Still working away

I've been very busy this week working on three pieces for an upcoming submission for a group show. I have't gotten around to finishing my last 6 x 6 "red piece".  I'm ready for the last layer of pigment stick glazing.

All week I've been looking at these two papers  that just ended up getting placed together.I've tried to come up with something I could use them for, but nothing came to me so now I've used the "bark" paper (not its correct name) in one of my new encaustics - and I don't have any left.  Now how did I come by that?  That seems to be my mantra since I started this "residency".  I guess it shows it's working because I'm using up materials, but should I be thinking about buying more?  Isn't that how we end up with so much stuff?  I hate having that feeling that I might need it sometime and won't have it.

Art Fix Residency Project #2

 For some reason which I can't understand right now, I'm going through a red phase.  This is my 6th red piece in the last several months.  I aiming for  nine pieces to be included in a summer show.  I'll keep creating and edit the selection down to 9 in the end.

Apart from red, encaustic  and texture seem to be the prevailing trends in my work this week.   I'm keeping the work small so I can complete it in one sitting rather than dragging it along for weeks because I have little spare time these days.

Growth (2011) 6 x 6 in.., encaustic, paper, pigment stick on cradled panel

My inspiration

I love this paper and I've used it in very interesting ways since I found it several years ago.  I'm on my last half sheet and for the life of me I have no idea where I bought it in my travels.  This always happens when you find something good.  I have a lovely collection of mark making tools for encaustic. Incising is one of my favourite activities in this medium.  Rubbing in pigment stick with burnt umber  is a great way to subtly highlight textured lines for a great organic look. 

Another work in progress

It seems that most of my work these days is "in progress".  This state matches my life right now as I shift gears into my latest business venture.

Painting never leaves my mind even when I can't physically get to the studio.  This is work #3 of my Re-presenting Series. Obviously it isn't finished because the wood and rope are flying above the rocks and many of the rocks need to be "nestled". There is less wallpaper evident in this piece.  I seem to keep painting over it. Is there a reason for that I wonder?

I've already shown #1 and #2 below which are also in varying states of "done-ness". The boat is the closest to being finished. Nothing is titled yet either.  I'm very fussy about my titles and I need to understand more before I can title these works.

 I know that I need to break up the heavy lines of the house to get it to blend more with the interior and exterior landscape aspects.  Thanks for confirming that Don.

 

 I find it interesting that I'm showing work that isn't complete because I usually like to wait until I finish a work. There is something about these pieces that is elusive and no matter how hard  I try, I can't seem to nail them down. I think it is the nature of what I'm attempting to do. The melding of interior and exterior landscapes is difficult enough, but the interior shots (wallpaper layers) represent layers of time from the 1900's on .  The exterior landscapes both represent recent time and past time as the immediate natural landscape is current, but the objects in it are decaying remnants of the  work lives of the men in my family.   Everything keeps changing, my intent included.  I'd like to say I know exactly what I'm up to, but I'm just wading along and hoping I will find the right path. You've heard of writing your way to meaning, well, I'm painting my way to meaning.

Continuum

Continuum (2009) 10 x 24 in.
mixed media ( photo transfer, acrylic mediums &paint) paper) on board

There is inspiration in the simplest things. How many times do people walk by aspects of nature intent on their own inner world and completely miss what is happening around them? At times I feel I have the opposite problem - a continuous bombardment of stimuli that must be filtered out or it becomes overwhelming to process. This rose shrub is a good example of my usual " nature experience". I was strolling along in the Millennium Garden, Birr Castle Demense, and was beckoned by both the buzzing of bees and a glorious smell. Drawing nearer, I could see that some rose blooms were still in tact serving as landing pads for bees busy playing out their role in nature. The thing that really interested me as I looked more carefully was the presence of every stage of blossom development in a rose. It was like the passage of time caught in action and I was there to experience it. Two days later and all the blooms would possibly have disappeared, an hour before the bees might have been busy with other concerns.

This was a difficult painting to execute. It lay around my studio for six months in various stages and configurations of elements. There were so many elements to include that I could not get the composition to work. I used a great deal more paper than in the other paintings in this series. The evidence of the original photo transfers is almost totally obscured by the inclusion of additional information from my memory. The work grew to be much more sense bound and less about the actual rose bush itself. With the addition of each element, I felt I was building my own understanding of the the passage of time.

What's in a word?

locked

secured
obstructed
confined
restricted
contained
imprisoned
enclosed
impeded
____________
gate

I've written previously about naming/titling artwork. Sometimes the right title comes to you immediately and other times you may labour over it for days. Too many choices is just as bad as having few ideas. That was the case with this painting which is part of the Reading a Garden Series currently in exhibition at Cube Gallery. It is one of my favourites in the series and no name was good enough for it. I went through the list above and finally settled on Gate. It says it all.

On my summer vacation I took this shot in Copenhagen and it has all the same connotations as Gate. I especially like the door knob on this one. You could switch it up and call it Access.

Same but different

Time flies and I'm not even having fun! I'm late posting this link to the group exhibition I am part of at Cube Gallery in Ottawa (my work is the first panel on the left.) Thanks to a travel grant from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, I was able to travel to the opening. It was an honour to see my work among that of five other artists who were all using photography in some way to inform their work.

