Photographic Findings

Photographic Finding #1 (Nicholas Biddle)

The drawings above and below are two of the directions for new work.  The first Photographic Findings #1 (Nicholas Biddle) was the result of images found during research of related subjects.  I found these images captivating and wanted to used them in a drawing.  The goal is to create a grouping with images that are related visually or thematically or both and create a conversation with the people or objects in the grouping.

The figure on the left is Nicholas Biddle who was the first person injured in the Civil War.  The woman and girls are from different eras - mid 19th C, Victorian era and the 1960's.  One of the things that struck me about the reference photographs was the beautiful patterns and forms of the clothing and the expressions on the faces.  While some of the faces had less focus and detail than others, personality and expression still reads very clearly.

Photographic Findings #1 (Nicholas Biddle) will be included in the juried Members Exhibition at the Pensacola Museum of Art opening March 11, 2022.  Juried by Carrie Ann Bade.  

The Dance (Homage to a Pugilist, Louis R. Goodwin)

This grouping of boxers from the 1930's and 1940's is in honor of my grandfather who was a semi-professional boxer in West Texas and Mexico in the 1930's before he joined the Air Force during WWII.  He later coached boxing at Cisco High School in Cisco, TX.  

I do have a good photograph of him boxing so choose peer professional fighters, one of whom is Max Baer, who was World Heavyweight Champion from 1934-35 and the son of Jewish immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine and Bohemia.  Max Baer will be a main figure in Photographic Findings #2.

I used to sit on my grandfather's lap and watch boxing matches on TV.  I remember him talking about how important movement and strategy was.  How boxing was similar to choreography.  The placement of the figures was inspired by Matisse's The Dancers.