Jul

Touched by Judith Braun’s Finger Drawings

by Janine Boylan on July 29, 2013

Judith Braun showing the creative process of finger drawing

A fingering in progress
© Cesar Delgado Wixan

The Creative Process Behind Braun’s Abstract Symmetry

To put it simply, Judith Braun finger paints.

But her work deserves a much clearer explanation.

Judith Braun finger draws.

And she uses her whole body as she draws. She dips her fingers in ground graphite and reaches to strategically smudge perfect black marks that fade to gray. She nimbly dips and smudges until a blank space is transformed with meaningful symmetrical shapes.

Wiggling the graphite-covered middle digit on her right hand, Braun describes her creative process as she discusses her mural “Graphite”: “This piece is using this finger, obviously. It’s a very specific finger!”

She wiggles her left hand and continues, “I can switch to this hand if I’m on an abrasive wall if I needed to, but I’ll still go to that finger. They’re not just random. Every finger is really different and very specific. The pressure is very specific.”

Watch as she sweeps pattern and shadow onto a wall to create her mural “Diamond Dust” at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

The Rules

Sixty-six-year-old Braun is a life-long artist. As Judith Weinperson, she had a blossoming art career with edgy pieces that were featured in prominent New York exhibits. Then a series of life events, including a divorce, temporarily nudged her from the art scene.

In 2003, she realized she needed to switch her focus back to where she belonged: art.

Braun shares how big that decision was. “My one priority would be to make art and show it. That was the goal, to show one more time. This may sound simple, but at 56 years old it was a huge challenge for me to try to re-enter the ever-youthful art world. To start with, I had to make a whole new body of work, but I’d also have to make all new friends!”

And during her reacquaintance with the art world, she established three rules for her new body of work:

graphite or charcoal
abstraction
symmetry.

“With these simple rules,” Braun explains, “there are endless possibilities, and therefore endless, endless surprises.”

finger drawing by Judith Braun, showing her creative process

F-R-1-1
Drawn on paper with fingers dipped in charcoal, 18″ x 25″, 2012
© Judith Braun

Carbon

Why the carbon-based medium? Braun clarifies, “I like the black and white. I like the fact that it is just black and white, and yet there are infinite possibilities. . .”

She also appreciates the carbon structure, which, under the right conditions can become a diamond. So she refers to the black powder as “diamond dust.”

As she illustrates in this video, Braun grinds graphite in a coffee grinder and then uses the fine powder as her “paint.”

finger drawing showing Judith Braun's creative process

Fingering #10
Drawn on wall with fingers dipped in charcoal, 10′ x 12′, 2012
“Pressing Matter,” 3 person show at Parallel Art Space, NYC
© Judith Braun

Symmetry and Abstraction

Braun explains her interest in symmetry: “Symmetry is the most ubiquitous form in the universe.” She continues, “When I put abstraction and symmetry together they offered a way to tap into this underlying function of the universe. Random possibilities become probabilities, carefully realized drawings. There is no end to the possibilities to choose from.”

Graphite finger drawing by Judith Braun showing her creative process

Graphite
Drawn with fingers dipped in graphite and charcoal on two walls 20′ x 17′ each,
December 9, 2012–June 2, 2013
Indianapolis Museum of Art
© Judith Braun

The Woman Behind the Carbon

In 2010, Braun made a video to celebrate her birthday. In it she explains, “This past year I was on the reality TV show, ‘Work of Art.’ I, of course, was cast as the older artist, which I knew, expected.”

Braun continues, “I didn’t know I was being cast as the crazy, older woman. So I am crazy and older. Actually I find them both to be quite honorable identities.”

You can watch the video she submitted to audition for the show here.

A More Serious Side

In 2012, during preparations for the “Graphite” mural, Braun learned she had breast cancer.

Her symmetrical, abstract art requires careful planning. Following her normal creative process, Braun had created meticulous guidelines for this mural by getting photos of the space and working through the piece, detail by detail.

The shocking news inspired her to abandon her prepared plans.

“I kept thinking some day I’ll do one where I don’t plan it. This is the time,” Braun shares. “I find out I have cancer. That wasn’t planned. So I thought, ‘Let me just go for it this time.'”

finger drawing showing creative process of Judith Braun

Day 7 of work on “Graphite”
Indianapolis Museum of Art, December 9, 2012-June 2, 2013
© Judith Braun

After completing the mural, Braun returned home for a double mastectomy. But first, in typical Braun style, she invited friends to a goodbye party for her breasts.

Oh, I See

Judith Braun’s creative process, one that uses just her fingers to turn black dust into detailed landscapes and geometric forms full of movement, is impressive.

But, behind that art, Oh, I see a woman with a rock-hard confident individuality and laser-clear direction, garnished with a colorful, twinkling humor. I am inspired!