This show is about a merging of aspects of modernity (photography) and tradition (painting) which is one of the cutting edge genres in contemporary art today. The artists' use of both media asks the viewer to consider what is original and what is representational, what is real and what is not, what is tradition and what is modern.

One of the things that is limiting about living on an island is exposure to different types of art and artists. After awhile you get to know what many artists are creating and it all becomes too predictable. It was interesting to see five artists who, on paper, were working in a similar way to me, and then to discover that we were all quite different in how we were using photography. There was certainly a continuum of how obvious the use of photography in the works was. My photo transfers were very integrated into the composition and you had to spend a great deal of time looking to see what aspects were photo transfer and what was painting.

I discuss this in my artist statement...

My work begins with image transfers from photocopies of my photographs. I consider this "the real", knowing full well the limitations of photographs. Through a series of manipulations using paint, mediums, papers and sometimes ephemera, the image transfers are altered in varying degrees or totally subsumed to reflect my memory of the event. These memories are diminished in specific details in favor of complex meanings associated with sensory experiences that evolve during the process.

As time passes what I actually remember from my two weeks at Birr Castle Demesne is fading. With each new work completed there are less and less of the actual photo transfers evident. I am synthesizing my impressions and often adding new information that feels like it should be there. In summary, my process of creating these works mimics the actual process of remembering (and forgetting) over time.

If you would like to explore the work of the artists in more detail check out their websites: Katherine Jeans, Jennifer Lawton, Amanta Scott, Karina Kraenzle and D.H. Monet who is the owner of Cube Gallery.

Searching for title

I'm back in the city for several days to get my work ready to ship to Ottawa. I spent yesterday brainstorming titles and I actually came up with some great ones. There are still several that are nagging at me. The image below was created in response to an event that occurred while staying at Birr Castle Demesne. Right now Tangled, Uprooted, Connections, & Family Tree are the top contenders. Any input will be appreciated.

Working On

We are settled into our summer home and I began my painting in earnest yesterday. It seems the hours fly by here and I am able to concentrate for large blocks of time with no phone, Internet or unannounced visitors to take me away from my creative time. I am trying to fix a painting that has been around for several months. It is a challenge in many ways. All my garden paintings are so green and the complex layering is a challenge because I rely on it to create the sense of energy that exists in even the quietest garden. This painting is about roses after the bloom has left and a reference to the cycle of life using honeycomb paper to represent bees and pollination. I think I have it conquered and I hope to finish it today. I am not able to post any pictures for awhile since I am not working on my own computer. I'll have a show and tell of completed work on August 11 when I return to St. John's.

The weather is fantastic and the whales are arriving. Yesterday I took a long break on my patio to watch their movement in and out of the small harbour our house sits beside. We have a ring side seat.

Postcard Series - New work

I've been busy finishing several of my 4 x 6 inch postcard works. For these two I returned to Birr Castle Demesne for inspiration. I'm looking down again to see what's beneath my feet. There are whole little worlds for you to view when you look closely. I'm not working on my
Reading a Garden Series this week partly because my mind is all over the place. We leave for our vacation on Saturday and will be gone for a month. That's a long time without blogging!

New work - Postcard series

In my Postcard Series I think I have found a format that will serve me well for many years. I like to have something to revert to when I am working on a larger series which I classify, rightly or wrongly as" more serious." I always grade what I create on a continuum that ranges from serious and worthy to fun and frivolous. At the back of my mind every time I create something , I question its worth in the larger scheme of art that is created around me. I often wonder if other artists see their work in this way. Perhaps it comes from my teaching background where everything is constantly assessed. I know that there are times this constant rating is affecting how I see myself as an artist.

These images will be part of my Reading a Garden series too. I'm attracted to the idea of sending postcards from places you visit as a way for loved ones to participate in the experience. What they receive is the result of several selection processes. The original place photographed was created through a series of decisions by one or possibly many people, the photographer who created the postcard selects views from many available, from these some are chosen for reproduction. The sender of the photograph selects from those available in one store or gift shop and further refines the visual information by adding comments. Each step along the way is a form of "reading" a place. I think the postcards fit in very well with the Reading a Garden theme.

In an early post I wrote about one of the magnolia trees found in Birr Castle Demense and I'm still thinking about it. The combination of realism and abstracted backgrounds is a challenge but I think I pulled it off.

New work - Postcard series

Postcard Series, Venice #2 (2009) mixed media collage

Postcard Series, Venice #1 finally has a mate. I completed this several days ago. Number 3 is almost completed. I obviously did not photograph these pieces under the same conditions because the gold I used is the same in both collages. Believe it or not the horizontal line is parallel to the bottom of the board too. It's my photography skills. Isn't it terrible when you have to explain your work because your technical skills with the camera are so poor they make a verbal explanation necessary?

Postcard Series, Venice #2 (2009) mixed media collage

New work - collage

Postcard collage Garden #1 (2009) paper, acrylic on board, 4 x 6 in.

