A Long Winter

"The Long Winter" 20x20" mixed media on wood panel. Available. 

It's been raining for what feels like weeks. The temperatures are a bit warmer, but the endless rain and dreary days make those occasional sunny days feel a vacation. I am on my way to Quebec... the Eastern Townships... and from what I see online, I half-expect to spend some of my vacation time filling sandbags.

So many areas are flooding. It's bad in Quebec, but it's happening even here in Ontario. It's been a bad year for it... even the water levels in lake Ontario seem particularly high. It didn't really seem like there was more snow than usual, or even that there's been more rain this spring. All seemed pretty much par for the course. Even though it feels like this winter has been endless, it really hasn't. January wasn't really even cold until the last week, we didn't get much snow here until February. It was gone by early April. Same as usual. So what's going on?

I hope I can get out and experience a few things we had to pass on last time we were on vacation in Quebec. We have a family event to attend on one day, but the rest of the time we will be able to do what we please. It is such a lovely area, even just walking about and taking some photos will be inspiring. I just really hope the rain lets up. I'm tired of the grey.

I've managed to get my house back in order after Arts on the Credit. What a great show this year. The quality of the work seems to improve every year. Unfortunately, attendance seemed to be a bit light... I suspect it has to do with all the construction in the area, and that the front entrance to the hotel is hidden behind construction fencing. Not exactly inviting. The people that did navigate their way through seemed to enjoy it. I had some really lovely conversations with people I hope to see again. It was exhausting, but I hope I am able to do it again next year. With all juried shows it's hit and miss... sometimes you get in, sometimes you don't. I'll just have to wait and see.

I don't have much else planned at this point. I'm going to do the art tour in Port Credit (September), and will likely have my open studio again in November. I plan to do more shows in 2020, but for this year I'm just going to go to shows as a spectator and see what seems like it might work for me. I'd like to expand a bit outside of Mississauga. Know of anything that might work for me? Leave me a comment and let me know!

What kind of vehicle best fits the needs of an artist?

The Winter's Spring", 12x24" mixed media on wood panel.
I will have this with me at Arts on the Credit in April.
See my website for details.

I drive an old truck. It’s been a good truck… but it’s 16 years old and has over 250,000 km on it, and honestly, it’s turning into a bit of a money pit. Every time it goes in for service there’s something new wrong with it, costing us another pile of cash. Such is the way of an old vehicle. 

Before I started driving the truck, I drove a Saturn sedan. I loved my Saturn. Decent gas milage for the time, and a surprising amount of cargo space. I was driving my Saturn when I bought my the display gear I use for shows. Before I bought it I got out my measuring tape and made sure everything would fit in my car without issue. It was a comfortable fit. No problems. 

When my car died I took over driving my husband’s truck. He didn’t need it for work… we live close enough he started riding his bike back and forth. We even invested in one of those fat tire winter bikes so we could share the vehicle. The display racks didn’t fit in the truck bed, but we could open the back cab window and slide them through. Not an ideal solution, but it worked, and I only did a couple shows a year that required me to use them, so we managed. (We also own a small Mazda hatchback that my son drives. I can fit a lot of paintings into that car, but my display gear doesn’t fit. So I really didn’t have many options).

We have now decided it’s time to get a new (to us) vehicle. We did some research on the SUV category, narrowed down the choices to 6, and started shopping.

I’m not going to get into how I was completely invisible to the mostly male sales force at the dealerships. They just assumed the decision would be made by my husband. It wasn’t until I got out the tape measure and started crawling around in the back that they figured maybe I should be part of the conversation. The first company to figure out that women have some buying power these days and starts treating them like they exist will make a fortune. Just saying. 

Anywhoooo….

I thought I would share my thoughts on fitting display gear into a compact SUV, because when I was searching online for info, there was nothing available. Most websites don’t list dimensions of the cargo bed, it’s listed by volume. How do you know if your gear will fit? I know some people who go the trailer route, and someone who puts a lot of the big stuff on a roof rack. That’s an option… but I want to be able to get everything packed and unpacked on my own, as Mr. M isn’t always around to help.

So… I have display grid walls that are 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide. They make them taller, and shorter, but given the size of the average canopy used in a outdoor art fair, it seemed to make sense when I bought them. Given they could fit in my average sized car, it didn’t occur to me I would ever have an issue. But cars have gotten smaller, and even SUVs are not as big as they used to be. While that might be awesome when trying to park the thing (have parking spots gotten smaller too? It feels like it…), it’s a pain trying to fit in large gear.

Of the 6 models we checked out, we have narrowed it down to 3. I loved driving the Honda CRX, but because of the way the back seats split, there is no way I could fit the racks in. The narrower of the two sides is on the passenger side… only about 18” wide. I'd have to put both sides down, and then if I'm lucky enough to have help, where would they sit? The front seat had to be as far forward as it would go, not leaving any space for someone with... you know... legs. The Hyundai Santa Fe and the Ford Edge felt more like driving a truck than the others we tested, so while they felt ok and were spacious, we struck them both off the list. I’m not a huge fan of driving a truck. I’m not that tall, and it makes me feel like I’m steering a tank.

My top pick: pretty sure it’s the Hyundai Tucson. Nice to drive… it feels like driving a car, not a big vehicle. Gets great milage, the reliability rating is the highest in its class, and I could both back into a tight spot and parallel park easily. The back seats have the wider section of the split on the passenger side, so I can put the front seat all the way up, and the racks easily fit. Bonus, I can fit in a passenger at the same time. 

