Abstract Painting: Where Spirit Meets Bone, Part 2

"Where Spirit Meets Bone", Diptych, 60x40", Mixed Media on Canvas. Available.

The original drawing for this piece came from a video of a couple dancing. They were connected, yet separate... two people that seemed so much a part of each other, I couldn't really imagine them as single entities.

It's funny how certain images and ideas trigger other thoughts. They were young, they moved so gracefully, but what came to mind was my parents. My mom is here, my dad is gone... but they are still so intertwined in my memory that I suspect they will always be like one unit to me. Trying to get this idea across... visually... that was a tough one. I decided to accentuate it through the format. Each canvas is successful on it's own, but they look like they belong together. They look better together. I won't separate them... as far as I'm concerned, this is one piece. But once it's out of my hands, it's out of my control.

The right side alone... still works as an
individual piece, but definitely works better
with it's partner.

Doing the original drawing I took a similar approach. I held one watercolour crayon in each hand, and followed the dancer's movements simultaneously. It was difficult to watch them both at the same time... I set myself up at a distance and tried to concentrate on the motion as a unit, not as individual bodies (If you want to try something that really gets you into the present, try doing that. It's impossible to think about anything but what you are doing...).

As I couldn't do more than glance at my actual drawing while I was working on it, my starting point was somewhat unplanned. Anyone who has followed along for a while knows this is an ongoing trend in the way I work... give myself a problem, then work my way out of it.  I find that while I am a decent problem solver (at least as far as visuals go), staring at a blank canvas with a world of possibilities open to me will cause me to freeze up. There are just too many choices. I love those creative exercises where you just scribble a few lines, then try to make an image out of it. Having that limitation put on myself will spark my creativity. Once I figured that out, it seemed I was away to the races. I'm hopeful that creative blocks are a thing of the past for me. Of course nobody knows what the future holds... but I have some tools at my disposal to help me work my way out of whatever life throws my way.

If you are in the Toronto area, I will be at Arts on the Credit, April 9-10 at the lovely Waterside hotel in Port Credit. It's always a wonderful show, with over 40 artists showing off their latest work. Drop by to check it out, and be sure to say hello.

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Abstract Painting: The Warrior's Dance

"The Warrior's Dance", 12x12" mixed media on canvas. Available. 

My husband was, at one time, really into karate. He kinda still is, but he doesn't do it anymore... he got to a fairly high level, then decided to move on to other things. We still watch martial arts movies on occasion, and when the fight scenes come on, I get to watch them a few times. 

We recently watched the Netflix series "Marco Polo". Seen it? Its a pretty good story, actually, so I didn't mind watching... and the sets, costumes, landscapes, etc. were visually very interesting. Of course, what caught hubby's attention was the choreography. There is one character in the story that is a blind monk. And a total badass. He is the kung-fu warrior. Pretty amazing to watch, even on my TV. Can't imagine watching someone who can move like that up close and in person (it would probably freak me out actually... I remember when hubs went for his black belt exam I sat through most of the grading with my hands over my eyes, cringing every time there was contact. And with this there was maybe just a wee bit of computer enhancement. Maybe). Since I had access to a big screen TV, I put on the scene I wanted to follow, got out my canvas and water-soluble crayon, and proceeded to draw the Warrior's Dance. 

Finding inspiration from a Netflix series is probably something I shouldn't admit to. In fine art circles, there is a bit of a high brow attitude toward the meanings and themes in an artist's works. But I really do believe you can find inspiration in anything. Even if you have the most boring life in the world, there will always be something... the way the afternoon light hits a leaf in your garden, the way your mother laughs, your dog's dirty paw print on the kitchen floor... Anything can be the spark that sends you off in a new direction. 

I'm not done with this... I really like the scenes of the army with their shields and swords, and the way their robes fly when they fight. I will probably work that into a couple paintings... and I've still got the books I picked up at the ROM's exhibit of the Chinese terracotta army from a few years back that might inspire something. It will evolve and change as I go along. As it always does. 

New Painting: She Who Danced Us Into Being

"She Who Danced Us Into Being", 16x20" mixed media on canvas. Available.

I've been talking to my mom a lot lately. She lives pretty far away in rural, isolated area, and I have to admit I get a bit concerned about her out there on her own, especially since winter seems to have finally set in. So I call often, just to check in and see how she's doing.

On the other end, my son was off school so has been home a lot lately... we've had an never-ending stream of creative, talented kids through the house in the last few weeks... mainly because we have a somewhat soundproofed room in the basement where they can play their instruments without driving the entire neighbourhood nuts.

