Perennial Persistence - The Rites of Spring

After a long and sometimes boring winter, the hint of Spring gives us renewed energy (or at least that's what is supposed to happen - right?). A couple of weeks ago, I ventured down to Georgian Bay and climbed around on the rocks to take some photos of the Bay finally getting rid of the last vestiges of ice. Seasonal residents look forward to this time as they open their cottages for the summer season. I decided to paint the Bay in it's transition to Spring. It is pictured here and is entitled "Almost Spring".

Spring brings with it the chores of cleaning up outdoors. As I look out this morning, the garden calls me. The incredible perennials are poking through the carnage left from winter no doubt wondering when I'll get out there and help them out. What is most amazing is that no matter what I do or more importantly what I DON'T do, these little plants seem to soldier on, appearing like magic every April. I guess the least I can do is clear away some of the debris to make their job easier.

Bigger Not Necessarily Better

After reading this morning's Toronto Star and thinking about the Census results, one asks the question is bigger necessarily better both in life and in art? One one hand, for example, the City of Milton has grown so much since the last Census that long-time residents hardly recognize it. The simple convenience of grocery shopping has become a once a week journey on a bus to the "outskirts" instead of the leisurly walk to the one-time downtown grocery store. Some may call this progress, I'm not sure that progress is a good thing in this case. It is happening to small towns all over Canada - for better or for worse.

Such too is the case with much of the new art being produced. As an artist, do we produce a piece large enough to cover the walls in a monster-sized home or Condo, or do we produce art for art's sake and paint what we paint best? Much of the new art today is painted for the marketplace - by necessity in many cases. If you want to take that shuttle for groceries, you have to sell your art. Pictured here is the smallest of my pieces to date. I have a canvas 60 x 60 staring at me, beckoning me to deal with it's vast whiteness. I may just paint on it for the sheer joy of painting - if it sells, that's a bonus.

A Work in Progress

At a recent workshop, I learned about mixed media painting. Here is the work in progress from that workshop. On it I used watercolour, liquid acrylic, saran wrap, waxed paper, watercolour inks and cheesecloth. Sounds like kitchen sink stew. The beauty of abstract is that the viewer interprets what is there, not the artist. That could be why many artists prefer title their works "untitled". This allows the viewer to impose an interpretation of their own. Art reflects life in many ways. Our memories often tend to focus on the good things that have happened to us much like the viewfinder the artist uses. If there is a portion of the painting that doesn't quite work, I amend it by removing that part of the painting. Who knows how this one will end up. You are seeing it exactly as I brought it home from the workshop. Stay tuned for the finished product.

Lifelong Learning

While attending one of my first weekend painting workshops, my friend and I made an observation. Forget the "Fountain of Youth", just continue painting. We met hundreds of artists, many of whom were so excited by their work that they had trouble finding enough time in the day to bring to fruition the new ideas they had. Guessing one's age is a risky business at best but we were mentally guessing many of these artists were in their late fifties, early sixties until one woman proudly announced she had just celebrated her 87th birthday!

There is something to be said for getting up in the morning, looking forward to creating something new. It exercises the mind and the body but most of all it enriches the spirit. Trying something you have never tried before holds a special sense of adventure. (Like when I bought roller-blades for myself when I turned 50).

When I look at the evolution of my painting, I realize that I really haven't developed a distinctive style nor have I limited myself to one type of painting or medium. Instead, I continue to be eclectic and experimental and I have no plans to change, even when I'm 87!

This weekend I will attend a mixed media workshop with a new group of budding artists. Who knows what new adventures I'll have?

Phat Tuesday

In my search for something new and innovative to paint/create/produce, I came across the fact that it was "Phat Tuesday" last week. Never having been to New Orleans, I've never experienced the celebration called Mardi Gras. I had planned a trip with some friends before the devastation of Katrina but we had put it off for another year or so. Unfortunately, we'll never see the New Orleans that was.

I've always been fascinated by the masks worn in the parade and I decided to incorporate them into a piece of art. Like most of my pieces, just the shred of an idea is the beginning point and then the piece takes shape from there. Since I'm experimenting with Mixed Media, I will continue to try different photo transfer techniques as well as collage.

Maybe in my meanderings, I'll uncover some of the magic that is Mardi Gras.

Art and Literature Interconnected

Travel and art and literature can connect in unexpected ways. I travelled to Havana a couple of years ago. While there, I took pictures of some of the historic buildings like this one I painted of the Cathedral of Havana. I also visited the Bodeguita del Medio, the old hangout where Ernest Hemmingway drank many a mojito. Little did I know that I would stumble upon a book of historical fiction, The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons. I have not finished the book but it tells about Hemingway during the early 1940's in Havana when he decided to do some counterespionage work for the U.S. government. Through reading this book, I've discovered the existence of Camp X which was at one time located on a farm between Whitby and Oshawa, Ontario. This was a place set up by MI6 (Great Britain) to train spies and both Canada and the U.S. sent people there for training. Ian Fleming (author of the James Bond series) was heavily involved as well.