The Mazda CX5 is also really nice to drive. The gas milage is a bit better than the Tucson, but the reliability rating is not as high. The base model has the backseat split the same as the Honda, so we thought this would eliminate it from our choices, even though I liked it a lot. We discovered that the next level trim package has a centre console in the back seat that gives more flexibility. Given that we were looking for a used car, if we can find one that has that option it will still be a possibility. 

Lastly, the Toyota RAV4 is my final option. My husband didn’t like it as much, as it is a bit bigger than the other two, but there is enough cargo space that I can fit the racks in with still enough room to sit in the front passenger seat. Parking is still easy… the backup camera seems to be a standard feature now, thank goodness. I backed into a very tight spot I wouldn’t have even attempted without the camera. I didn’t try parallel parking it… that would be necessary if we were to buy it, as a lot of downtown galleries use street parking for loading and unloading. As much as I hate doing it, I have to sometimes. 

I considered selling my current display gear and replacing it with 5 foot high racks… this would give us more flexibility and allow us to get whatever we wanted. It’s still an option, but I’d rather not go through the hassle of doing that if I don’t have to. And given what I’ve seen at the art fairs I’ve done, the 6 footers are pretty standard. 

I hope this helps out anyone looking for information. I think putting dimensions on the vehicle websites would make things so much easier… surely it’s not just artists that have specific needs for transport. But I don’t imagine asking for it would change anything… a couple dealers couldn’t even dig up a tape measure when I asked. And they had no clue what the dimensions were. All I can suggest is that if you are going shopping for a car, don’t forget your tape measure. It’ll save you a lot of hassle later on. 

Going Home

"Going Home", 24x24" mixed media on canvas. Available.
I finally photographed a piece where the interference paint shows up. I guess I have to wait for just the right light. 

My husband is in the midst of planning his annual fishing trip with his brother. They're from Newfoundland and he will often tie the trip in with a visit to his parents. They usually go somewhere "near home"... they've been to Labrador, various spots in NF, and Northern Quebec, which is kind of a half-way point between us in Ontario, his brother in Labrador, and his parents in NF.

Many Newfoundlanders refer to their place of birth as "home", and when they go visit they are "going home", even if that is not where they have lived for 30/40/50 years. They leave because they have to... there are no opportunities, no jobs, no way to live. They create a community with friends and family wherever they are, and go back to visit, but that place in their heart they feel as home never changes.

I'm not like that. Of course I've never lived outside of Ontario for any length of time, so I suppose I may if I did. I've moved around a bit... my parents moved from Quebec to Ontario when I was quite young, during a time of political instability. Many of my aunts and uncles also left, being anglophones in a francophone world. We settled in Mississauga, where I live now. I lived in Waterloo for a few years during school, Toronto a few years after, and spent a year out near London where I moved for a job. But that's pretty much it. I've never lived further away from my parents than I can drive. 

The place my husband comes from changes in small increments. It's not a large place, and there isn't a lot of industry, so the changes that do happen are noticeable from visit to visit. If you lived there, I imagine it wouldn't be terribly disruptive when something new gets built or changed. 

Here is a different thing altogether. I'm basically on the west border of Toronto and Mississauga. Toronto is a big, booming city with something changing all the time. Mississauga seems hell bent on making sure there is housing on every available spot, infrastructure be damned. For example, Lakeshore Road is a major thoroughfare, one of 3 ways to get over the Credit River in the south end of the city. Over the past few years there have been a few large condo developments in the adjacent areas, and no changes to the roads. Traffic is an absolute nightmare. I used to love to go through the areas along Lakeshore, now I avoid it like the plague. 

The home of my childhood no longer exists. I know, because I'm still here. I remember the horse farm that was up by the highway, which I don't think has been there for 20 years. It's one of those shopping super-center things now. I remember learning to drive on gravel roads, and going to the drive-in which felt like it was out in the country (it's still there, but now it's a major road with subdivisions all around it). The "city-center" was once a mall out in the middle of nowhere. When they declared it "downtown" we all laughed. Now it's all high-rises and traffic. Not the place I remember as home. 

So home has to be wherever I am. 

Why do we turn a hobby into a side hustle?

"Remembering Saint-Siméon", 10x10" mixed media on wood panel. 

I read an interesting article this week, about the trend of monetizing hobbies. It was an interesting read, and got me thinking about why I have been trying for years to get a business going from my painting.

It wasn't at all about money.  I've had a full time job since I was 20 years old, doing something I enjoyed and was good at. I got paid well enough to be comfortable, so it's not like I needed extra for things like food (for someone entering the work force today it would be an entirely different story. Even those working in the same field as me don't get paid enough to cover rent in Toronto, let alone eat).

As the years rolled along though, I found that money wasn't the same as job satisfaction, and as I got more experience doing what I was doing, I hit a point where I got bored. The challenge was gone.

Boredom is a tough one for me... I love to learn and have never been good at being content with the status quo. When the company I worked for wouldn't let me move to a different area to learn something new, I thought about going elsewhere, but it is the biggest player in the game with the most complex work there was to be done. Changing jobs didn't seem like the way to go. Instead I threw myself into my "hobby", and decided to put in the hours it took to get good at it.

I've always loved painting. I have a degree in fine art and I've made stuff off and on since I was in high school. I never seriously considered it a career... I didn't have any money during school, so I lived on a shoe string, and though I wouldn't say it was awful, it wasn't exactly how I would choose to live. Poverty isn't fun. And as I didn't know any artist that actually made a living from their art (except those that taught), I didn't think it was a realistic possibility.

