The Green Flower - Painting by Sarah Myers

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers
Acrylic on canvas, 2019

She glances downward gently, lips smiling at some pleasant, quiet thought.  Long, simple lines form the shapes, head elegantly poised on the neck with its graceful curve.  At the top, a little burst of acid-green marks the bloom she wears pinned in her hair, a bright hue which stops and accentuates the lengthy contours creating the rest of the image.  She is surrounded by a warm atmosphere of rose-pink and vibrant orange bordering on brown.  Behind her, blue shades toward the realm of purple and lilac.  Acrylic on canvas, 2019.

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers, detail of face.

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers, detail of flower.

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers, detail.

Two Ladies and Sky - Drawings by Sarah Myers

Lady with a Flock of Sparrows, Sarah Myers
Charcoal on paper, 2019

A lady with a flock of sparrows fluttering in the air behind her, the whirl of their wings echoing the spiral of the long ringlets trailing down her shoulder… and a woman staring earnestly out at us from a background filled with climbing, billowing clouds which mirror her bouffant bows, her frills and edges of lace. These two drawings are part of a recent collection of artwork in charcoal, sketched with simple lines across large sheets of paper. The darker, stronger charcoal contours follow paler pencil lines which form the preparatory stage.

I am happy to finally return to my blog – after a long and very unintended absence – and to post these two sketches here.

Woman with Clouds, Sarah Myers
Drawing in charcoal, 2019

Lady with Sparrows, detail of face.
Sarah Myers

Woman with Clouds, Sarah Myers
Detail of face

Lady with Sparrows, detail of birds.
Sarah Myers

Woman with Clouds, detail
Sarah Myers

The Cranach Hat - Sculpture by Sarah Myers

The Cranach Hat, Sarah Myers
Contemporary Sculpture in terracotta

    She tilts her head gently to the side, counterbalancing the elaborate flare of her velvet hat. Around her neck cling rich Renaissance jewels; the top of her bodice is embroidered with a scrolling pattern of stylized leaves and stems; a few stray locks of hair escape from her ornate headgear, which is also beaded and jeweled. Her sidelong glance is thoughtful and bright but almost wistful.

     My most recent sculpture was inspired, as its name implies, by the paintings of a great sixteenth-century painter, Lucas Cranach the elder. His vital, energetic but opulent portrayals struck me as perfect source material for a portrait like this one, created in a vivid red-orange terracotta at about half life-scale.

The Cranach Hat, Sarah Myers
Close-up

The Cranach Hat, Sarah Myers
Detail 

The Cranach Hat, Sculpture by Sarah Myers

The Cranach Hat, detail
Sarah Myers

The Cranach Hat, Sarah Myers

Head of a Woman - Sculpture by Sarah Myers

Head of a Woman, Sarah Myers

     Sometimes an artwork contains more than its creative or intellectual history - as in this sculpture, where a wholly unexpected event, an explosion in the kiln, left marks unintended in the original form. It still seems odd to think of so tranquil a personage flying apart while surrounded by white-hot coils three times the temperature of a baking-oven; but such was the case.
     As she now stands she is not only the outcome of creation and catastrophe but also some gentle remedying. Several days ago I placed the two largest pieces back together as best I could. Though some chips and ceramic splinters remain missing, as they had pulverized, she now appears much as she was first intended; a peaceful, heart-shaped face, the tilted head poised on a long, graceful neck. Half-classical, half modern; and now, with the fracture lines of her mishap - where no mending could conceal the warp produced by a fire of 1260 degrees celsius – perhaps a little post-modern as well.

Head of a Woman, Sarah Myers
Front, close-up

Head of a Woman, Sarah Myers
Sculpture in stoneware

Head of a Woman, detail.  Sarah Myers 

Head of a Woman, sculpture
Sarah Myers

Head of a Woman, Sarah Myers

Three Faces - Drawings by Sarah Myers

Woman in a Sun-hat, Sarah Myers
Drawing in minimal charcoal on paper

    A lady in a sun-hat, a woman in a scarf and one with flowing hair – here are three drawings from my series of minimal sketches, black charcoal describing the outlines of faces, the glances of the eyes, forming expressive portraits from lines that are almost abstract in themselves.

Woman with Long Hair, Sarah Myers
Drawing in minimal line, charcoal on paper

Lady with a Scarf, Sarah Myers
Drawing in minimal line, charcoal on paper

Head of a Woman in Conte & Charcoal - Art by Sarah Myers

Head of a Woman, Sarah Myers
Conte, charcoal on toned paper

    Having finished this sketch this morning I thought I would post it here - the drawing of a face with luminous highlights pouring over rounded forehead and cheeks and leaving a spark in the iris of each eye, while outlining layers of curls and beaded ribbon above. The forward tilt of the head leaves the woman's neck in shadow; lower down the light falls very simply.

The hairstyle is a fantastical one inspired by the Italian painter Fra Filippo Lippi, but the portrait itself tends more toward the tradition of eighteenth century drawings and the mediums used are similar; conte in white, red and brown; charcoal, and toned paper of a light brown.

