Contemporary Drawings
by Michelle Flanagan

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[Drawings]

::Expressive

-- Tondos >

1. Grace
2. Summer...
3. Blue 31.5
4. S.A.D.
5. Unfinished

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::Realistic

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::'Flamingos!'

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Tondos (2003) Thumbnail Page

A tondo is a small round picture in a frame or without it. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round," being an abbreviated form.¹

Self-portrait round format or tondo drawing, 'Grace', 2003; oil on paper. Contemporary drawing with X-Files text, 'Summer's Coming', 2003; oil on paper.
Realistic portrait, 'Blue 31.5', 2003; oil on paper. 1pm. summer
4pm. s.a.d.
6pm. unfinished
8pm. blue 31.5
11am. grace		 Expressive, figurative drawing, 'S.A.D.' (Social Anxiety Disorder), 2003; oil on paper.
Circular format drawing, 'Unfinished', 2003; oil on paper.

Throughout the body of my artwork, the stylistic changes have come automatic. Once a look, or a style has run its course, I'm ready to move on. My artwork from 2002-3 was mainly about re-familiarizing myself with materials. It was a period of tuning-up. The work was about making art just to see if I could after living through some 'turbubulent' years dominated by chaos and confusion, both physically and mentally. By early 2003, I felt like my compositions had become too determined by the square or rectangle format. So, I changed the shape of my drawings from square to round. I was first inspired by a cute circular picture frame that I found and then I remembered the famous tondos, or round format, madonna paintings of Boticcelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The inspiration was refreshing and I believe this was translated in the resulting artwork. My 'contemporary' tondos were a rejuvenating force that marked an important point on both a personal and a professional level. Most fundamental was that they reminded me of the satisfaction and fulfillment that can be realized through the act of creation. They are expressive self-portraits with characteristic areas of realism combined with areas of flat or patterned surfaces.