On Display: Look what Robert Dorr can do in 60 minutes

By Insider Staff - Apr 3, 2018 | 0 comments

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Artist Robert Dorr has an exhibit, The Daily Sketch, currently on display in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House through April 30. Dorr, who has a studio at Kimball Jenkins, uses 60-minute daily sketches as a way to explore and capture an idea, an image or a technique. Here are some examples of his sketches. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff

Robert Dorr is pretty well-known in these parts for his embroidered jewelry work.

He’s a juried member of the League of N.H. Craftsmen and has a studio at Kimball Jenkins Estate. But what you may not know about Dorr is that for the first 60 minutes of each day (at least most days), he sketches. He turns on the coffee pot, puts on some music and pulls up an inspirational image that will help develop each sketch.

He likes to start with a layer of chalk pastel. Once that’s down, he puts in the large details and seals it with clear gesso. From there it’s mostly watercolor and gouache and more layers of gloss varnish to separate the layers.

He began the exercise last January as a logical extension of his embroidery. Dorr needed a way to capture ideas out of images he found online – not to copy them but to extract what would be useful for embroidery designs.

Somewhere around 20 minutes in, he stops responding to the initial image and begins working with what’s down on the paper. That’s when things get really interesting.

Over that last year-plus, he’s generated quite the selection of work (some of which you see to your right) that is now hanging in the Kimball Jenkins Carriage House.

The exhibit is called “The Daily Sketch,” and it features dozens of these works where Dorr strictly adheres to the one-hour limit. As you can see, no two are the same. And you should really go see the rest of them, too.

The exhibit will be up through April 30 with a reception on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.