Field Notes: Mike & Laura Bartunek
June 2020: Week 2
Architects and visual artists Mike and Laura Bartunek (who are also father and daughter) continue their conversations about creativity, inspiration and their Week 2 experiences at Bloedel Reserve during the month of June.
Day 8
Laura: I’m zooming out this week… last week was all about detail. Now I want to take that concept of a botanical study and apply it to a few spaces in the Bloedel…
Mike: This week I want to see if the style of my drawing’s changes. And I’m going to switch to oil…
Laura: Why oil?
Mike: I have this desire to work on canvas. I haven’t touched canvas in ages. And oils feel like richer medium. A chance to work on blending and see where that goes…
Laura: It feels as though the first week was about familiarizing ourselves with the Bloedel – loosening up one’s hand by throwing oneself into drawing. Now I can’t help but think that we are both going to get caught up in technique this week. Personally I want to really understand how to draw nature my own way…..and figure out what the final product will be of these three weeks.
Day 9
Laura: My drawings were poor today……I did an aerial of the entry meadow. I was trying to articulate it as a room surrounded by a wall of trees… I went walking thru it after the rainstorm. It was an incredible experience. The air was quiet and warm. And there was mist coming off the mulch paths and the barns (as though they were on fire). And that border of trees was still somehow raining – they caught rain falling from the branches. It created a periphery of sound. I wanted to capture that experience – that curiosity – in the drawing. But I struggled.
Mike: I like your idea of somehow creating a narrative with your drawings and it reminds me of leitmotifs in music. I think that’s what it’s called — leitmotif – the music or tune associated with a character. Your drawings should have leitmotifs – because they are visual stories – and you should understand the characters you are working with as you move through your series of drawings.
Day 10
Mike: Today I did an oil painting. Starting on another one tomorrow. The reflection is still too tight. I want it to be more abstract. But the advantage of working in this medium is that it gives you more flexibility to explore – to scrap [sic] away and start again and again. Watercolor isn’t as forgiving. A watercolor you have to see thru to its end. No going back…..but sometimes that’s a good thing.
Day 11
Laura: I’m still trying to learn how to articulate grass… I struggle with overworking… but I like looking at something seemingly mundane and illustrating its wonderful textures and diversity. It’s fun to focus on the mundane. To draw the things that no one else notices or thinks important. It forces people to rethink what they are seeing and what they give value to…
Mike: I’m still caught up in the harsh line that separates reflection from reality. (Perhaps I need another beer.) But the reflections are starting to change… they become more abstract as you go deeper into the painting
Day 12
Laura: Yes, we definitely got caught up in technique this week. But now I have a better sense of what I want to pursue. Next week my goal will be to create a series of landscape axons that read as a walk-through the Bloedel. Each axon will tell the story of a curio –- a detail, a moment — I found to be unique within the garden. Garden Curios. I like to have a title I can work towards. And you? What does next week have in store?
Mike: I’m going back to the Bloedel each day at sunrise and sunset. It’s poignant that our last day will be Summer Solstice. The longest day of the year. I think all of this has been about time – that is, this desire to paint reflection. Time spent in this garden to think about my past – past work – past memories. I want to take advantage of time – to use it, to work it into the canvas.