Hard to know when you're good enough at something to be considered "good", isn't it? At first, my goal was just to paint something I liked. Then I thought I'd be good enough when I could consistently paint something I liked. Then when I could get into an outdoor show. Then a juried show. Then win some sort of award. I've accomplished all these things, but I still feel like I have a lot to learn. My work could be better. But still, when someone loves one of my pieces enough to part with their hard earned money... that gives me a kind of satisfaction I don't get from getting into a show. I feel like I've made a connection with someone. Selling my paintings became a kind of validation for me.

These days I paint like someone obsessed. I think about the painting I'm working on when I'm at work, or driving, or in the shower, or out on a walk. I see the world as a painter, looking for the colour in the shadows on the snow, or framing what I'm looking at as a compositional problem to solve. I note colour combinations that speak to me, I look for interesting textures. I've always got 3 or more pieces on the go. And my house is becoming cluttered. I've got paintings stuffed in closets and under beds, but I still keep making more. I can't stop. I've started painting over some of my less successful, older pieces, but I've still got too many.

I enjoy doing the art fairs. I'd probably enjoy it more if I sold more, because the packing stuff up to move is my least favourite part. I like going to galleries and chatting with people about the work. I love getting feedback about my own work. I love seeing photos of my paintings in my collector's homes. I feel joy when one of my friends, who have been following my work for years, call to say they want one particular piece because it speaks to them. It makes me feel like I'm bringing joy into someone else's life, and that makes me happy.

So while I wouldn't recommend everyone turn their hobby into a side gig, but I do see value in pursuing what you love, and becoming the best you can at it. Do what you want and don't worry about if it will sell. Lots of great work is not very marketable, but that doesn't make it any less valuable. Have a day job if you have to, but don't give up the thing that makes your heart sing. There is value in You being You.

Do you like this?

"Meandering Muse", 9x12" mixed media on paper. Available. 

I've been considering abandoning this blog. Not just migrating to my proper website, like I did a couple years ago, but not posting altogether.

There are a few reasons for this. My readership numbers are way down. There was a time I'd get a few hundred views per post, and usually a few comments. Not a lot, if you consider what some bloggers get, but I felt like I had a dedicated audience that came back every week to see what I had to say. These days it seems like if I get 30 views its a really good week. It's not that I don't think those 30 people are valuable (of course I do), but some weeks I feel like i'm stretched pretty thin, and spending an hour or two writing about art doesn't seem to be a great use of my time.

I'm spending more and more time on social media. It's not like I have to... if I just went on, posted and logged off I could shave it down to a few minutes a day. But I do enjoy the interaction. I get comments there, I see the same names liking and commenting on my posts, and I feel more like I'm building connections than I do here. And when those people come out to a show, they don't hesitate to introduce themselves because we've already been interacting. It's really pretty fun. But it does take time.

Then there's the pressure I put on myself to have a new painting to post every single week. That's actually why I started... I knew in order to get anywhere I had to have a decent sized inventory, but I was having motivational problems. I know I work well under a deadline... it's part of what makes me good at my day job. So I figured having a goal of one painting per week would make it more likely that I would get my ass in the studio and work. It worked. But now I find that I am ALWAYS working. If I'm not at work, I'm working at home. I'm painting, or editing my videos, updating my website, working on my marketing.... I have very little downtime. I went to an event a couple weeks ago and had a hard time carrying on a conversation with normal people (by "normal" I mean people not involved in the art or packaging worlds). I know I don't do a lot of social stuff, but I didn't realize I was that out of practice.

The one point in favour of me keeping this going is that it is a record of my progress. I've been posting pretty much once a week since 2012. That's a pretty thorough record. I've got photos of the shows I've done, a record of each painting and what was happening at the time it was created, trips and life events distilled down to the essentials. It's kinda fun going back and reading these posts. And I can see how far I've come, both in skill and creativity.

I'm not sure yet what conclusion I will come to. I do know that writing my weekly post is a habit now that I may continue, just because. I guess I'll just play it by ear for a bit, and see how things go. If you have an opinion on the subject, drop a comment here and let me know.

Beyond Winter

"Beyond Winter", 10x10" mixed media on wood panel. #51 in my 100 Square Project.
I've got a bunch of panels prepped for a Facebook live painting session. It will be in a couple weeks. Stay tuned.

Canada has been in the deep freeze. This past week has been colder than I remember ever being... I think we hit some kind of record low one day with the windchill a nasty minus forty something. It was worse in other areas. My brother-in-law is in Labrador. A balmy -50° out there. Yikes. On the positive side, the sun has been shining. It's been blindingly bright out there. That was something we all needed after months and months of grey.

A couple days I just couldn't warm up. I'd sit at my desk at work wearing a sweater with a t-shirt underneath, and a blanket shawl wrapped around me. The woman who sits one desk over had on gloves and a hat. Inside. Even in my own home it felt like the furnace was working overtime.

I'm lucky enough to have a gas fireplace in my studio. When I turn it on the whole floor warms up. I spent a lot of time down there this past week. I filmed most of it, and have been posting the videos to my social media channels. (If I had realized video got such a great reaction, I would have done it ages ago.)

 This video is the final session I filmed... I was working on the painting I've posted at the top of the post. I did work on it a bit more... mainly to fix up any compositional problems. I removed the dark clump on the left side and changed the spacing between the trees. I think it works now.

The initial motivation for this painting was to get a few colours I rarely use to play nicely together. But this cold has me dreaming of spring, and finding the beautiful greens and lavenders while mixing my paints made me think of meadows of blooming wild flowers. The form really came about all on it's own. If you've watched the snippits I've posted online, you can see how I turn the panel until I see something that wants to be brought forward. This is how all my paintings come together.

