I first saw this photo of a hot air ballon on its side in a New Yorker article about S.A. Andrée’s arctic expedition to the North Pole in 1897. He and his crew died but in 1930 the film was found.
It’s been pinned to my wall since 2010, so even though I’ve indirectly riffed on these forms for a while now, this week I finally made some drawings directly based on it.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.studioell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-27_DUNNstudio02.jpg?resize=940%2C706&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.studioell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-27_DUNNstudio03.jpg?resize=940%2C704&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.studioell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-27_DUNNstudio04.jpg?resize=940%2C745&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.studioell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-27_DUNNstudio05.jpg?resize=940%2C712&ssl=1)
Today is my last @HOME Residency post.
Locking into this rhythm each week was a good reminder that I indeed have a rhythm. I didn’t realize when I started how the steadying effect of consistent observation would open so many new doors in my thinking. More importantly, I was surprised how much I actually needed to attend to the quality of my thinking – to make time for reflection and response rather than reaction.
Thank you for the gift of time and space, studioELL, particularly during this current phase of digging around in the dirt and planting seeds.
And thank you to anyone who visited and spent time in my world for a bit.
Here in the corner of my studio is a collection of some of what I’ve made so far this year. Soon I’ll take them down and start the process of repetition, focusing on one, making various iterations, painting and then drawing it some more as it shape shifts into something else.
xo Melissa
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.studioell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-27_DUNNstudio06.jpg?resize=940%2C705&ssl=1)