Philip Guston Over My Shoulder

All it took was a brief video of Philip Guston talking about his meandering, pot-holed route from beginnings to near completion of his artworks to remind me that it is the journey I make with my art that is so satisfying. Frustrating, sometimes, but always something new and exciting eventually takes hold.  After a week of layering cool over warm, warm over cool, scraping, scratching, dark over light, light over dark, more texturing, dissolving with mineral spirits, etc., and repeating the processes, I declared these three pieces done!  The results are vastly different from where I began (landscapes?), but I  think of torsos as human landscapes.  I'll let them hang around for a few weeks before they can be deemed "done". Or are they ever completely "done"?

Three New Beginnings, after a week of transformation...

Three New Beginnings....

Three 16" X 16" panels that are awaiting a "breakthrough". I've been moving them around the house, and in diffferent configurations, looking for something; don't know what yet, but it will come to me.

Some areas are developing with many layers of oil and wax, scraping back, more layers, and scratchmarks.

Other areas have similar layers of oil and wax, with powdered pastel used for some subtle colour shifts. I can get caught up with my nose centimeters from the panel, realizing that I need to take a step back.

More mark-making with my favourite tools through the wax/oil layers.

The oil paint is setting up quite nicely, so I think that by tomorrow I will go in with some oil sticks, charcoal, graphite and more pastel. I want to explore some relationships between line and the colour fields.  Don't have any images in mind, but the lines should augment the colour and conflict with the shapes. Hmmm...sounds like a plan. By tomorrow though, the ideas will undoubtedly change, and something else will appear on the panels.  The work always seems to surprise me.

Quinte Arts Council's Art in the Community Exhibition

Installation photos of some of my work now showing at Dinkel's in Belleville, as part of the Quinte Arts Council's Art in the Community.  The artwork will hang in the restaurant until the end of June.  Stop in for lunch or dinner, enjoy the ambiance of the dining rooms, and perhaps find the perfect piece of artwork you have been searching for your home or office.

ECOAA 53rd Annual Juried Art Exhibition

Tender Sketch, Oil/Cold Wax
14 " X 11"

A small oil/cold wax piece was recognized at the recent ECOAA Annual Juried Show with the Jeanne-Marie  McAdam Award for Innovative Work.  The exhibit continues at the Shenkman Arts Cenre, 245 Centrum Blvd., Ottawa until April 22, 2011.  Over 140 works of art were submitted, with 89 pieces juried into the show, representing 47 artists.  The centre encompasses a large, modern building, with several gallery spaces, a clay studio, and dance/theatre studios.  It appears to be well appreciated and used by the community, with very friendly hours.



Paintings displayed along the back wall and along the long side wall at the Shenkman.




Continuation of the exhibition, along the wall and under the grand staircase.




Thank you to Linda Sitler Howe for taking the photo. Tender Sketch (r), and Fugue With Confused Square (l)



Validation as an Artist

Ode to Lover, 14" X 11"
Oil/Cold Wax on canvas

All artists, I believe, are appreciative when someone or some organization encourages them in what they do by actually purchasing a work of art.  Emerging young artists, and emerging older artists (like myself!) must get the same thrill when such an event happens in their art-life.  For me, a recent purchase by the John Parrott Gallery in Belleville, a nearby town, has given me a hearty boost.  A small oil/cold wax piece, "Ode to Lover" is now in the gallery's Permanent Collection.  I have to say that I am very appreciative of the recognition, and thrilled to bits.

A New Work

River # 9, oil/cold wax on board, 10" X 8". This painting is a small work in the 'River' series. I've posted several 7" X 5" pieces in the series on my Etsy site:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/elementalabstractart

Miles To Go...

Yesterday was a fine day to work outside, so I spent a little time with one of the new pieces. Layers of colour are starting to build, and provide some depth:

Then I played with some of my beautiful Japanese Washi, using lots of wax and galkyd to apply the papers:

More colour/wax, and more papers:

Some mark making through the layers:

The process continues....

Gotta go............Rockin' with Randy Bachman on CBC Radio 2's "Vinyl Tap". It's Guitar 101 tonight - Live!

New Work in Progress

Manoeuvring a 48" X 36" canvas into my teeny workspace is a challenge, but I like creating large, so I just make it work as best as possible. At some point, I'll take it outside (weather permitting), or lay it on the dining table and work flat, then bring it back horizontal. Maybe I'll turn it clockwise or counterclockwise a few times.....




