Back in the Studio, Making New Work

8/31/2021

Chiaroscuro photograph of a fair-skinned woman lit from below,. She's wearing a loose, draping head scarf or cowl, has long dark hair. The image is distressed and almost black and white. © Kim-Lee Kho 2021

A draft image from my new 'Sackcloth and Ashes' series.

It is such a relief to finally be back in my studio making new work – and back on my blog too!

If you are a subscriber to my email Updates, you will know I've had a very difficult year, including the loss of my father, so in 2021 I scaled way back on my teaching as well as my studio work.

Going through all the emotions and challenges of the year made me need my studio even more though, just when I couldn't do it, so now there is a lot of pent-up work to get out!

In the image above I was playing around with a photo from my brand-new Sackcloth and Ashes series of self-portraits, playing with the Victorian Gothic or film noir feeling.

Artists need to be making and doing art things to be in balance (this one certainly does!), but life does not always cooperate. When that's the case it's important to even just jot down ideas in a notebook, in words or scribbles, and get back to even tiny doses as soon as you can. Don't discount ten minutes of art – it makes a difference!

Please let me know your thoughts, or just say hi, in the comments below :-)

2 Comments

Kal link

9/1/2021 09:24:27 am

This has an amazingly timeless feel to it: it could be 11th century, 19th, or today. And I love the under-lighting -- feels like a candle or campfire...

Kim-Lee Kho

11/16/2021 02:55:34 pm

Thanks Kal, I love that timelessness too. I was curious to see what that lighting angle would do and it struck me as an interesting effect. I'm glad you felt it was effective too :-)