Intuitive painting has made somewhat of a comeback in recent years. When I was in school we had to plan everything. We had to have an idea to start with (usually where I blocked... my ideas never really seemed good enough to put in the effort to make it real), then do a series of thumbnails, block out the composition, then refine everything until it worked. I learned a lot about composition and whatever, surely necessary things to a visual artist, but my paintings were always a bit of a disappointment. It wasn't until I learned to let go of expectation that I could really enjoy the process and create something truly unique.

I really don't know why intuitive painting gets such a bad rap from educational institutions. Some of the greats did it. Joan Mitchell comes to mind. The trick is to not give up on the painting too soon. Keep going, keep changing things, until you reach a place where it speaks to you. It's not always easy, and you can go through a lot of paint, but the results will be truly your own.

And for a little while maybe we can forget about how cold it is.

The Value of Art

"In the Stillness", 9x12" mixed media on paper. Available on my website.  

I did all the art-related paperwork for my taxes this week. 2018 was my best year ever, and I still made less than your average student, working part-time in a minimum wage job. And people ask why I still work full-time. Sheesh.

To me, art and culture is something that is inherently valuable. I can't imagine a world without it. Can you? Picture going through your life without music. Or with only utilitarian clothes, all the same. Imagine a world without any kind of man-made visual stimulation at all... no paintings, no photography, no illustrations.

Fun, right?

So why is it that as a society, we don't value the work that artists do?

Wonder why the cost of concert tickets has gotten so high? It's because musicians can't make a living with recorded music any more. People don't buy it. They stream on YouTube, where most of the artists get nothing, or Spotify, where they get a fraction of a cent per play. Performing live is the only way they make any money, and they need money to live (and I live with a musician, this is not me making assumptions, this is a reality). Lots of smaller venues that "feature" live music don't actually pay the musicians anymore either... the bands need to set someone up by the door to charge admission (if that's permitted... otherwise they play for "exposure"), and it helps if they have merchandise to sell. When you're splitting that few hundred bucks between the 5 band members, it doesn't go very far.

Visual art isn't any better... big companies raking in millions in profits per year steal designs from artists that dare to post their work online. They don't think anything of it. If it's online, it must be free for anyone to use, right? But try doing that with a design owned by someone with enough money to sue you (think Disney). It wouldn't go well.

A thing that has emerged in the visual art world is the pay-to-play model. In the traditional art world, you found an art gallery that liked your work, they had a client list, held events, handled the sales, and took a commission. Usually, its around 50%.. does that surprise you? I know many people who where shocked when i told them the average commission for a gallery was half of what the purchaser pays. I get it and don't begrudge them their commission... they are paying rent, hydro, wages for their staff, advertising, etc. It's a business. In this new model, the artist coughs up a "hanging fee"; sometimes its a nominal $30-$50 per piece, sometimes it's considerably more. Some venues charge a commission on top of that, should the piece sell. Many venues offer the ability to have a "solo show", which amounts to renting the gallery for a certain time period. In a city like Toronto it can be quite expensive. I get it... the rents are insanely high so in order to stay open the gallery has to have some guaranteed income. It's a model that has developed out of need. But for the artists that are trying to do this for a living, it can put the entire gallery thing out of reach.

I often wonder how visual artists that make work that may be difficult to sell (like installation or film) manage to make a living. I know there are grants available, but I also am aware that often artists that don't have a saleable product have a hard time "qualifying" as a professional artist to Revenue Canada. I read an article this week that explains how the different branches of government actually work against each other, making the situation for artists even worse. I was angry by the time I got to the end. It makes no sense, and I now understand now that not valuing the arts is built right into the system we live within.

What's the solution for this? I have no idea. But I think it starts with transparency, and letting people in on the industry's secrets.  Only when the system of funding is fixed can the arts really thrive in Canada. At the moment, it seems to be totally out of whack. 

I understand that if I want to live off my art, I have to think like an entrepreneur, think of it like a business, and that means doing the work that sells, and abandoning the stuff that doesn't. Since art is such a personal thing, that can be a difficult decision to make. I use painting as a kind of stress/anxiety management tool, and I know I would continue to paint even if I never sold another piece. I would just have to reevaluate how long I kept something around and I would paint over things a lot more regularly. at the moment I'm managing to sell enough to cover my expenses and give myself a bit to try some new things, and that will have to do for now.

Walking Into the Light

"Walk Into the Light", 18x24" mixed media on canvas. Available. 

Canadian Winter. One of those things you just have to learn to deal with, should you choose to live in Canada. It doesn't get light until 8 or 8:30, it's starting to get dark by 4:00 (depending on where you live and what month it is). And when it is "light", it isn't really... its dim and dreary. The only time you get that wonderful, bright winter sun is when it's minus-hell-has-frozen-over cold.

We had two wonderfully sunny days this week. Only one of them was -15°C. I miss the sun. No matter how many winters I live through, I can't seem to really adjust to it. 

I go through this stretch of time every year, from early January until late February, where I feel like crap and can't seem to motivate myself to do much of anything. It's actually a thing... It's called Season Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), and apparently effects a pretty decent sized chunk of the population. I have a sun lamp that I use in my studio when I'm working  and that helps a bit, but it's one of those things that you have to use every day to see a difference. I have not been painting every day... somehow I've got a billion other things to do and can't seem to plan my time very well. Just the same I've gotten a few pieces finished that I had hanging around, so I'm marking them up as "the first of 2019". It helps me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something instead of just going around in circles. 

