Art + Exploration

Indiana outtake sketch #3: Big shout out to Southern Indiana-based artist Michele Pollock. I was quickly impressed in my first meeting with my co-artist-in-residence and housemate. She showed me sketches she had done of colorful rocks she found on the beaches. The lines, colors and textures were beautiful. Over two weeks I watched her work her fascinating artistic alchemy of reference photos, onsite sketches, Gelli printing, collage, and sewing. At the kitchen table, she listened to my doubts about the direction of my art and offered truly inspired ideas about where I can take this. I captured this sketch of her while she was embroidering.
michelepollock.com/ … See MoreSee Less

Indiana outtake sketch #2: One curious thing that quickly struck me about Indiana Dunes was its industrial context. The Port of Indiana and U.S. Steel plant man-spread across the center of the park, cleaving it in half. The east end is punctuated by this power station that sits where the huge, beloved, Hoosier Slide dune once dominated the beaches. The Ball Brothers discovered that its clean iron-rich sands could be transformed into beautiful blue glass. By the 1920 the dune, which stood taller than this smoke stack had been entirely excavated, shipped, and melted into Ball jars. I sketched this on my first trip to Mount Baldy beach but it felt more negative than I wanted. … See MoreSee Less

Indiana outtake sketch #1: Indiana Dunes NP hosted me in an airy 3 bedroom mid-century house, clad in local limestone. My base of operations hugged an edge of the park, 4 minutes from the Visitors Center. It provided the perfect base of operations. I am very grateful for the hospitality, kindness, and respect for my endeavors, shown by the park staff.

So I would have felt quite rude to post this sketch on my first day. When I first walked into the house I was greeted by this little creature on the kitchen floor. It filled the house with and elephant's worth of stank. But I am fond of the sketch. Shout out to Febreze. … See MoreSee Less

On my way home now. The Wieboldt-Rostone House was one of my last drawings in Indiana. It was constructed as part of the Homes of Tomorrow architectural exhibition for the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair and was moved to Indiana Dunes a few years later. The builder, Rostone Inc., promoted it as never needing repairs. The exterior failed in ten years and was replaced in the 1950s.

Strong winds yanked at my paper as I drew while respectable white caps and waves lined the lake. I was surprised when I arrived in Indiana Dunes to learn that there are strong rip currents here. As winds push lake water south, the resulting narrow outflow channels can drag a swimmer out as easily as they can at the Jersey Shore. Its a big lake after all. You could drop nine Delawares into this tub. … See MoreSee Less

Trudging through Indiana Dunes is like marching over a trillion tiny marbles. Over thousands of years, waves of dunes move in from Lake Michigan. As the inland ones age, they are colonized by a succession of grass, cottonwoods, and then oak forest. Despite the growth, there is always soft sand just below the layer of soil. It is exposed wherever there is an established path. I find myself doing that frustrating flat-footed waddle that east-coasters do when making our way through smaller dunes between the street and the waves.

Today I plodded nearly half a mile through the sandy stuff at Miller Beach to a lovely pond about 400 yards back from the lake before realizing I hadn't put on my bug spray. As soon as I stopped I was swarmed. There was no way to sit and draw so I drunk-toddled my way back the car to cool down, have a spray, and start over.

Miller Beach forms the east side of Gary, Indiana. Fondly known as the city that gave us the Jackson 5, it is less fondly known for rust-belt decline and poverty. The town has a 45% unemployment rate and a downtown full of abandoned buildings.

I felt none of that today. The beach was clean and the dunes felt pristine. On my do-over I chose another path that began a little farther down the beach. It led me through lovely undulating dunes like I had explored at West Beach but without another soul around all day.

I found this cute sketching spot overlooking another pond. I like this particular angle because it includes the dune cutting in from the right. You can see the sand, the marram grass and the steep angle. Across the pond you can see the older forested dune with sand poking through in places.

A trillion tiny marbles can take beautiful shapes. But I will not miss walking on them. … See MoreSee Less