And Judith Braun has obviously benefitted from her “Oh, I see” moments along the way. She says:

“There’s a lot of suffering in the world. I understand that. I’m suffering, but you get to that point—it’s a philosophical thing—you choose to celebrate and be thankful for what you have in the universe. That’s the way it is. You have to look at what is working.”

You can view and buy Braun’s work on her Web site.

And click here for a virtual showing of her solo exhibition at Joe Sheftel Gallery in New York.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan Comments

The World's Art & Design

Jul

Finding Creative Inspiration (Part 2)

by Meredith Mullins on July 25, 2013

Black girl in jungle pool, creative inspiration from Ruud Van Empel

Straight from the photographer’s imagination: World 26
© Ruud Van Empel

Diving Headfirst into the Creativity Pool

What exactly is creative inspiration . . . and how can I get some?

Meredith Mullins Comments

Literary World/The World's Art & Design

Jul

The Cat’s Out of the Bag: Some Interesting Cat Facts

by Janine Boylan on July 22, 2013

illustrating a sense of curiosity about recent cat research

You want facts? Whatever it was, I didn’t do it.
© Thinkstock

A Sense of Curiosity About the Facts

Cats. People tend to have a lot of opinions about them.

So my sense of curiosity took over: How do the facts about domestic cats stack up to what we think we know? I tackled some recent cat research to find out, and the interesting cat facts provided many “Oh, I see” moments!

Cats vs. Dogs

Cats are the most popular pets. Or are they?

The U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook states that there were more than 74 million pet cats in the United States in 2012 and just under 70 million pet dogs.

So the cats win!

BUT 36.5 percent of U.S. households own dogs, while just 30.4 percent own cats.

The average number of dogs per owner is 1.6; the average number of cats per owner is 2.1.

I think we can call the popularity contest a draw . . .

Cats Are Hunters

We know cats hunt. They remind us of this by lovingly leaving dead lizards or mice for us to step on.

hunting cat, showing a sense of curiosity about recent cat research

The University of Georgia and National Geographic collaborated on a study of what cats do in the great outdoors. They fixed tiny cameras, called “kitty cams,” to the feline collars and let the cameras roll.

Just 44% of the cats in the study killed prey. And the hunting felines averaged two captures during seven days outside.

The study revealed that, contrary to popular opinion, these cats did not capture many birds. Most of their victims were lizards, small mammals, and insects.

The researchers—and most lizards, small mammals, and insects—recommend keeping cats indoors to minimize the hunting.

Cats Like to Roam

Outdoor cats seem to wander for miles. Or do they?

The BBC and the Royal Veterinary College in England joined forces for some recent cat research. Like the Georgia study, this British team used small cameras on cats’ collars to reveal what the felines do during the day.

While the study collected footage of cats stalking prey, defending their territories, and getting out of laundry hampers, GPS trackers in the collars tracked how far cats roamed.

cat chasing off another cat, illustrating a sense of curiosity about recent cat research

Researchers found that different cats had a variety of habits—some roamed with clear intention clear across town or deep into the woods; some went no farther than their own yards.

Use this interactive feature to see the roaming maps and videos of some of the British cats. For more interesting cat facts, view the BBC documentary about the research here.

Cats Cheat!

When your cat disappears for a day or so and then casually returns and turns up his nose at dinner, it’s easy to suspect that he has a hidden life—perhaps another family to feed him.

Both of the cat-camera-research teams confirmed this scandalous truth. Four of the cats in the “kitty cam” study actually had adopted a second family to love and feed them.

Cats in the British study would regularly crawl through their neighbors’ cat doors and consume food.

The BBC study also revealed another surprise. One sly feral cat would come into a home for several hours at a time to lounge and consume food without the homeowner’s knowledge!

cat food ad, illustrating a sense of curiosity about recent cat research

Cats Rule the Internet

One thing is for sure, cats (or kitteh) rule the Internet.

Ben Huh, creator of the I Can Has Cheezburger network, declares, “We have created weapons of mass cuteness. We’ve been doing it for 10,000 years and everybody’s surprised: ‘Oh my god I can’t believe we love cats!’ We biologically engineer them to be the object of our affections.”

OK, ok. But give me the facts.

Huh reports that people submit ten times as many cat images to his site than dog images.

Blogger Arron Santos devoted a post to calculating the number of cat images on the Internet. He determined there are between 1.5 x 10⁷and 2.5 x 10¹¹images of cats online. Since he did this calculation a few years ago, the number has surely gone up.

Cats, showing a sense of curiosity about recent cat research

Perhaps one of the obvious signs that cats rule the Web is the fact that there is now an Internet Cat Video Festival.

Henri, Le Chat Noir (played by Henry with voice by creator Will Braden) won the People’s Choice Golden Kitty award there for his video.