When I was working on this piece, which has been in progress since late summer, I was trying to capture the feeling of being in a dark forest and walking into the blinding sunshine. I kept putting it away and then going back to it, changing the entire thing every time. It's way darker than I had thought it would be when I started. I had visions of this lovely, cool blue-green only around the edges, but it didn't work. I kept closing it in until I had the feeling I wanted, but then it was so dark that I had to go back in and add some metallic and lighter tones to brighten it up.

The greens also disappeared when it started getting really cold outside. It was the week between Christmas and New Years when I picked it up again and covered the whole thing in a blue glaze. You can see some bits of green poking through here and there if you look really closely, but now it's mostly blue and purple. It's colder, feels more like winter, but I do get the feeling of moving from dark into light. Which is in line with the whole days getting longer and brighter thing that I'm SO looking forward to.

I'm surfing around online and dreaming of warmer weather... found this article about a town in Italy selling homes for 1 euro with a condition that you have to renovate the place. How nice would it be to start a little community for us Canadian artists desperate to escape the dreariness? Of course I don't have the money to actually do it, but it's wonderful to dream.....

Why Original Art Makes Your Life Better

"Summer Breeze", 24x24 mixed media on canvas. Available.

A few months ago, we decided to paint the entire main floor of our house. It was a tan colour, and we wanted to lighten it up with one of the popular light neutrals. We chose a very light warm grey... but when you come in, it just looks white.

Before we started, I packed up all the art and stored it away in various spots... every spare inch of space we had now had art stashed there. My studio was crazy full... but it didn't matter since I wasn't going to do any work until this was done anyway.

After everything was done i was really busy, so we left it for a bit before we hung all the art back up on the walls. Wow. What a difference. It turned our nice looking house into a home with personality. It expressed who we are.

You can't walk into our home and not know we are people that appreciate music, or that we like colour… you can probably even tell more subtle things about us by what hangs in what room. I like to change things up regularly... and I have more than enough work to be able to do that. And as pieces go out to shows and/or sell, things get rearranged. I usually have one of my larger musician paintings hanging over the piano, but recently I put up an abstract landscape. I love the way the iridescent paint glows when the morning sun hits it, so it is likely staying there until my next show. And it serves the purpose of keeping me relaxed when I sit down to try to play, and can't seem to hit any of the right keys.

I've seen lots of articles floating around the internet on why original art is important. While I agree with the sentiment, I think that a print of a piece you really connect with can be an acceptable substitute. Having something on the wall that really expresses your personality will make your space feel more your own.

Being a 50+ woman living in a big city, I want a couple things from the art I hang on my walls. For the most part, I want an image that is calming and creates a feeling of peacefulness in my home. My life is hectic... work is busy, there's the traffic, there's always people around, quiet is elusive... when I'm home I want the opposite of that. I want art I can look at for a good, long time and still see something new in it, every time. Art that gives me a feeling of spontaneity and joy and calm. And because I can paint, that's the kind of art I try to make. It took me a long time to learn how, but I think I'm there now. It was worth the effort it took.

Art can be a great conversation starter. I love to connect with the people who buy my paintings, and learn a bit about their lives. And likewise, they seem to be curious about mine. I've made a few really good friends that started with a conversation about art. When I am invited into someone's home I always note the art on the walls, and ask questions about it. Each piece usually has a story, and those stories are wonderful to share. Just hearing the excitement in a friend's voice as they tell me the story about the painting they bought on that trip a few years back, and how they managed to find themselves in that particular gallery or studio... well, it's always a high point.

I know people who follow the latest decor trends and are constantly redecorating their homes. I don't think art should follow trends or that you should choose your art based on your decor. If you choose works that you connect with, pieces that make you feel something, it will inspire you to find a way to make it work. Fortunately, with neutral everything being the thing these days, pretty much anything goes, art wise. Make your choices based on how you connect to it, and you can't go wrong.

Make Creativity Part of your Daily Life

"Spatial Music", 9x12" mixed media on paper. Available.
First painting of 2019.

Humans are creative beings. Once our daily needs for food and shelter are taken care of, we move on to other things that enrich our lives. Things that feed our souls. Being creative can do that.

Creativity takes on all sorts of different forms. I like to paint. My mom quilts. My son makes music. My husband endlessly comes up with projects to do around our house, be it building a shed to figuring out a better way to store our snow tires.

I know these days everyone is always so busy. But are we, really? My internet was out for a few days last week... I quickly realized how much time I spent surfing, on social media, sucked into binge watching a series on Netflix. While I always feel so busy, I figure I could free up at least another hour a day if I really wanted to. Possibly more. Of course, I don't have little kids anymore. That makes things more challenging, but it can be done if you're really committed.

I follow a lot of visual artists on social media. I hear about these groups and challenges that provide a good starting point for anyone looking to try their hand at being creative. I have even joined a couple groups... they give me a bit of inspiration when I'm looking for a new project. One group has monthly challenges and the members are really supportive of each other. The hosts also put out a podcast specifically aimed at those trying to build a creative habit. There are also lots of online classes available for every conceivable medium and skill level. A class provides a structure that works for a lot of people, with assignments giving them a specific project and deadline.

For me, being creative.... actually ACTING on the creative impulse... is what makes me more creative. Each painting builds on the one before it, taking a little bit of what I learned and using it as a springboard for the next thing. The only time I really hit that "I don't know what to do" roadblock is when I stop working for an extended period of time. A week break is ok, a month is not. It's like I get creative lethargy and can't motivate myself to get back to it. It took me a while to figure this out about myself, but I bet I am not alone here. Once you build a creative habit into your life, it's pretty much self-perpetuating.

