Creative Immersion

 Happy Day 11: The only painting I actually completed this week. Believe it or not, this was painted from a model. As in a human. I know, it looks like a landscape. The exercises we did really stretched the way we look at things. 

Happy Day 9: I pulled up in front of the
main studio building. I managed not to 
get too lost this year... I got lost, but 
was only about 10 minutes off course. 
Much better than last time.    

I spent this past week in Dunedin, Ontario, at the Creativity Art Retreat (so apologies to those looking for my #100happydays posts on social media... the internet connection was a bit spotty). Long time readers might recognize the name from my visit there last year. It was such a great experience I decided I would do it again. And it did not disappoint.

HD 10: Awesome, light filled studio space
at the retreat. And some truly inspiring 
people to spend time with.

The workshop I decided on this year was working from the figure, with artist V. Jane Gordon. Right from the first day she tested our willingness to be open to the new and different. It was certainly not like any workshop I've ever done, or like any figure drawing/painting experience I've ever had.... we had the model moving constantly, were changing the orientation of our work as we worked, we were incorporating things we found outside, we had to change materials, go from standing to sitting, get right up close to things... it was a very, very different experience.

Day12: Awesome collection of books
here... and time to sit and enjoy them! 

Happy Day 13: I got out my quill pen and
ink for this assignment... I had forgotten 
how much I like drawing in ink.  It's been 
years since I've used anything but a marker. 

Behind V. Jane's thinking is the act of inquiry. She has written a book about it, which I purchased for myself, because there are so many things I am curious about and I'm positive I have only scratched the surface of what this is all about. One thing she has managed to convince me of is the need to carry a sketchbook, for what she calls "data collection". That's something that I've tried to do, off and on, for most of my adult life, but never really did with any conviction. I think that stems back to my University days, when we had to pass the book in to the professor every couple weeks... the feedback I got was how to make the images better as finished drawings, so I never really saw it as a tool to collect information, but only a way to practice my drawing skills. I preferred to do this on a larger scale, so my sketchbook largely remained empty. In a lot of ways, I seem to have missed the entire point of it.

A drawing done while looking at the model, while
at the same time running my fingers over my face...
I would get confused as to what I was actually drawing,
me or her. The final result is certainly more interesting
than your typical life drawing.

I think it is going to take me a while to absorb all the things we worked on and figure out how I can apply them in my own practice. It is such a different way of thinking that  if I can work it out, it may have the potential to transform my work. I have a couple projects to finish up before I can truly get going, but I'm pretty sure I will be spending a fair bit of time over the next few weeks, sketchbook in hand, intently studying some little detail of something or other, and recording it for future use.

I was playing with the panoramic settings on my camera... the view of the river, from behind the River House, where I was staying.

New Direction

Series of work created at my retreat last week. "Sound of the River", 1-4.
Each canvas 24x24", Mixed media. 

 For me, part of the lure of going on an art retreat, like the one I was just at, is the potential for learning something new and exciting. This one wasn't quite as far outside my comfort zone as the last one I did, but it was a good opportunity to do something different under the guidance of an artist with a different aesthetic. The weeklong workshop gave me uninterrupted creative time, and Steve Rose gave me some great new tools to work with. Last week I posted photos of the location, this week I thought I'd share what I did while I was there.

Our only real requirement for the week was that we work in multiples. He was aiming for a diptych/triptych kind of thing, but he got more of a series from me. They go together, but they don't necessarily have to stay together. I've got these ordered more or less how I produced them, although I worked on them all at the same time, working on one while another was drying. Right near the end of the week I had a hilarious conversation with one of the other participants... she hadn't actually realized I had 4 canvases on the go. She thought I had been painting over the same one day after day. And she wasn't alone... a couple others had thought the same thing!

"Sound of the River | 1"  24x24" Mixed Media on Canvas

"Sound of the River | 2"  24x24" Mixed Media on Canvas

"Sound of the River | 3"  24x24" Mixed Media on Canvas

"Sound of the River | 4"  24x24" Mixed Media on Canvas

You can see I was getting bolder by the day. The first one is pretty much paint with a bit of texture medium added here and there. By the end I was attaching stuff, troweling on drywall compound and using found objects to print with. If you click on them you will get a bigger image... you can see it better. I haven't decided yet if I actually like these or not, but I really did have fun making them.

A Week Away

The main house where the retreats are held.
Studio space on one side, b&b on the other. 

I spent my vacation from my day job this year at Creativity Art Retreat, in Dunedin Ontario. I live only about an hour and a half away from Dunedin, but I had to look on a map to see where it was... I'd never heard of it. There's not much there, but for a week of uninterrupted creation time, that works extremely well.

The place is like going to a country cottage. There's an old claw foot bathtub in the upstairs bathroom... and a door that opens onto a balcony. Yes, from the bathroom. The place is right beside the river, and they held daily yoga classes outside on the deck where you could hear the river rushing through. The owner, Lynn Connell, is quite the powerhouse. She is not only an accomplished painter, but she also founded the art retreat, AND an orphanage in Africa. Pretty inspiring person to spend a week with. Shelly, who handles all the day to day stuff, is really warm and welcoming. Within a day or two it felt like I was visiting with a friend instead of a paying guest. I had an overwhelming urge to help with the dishes. She wouldn't let me.

The artist that worked across from me for
the week.

Lynn and another participant working away.