Close-ups of some areas, but they will be gone tomorrow. I have no fear of 'slaying the children' - metaphorically speaking, of course.

These thin layers of oil paint with cold wax medium will be completely covered with the next layers. The wax aids the paint in setting up, so I'm less likely to get mud with the next go at it, I hope. Everything is at the intuitive stage at this point - just playing with colour and loose shapes and relationships. Is that a figure emerging in the upper right? Mmmm.....

Testimonial for Rebecca Crowell's Workshop

Today I received an email enquiry from my website about Rebecca Crowell's workshops. Unfortunately, the email address bounced back as undeliverable, so I'm hoping that Pat C. will find my blog. Here is the email I sent Pat:

Hello Pat,
I can't say enough good things about Rebecca's workshop. For me it was like a brand new beginning in my artwork, but not at all scary. After decades of experimenting in various media, with a variety of techniques, I felt I was making progress, but always had that nagging feeling that something was missing. I had just returned to oil paint after 30 years when I attended Rebecca's workshop. The experience was as if a door opened and a whole new world of art-making was before me. I know, it sounds weird, but it is so true. Finally I was painting with the results I had envisioned for many years, but had been unable to achieve.
Rebecca is a remarkable teacher, friend, mentor. Any time spent with her will be amazing. You will come away with your own vision; somehow, there is so much going on that you never worry about being a 'Rebecca Clone'.
I joined Rebecca for the first of her recent workshops in April of 2009 in Rochester NY. I was able to drive there the day before, so that was convenient for transporting materials. Looking forward to participating again in the future sometime. So much to learn and try.
So enjoy your time with her and the other participants, and keep in touch. I'd love to hear about your experiences.
Best regards,
Barbara
PS Check out some earlier Rochester posts on my blog.

Above is a recent work, 'Fugue With Confused Square' , 30" X 40", oil/cold wax.

Scent of a Crayon

Found a box of dozens of crayons when I was rummaging around my workspace today. Instantly, I was a 10 year old, and played with the juicy colours for an hour or so in my sketchbook. What is it about the intoxicating smell of crayolas? And the colours - a kid's delight! That hour spent with the waxy hues was almost as invigorating as a 5 km run, and I hope to make a habit of it, too. A stimulating way to work out some ideas for larger works, I spent the rest of the day happily painting.

The painting above is a parody of Schroedinger's cat experiment. My version is 'Schroedinger's Chair'(16" X 20", oil/cold wax on canvas). Not that I understand the physics behind it (I'll leave that to the Einsteins of this world!), but the history of the experiment is fascinating. I'm a cat lover, so rest assured I'm happy that Schroedinger's and Einstein's little game was only a 'mind' experiment, so the kitty was never harmed.

Hazy, Crazy August

Three art/craft shows (the economy is recovering :-)), family/friend visits (so much fun!), and gallery duties have kept me hopping for almost a month. Time to get down to some serious work in my painting studio, create all the ideas I have for some clay sculptural pieces, and help restock our clay inventory in the pottery studio. Very happy to be so busy - I'd be worried if we weren't.

I'm building a new website for my cooperative gallery, Gallery 121, in Belleville. It's been another learning curve, and things are coming together slowly, but surely. It will be "Under Construction" for awhile, but there are some artists' works displayed and other information, so take a look, and come back for a visit often:

www.gallery121artists.com

In the back of my mind, I would love to be cycling along the Loire River in France, watching the bâteau, as in the painting above, "Bâteau sur Loire", oil/cold wax on cradled wood panel.

Music as Muse

An uncropped image of "Hallelujah(L.Cohen)", an oil/cold wax painting that was accepted into the John Parrott Gallery's juried show, along with my little woman sculpture "Singing the Blues". The opening reception is Thurs., June 10, 6-7:30. You are invited to join us for an exciting exhibit. I'm anticipating seeing a wide variety of interesting work relating to music as a source of inspiration. Leonard Cohen was playing in my studio at the time I was working on this piece, and I think his lyrics influenced where I was going, and where I ended. It was one of those rare times when I entered the 'zone' and didn't come out until many days later. I was on a high for several days as I worked through the process, trusting that eventually I would get to where I felt I should be with the painting. So hard to explain without sounding trite, but it really was a strange week or so, as I was working. I don't think I could ever plan that event again, so I'll just keep working, and maybe I'll get lucky again. Trust the Process.