Autumn Maple II is a contrast in random movement and pattern. Although the tree seems to blow in the wind, if the viewer looks closely, repetitious designs emerge. The curving trunk shows stripes that angle upward. The green grass background features a variety of motifs. The blue-gray sky above seems to be comprised of tiny […]
I love the purple blossomed jacaranda tree (pronounced “ha ka ran da”). I’ve enjoyed it in warm parts of the U.S.: southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada, Hawaii. It also thrives along the Gulf of Mexico border. My ink drawing, Jacaranda, depicts my adoration of this tree in several ways. On the trunk, I show long
Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York and online at www.walterwickisergallery.com Trees spend their lives in one place. And yet, in a tree’s solitary existence, enormous experiences occur. Weather bakes it or floods it. Insects invade. Sap rises and falls. Chemical messages from other plants flow through the air and underground. The tree grows or becomes ill.
The Blowing Tree from the exhibit Gallery Artists XXI Read More »
A large orange, purple and green tree spreads beyond the picture frame. We see the yellow and green roots below. Lines extend downward from the roots deeper into the soil, as if seeking nutrition. These lines illustrate the miraculous energy exchange between the rich nurturing dirt and the living tree. The straight lines at the
Root Energy Rain: an ink drawing Read More »
I love to draw with ink, any kind, from ordinary ballpoint pens to soft paintbrushes that I dip in rainbow colors. When I start, I use black or blue ink, making free-form energetic scribbles. As I stare at the abstract field of looping lines, I envision a design. To emphasize this image, I cut away
A guest post, by Curator Jen Dragon. A concept that originated in Japan during the 1980s, Forest Bathing, or mindfully walking in the woods, is prescribed as an antidote to an increasingly technological and alienating world. Kaethe Kauffman meditates on the unseen systems of forest growth as well as on memories of the calm, steady
Introduction: La Foresta Read More »
Venice, Italy lacks a forest. Throughout my life, I’ve always lived with abundant trees nearby. When I was invited to exhibit in Venice during the time of the large art fair, the Venice Biennale, it seemed necessary to give Venice a forest, albeit in an art gallery. Floor-to-ceiling ink drawings of foliage hang, some against
Blue Tree is an ink drawing that I created in 2023. It consists of hundreds of tiny ink lines that show a broad expanse of a blooming tree. Inspired by a huge walnut tree at the Seattle house (where I grew up), I depicted a shallow root system. Although the black walnut reaches a majestic
Blue Tree-Shallow and Valiant Read More »
In X Buddhas, I combined ink drawing with collage. I superimposed a photograph of a black Buddha statue in front of the larger white seated shape. I placed these two on top of a background of tiny hand-drawn ink lines. The ink backdrop was darker and denser at the top and lighter at the bottom,
I recently listened to a woman’s speech about having lived in a Stone Age indigenous community doing volunteer work for many years. She adapted herself to their lifestyle. In her descriptions, she casually mentioned that the village would gather together each week “at the Meeting Tree.” This sounded like a natural assumption that a large
The Meeting Tree: an ink drawing Read More »
