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Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
A quiet early variation in the Ivy Series, where light, structure, and delicacy meet
In Ivy and Drawers (1979) I was still discovering how far a simple arrangement of forms could carry an emotional atmosphere. This early oil pastel drawing let me explore the tension between the soft, silvery light on the ivy leaves and the architectural clarity of the drawers rising behind them. Even though I preferred the permanence and depth of oil paint, I was drawn to the way oil pastels could hold light on their velvety surface — a softness that felt perfectly suited to the fragile edges of ivy.
The horizontal drawer fronts step upward in three measured stages, almost like a quiet staircase of planes catching light. On the right, the vertical edge lifts straight upward, giving the composition a sense of lift and breath. Against this modular geometry, the ivy hangs with natural irregularity — leaves catching highlights, stems drifting downward, the whole plant acting as a counterpoint to the drawers’ order.
What interested me most was the atmosphere created by these contrasts: the gentle shimmer of the ivy’s surface, the steady rhythm of the drawers, and the way the two meet in a shared field of light. Even in this early work, the seeds of the Ivy Series are present — the interplay of nature and structure, softness and clarity, stillness and quiet emotional charge.
Dimensions: 15″ × 18
Medium: Oil pastels
A quiet early variation in the Ivy Series, where light, structure, and delicacy meet
In Ivy and Drawers (1979) I was still discovering how far a simple arrangement of forms could carry an emotional atmosphere. This early oil pastel drawing let me explore the tension between the soft, silvery light on the ivy leaves and the architectural clarity of the drawers rising behind them. Even though I preferred the permanence and depth of oil paint, I was drawn to the way oil pastels could hold light on their velvety surface — a softness that felt perfectly suited to the fragile edges of ivy.
The horizontal drawer fronts step upward in three measured stages, almost like a quiet staircase of planes catching light. On the right, the vertical edge lifts straight upward, giving the composition a sense of lift and breath. Against this modular geometry, the ivy hangs with natural irregularity — leaves catching highlights, stems drifting downward, the whole plant acting as a counterpoint to the drawers’ order.
What interested me most was the atmosphere created by these contrasts: the gentle shimmer of the ivy’s surface, the steady rhythm of the drawers, and the way the two meet in a shared field of light. Even in this early work, the seeds of the Ivy Series are present — the interplay of nature and structure, softness and clarity, stillness and quiet emotional charge.
Dimensions: 15″ × 18
Medium: Oil pastels