Ink Drawings from a time of transition

Fran Bull

Liza Myers Gallery Brandon, VT

I made these drawings at breakneck speed, one after another, for a
period of about 4 years starting in the late 80’s. After a long phase
making very exacting, photo-derived painting, I felt a need to explore
my own psyche and the Pandora’s box of my imagination, to see

what lurked there.

The rule I set for myself, as I began, was: no judging, no second-
guessing. I obeyed the faintest impulses as I splashed around with
pen and ink. No erasing allowed, (nor possible). The aim was just to

accept and examine whatever appeared.

I was greatly encouraged and supported by my Jungian therapist,
who valued the fragments that emerged, and with whom I was able to
“investigate” the imagery. In this way, I gained an abiding confidence
in the ability to make pictures of scenarios from the inner landscape!
The art I make today has developed from this very healing and

seminal time.

I have held these drawings as somehow private, maybe even sacred
and for this reason I have never exhibited them, although in 1990
they provided the visual component of an award-winning book
Mordant Rhymes for Modern Times by poet Ann Salwey.
When Liza Myers proposed a show at her gallery, I mentioned the
existence of these drawings. With her customary insight and
enthusiasm, Liza pored over a tall stack of them and chose the works
exhibited here. I am grateful to Liza for her exuberance and for
bringing this exhibition to fruition. And, thanks to Jim Germand for his

wonderful framing.
Fran Bull
Brandon, November ‘08