From time to time I think about my son and how my creative pursuits have influenced how he sees his own. He knows things don't just happen... you have to work at something to be good at it, and you have to get out there and share what you do if you want to have any kind of creative based career. I've been working my side job for most of his life. It's something that is important to me, so I guard my time in the studio. I have to work to be happy. Or even resemble pleasant. This has obviously influenced his attitude toward his own creativity. During the time he was studying for his exams, I heard him playing his guitar. When something unpleasant happens, he heads for the drum kit and works out his frustrations there. In turn he influences me to get into the studio and work out my own issues. It works. For both of us.

The mother-child relationship seems to be a kind of dance... I need to be protective but I don't want to smother, I want to know what he's doing but don't want to pry, I want to help, but recognize he needs to learn on his own. I have a new appreciation of my own mother these days. She did it, not just with one child but with four. How could anyone balance 4 kid's needs and still deal with their own? It must have been incredibly difficult. She sacrificed, she did the dance. And we all turned out to be decent human beings, so she must have done a pretty good job.

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New Abstract Painting: Dance in the Sunshine

"Dance in the Sunshine", 9x9" Mixed Media on paper

Over the past couple weeks I've been experimenting with different types of movement, and trying to relay the experience of movement of different living things. My diving experiment from last week had me looking back to a subject I've worked with before…. dancers.

The drawing for this piece started while watching a couple dance at a late summer event. It wasn't like swing dancers…. that would be interesting and probably a lot more complex… I'll make a note to try that one. These people were just moving to the music and responding to each other. The color palette came from the surroundings: yellow for the sunshine, purple and turquoise from their clothing. I did a bunch of drawings… I'm drawing things all the time now, and by the time I get to painting them I probably won't remember what I was looking at at the time. They are all just shapes and movement. I'll have to remember to make notes in my sketchbook. I'm sure it's more interesting to read about the inspiration behind a piece of abstract work than just "Here it is. Look, isn't it pretty?" What do you think?

My life outside of my art seems to be settling down a bit… oh, work is still insanely busy, but I'm managing to keep my stress levels from spinning out of control. Something about losing someone close to you really clarifies your priorities. Work is just work, it's a way to pay the bills while I pursue something that i enjoy. There are days when I'm glad I have something that forces me out of the house and to interact with people. Left to my own devices I'm pretty sure I'd have spent the last couple months in my pajamas and not left my house. Can't do that if I want to keep a job…. although I have had days where I think maybe getting let go wouldn't be such a tragedy. Except that I would still need to eat, so I'd have to find something else. And that would suck.

The World is Quiet Here....

I've finished part two of last weeks project. I'm happy with it. It feels a bit melancholy, which is fitting given what my life has held in the last month. I'm recently captivated by this blue... It's rich and transparent and SO brilliant. I've been playing with it on it's own, but it didn't get me the mood I wanted for these pieces, so I've dulled it down with earth tones, and left a little orange-yellow and crimson for warmth. I've included a photo of the two pieces side by side... I'm undecided if I'll put them up for sale as a set only. I have some skinny walls here where a long, thin piece of art would work wonderfully... surely I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'll live with them for a bit before I decide. Maybe by spring, at the Arts on the Credit show...

The World is Quiet Here: II
12x24" Acrylic on Canvas

The two paintings together as a set. They work together... I'm not sure
I really want them split. I'll have to decide before they leave the studio...

Enough wallowing... back to work.

I allowed myself a week to wallow. It was a pretty miserable week. But I know myself well enough to know that I can't let it go on much longer than that, for fear of sinking into some kind of black hole I can't manage to pull myself out of. It's happened before, and believe me, it is not a place I ever want to go again.

So... on Monday, after a miserable day at work, I made myself a cup of tea and headed into my studio, took 3 brand new canvases out of their wrappers and got myself back to work.

Works in progress.

I really didn't have a clue what I was going to do with these when I started. I had a vague idea of doing some kind of triptych. Once I got some paint on there the blanks filled in a little... I could see something starting. I flipped through my file of reference photos. Found what I was looking for. Yep, I could make that work.

I love it when things come together like that. It doesn't always work that way. Sometimes I have an idea before i start, sometimes I've done something at a small size that I want to enlarge, sometimes I never see anything, the canvases get ugly and they go in my reject pile until I can figure out what to do with them. It doesn't really matter though, as the mere act of pushing the paint around makes me feel so much better, it's like all the exhaustion drains from my body. I imagine everyone has something that makes them feel that way. I hope so anyway.

I managed to work every evening this week, and I've got one canvas finished and a second well under way. I'm still not sure about the third... I don't know if I can make it work with the other two or it needs to be something different. I will figure it out... but like all things, it just takes time.

