a drummer, I’m incredibly sensitive to rhythm placement and the breathable space it could and should be placed as opposed to the standard nail on the head spots that fill all those drum books galore and I’ve been listening to a lot of great drumming this week as well. So, all these things are floating about the noggin… my kit is in storage, and therefore, I can only draw how I feel about it all and this is what I’ve selected. Something familiar and yet iconically removed: a percussionist.

The irony is that I was not going to bother to post this on FB or even here. I tend to leave my more crazy-complex works off because they probably make me look like a crazy person, which is the last thing I need. That said, I went ahead despite this and bizarrely, people are responding. It’s nice. Well, it’s better than nice. I’m actually a bit shocked. Seriously. It’s a great end to a difficult week and nice to see the one thing I do that matters more to me than anything isn’t just always going to be exclusively between me, my pencil and paper. So thanks to all who have posted over there… really. I am humbled and surprised.

The Percussionist © Britt Conley

Britt : )

Transposing Me

Britt — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:40:12 +0000

I’m currently head deep within an amazing project drawing and painting music. None of which looking like this image. As with the last post on this project, this image is about it’s impact during this time. This is one of the most creative moments in my life and working through visualizing music from the inside out is transposing my brain into an entirely new state of action/thinking. Oddly, I’ve been dreaming some of my solutions. Upon waking up in the middle of the night I find numerous ideas laid out before me and hop down to my drawing table to begin jotting everything down like a mad person before it falls away. Even odder is that the process of all this chewing between music and art has brought the opposite as well. I’m suddenly keenly aware of music in a whole new light and finding myself inside some of my favorite writers works and seeing entirely new relations between their works I never noticed before. The threads of their thought process are structuralizing themselves and it’s a joy stumbling head first into some amazing unique vocabulary and sentencing. Mostly I am enjoying the reconfiguring of my brain… it is altering and I am finding myself transposing to a whole new scale and key: A lovely place I’ve never visited before. I know these moments are transient so I’m plucking every last spin-able concept while I can. In a few weeks and over months I’ll begin transferring them onto paper and canvas; hopefully making them sing for themselves.

As for the drawing… I’m considering cutting this into two parts and putting the two onto a good 60″ deep paper or canvas.

Transposing Me © Britt Conley

Britt

State of Weight

Britt — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:49:34 +0000

Well, here we go. This is the very first drawing I hope to sell. It’s also the first of what will be a drawing a week that will also be available to find a new home. I haven’t gone down this road before, mostly because I make all my works for me. LOL. That said, money is simply too tight: thus, a new plan of action is required and I would love to see these drawings find a loving home.

State of Weight © Britt Conley

Britt

A Present

Britt — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:59:38 +0000

Working on this birthday present for a friend this week and next. The man who made and gave me this incredible teapot for my birthday, just had his as well and this is my gift back to him: my interpretation of his great ceramic work. It really is my favorite teapot in the world. In a day or two, after wrapping up the teapot details, I’ll move into the foreground and then background. It’s been a lovely, fun and frankly relaxing project. Enjoying just tooling about the page gently adding little details. It’s a heavenly way to spend time. More drawings have also been had this week. I’ll be posting the next over the next couple of days. All and all 2012 is starting out rather nicely : )

A Present @ Britt Conley

Britt

Play for Me

Britt — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:57:05 +0000

Currently in the middle of working out some visualized orchestrations: delineating sounds, moments, measures etc… I could go on an on but all in due time. Today’s work, oddly enough is not one of them at all, LOL, it is however, about them. It’s about the process listening, distilling as a singular canvas by which each work I digest is just for me and my mental considerations. It’s no longer about the work overall, it’s relevance within greater works. It’s just about the direct communication from a given composer to me. I’m not concerned with intent, I can never know that… I can only absorb what is laid out before me and enjoy the dance between me, my paper, the graphite and the aural complexities of what is given. I am very much loving this project. It’s going to be quite fun over the next year.