I told y'all I was taking a break for the holidays... and while I did take a break from my blog, social media and marketing my work, I didn't actually take much time off from creating. I reworked an old piece that I thought could be better, finished up some half done stuff, did some drawing in my sketchbook, played with my camera and figured out how to use some new software. I got back to the "play" stage that reminds me why I started painting in the first place. It was rejuvenating.

I could have spent my time off watching movies on Netflix. Well, actually I couldn't, because my internet was out, but you know what I mean. It's way too easy to passively sit there and let the hours slip by. But if you really want to watch that new series everyone is talking about, at least do it with a sketchbook and pencil in hand. You just never know what you can do until you try.

Laments of the Easily Distracted

"In The Deep Mid-Winter", 18x18" mixed media on wood panel. That cool grey is actually silver... so of course, this looks better IRL. The metallic gives it a glimmer when the sun hits it. I'm counting this as one of my 100 Squares, because it's square, and I really wanted to hit the 50 mark by the end of the year. By going larger, I got distracted....

Sometimes I feel like i have the attention span of a gnat. I totally admit it... show me something shiny and I will immediately forget about what I'm doing. It's getting worse as I get older. Sometimes I will start 3 or 4 different projects over the course of a day, and not actually get anything finished. It's quite annoying.

Another problem I have is that I get bored easily. I think that's why I have embraced abstract art the way I have. My figurative work was interesting for a time, but then it became almost formulaic for me, and ceased to be a challenge. And once I'm bored of something, that's it, I can't do it anymore.

Abstract work is different. Every painting presents a new challenge. I think my process suits this aspect of my personality... I start by making random marks, and then I have to make that into something that works visually. The more I do the faster things go.... it's almost like playing chess; I'm improving, but I can't yet see a few moves ahead and figure out in advance if something is going to work or not.

Sometimes things go very slowly. I will do something I have never done before, like try a new medium (I've mixed moulding paste in with my paint on this one to hold my brush marks) or something I'm not sure will work (like this piece, where I stuck peeled off bits of dried paint onto my board before I started). Then have to figure out how to make it work. A future experiment is to give a panel and some mark making tools to my nephew's 3 year old daughter, and then work with what happens there. That should be fun.

The advantage of working small is that even though these experiments can take longer than usual, nothing really takes all that long with you're working on a 10x10" panel. 2018 has been all about the small. But I do think it's time for me to move into the world of larger pieces, so while I still have half my 100 Square Project to finish (this is #50 guys! I hit the half way point!!), I will be starting to work a bit bigger. I've got some 20x20 panels, some 24x30s, and a few 30x40". I've also been toying with the idea of doing another large diptych... even though I'm not sure where I'll put it when I'm done. There are not too many walls in my wee house that can manage a 40x60" painting.

I have some other plans for 2019. Right now I'm working on a schedule of sorts, so my followers can catch what they're interested in. In the world of magazines (where I worked at the beginning of my career) it is an "editorial calendar". I figure this will make it easier for me to create regular, predictable content instead of the haphazard way I've been doing it for the past few years. It'd be good for me not to be sitting down on a Sunday night wondering what I'm going to write about on Mondays blog post. This happens with alarming regularity.

I'll also be migrating my new art releases over to my proper website... because that's really where they should be if I'm going to be serious about selling these things. I'm trying to think like a business owner instead of a flaky creative, being distracted by every shiny new thing that comes along. I've managed to find a focus for my work, and now I need to focus everything else. I'll be adjusting as I go along and see what resonates with my followers... so please, if there is something you'd like to see, let me know and I will do my best to accommodate.

I'm taking a couple weeks off the blog to catch up on other stuff. Maybe even do some social outings and get in touch with friends I haven't seen in a while. I know I need to do some Christmas baking, since I've been asked if the usual cookies are going to make an appearance this year (I totally slacked off last year, and only made one batch of each. Not enough for sharing. My work friends were disappointed).

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, with time enough to do the things you really want to do, not just the obligatory stuff. I'll see you back here the first Monday in 2019.

Peace and Light,
Marianne

New Painting: Autumn Path

"Autumn Path", 18x18 in. Mixed Media on wood panel.

This is my last painting of this little "mini-series" of Autumn to Winter pieces. It's not my standard 10x10... its a bit bigger at 18x18". I have a few of these boards hanging around, so I figured I may as well use them. But since it's square, I'm going to include it as one of my 100.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen with this one when I started it. I was two sessions in when I realized it was a landscape. I think this one is an even more obvious landscape than some of the others I've done, but when I'm beginning a piece I try to keep my mind open, and look at it in all directions before I decide.

The foggy sky on the right was something I didn't want to obliterate as I went along. I liked the effect of the veil of white over the colour. Even my pencil scribbles show through. For a while there was no defined edge dividing the sky and the ground, but it didn't look quite right with the earth and sky blending together. Sometimes it works, but here it just didn't seem to. It was the hits of metallic at the end that seemed to pull it together. Up until then it seemed kind of ho-hum... I guess because there was such a large dark mass along the bottom and left. The bronze added the metallic effect, along with lightening the area up a bit to add variety.

I like that this piece feels very much like those grey autumn days, where the vibrant colour of the leaves contrast with the grey, misty quality of the sky. Much like how things have been around here for the past couple weeks. But seriously, stop raining already. We've all had quite enough.