The World is Quiet Here: 1
12x24" Acrylic on Canvas

This Joint is Jumpin'

I've been so focused this month of creating small pieces to sell at the Art Gallery of Lambeth's Doors Open/Culture days event that I have had very little time left to work on the stack of larger pieces I've got cluttering up my studio. I did, however, have time to finish one. This piece has been hanging around for months... something about it just didn't look right. I've painted and repainted the faces.... first the woman... with her hanging upside down things just tended to look off, even if I painted her flipped right side up. I eventually gave up and changed the 3/4 view to a profile. The male dancer has gone from looking like Grandpa Munster to some kind of horror movie villain. I think I've finally got him looking human. Sometimes a painting will completely resist coming together. It's hard to deal with. In the end, persistence pays off.

This Joint is Jumpin'
30x30" Acrylic on Canvas

The Doors Are Open

One of my small works on paper, to be offered
for sale during London's Doors Open event
at the Art Gallery of Lambeth

I have an event coming up sponsored by the Art Gallery of Lambeth in London. As part of Ontario's Culture Days and Doors Open, the AGL is having an open house with artists giving demos and teaching short half hour classes for free all weekend. There will also be artists selling their creations in the park beside the gallery, for what will probably be one of the last Art in the Park events this year. As a represented artist I've been asked to participate, and what we've come up with should be a lot of fun. I will have a large piece of canvas spread out on the pavement in the parking lot (inside the gallery if it rains), and I am going to create a large scale painting. My method of working is flexible and intuitive, so having spectators participate is entirely possible, and will probably make the finished piece all the more interesting. I may not get it completely done over the weekend... but i'm certainly going to try.

In the meantime, I've been working on small pieces that I can matte and offer for sale during the weekend. I can't have a booth at the Art in the Park as I'll be otherwise occupied, but I thought it would be nice to offer something special (and specially priced) for the people that come out to the gallery. I'm not sure how many I'll have... I was kind of late to the game deciding to do this. I'll keep posting new pieces on my Facebook page as I go along, so if you see something you like, you'll know where you can get it.

Reaching

Reaching For Infinity
18x24" Acrylic on Canvas

I finished something... finally. I've had up to 8 canvases on the go for much of the last 2 months. Painted and painted over, with a few sitting at that almost finished point with one area that I just can't get right. It's been faces for the most part. Something looking just enough off that I can't let it go. This piece has had the face repainted 4 times. I'm happy with it now... the expression is what I was after... though it is perhaps a little more detailed than I wanted. I was going for something a bit more indistinct. Maybe I'll have to give the pose another try. My husband suggested turning it to horizontal... and that might be intriguing. I'm thinking of doing a few canvases based around water. Since water has dominated my life the last little while, I wasn't surprised to see it coming up in the creative exercises I was doing. This pose could work well around that theme, perhaps with the angle of the head changed slightly. Gliding or swimming... flowing... not sure yet, but maybe...

a stencil I cut from a plastic sheet.
I figure since I seem to have a
fascination with hummingbirds, I
will use this one again.

I've been taking some photos of my working process... mostly because I've been asked to teach a class at this year's "Doors Open" event at the Art Gallery of Lambeth. I have never taught adults, though I've volunteered in my son's classroom in his younger years and have thoroughly enjoyed working with the kids. I figured I should get the process nailed down.... even though it changes with each piece, I do have a basic process I go through with pretty much every canvas.

Work in progress

I tend to like working with stencils. I make these stencils myself... usually I will size my drawings on the computer and cut them out of paper, or if i think it's something I will use repeatedly I will cut it out of these little plastic sheets I get at DeSerres (they are in the baking section, not the art supply section. You can find some seriously awesome tools in baking sections). This particular drawing I also used to carve myself a stamp. In this photo you can see difference between the stencil and the stamp. I like the roughness I can get with a stamp. It's always more evident on stretched canvas because there is no hard backing. If I want a clear impression I will lay the canvas on the floor and put a hard cover book underneath it.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to walk through during my class, but I've got to start thinking about it. It would be kinda fun to just wing it and work through a small piece on the fly... but I don't know if the organizers would like that too much. I'll probably be painting on site most of the weekend, so I might leave that for my demo. Sometimes working from my gut gets much more interesting results. If you happen to be in London on Sept. 28 or 29th, stop in and say hello. I'll be there all weekend.

Oh, and I've finally got my website online. Want to check it out? I'm at incolorstudio.com.

Serenity

Serenity
18x18" Acrylic on Canvas

Creative Flow

Stepping Out
24x30" Acrylic on Canvas

One week to go and counting. The last little while has been incredibly productive for me... probably more so than at any other point in my life. Even with a full time job, I've been able to finish 8 fairly large pieces and 3 smaller ones. Even when I was in school I wasn't that prolific. I think having the deadline has helped... I can't stop to analyze and plan, I just have to do. One painting builds off the previous one. I really think that as long as I don't stop, I could keep going indefinitely. Unfortunately, I will run out of time. I still don't know if I'm going to have enough work to fill up that wall, but I tried my best. Next time I'll have had a head start.

