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.