If I had not taken such a liking to the history and architecture of this wonderful city, I would never have picked up this book and I would never have done a painting that will forever renew the memories of my walk in that Havana square.

Memories in the Snow

This past weekend we had a visit from our grandchildren. What was once pristine snow untouched by human hands and feet is now (as you can see) full of little footprints and intentions. I can see the place where my grandson started building a snow fort on our deck and the place where our granddaughter was valiantly trying to catch up to her brother in our front garden. No longer are the drifts undulating. Now, they are full of huge chunks of possibility. I went out to get our newspaper this morning, and I was able to re-live the wonderful memories of a winter weekend filled with tobogganing, skating and ice-fishing.

Transitions - Photograph to Painting

It's Valentine's Day and what better day than this to turn our thoughts to Spring and to the beautiful flowers that appear? This is a painting of our local B&B which of course is covered with snow right now. Living in this part of the country, we are treated to the wonders of each season as it unfolds with an endless array of raw material both for painting and for photography. Here is an example of the transition between a photograph as it becomes a painting. Artistic licence gives us the opportunity to embellish where we see fit. The camera helps us to see the mechanical delineation of the architecture while the artist's eye interprets it through the stroke of the brush. This was not a commission but rather a painting done because of the love of the subject matter. Who wouldn't want to visit this garden!

Enlargements and Resolution

These pearls originated in China. The photograph was taken using a macro. In my Photoshop instruction book, it tells how to enlarge to poster size without destroying the clarity of the image. I have yet to test this with an actual print but my plan is to send it through to Shutterfly to see if this works. Using my old (2.0 megapixel) camera, the site would not accept a picture to be enlarged claiming the resolution was not good enough. I then print a thumbnail of the photo, scanned it at high resolution and sent it back. They accepted it and the 30 x 40 inch result was quite acceptable. We'll see how the pearls stack up.

Metamorphosis

The journey continues. Here is the state of my mixed media piece. On the left is a photo taken without the overhead light and without a flash. On the right, light from outside is shining on the piece. Metallic and interference paints have been used in combination with colours coaxed by various instruments (including fingers), I've added some garnet gel medium (extra course) for more dimensionality. I still need to add the finishing varnish. I'm not yet sure what that will do to the luminosity but it will be fun to find out. Stay tuned.

Towards Introspection - A Work-in-Progress

Why is it that when we visit a gallery and look at an abstract piece we hear comments like "I could do that!" and "It looks like a five-year old did it!" or "What the h--- IS it?" I guess it's because we really don't understand either the process or the product. In the latest edition of Watercolor Magic (April 2007)in an article by Caroline Purtell, Elaine Daily-Birnbaum says she "leans toward abstract at this point in her art life because of it's subtleness, its ambiguity and its highly personal nature". She says, "It's not 'in your face'; it requires some thought, some rumination; it encourages introspection."

It is true that with an abstract piece, it finds its own way. The artists adds, subtracts, manipulates and agonizes over which direction to take next. When painting a basic landscape, it is evident which direction to take and what steps need to be taken to achieve the finished product. This is not so evident with an abstract.

Pictured here is my latest abstract - in progress. Who knows what will come next?

The Nuances of Snow

What colour is snow... or is a combination of all colours, which many say is the true definition of white? When it is photographed like these taken in the early morning as the sun makes an appearance, so many colours show themselves. Does the camera actually break down this combination? Snow creates its own art and to an artist trying to duplicate the effect, it is a daunting task.

My camera has a "snow" setting so when the photo is taken, the camera is supposed to take away the overexposure related to reflections from such a bright surface. More experience with the camera will prove that premise. In the meantime, the sight of snow clinging to the railing on the deck is truly a magical sight. Can any artist truly duplicate that? It is highly unlikely.

PhotoTransfer

From the same book (The New Acrylics) mentioned in the previous post comes the technique for Photo Transfer. My plan is to combine it with painting/collage/mixed media. I am using this photo along with a couple of others to try out the technique. Friday seems like a good day to experiment.

Acrylic Mediums - Friend or Foe?

This painting entitled "Russet Reflections", was my first foray into the world of acrylic mediums. It's a world where almost anything can happen and usually does. A while back, I came across an excellent book The New Acrylics by Rheni Tauchid. (She lives in Kingston, Ontario) In this book, the author/artist introduces us to not only the improvements in acrylics but to the world of acrylic mediums. These are the white jars and bottles you buy at the art store because it seems like the right thing to do. Everyone is raving about them but when you get them home, you have no clue what to do with them. Some are gel, some are more liquid, some are paste and yet others contain small pebbles and glass beads. In the painting pictured here, the pebbles are part of the shoreline and the glass beads catch the light on top of the water. Gloss medium helps to give the water a "wet" look. I am now working on a completely abstract piece where I can truly experiment. If nothing else it is relief from the tedium of a Northern Winter.

Back Away from the Painting !