Tango

Tango
30x24" Acrylic on Canvas

Next...

"Stomp"
30x30" Acrylic on Canvas

In my quest to fill up THE BIG WALL (which is what I've taken to calling it), I've managed to transform myself from a painter of small images to one who does fairly large ones. This is the largest I've done to date, at 30x30". I'm finding it fun working large... I can use those big brushes I've had for ages but haven't had much use for, and I've got a 3" silicone color pusher that I'm really beginning to love. I might actually have a problem going back to smaller sizes.

I was thinking about what I'd like to do next, and I think I'd like to do a big band... like a Benny Goodman or Count Basie style big band. I can't imagine how I can do that any smaller than a four foot canvas... there would be so many figures to fit in. Six feet would be better. And it would take me a while... a few weeks at least, probably closer to a month. Something I'm obviously going to have to put off for a while. Hopefully in 2013 I'll have a bit more free time to tackle so large a project.

Freestyle

Freestyle
18x24" Acrylic on Canvas

I think this upcoming show is making me a bit crazy. 

In some ways it's really good... I'm working every day. It's not always been this way. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a stretch this long when I was working every single day. I find that I'm not second guessing my ideas anymore.... I just go with whatever pops into my head. The canvases are stacking up, and even though I still don't think I'm going to have enough to fill that theatre, I've got more done in the last couple months than I have in some entire years. 

But...

My house is a complete disaster. My husband is doing what he can, but he also has a job and outside commitments, so time is limited. My friends haven't heard from me in ages, because every spare second is spent in my studio. Last night we went out for dinner with friends, and after about an hour I was wondering how long this was going to last because I really had to get back to work. I wouldn't have gone at all, but apparently, socializing is good for me. Who knew?

There has to be some kind of balance. But for the next three weeks, I know I'm not going to find it.

Feeling the Music

Acrylic on Canvas 19x24"
Untitled at the moment.... suggestions are welcome!

It's Gotta Swing!

the main exhibit wall
in the Meadowvale Theatere...
there are also many
other walls to be filled.

A couple days before Christmas I was notified I was accepted to exhibit in the lobby of a popular local theater. I had applied in the spring of last year, not really sure what to expect but figuring it was worth applying for, even if it didn't amount to much. 

When I got the notification I was excited and a little panicky... I have been painting like crazy this past year but my work has also been selling, so my inventory is a bit on the low side. But there was no point in panicking until I knew what I was in for, so I put it on the back burner and got to work. Well, this week I went by and took a look at the space. It's huge! As the curator walked me around and showed me all the spots to be filled I was trying picture how what i had available would fill the walls and how much white space could possibly be acceptable. I figured I had better spend every available minute from now until March with a paintbrush in hand. And I'd better go buy a few pre-stretched canvases in sizes bigger than what I've done to date. The bigger they are, the more space they fill.

It's Gotta Swing!
Acrylic on Canvas 24x30"

So, I'm back to the dancers. I'm sure I'm not finished with the musicians just yet, but the dancers are calling to me so that's what's going on the canvas. I really don't have time to question my instincts. I found a great photo of swing dancers online and figured I could use it for reference, using the music as a guide to the feeling. I think I got it down pretty well... the music has so much energy my foot was tapping the entire time I was painting (actually, I was dancing around in my studio, as much as is possible in such a small space). My goal is at least 1 painting/week until my hanging date at the end of Feb. It might not work out quite like that, but I've got to start somewhere.

Music, Dance and Expression

My recent fascination with jazz, musicians and music in general have led me to discover all kinds of new things. I've been visiting the library regularly and checking out CDs from musicians and bands I had never heard of... looking on the liner notes for names of who is playing on what track and then looking them up... and on and on it goes.

A little while ago I got my hands on a dvd documentary on the history of swing, called "This Joint is Jumpin". What a fun movie. Along with the fantastic old footage of performers from the 20s up to the the present, there is footage and interviews with the swing dancers of the time. The dancing is amazing. There is so much energy and life, and it expresses the joy of the music so perfectly. It got me thinking...

The Dance
9x12" acrylic on paper

I did a couple little pieces on paper first to see if I could get something I was happy with. It helps me to work out issues with the drawing, composition, anatomy... one thing I've noticed is that because I don't put in a lot of detail in the figures, if my anatomy is off at all it stands out like a sore thumb.

There are so many different directions I could take this. I talked to my niece, who has been dancing since she could walk, and happily she agreed to pose for some photos. Until then, I found some old photos, a few pics online, and some video stills I can use for reference. I decided to start with a flamenco dancer, since I've always been somewhat fascinated with it, and the poses can be very dramatic.  Next up? Not sure yet...

The Red Flame
16x20" Acrylic on Canvas