Energies

After a while of different directions (turtles, moose, aboriginal inspired styles), I found myself swinging back to the knives. I had a need to return to bolder, bigger, more movement. There were energies at play, building, waiting to be told in giant stories with broad strokes, energetic slashes and colour, colour and more colour.

Awakenings was the first to emerge, followed by Vertigo, the largest canvas to date that I have worked on, almost as tall as I am. Both of these are going to TAG Art Gallery in St Catherines, along with Ghost Spirit and others.

The last one is untitled to date as it is still a work in progress, but it is pure energy, an explosion of colour. We will see where that one ends up, but channeling energies seems to be where I will be playing for the next while.

Awakenings
Oil on Canvas

Vertigo
Oil on Canvas

Size perspective-artist and Vertigo

Untitled-Unfinished yet

Energy

I am a firm believer that we as artists are conduits for energies. Sometimes a work will “flow” effortlessly onto the canvas a symbiotic meeting of spirit and media. Other times, there is a battle, a struggle where it seems like energies are at cross purposes. Perhaps, the story being told isn’t the “right” one for the moment, the intuitive spirit is waging an inner war with the logical, what is thought to be the “right” story.

For this painting, I started off with an idea or concept. I have always loved Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings and saw a plate created to represent her work that was stunning, a balance between delicate and powerful. I loved the energy that it had so started off with that in mind. Wrong. Somewhere deep within, my own energies, the place where I am in my psyche, spirit, was at counterpoint to what I thought I wanted to do. I started off in one direction and absolutely hated it. It was not subtle (not that many of my works ever are). It sat there, heavy on the canvas, flat and boring and disappointing.

I looked at it. Left it. Looked at it again. Was tempted to pitch it. But stubborn woman that I am, I was determined to fix the damnable thing. And that was when I let it go-the preconceived notions of what I thought I wanted to achieve, the ideas of what it “should” look like. I pulled out my knives, mixed a crap load (technical term) of colours that I “felt” at that moment, and hit it blind, no direction, no “have to”, no “thinking” or “should”, just “be”, let the energy and where I am take me into the space and place where the energies are just channeled from the soul onto canvas.

I am much happier with the energy of the piece, the flow of colours, contrasts and movements because that is where “I” am. And that is the whole point really sometimes 🙂 Not the best pic as I took it on my phone since the painting is wet, really large and hard to move, but you get the idea I hope.

Have you ever?

There are so many things that I would like to capture on canvas-so many things I would like to try.

Have you ever wanted to paint a full wall? Take a blank slate and just cover it in colour? A huge canvas and just set yourself free and smoosh, and splatter? What about taking the canvas and becoming the implement that paints, use your hands, your feet, your whole body to immerse yourself in the process so that you and the canvas become one.

Have you ever wanted to paint the smell of spring rain? The sound of the loons on the lake as it stills and reflects during the magic hour? The smell of the wood smoke from the sauna-the anticipation of relaxation before the plunge into the chill water that refreshed and rejuvenated the soul? The hush in the forest in winter when giant snowflakes drifting delicately to the ground is the only sound you will hear? The sound of a child’s laughter-the full belly kind that is pure unabashed joy? The feeling you get when you play with little baby toes and fingers? That kiss at the moment where things click and you melt? The warmth of a hug where all you need is the strength of the arms around you? The taste of tears? That deep satisfying moment where you are sitting with someone and not saying a word, and everything is good in the world?

Oh the things left to try.

It Was A Battle!

Once again, the folks at The Museum in KW put on a great event! 26 artists competed in live round painting competition with each artist having 30 minutes to complete a piece. Once done, spectators got to vote on their faves and then bid on pieces to take home. All proceeds go to the artist and The Museum.

Competition was fierce and the crowd truly seemed to enjoy it. At max capacity, over 600 people came to feast their eyes on what the artists came up with. The end products were definitely diverse, with artists using a phenomenal range of techniques and styles.

It’s an interesting process. I got half way through this one, had the water completed, mostly through the forest part and hated the way the colours looked. Checked the clock and with 17 minutes left, took a deep breath and scrapped the whole upper half of the painting. Had to answer a few spectator questions regarding whether or not that was intentionally part of my “process”, and some preferred the forest over the snow capped mountains, but it is what it is and how I felt at the time 🙂

Kudos to The Museum for arranging the event, the artists for participating and all the fans who come out to support the artists and the arts!

A few pics to give you an idea of what we were doing…

Something is happening

Second phase-knife work

Add the forest

Scrap the forest, add some mountains

15 minutes left concentration

Crowds

Crowds

Crowds

The Ice Mountains and Ice Flows

It’s Back…The Museum “The Brush Off” 2015

Once again, The Museum in KW is hosting their annual fundraising, live art at its best painting competition.

On January 24, 26 artists will be competing live, in  four 30 minute, heart pounding, creative testing, eye dazzling rounds. With a live DJ, music pumping, voting fast and furious, original pieces of art immediately going up for auction, I am sure it will once again prove to be a phenomenal event. The caliber and range of artists to delight the sense is outstanding so everyone should find something to bid on and someone to cheer for. So looking forward to being there again! Tickets are on sale now, and they sell out every year, so advance tickets sales are a wise choice. Cash bar. See you on the 24th…now just to decide what/how to paint!

Check out the info below, or go to their web site to buy tickets

http://www.themuseum.ca/exhibition/brush

The Brush Off | THEMUSEUM// // // //

1 night.
26 artists.
4 rounds.
38 original works.
January 24th 2015

Doors open at 6:30pm, competition begins at 7pm. Admission to Unwrapping Egypt is included in ticket price.

vote

20 artists will compete in 4 rounds of a friendly live-painting competition. Your votes determine who advances each round and eventually wins The Brush Off.

bid

38 original works of art will be produced during the night. Bid on your favourite painting at this fundraiser for THEMUSEUM and bring home a piece of the night.

party

Revel in the creativity displayed by the artists and maybe even dance to the tunes being blasted over the speakers.

love art

20 artists creating 38 original works and mingling with the local art scene – you’ll be tempted to pick up some paint, a brush, and some canvas on the way home!

