Kristina Laurendi Havens

I have to share a new artist I found with you: Kristina Laurendi Havens. I was searching for examples of charcoal drawings yesterday. I know I could have pulled out my college work but they are mostly life drawings (nudes) and wouldn't be appropriate to show my students next week in the art camp. But then I found Kristina's work and I was enthralled by her line work... the values... the beautiful ways she captures the figures she's drawing. And it took me right back to those studio classes... the smell of charcoal, the hot rooms and the dust in my nose... and the ecstasy of drawing a line that was just perfect... that showed the contour perfectly of the form. That when you looked at that line, you knew it was full of life and that it came from a sense of perception that wasn't always present in the normal course of a day. And when the vine charcoal was applied in tones, it wasn't just dust on paper anymore, but flesh... soft and smooth and wrapped around the form of the skeleton to make a real person. The light, the shadows... everything just lived on the paper. I used to be so passionate about my drawing, so much that sometimes I couldn't even look at a drawing too long if it was so beautiful because it would just overwhelm me! I get like that at art museums too. I lost that feeling. Until now. I wrote Kristina and told her that I had tears in my eyes this morning as I was driving to my studio... I felt that passion... that need to draw again! It doesn't matter if there's no reason for it... no function it serves... I just NEED to draw. Really draw. And I guess I'm at that age where I don't feel like I need to justify why anymore... I don't have to explain. It's who I am.

If you get a chance, look through Kristina's work. She also sells prints on etsy. I just bought the above print because I want to remember the moment when I saw it and I realized that I was missing what fills my soul with purpose and happiness... drawing. Gorgeous. It's gorgeous Kristina!