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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.

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

Imaginary Places: Hulak Minor


Imaginary Places: Hulak Minor, originally uploaded by Doeki.

Imaginary Places: Hulak Minor
Pen and ink
2 x 3
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