Play for Me © Britt Conley

Britt

Poised

Britt — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:59:02 +0000

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwn. Well, it’s nearly 6:am and I really should be in bed, however I seemed to have had the drawing bug. Too tired to give this nice working… its a simple sketch. This quick effort is the original for a work I’ve been working on on a water resilient paper. That one didn’t quite work out. I’ll have to attempt it again, another day. I don’t have much to say on this. I’m afraid I’m bit boring this morning. I am however, happily poised this Christmas for all the new things I hope to bring to fruition and this drawing represents my mood aptly. Well, I’m yawning even more as I write this. Good night/Good morning : )

Poised © Britt Conley

Britt : )

The Holidays

Britt — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:37:04 +0000

Well it’s that time of year again… The Holidays!!! Oh Joy! Actually there is a lot of joy to be had, but there is also all the running around meeting and greeting, gift giving and sitting, drinking and thinking and wishing for… Well, you get the idea: it’s a busy time of year teetering with expectation in every way. I for one have missed two holidays in a row…, well more like put in such a half effort they don’t really count. LOL. This year, I’m working hard coming up with gifts as I can, meeting friends I haven’t seen in far too long and working round the clock to meet my freelance deadlines. All in all, it’s nice to be back in the swing of things that are ‘The Holidays’. This year there is not only much to be thankful for, there is so much look forward too. Hope everyone has the best holiday yet.

The Holidays © Britt Conley

Britt : )

The Suspension of Disbelief

Britt — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:51:35 +0000

Still galavanting away on my quest to integrate these new dark areas into my architecture. Designing is easy, the tones however are still in flux. Perhaps color is the answer? Blue? Red? Another consideration for yet another day. I do like where this is going.

On a production note: This is the first drawing I’ve done three times. I don’t believe I’ve ever drawn the same drawing twice. Different versions on a rare occasion, but never an exact replica. If I screw it up it’s in the bin: done and never to be seen again. I generally don’t screw a drawing up. I take it first pass. If I don’t love it, I may try another version. For me much of the work is mental. I have to visualize what I’m going to do… work out the choreography and then attack the paper in one continual dance. Nothing can be tentative.

That said, tonight I created two exact replicas of my original. I really loved this work. The first was perfect up until accidently swiping the permanent liquid graphite into the middle of the piece and ruining it! After a small mental hissy fit I marched upstairs and grabbed the light table. The second round was going along nicely when the brush skipped and bobbled right past the line, thus ruining #2. The third pass was far more painstaking and slow. I was going to finish this damn thing and do it right if it took all night. It did. LOL. Still, it’s a test and although the paper held up, I didn’t. I will try some color in the days to come, as mentioned above. That may just do the trick. On a great side note. I was asked my first personal question as an artist about my work yesterday and it meant a lot to me. It was a great question, essentially when and how did the serious depth in my work arrive. I answered it in full. I’m still shocked anyone even noticed but as someone who takes my own work very seriously… I was really surprised to see that someone had noticed and feel beyond appreciative.

Britt

Playing with Density

Britt — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:08:21 +0000

Well, It’s 4:00 am and I’m a bit tired. Today’s drawing is yet another test. This time, just playing with density. I’m not as concerned with spaces and shapes this go around. Without a doubt this would have been a throw away on any other day. I’m trying to figure out how to converge my pencil work with these new black areas. It’s an entirely new situation and I am far from integrating the two. We’ll, see. Trying to find the vehicle I need to move to the next level. I’m so close and yet so far.

Britt

Protographic Play

Britt — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:01:16 +0000

Testing my new media. Today… wrong paper. LOL. I’d say I’m mostly annoyed but I’m really just ‘muchly’ annoyed, mostly because I can easily turn this into an oil painting. That is the great thing about sketching… it’s honestly meant as step one in an otherwise longer process. As for my testing, well this was a fail. The water warped up the paper into a warbled mess in addition to streaking and pooling badly. The pencil couldn’t be evenly handled a top the water soluble affected paper surface. Not my finest hour in terms of working deftly. Had this been entirely in pencil, it would be phenomenal. That said, I got over it and decided to just kept going. 400 series is simply too thin. The previous water color paper works well but is a bit toothier than I’d like. So, the testing journey continues. This may take up some time. Hopefully, I’ll continue to arrive at good things along the way. I am having fun.

Britt : )