The process of painting envelopes a mystery all it's own. In many fields of endeavour there is a clear beginning point and a clear end point where the project can be declared finished. Art is not an exact science. Even the depiction of something as defined as architecture gives the artist pause for thought. Is the wall aged enough? Is the atmosphere what I wanted to achieve? It becomes even more difficult to make that decision when the piece is not something immediately recognizable. When do you stop? When is it really finished? This is a question that haunts all artists. The best advice I have received is the stop before you think you're finished then you don't run the risk of overdoing some of the elements. The other piece of advice is to put the piece away for a while then look at it with "fresh eyes". There really is no definitive solution.

Blurred Lines - Art vs. Photography

Is it art or is it photography? Where do you draw the line? This photo of glasses in the sun was taken to capture the light, colour, reflections and shadows of fairly ordinary objects made beautiful by their juxtaposition. These photographs have not been retouched.

The definition of art certainly can take as many forms as there are people defining it. With Photoshop and other digital manipulation available to the amateur on home computers the assumption is that no photography is pure any more. If it is an amazing photo, the general public is never sure whether it started out amazing or became amazing through the magic of manipulation. The question is - does it really matter? To the purist it certainly does, but to those of us who are artists and who take delight in the creative process, digital manipulation is one more tool through which an image can be enhanced - a digital paint brush of sorts. Other programs such as Corel Paint take this a step farther where the use of the paintbrush is taken to new levels both as an original piece of art or in combination with photography. The line blurs as technology takes creativity in new directions.

Inspiration and the Blank Canvas

Approaching a new painting is both exciting and frightening. That first stroke of colour seems to take so long to materialize. Most of the work takes place before even beginning with the paint or art materials. It involves searching for that ever-illusive inspiration - lying awake at night because you've come up with something that "might" work - reading through a pile of art magazines or researching in those art books that have never been fully explored.

Because of my eclectic approach to my work, this state of flux is a way of life for me. I don't always do landscapes or portraits or vases of flowers. People ask, "What do you paint?". The answer is never simple because I do not feel I can settle into just one thing. I hope I never do. Experimentation is what keeps me going in new directions and that will keep my work fresh and original.

Mixed Media

A few days ago, I said I was going to try a mixed media piece. Here is a photo of the "practice piece". I will now try a larger one. This was done using acrylic medium, old sewing patterns and metalic and interference paint. The base is an old watercolour painting - you know, the ones you'd rather not display?

To paint or not to paint, that is the question...

Motivation takes many forms. When a commission is due, I paint because someone is counting on me to deliver the finished product. When I am working on a gift for a family member, the motivation to paint comes from a different place - a place that involves emotion. When shows or exhibits are coming up, paintings need to be completed and prepared for public consumption.

What about painting for the sake of just painting? Very often this involves lots of experimentation with new materials, new ideas. Some of the very best work comes from this type of motivation. It has a sense of the spontaneous, a freshness.

Since before the holidays, I have not painted for paintings sake - nor have I painted at all! Who knows why? I guess I just needed to take a break - do some photography for a while. I now feel like I can move on and get my hands smeared with those wonderful colours again.

Digital Darkroom

Digital Darkroom
I recently purchased a Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera. To help me learn how to use the camera and to process the results, I also purchased Photoshop Elements 4. I found The Photoshop Elements 4 Book by Scott Kelby to be a wonderful resource in my journey through the digital maze. This book takes you step-by-step through all the tools offered by this program and it provides photos for each step. Trust me, if I can do it anyone can! A student at Ryerson in the photography program also mentioned a FREE download from Adobe Labs - Photoshop Lightroom. I've tried it and it seems to do the job from colour correction to true black and white photos using levels, not just desaturating. This is available for only a limited time but it's worth checking out.

Mixed Media \ Collage
I've decided to do some experimenting with my Acrylic mediums and paints. I found some old sewing patterns and am going to try using the tissue as a ground for painting and collage. The colour is right and the print adds a different dimension. I'll post a picture after I get started.

Marketing and Exhibiting Paintings

On Friday night the Member's Exhibit opened in Parry Sound, Ontario. The gallery is the old Train Station. It isn't until you see a collection of the works produced by the many artists in this part of the Province that one realizes how much talent is right here at home. Marketing that talent continues to baffle most artists, especially those of us in regions away from the major centres. Contacting and finding gallery representation is a mystery to most of us. Any ideas?

This is the painting I have on exhibit at this show.

Snowy Beginnings

Welcome! You are among the first visitors to my Blog. Since this is my first venture into the world of Blogging I hope you'll bear with me as I learn the ropes. Please offer suggestions and criticism where needed. (This is a view outside right now)

I am interested in hearing from any of you about the new materials on the market - especially acrylics and mediums etc. I have purchased a variety of these and am experimenting. Please check out the links below to see examples of my work. I tend to be eclectic in my approach, in fact many people think more than one artist produced my work.

I get bored so easily and there is a whole world of ideas and materials out there.

Question: Is it a problem for an artist not to have a defined style?