Norma-Jean Bothmer

Statement

                       

 

 

Things around me get into my work. In my studio shelves are filled with dolls and stuffed animals. Several are of Winnie the Pooh Bear who continues to be the subject my drawings. I keep using him over and over and I don’t seem to tire.  Perhaps it is because Pooh Bear is so playful, uplifting and an icon of childhood which is why I love to transform him into my own language. Whatever the reason, I cannot shake him from my work. Between reality and magic: that is what I want to achieve. To transpose the bear into an emblem. Materials: ball point pen on heavy paper (300 pound cold press). Blue, green, or purple are the optimum colors, because they have the widest range of modulation and the highest degree of saturation. When I am working small (24 x 24 inches), I prefer to work in series. In repetition. By making a grid of several drawings, the images become glyphs and interact with each other.

My goal is primarily formal. I begin by drawing what I see and when the object loses itself and becomes mine, then it becomes interesting. Pooh becomes less of a drawing about him and more of an idea about him. It cannot be literal.