My calendars are now online, for anyone who may be interested in ordering one. I got a great reaction to my advance subscriber link, so now that I'm sure anyone there who wants one has got it, I will make the link public for anyone else. Having an e-commerce site makes life so much easier... I remember when I did this in 2015 I had a spread sheet trying to keep track of orders and which ones I had shipped... it was a bit stressful as I was sure I'd miss something. Now it's all there on the website, and I can mark them shipped as I send them out, and it keeps track of how many I have left! Oh the wonders of technology!!

I've also set the date for my 2nd annual Open Studio show and sale. Mark December 2nd on your calendar! I will have most of my inventory at home (I have a few pieces still at Pixie Blue) and out for viewing. As an added bonus, both my sisters are coming out to help, and bringing a few of their creations with them. I will be posting some of their work next week on the blog. Stay tuned!

New Painting: The Bridge Home

"The Bridge Home" 10x10" mixed media on wood panel. Available. 

I love Autumn. It's one of those seasons where you never know quite what to expect... one day it's like summer, the next you wonder if it's going to snow. My favourite days are when there is a nip in the air, the sun is shining, and there's that crunch underfoot from the fallen leaves. 

I've been working on a few pieces using an Autumn inspired colour palette (see my last two posts). Ok, maybe I'm not quite sure where the teal fits in, but it does... brown, gold, red and turquoise just seem to say fall to me. The red oxide and the teal mixed together make a warm, muted green that I'm in love with. And for this piece I've included a metallic copper that I've had sitting on my work table for a couple weeks that just didn't seem to fit in the other pieces I was working on. I do love it though... it's got a rich, shiny glow that reflects the light wonderfully. It is not particularly easy to capture in a photograph though, so this piece does look quite different in person. 

I have decided to do an art calendar this year (watch my website for availability). It's been a few years since my last one, and I feel like my work has progressed to the point where I have a definitive, recognizable style. I didn't want to do another one until I got to that point. If I'm going to shell out the money to have the calendars printed (and potentially be stuck with them... do people still use wall calendars??), I want to be sure I'll still like to look at it a year from now. I want to be able to give one as a sample of my work and not be embarrassed because I feel it looks amateur. It takes a bit of time to get to that point. 

Abstract is harder than it looks. Well, maybe not just painting abstract. Technically, yes, anyone could do it. You slap some paint on and call it done... there you go. The first abstract painting class that I took was basically just that. But painting an abstract that works as art... well, not so easy. Composition is SO important. If you're creating a piece where your focus is something realistically drawn, a well done drawing can compensate for less than stellar design. The piece will still work. Not so much with an abstract piece. If the design isn't strong the whole thing falls apart. There may be interesting areas and a great colour palette, but it won't draw you in quite the same way. 

I have spent time studying work that I think is successful and trying to figure out WHY I like it so much. I've had help... I took a class with Lila Lewis Irving a couple years ago that really helped me, and I am lucky enough to be friends with Kevin Ghiglione, who helped me enormously when I was really, REALLY frustrated. I am trying to pay it forward by helping people who are a bit behind me on the path, by sharing what I've learned. Because I do believe it is a skill that can be learned, and that "talent" really doesn't have much to do with it.

New Painting: A Distant Storm

"A Distant Storm", 10x10 mixed media on Wood Panel. Available. 

I've been watching the news out of the US. I try not to overindulge, but it's like a train wreck in the making and almost impossible not to look.

This week was particularly bad. Kavanaugh. Wow. Let me sum it up... Reasonable sounding woman claims sexual assault by a high powered man, man gets very angry proclaiming a conspiracy to destroy him, other angry men dismiss her, and powerful man becomes more powerful.  Not the first time it's happened.

I have, however, noticed a change in how everyone is reacting this time around. Women are pissed. Really and truly furious. I have quite a few female American friends, and it seems to be all they can talk about. I spot the occasional dissenting opinion in the comment section (usually from a man, I have noticed) but for the most part everyone agrees that this situation is intolerable and must change (I understand I am seeing these things from my Social media echo chamber. If my friends were not mostly artists and somewhat left-leaning, its possible my take on what's happening could be quite different. But I do follow the news from reputable sources, so I think I have a pretty good idea).

So... I read about all this and listen to the radio newscasts and follow along. Then when I get into my studio, I paint a stormy sky. I know everything I experience outside the studio effects what I do when I'm in there. I can't help it, I am a whole person and I cannot separate one thing from another.

This painting reminds me of a time, years ago, when my family and I were out on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, for the annual music festival. The stage faced inland, and we were seated on the ground, facing out to sea. We watched a storm come in as we sat there in the sun... dark clouds gathered, there was lightening, torrential rain... but it was all "out there". It got closer and closer. At one point I leaned over to my husband and said, "I think we should go... that looks pretty nasty". It was rolling in fast. As we were packing up most other people suddenly had the same idea, and it was a rush to get indoors before it got to us. We ran back to the house we were staying at, and hit the driveway just as the clouds opened and the deluge started.

The situation in the US reminds me of this same storm. The anger is palpable... it's gathering steam. At some point it's going to reach a boiling point and you better run like hell if you hope to escape the wrath. I don't know what will be the tipping point, but I can see it coming. Good luck, my friends. Something tells me you are going to need it.

New Painting: Quiet Reflections

"Quiet Reflections", 10x10" mixed media on wood panel. Available. 

I've been a bit obsessed with Brian Rutenberg's YouTube videos lately. He paints these incredible, enormous abstracts... abstract landscapes that feel like a landscape even with no actual landscape type elements in them. One thing he says repeatedly in these videos is to "paint with your back to the window".

