My OPEN ACCESS Challenge - Off the Wall Friday

Let me just tell you ....  don't start browsing  a museum's open access collection unless you pack a lunch!!!  After many....many....many hours, I finally decided on a piece by the Expressionist Emil Nolde (1876-1956).  I was first introduced to the art of Nolde when I saw the amazing exhibition Monet to Matisse: Painting the Modern Garden.  When I saw his pieces in the exhibit, I was so struck by the use of bold color it made me gasp!

That's why it surprised to find out that he was an accomplished print maker.....yes prints that were just black and white.  Once I started browsing them, it made me think, WOW what would be like in color....and then it went onto many other "What If" questions!!

So I picked a print to play with .....Tanzerinnen (Dancers), 1917.

The description from CMA says

These two swooning female dancers in long, elegant robes express themselves in dramatic but graceful curves, which are matched by Nolde’s vigorous gouging of the block. He combined a richly inked block with embossing, created by printing the block without ink (especially evident on the dancers’ white dresses). Throughout his career, Nolde returned to the theme of the dancer as the embodiment of freedom and expressivity. He knew several renowned avant-garde dancers whose form of modern dance involved elemental poses and free movements, often accompanied only by a drumbeat.

Of course, I'm intrigued by dancers too for pretty much the same reason Nolde was .... the curves of the body, the natural rhythm they bring to a piece ....the freedom the spirit.

So tomorrow on my Creative Day off, I'm going to attempt my first original piece in FOREVER!!  So excited!!  I'm going to use Nolde's print as a jumping point and see where it takes me.  I can tell you right now....it WON'T be black and white!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?