My workshop was with Steve Rose. "Freedom of Expression: Abstraction to Non-Objective painting". I have a lot of good things to say my instructor. He reads people extremely well... He's one of those people who takes about 5 minutes to figure out what you need to get out of the course, and changes his approach to suit. There were a couple people who were new to abstract painting, and to those people he gave a fair bit of guidance. For those of us who have been on the path for a bit, it was more of a question/answer session... did you try this? What happens if you do that? He gave me some problem solving skills that will help when I run into my usual compositional issues. Light or dark? Tear a page out of a magazine and stick it on... which way looks more balanced? Stuff like that... it was immensely helpful. I left with four, good size paintings in my car that were more or less finished, along with a few smaller ones that were done in my usual less-than-planned way, but utilizing what I'd learned and making them work. And while I wasn't really sure about them at the time, they've grown on me. And I'm feeling a bit more confident that I can continue on, and maybe actually get somewhere.

The "living" room. Books everywhere, and all art books. Must have
taken years to amass such a collection. I could have spent the week just in here. 

The kitchen of the main guest house. There was another house on the property,
and a group of participant stayed there.

The main studio space. Lovely and bright with lots of windows.

Ella Completed

"Jazz Legends | Ella"  16x20" Acrylic on Canvas

I've just finished up the second of my Jazz Legends series over on Global Vernissage's "Artist at Work" website. I've got all my working photos posted, as well as a bit of a running commentary about my process. When we first started talking about this project, I have to admit I really didn't think anyone would be that interested in seeing how a painting goes together... particularly that ugly stage that every painting goes through. Mistakes happen, things get corrected, it gets ugly, it gets better again... it happens all the time, but usually I'm the only one who sees it. I was surprised at the response. I've gotten so many lovely comments from both jazz fans and other artists... it's really quite wonderful.

Louis Armstrong, the first of the series

I'm in the process now of doing my photographs and having prints made. I'm doing a limited edition of 100 signed prints, the first three of which we are giving away to people who have commented during the process. That is something I'm sure will go a little quicker and a little smoother than the first time around, now that I know what to expect. My first set of prints looked lovely... after I learned a few things about paper choices and archival inks. That's saying nothing about shipping. But I think I've got it down now. Good thing, because I've got 10 more paintings to do.....

If you like following along the progression of a painting, there is a new artist over on the site, Giedre Anuskeviciute. She paints in a completely different style and process, and its certainly worth a look.

Over the next week I am going to be away for a bit of uninterrupted painting time. I'm doing a 5 day retreat workshop with Toronto artist, Steve Rose. I intend to be completely unplugged. Who knows how that will go.... I'm told there is no cell service where I'm going, so that part should be easy. I probably shouldn't even take my laptop, but I will. I've got a few things to finish up, and I want my family to be able to contact me somehow. I'm still hobbling around a bit from my recent accident, so I'm a bit concerned that being in pain will be a distraction. Ice packs and Advil are going in the bag.... and maybe some wine. If one thing doesn't help, the other should.

Artfest 2012

I finally got to an Artfest, that wonderful art retreat organized and run by the amazing Teesha Moore and her husband Tracy. I'd been wanting to go for a couple years, since a friend had attended and told me how life-changing it was. But given the distance and the cost involved, it wasn't something easily achieved. When I discovered this was to be the last one, I knew I had to get there... it was just as wonderful as I had been told and though I'm sad I won't be able to do this again, I am just happy that I got there at all.

The dorms

I got home from Seattle on Wednesday totally exhausted, exhilarated and needing a bit of time to get my thoughts and photos together. Where does one start? I guess the best place is the location itself, the historic Fort Warden in Port Townsend, WA. The dorms were old army barracks. See those old windows? They are as drafty as you think they would be. The first night I was so cold I hardly slept... but overall the site was great. A short walk to a very scenic beach, deer so tame they wandered around on the site, lots of space for the classrooms. The two women I arranged to carpool with were so much fun, we ended up spending most of the week together.

Jesse Reno doing his thing

I signed up for a two day workshop with Jesse Reno called "Freedom to Create". He's an unbelievably prolific painter, and he works completely intuitively, which goes against everything I've ever been taught. I love this process. For two days we painted with our hands, diving right in and making decisions as we went along. No thumbnails, no sketches. After  two days I came out with three finished paintings completely different from anything I've ever done before. My next day was spent with Erin Faith Allen, whose process is also very intuitive. Both artists do the work first, then examine it to see what the images are trying to tell them. I found the coincidence in this pretty amazing, since I had no idea of their methods before I signed up.... obviously, this is exactly what I needed to hear, and I think it has totally changed how I approach a painting.

The crowd at the artist market

There was an Artist's Market one evening at the Fort. This was a complete eye-opener for me. There was actually a line-up outside the building before the doors opened. I have never been to any kind of art event where there was this kind of interest (of course there were 600 artists already in the area... I'm sure that helped). The crowds were incredible, and people were buying, not just browsing. Even the big events here in Toronto don't generate that kind of interest. For the first time in my life I'm seeing that it's not impossible to make a living as an artist, you just have to be creative in getting your name and your work out there.

This was truly an amazing experience. I made some wonderful new friends and connected with a lot of like-minded people. Artfest formed a community: artists from all over gathering once a year to create and learn. I got to attend only one, and that will just have to do. I hope something pops up to fill the void.

me and my new friends on the beach