During the month of March, artist in the Envision program dug into the concept of Excavations in their sketchbooks. Shards, text, objects, edges, and relics were explored through drawing, painting, and collage materials to create surfaces, environments, and topographies related to archeological practices. Working with a 5" x 5" square format (both within and beyond the delineated area), layers of mixed media were integrated into these built surfaces to create opportunities for concealing and revealing hidden layers and suggesting personal discovery narratives.

The Loyola Beach Dunes lakefront restoration project captured my interest since its earliest inception over a decade ago. Located in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago's far north side, this six acre lakefront dune habitat has transformed one of the city's public beaches into a native plant oasis that minimizes erosion, stabilizes the shoreline, and engages its visitors with its midwestern plant forms, seasonal color displays, and delightful birds, insects, and animals. 

Creative research is the backbone of my art making practice. It is the place I turn to when there is limited time, something passes my glance and needs to be captured, or a new combination of idea + material nags to be made visual. There are concepts that pass by as singular expressions and others that have a special kind of energy that want to be explored through iteration -- different takes on the same theme. Process rules the day and practice offers meaningful discoveries.

Our sketchbook work began this year with the concept of germination, the process of things coming into existence and/or developing into new forms. We explored a variety of approaches to this theme using a 5" x 5" square format and a wide range of drawing, painting, and collage methods and materials. Sketchbook pages were physically altered by tearing holes, ripping off portions, and adding extensions to activate new energy, movement, and growth into the creative process. 

During the month of December, we worked with the concept of emanations, a thing or issue that spreads out from a source, while viewing videos of natural energies, forms, and phenomena. These include Reindeer Cyclones, Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, snowflake designs, ice crystal growing on glass and ice crystals freezing inside bubbles. Each of these subjects were explored on sketchbooks pages using a 5"x 5" square format and a wide range of drawing and painting materials.

This summer we used our sketchbooks to gain a better understanding of the physical world that surrounds and supports us everyday. During the month of June, we explored the concepts of tracings, filaments, and symbiosis through naturalistic drawing approaches, linear mapping with ink and experimental color, masking tape topography, and printing with natural forms.