Mark making, devices, movement, methods, mood, meaning

ha. perhaps it is FATE that has me rethinking, reexamining and revisiting the mark and the facilitation of its practice. perhaps. (Link to associated handouts for projects)

the mark and its exploration is not a new thing but ever beautiful and seductive.

All images are of my students' works 2007-2013

mark making isn't an exercise in scribble or field painting. instead it is an exploration in the mark, movement, method, meaning, and mood. it is about repetition and rhythm, freedom and restraint, it is about the amazing play between the occupation of space with the silence of the unoccupied. it is about the role of similarity and difference, about lulling and captivation. it mimics the breath, the dialogue. it is a way of listening. it is a translation of primal perception. it is not a damn scribbled field pinned to a wall like a child's painting or to your professor's metaphorical refrigerator. even the simplest of marks can sing of sophistication.

as our wheels roll us habitually home, our dominant hand rolls with the rhythms of writing. no cognition or recognition required, just a bundle of spacial and methodological habits. what does it take to de-rut the routine of writing in the practices of the arts, in the practice of the hand? i've found the success in at least temporarily derutting leads to an openness with other materials and methods while pursuing alternative practices.

perhaps it is not FATE that my students continuously made magnificent marks. perhaps each crew i had was a mad cluster of awesomeness. i lean toward their awesomeness.

Much of the mark making practice and the facilitations of exploration into and around i gleaned from the design professors at University of Houston ! a thousand thank yous! their design program is amazing!

Mark Making Projects have evolved from studies of hand and body movements, tools, building mark making device for mark and stand alone object, to the inclusion of story and spacial and conceptual manifestions

Projects/Practices harvested and adapted from UH design professors

1. mark making + artist book
2. mark making + device 
3. process crit guide
4. independent studies
5. mark + phrase mini posters

StoryLINE which I developed out of the concept of line, it explores sourcing of ideas, metaphorical development, creative writing, and the expression of lines in space, real or conceptual.

student storyline artifacts portfolio album

1. the story version 1
2. method for review
3. the story version 2 - rewrite
4. storyLINE ARTifact and proposal
5. pinterest album

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it is always ego nice to see systems, projects, crit and teaching practices i've developed and implemented, refined, and modeled, put into practice and promoted by other educators because they work. they do. In this case the initial explorations into the visceral mark making, movement, methods was harvested and adapted over time from my uh design professors. Thank you