I think this is like my mantra of paint what you feel, not what you see. And it's what I've been trying to do with these landscapes inspired by my trip to Quebec. I have a load of photos, and before I start a new piece I look through them and decide what kind of feeling I want to capture. I've only done a few so far, so success seems to be a bit hit and miss. While I think this piece is successful as a painting, it didn't really get across the feeling I was going for. I was going for that feeling of blue sky reflected in still water and how calming it could be. But to get it working as an abstract, I had to lighten up that bottom "water" sector. It may have worked a bit darker but I didn't really like the colour i had going. I glazed with white until I had the value I thought I needed, but it lost a lot of the colour. I could have gone back in to add it back, but I liked it, so I didn't. Sometimes you just have to let the painting be what it is, instead of trying to force it into a preconceived plan.

I did learn enough doing this piece that I'm pretty sure the next one will be a bit better. The next one I start from scratch won't be until after the Art tour next weekend. I'm busy with finishing details right now... adding hanging wired and hardware, painting edges, putting a final coat of varnish on all these small works I've done recently.

As for the tour next weekend, I will have mostly small pieces with me, as I don't have a huge amount of space at my venue. It is a beautiful space though, and should we have good weather we will be able to move some of the art into the fabulous garden at Revive, giving it a special end of summer feel. I've got my fingers crossed for nice weather. I have a map on my website should you want to come out to the tour. There are many wonderful artists and artisans showing off their creations, and my particular location promises to be a hopping area with 4 venues on the same short street. You can access a digital version of the tour brochure here, to plan out your trip.

Hope to see you there!

Dawn of a New Day

"Dawn of a New Day", 24x24" mixed media on canvas. Private collection. 

My niece got married on Saturday. She is around the same age I was when I settled down with my now husband (though we didn't get married until a couple of years later, this is when we bought a house, which is a pretty huge commitment). I wish her and her beau as much happiness as possible.

Being an artist in a family of artists, I knew I would do something creative for them for their new home. Since I've been immersed in trying to figure out this whole abstract landscape thing, and my niece is maybe a bit traditional in her artistic tastes (and I have no idea about her now husband), a landscape seemed to be the most obvious choice. Talking to her mom and sister we determined hues of pink would fit in with their decor. Pink. Of course.

Side view, showing how the interference looks in the
light. This photo was taken in the same lighting as
the one above, I just moved over to the side.  

I'm not really a pink person. I don't wear pink, there is no pink in my home, and the pinks I've been using in my recent work started as a challenge for me to work out how to use it (since I had a few tubes of pink paint given to me). I was sure I could do this... even if I wasn't sure exactly how.

I used a lot of texture in this piece. I'm not 100% decided if it helps or detracts from the overall composition, but it gives some interest, and gave me a way to incorporate my current obsession, interference paint. Brushed lightly over the textured area the paint only hits the raised points. This can add a lot of interest to a relatively calm area.

I chose to use interference orange... I had used blues and violets along with the pinks, and I really wanted something a bit unexpected. I also thought about how the work would change in certain lighting... having used this kind of paint in a few pieces now I have a bit better idea of what to expect than when I first pulled it out. I like that you can hardly see it when you look at it straight on. It shows up in the dark areas but not the light. But when the light hits it and you're at an angle, the sky glows. It's pretty cool.

I hope they like the painting and find a special place for it. I will offer an opportunity to exchange for something else... that's something I also do for my clients whenever art is purchased as a gift. When I give art, especially my own, I worry that the receiver will not say if it's not their thing, afraid of hurting my feelings (my skin is actually pretty thick now, after years of applying to and getting rejected from shows. It's all part of being an artist). My niece already has one of my paintings, so I'm pretty sure she likes my work, but I think the art in your home should be something that really speaks to you. Maybe she would prefer something in a different colour, or has no place to put something this size. I don't really know what her other half likes either, so that's something to consider. Whatever they decide is fine with me. I know original art in a home can really add to that feeling of it being somewhere special, and that's how I want their home to feel for them.

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I am taking part in the Arts on the Credit Tour, September 22-23 in Port Credit, Mississauga. I'll have many new 10x10 pieces up for sale, plus a couple larger ones. Visit my website for details. 

New Painting: Sunday Afternoon

"Sunday Afternoon", 10x10" mixed media on wood panel. Available. 

Earlier this summer I spent a couple weeks in Quebec. It was a wind-down kind of vacation... we didn't have much planned, we did the AirBnB thing so we would have a kitchen and not have to eat out every meal, we spent time with family and I my husband and I had a chance to spend some quality time together.

With my guy being big on fly-fishing, I decided to take some art gear with me to keep me occupied while he was out on the river. The spots were so scenic, I enjoyed the time in nature just sketching and taking photos. I got some great pics for inspiration. I also got some ideas for doing a few paintings when I got home.

My travels have really inspired my art. With this trip under my belt, I thought it may be time for me to try doing some actual landscapes. Never much one for realism, I knew abstraction would be the path I had to take. Literal depictions don't work for me... I wanted to relate how the landscape makes me feel, rather than what it looks like.

"Sunday Afternoon" is the first of a few I have started. This one came together fairly quickly... although at first I didn't realize what I was painting. I had worked on it the other direction, doing my usual thing with dark/light and composing a pleasing arrangement of shapes. I had it drying on a shelf when I caught sight of it the other way and knew this was supposed to be a landscape and not an abstract. A couple quick additions and it was finished.

I have a few more abstract landscapes in the works to be ready to debut at the Arts on the Credit Tour in September. I've even started a new page for them on my website. They will be available as prints as they get finished and photographed, and I'll get the originals on there after the tour. I'm having fun with this genre, so I may continue on for a bit. I'm only half way through my 100 Square Project, so there's lots of room to add a few abstract landscapes to the series.