Week #14, Winsor Wirebound Sketch Book I

Dusti Bongé, Winsor Wirebound Sketch Book, p.1, c. 1980 pastel on paper, 8 ¾” x 6”.

In line with our Thinking in Color series, this month we will look at some of Dusti Bongé’s colorful sketches. This set is from a sketchbook she used during the same later period that she did a lot of her smaller color works that are now on display here at the Foundation.

This spiral bound sketch book originally contained 30 sheets of “heavy weight all-purpose drawing paper.” At this point thirteen (13) sheets remain. containing pen & ink drawings, and pastel and watercolor studies. We will look at the latter.

This pastel work from the first page is the brightest of them all. The hues that first catch your eye are the lavender figures against the mostly green and brown ground. Loosely centered on the page, the wedge-shaped purple forms are positioned with their narrow ends at the bottom close together, and their wider sides further apart at the top. This creates a dynamic sense of opening up. A bright patch of orange, off-center and at the base of the purple shapes, anchors them on the page.

Dusti takes full advantage of this compositional set-up by introducing a few accent colors into the center of the configuration. Black, orange, and blue marks shoot out from the base, emphasizing the rift between the two wedges. But black and blue also edge the left side of the left wedge, suggesting these dark marks could be shadows cast by the main two forms. Several small red spots are scattered about throughout the composition. And finally, there are some bright yellow areas at the edges of the green, applied in a balanced way along the top left and bottom right. Overall, despite its small size, this work exudes abstract expressionist vibes.