Head of a Woman, detail.  Sarah Myers

Woman with a Diadem - Drawing by Sarah Myers

Woman with a Diadem, Sarah Myers
Minimal line drawing in charcoal.

    One of my favourite drawings from the last year is this imaginary portrait, a woman in a Greek style of diadem. Minimal lines match the classical curves of her hair and headdress and the graceful tilt of her head, which is caught almost, but not quite, in profile. The sketch is rendered in strong black charcoal, like the others of my pictures in this long series. More of this collection is arranged on my site SarahMyersArt.com.

Woman with a Diadem, detail.  Sarah Myers

Flowers and Ribbons - Drawing by Sarah Myers

Woman with Flowers and Ribbons, Sarah Myers
Minimal drawing, charcoal on paper

     With flowers and fluttering ribbons among her ringlets and with dangling earrings which swing as she tilts her head, she looks toward us - she almost smiles… This imaginary portrait is a minimal drawing in charcoal; dark, definite lines describe face, curls and the flying streamers. She is part of my long series of sketches in a more simple style. You can see much of this collection of drawings on my website, SarahMyersArt.com.

Woman with Flowers and Ribbons, detail.  Sarah Myers

Sketch of a Face - Art by Sarah Myers

Sketch of a Face, Sarah Myers
Direct Charcoal

Here is a sketch, a woman looking out with large eyes – perhaps she may smile in a moment and the grave expression of her glance will lighten… The forms are created with rapid lines in direct charcoal, strokes that are almost abstract in themselves; only once they are placed together are descriptive of the eyes, of the slightly curved mouth or the wisps of hair curling over the forehead.

Sketch of a Face, detail.  Sarah Myers

Two Faces on Dark Paper - Drawings by Sarah Myers

Face and Doorway, Sarah Myers

     Creating drawings of this type is very intriguing, as the basic technique is almost opposite that of a usual sketch. Here, the ground of the paper must be used as the shadow, rather than the highlight. It is the density and strength of the pencil that determines the brightness of the glow. Because I have purposefully left the white charcoal unblurred and unblended, you may see in the details the myriad of tiny lines that form the face's shapes and expressions.  

Head in White Charcoal, Sarah Myers

Face and Doorway, Sarah Myers
Detail

Head in White Charcoal, Sarah Myers
Detail

Looking Upward - Sculpture by Sarah Myers

Head Looking Upward, Sarah Myers
Sculpture in terracotta

She stares upward, head tilted back to look intently. What is she watching for? Who? What is she hoping as she gazes?

Made from a strong red terracotta, this sculpture was completed rapidly and carries the spontaneity of its quick creation. Nevertheless the image had been in my mind for months if not years, and the simple and even somewhat rough form is the outcome of a thought being suddenly imposed on malleable clay. The kiln-firing that turned it into hard earthenware made the thought a permanent image.

Head Looking Upward, Sarah Myers

Head, Sarah Myers
Terracotta

Head in terracotta.  Sarah Myers

Head Looking Upward, Sarah Myers

Woman's head, sketch in charcoal - Art by Sarah Myers

Woman's Head, Sketch.  Sarah Myers

A sketch in charcoal and white conte on toned paper.  I have used a technique here atypical of my recent work - in this drawing I have rubbed the charcoal across the surfaces to create a softer and more diffuse shading on cheeks, neck and forehead.

Woman's Head, Sketch.  Sarah Myers.  Detail.

Summer - Art in cut paper and charcoal by Sarah Myers

Summer, Sarah Myers
Charcoal, cut paper

Pomegranates, palm-fronds, jasmine stars, grapes and various flowers wreathe around the head of a personification of Summer. A charcoal drawing with cut paper ornamentation of brown, black and white.

Summer, detail
Sarah Myers

A Favourite Sculpture - Art by Sarah Myers

Minerva in Pearls, Sarah Myers

With her gentle smile, lowered eyes, pearl necklace and tall helmet, this sculpture remains one of my favourites I have made, and my largest. She is life-scale or perhaps a little more.

Minerva in Pearls, Sarah Myers
Close-up

She was inspired from a sixteenth-century portrait of a young Dutch woman, Margarita Trip. The artist Ferdinand Bol dressed her in costume as Minerva and portrayed Margarita teaching her younger sister Maria Trip. I think in my sculpture I have used the mythological reference slightly more seriously and as a more intregal part - not indeed as homage to the Greek deity Athena (Minerva), but abstractly in praise of wisdom and the wisdom of elder sisters in particular.

Minerva in Pearls, Sarah Myers
Sculpture in stoneware

A sculpture this size takes a huge amount of clay. In this case, she consists of stoneware I mixed by hand and kneaded carefully to remove air pockets. The recipe was designed by my sister Amy Myers - it is a clay of some resistance and strength even in its raw form. The sculpture was then built over a period of three days. I work directly into the clay with a rapidity which is partly to avoid the damage that too-early drying can create, but also to preserve the spontaneity and immediacy of the human touch.

Minerva in Pearls, side view

    All art and photography by Sarah Myers

Minerva in Pearls, Sarah Myers
Detail of face and helmet

Minerva in Pearls, Sarah Myers