A Storm of Confusion Over a Field of Uncertainty, John Thrasher, pen and ink and hide glue on paper, 22″ x 30″
Rag paper requires size for pen and ink work. After the paper is sized with hide glue, patterns are drawn within the infrastructure of a landscape sketch. The drawings are all part of a series, consistently sized and formatted, that I began in 1998. The series builds on a range of stylistic approaches to drawing in order to address profound and absurd notions of aesthetic measure.
A Storm of Confusion Over a Field of Uncertainty (detail), John Thrasher, pen and ink and hide glue on paper, 22″ x 30″
Penmanship has always been one of my interests. My dad taught me to use quill pens when I was a teen, so I’ve been attracted to the delicacy and contrast of scripted ink marks for many years. With this drawing, I use the pen to “run amok” in a linear composition that unfolded rather haphazardly, hence the title. I completed the drawing before a live audience for Eye Spy, a fundraising art jam put on by my friends at the Mansfield Art Center. To my great pleasure, one of my prize students won the piece!