My photo
I've lived a rather nomadic lifestyle and although I now consider the Desert Southwest my home, the wandering days are not over; drawing helps me explore the world. My media is pen and ink. To me, it's all about detail and process. Drawing helps me to understand the human condition, to impose my own sort of order on chaos. Although I am not personally religious, I'm interested in religious and cultural beliefs, customs, rituals, artifacts, icons, symbols, architecture, and the ways in which religion and culture affect each other. I'm drawn to the odd, the quirky, the esoteric; to the grace and flow of textiles and garments on the human form; to the emotional and psychic elements of the human condition, as well as to the physical. My formal training is in technical drawing which, when it isn't an overt element, is a heavy influence in my work.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Ulan Aljier


Ulan Aljier, originally uploaded by Doeki.
Ulan Aljier
Best in Show, Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts, April 2012
Ink on 100% cotton rag
7" x 10"
Catherine L. Mommsen
2011

Permissioned Source Photographer: Roberta Pallazo, Flickr ID: Essenz_a
www.flickr.com/photos/essenz_a/5369969106/

Rotring 0.13 Rapidograph
Unfinished

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Leaving Cartagena


Leaving Cartagena, originally uploaded by Doeki.
Ink
5" x 7"
Catherine L. Mommsen
2010
Hannibal left Cartagena, Spain in 213 BC with 37 war elephants.
First Place, Fairfax Art League Spotlight on the Arts, 2011

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Saturday, October 31, 2009

WIP - Dressing Durer's Beast

WIP - Dressing Durer's Beast
Dressing Durer's Beast
Ink
5 x 3 in
Catherine L. Mommsen
2009

Durer created his Rhino without ever having seen one. They were novel in his time. His intended model drowned in a shipwreck before he saw it. He drew from someone else's notes. I've always loved this beast, in part because he got some of it anatomically wrong. My drawing is based on his outline.

Imaginary Places: Hulak


Imaginary Places: Hulak, originally uploaded by Doeki.

Imaginary Places: Hulak
Pen and ink
3 x 5 in (8 x 13 cm)
Catherine L. Mommsen
2009

Hulak, near the Xangu River, Brazil, 10 S 55 W. The Hula men are small, blond and wear blue silk tunics; the women are stronger and very competent in radio transmission. They have invented a deadly blue ray with which they terrify their enemies. ~The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, Compiled by Manguel and Guadalupi