Details

$15 per ticket plus tax.
Cash Bar

– See more at: http://www.themuseum.ca/exhibition/brush#sthash.IRsJXXHB.dpuf

New Year Sale!

Once again, with the new year, comes new things. However, in order to make room for new things, new styles, new fun, i need to downsize some of the pieces currently taking up residence in my limited studio space.

All works not currently associated with a gallery are on sale up to 40% off. If there is a piece that you have been eyeing up, send me a message with the title, and I will send you details regarding prices. Please note that prices do not include shipping. Pieces can be shipped on the stretcher bars, or I have successfully shipped different pieces around the world by taking them off the stretcher frame, rolling and sending. That would mean, however, that you would have to get them re-stretched, or framed accordingly. Please also check for import fees depending on your country.

What if? Why not?

Sometimes when I look at a piece I have been working on, even when it is “finished”, there is something “missing”. It is “ok”. It kind of looks “done”, but hmm. And then I think, “What if?. What if I added something there, bolded this area out there, put this little bit in there. Why not? What stops us as artists from playing with a work further, experimenting and adding? When you work on a piece for a period of time, especially in oils when you sometimes have to wait days or weeks for a layer to set in the drying process, that hesitation comes from the “what if I totally screw it up and ruin the whole damn thing” fear. What if I take it from “ok” into the “crap what I have done holy mess” zone? I just spent weeks, sketching, layering, adding, lovingly adding brush stroke or palette texture only to foul the piece up to “I HATE it”.

Fear is the enemy of an artist. When we fear, we fail to push, to reach, to stretch, to grow. It is natural to like working within a comfort zone, to keep things safe. I am not a representational artist by any means. Everything I do, even when there is an intent for it to be recognizable as something specific comes filtered through my vision and interpretation. But even then, I have these preset subconscious boundaries that I have placed on myself somewhere in the depths of my psyche. The best example is my latest “finished” painting, “Whispers”, one of my forest interpretations, where the feeling and spirit of the forest is presented through colour and flowing line to convey the emotion one feels when presented with that magical majesty of old growth trees.

It could have been considered complete as I presented it last time, but looking at it something was bugging me and I was dissatisfied with the final image. I was hesitant to go at it again, because then you risk taking thing too far, adding too much, and fail to self edit. To leave it or not to leave it? To sit looking at it always wondering what it was that was irking me about it, or risk “ruining” it and going overboard? And that my friends is where the intuitive spirit as I like to call it takes over. You see, I don’t think we can really “ruin” a work. We can change it, we can push it in a way that we may not like as a final product, but if we do not ever, take those risks, then we will never grow. It once again comes down to there are no failures, there are no mistakes, it is all part of  process.

 

“Whispers”
Oil on Canvas

Opening Doors…so to speak

Sometimes, ideas just pop into my head, seemingly from out of the blue. I have the privilege of working with high school students and they continue to be a source of inspiration for me. One of my projects has been running school art battles. Individual artists will compete, creating works within a specified time frame, using specific materials and themes…for our year closing, or in this case, year opening battles, we’ve put together team battles. This year’s inaugural battle saw 11 teams of over 70 staff and student combos battling it out and it was magnificent!

So, this idea, you say…well, it was to use doors as the canvas. The theme was “gateways”. Each team was provided with an actual door and they had to produce a finished piece in 30 minutes. Luckily, we are blessed with some amazing local businesses who are more than willing to help out. In this case, Artefacts in St Jacob’s (an architectural salvage business) donated a number of doors to this project, thereby allowing us to accommodate all the people who wanted to participate.

In the case of my “team”, we decided to blend the inside with the out, and used actual stones, both painted colours and natural to create our gateways. A play on gateways/pathways, actual paths…well, you get it. Although we did not finish our door within the time frame (a bit challenging with two team members out of four running the gauntlet of technical difficulties keeping things progressing smoothly for the battle), we did make considerable progress and plan on completing the door in the upcoming weeks. I will post pics of the finished door. I guess my point is-think outside the box. Let nature and unusual things be your canvas and palette. Don’t be afraid to try new things and most of all…have FUN!

 

Setting up our “colours”

 

The canvas

 

Phase 1 Design

 

Phase 2

 

Phase 2 another view

A jaunt down this lane and that…

And then some! None of the following works are done by any stretch of the imagination, but it would appear between my own mind’s direction and the desires of others, this is what I will be working on for the next while. Will be interesting to see where the mind goes next, no?

Whispers
Not Completed
oil on canvas
36 by 36

 

Poppies Stage 2-not completed
Oil on Canvas
48 by 48

 

Coastline-not completed
Oil on Canvas

Off to the Fall Show it Goes

“Compartmentalizing” is heading to the fall group show at the fabulous TAG Art Gallery in St Catherine’s. If you are ever in the Niagara area, I highly recommend that you pop in on your way through. Located in a quaint redesigned older building that still retains its architectural charm from yesteryear, Tom Goldspink has put together an intriguing and diverse collection of fabulous artists, not to mention the collection of historical prints. If you do get to go, the effusively warm and knowledgable Frank will guide you through the gallery, his passion and acumen for art clearly evident as you tour room after room of beautiful pieces in such a lovely range of styles and sizes, that you are sure to fall in love with one of them. Put some art and wine tours on your fall calendar…a perfectly scrumptious way to ease yourself from summer into the crisp notes of fall.