When I am in a garden I often think about the "goings on" I cannot see, the new growth, the minerals in the soil helping out, the roots, and of course the constant decay. I am trying to capture this process abstractly. This is my first organic attemept.

New work - Postcard Series

Postcard Collage #1 Venice (2009) paper, acrylic on board 4 x 6 in.

My postcard collages are moving along well. Several weeks ago I re-organized all my travel photos and as I sorted and filed images it was like a flying trip through different places. The experience left me with a bombardment of visual snippets of colours and textures. It was a synthesis that had nothing to do with the emotion or memory of the place. I found that very interesting because so much of my work revolves around the passage of time and memory. This was a much simpler visual response that I decided to act on.

This experience occurred at the same time I wrote about For Carrie 1907 and the follow up post about evolving ideas in art. This collision of ideas resulted in the postcard collage series. I am continuing to refine my original thoughts about how this series will be organized. Right now I'm creating groupings of 3 (e.g., Venice #1, #2, #3) and will display them in this way. They are on 1/4 inch birch plywood and will be backed with another piece of word on the back that is 2 x 3 inches and 1/2 inch thick which will hold the hook. I wanted them to stand out from the wall for viewing purposes and I also needed some consistent way to hang them evenly as they will be displayed in grids. I plan to create a jig (living with a carpenter) to ensure they are all backed and hooked exactly the same.

I'm also creating a series of postcard collages from the gardens at Birr Castle, just ot keep my mind on that project as I take this little detour from my usual work. I want to stop thinking about what I'm creating and just create. I feel the sheer joy I watched on childrens' faces for years - I'm having fun!

New work -collage

Postcard collage #1 Asian (2009) 4 x 6 in. on board

I just wanted to play around with various papers while I was on my brief summer home visit. Collage is very portable in such situations. I have a large box of paper ends left from previous projects. I just dump the contents into a garbage bag and away I go. This is an unlikely colour scheme for me because I rarely use orange and as a matter of fact orange is my least favourite colour. I have to admit it was just right to complement the black Asian flavoured paper left over from the endpapers of a journal folder I made last year.

I plan to create a whole series of postcard collages that are influenced by the cultures of various countries I have visited or enjoy reading about. It will be fun to share these experiments with you in the coming months. While I love the colour and texture of these small studies, and making them relaxes me and frees my mind and invites playfulness into my practice, they serve a more important purpose; they give me ideas new larger work.

New work -Poggio S. Cecilia Tuscany

Poggio S. Cecilia (2009)acrylic and paper on board, 10 x 8 in.

This is a small painting completed as a gift for friends who shared a holiday with us in 2006. I always find the greens in nature a challenge and there is so much green in Tuscany. I'm still looking at this painting with a critical eye because I find the greens somewhat boring. For the life of me I don't know what to do with it. I would appreciate any suggestions. I've paper as a base and the foreground poppy section began with a photo transfer of a field that has been much integrated into the body of the painting by applying paper and over painting. It's my favourite section of the work because it is lively and organic looking. Perhaps that is why the rest seems boring to me.

I have no concerns about the topic because the place carries fond memories for me. The wild poppies are everywhere in this region of Italy. On the distant hill you can see the outline of Poggio S. Cecilia near the town of Rapolano Terme in the Siena section of Tuscany. This village was founded in 1200 by the Buoninsegna family. Over the years the little village saw several defeats in battle and in 1600 it was rebuilt. It was abandoned in 1960. Today you can find Trattoria Dal Vecchio Prof. operating there. The food is fabulous and the walk down the mountain in the dark is an adventure in itself (more sensible people drive up). We have very fond memories of our evening there and voted the pasta wit truffles the best we ever had in our lives.

To the right of the scene depicted here is the beautiful Agriturismo Villa Buoninsegna where we stayed for a week in Apartment Podere Goito. It was reasonably priced, comfortable and beautiful. The working vineyard was a plus for the wine drinkers in the group. We were a group of ten so there was always lots to say, see and do.

New work in April

I've taken a break from my garden series to create work for a commission and as gifts to mark different events in the lives of friends. While I've used some photo transfer in this work it is mostly straightforward acrylic painting rather than mixed media, which I've used in the last two years.

I was excited to accept this commission from a friend's husband for her birthday. I've made a decision to only accept commissions from people I know personally because I like to have a good sense of the person I am creating work for. Under these conditions I don't find it a stressful venture.

I included several photos that I used to create this paining in an earlier post. I was trying to combine the beach scene and the sunflower together but I could not make it work. In the end I decided to match the heights of each piece so they could be hung side by side. Sadly my technology prowess is still lacking. I could not get these two pieces to look the same height. More tuition needed for sure.

Life continues (2009) acrylic on canvas, 10 x 30 in.

Life continues II (2009) acrylic on paper on board, 10 x 8 in.

The idea for this work was prompted by my friend's (who received the work) story about finding a sunflower growing in the middle of the beach while out for a walk. She is an avid beachcomber but a sunflower in the middle of nowhere was quite intriguing. I was fascinated by this and thought about all the other things I have found on my beach walks. The remnants of life are found on beaches and pairing things as I have done here creates interesting narratives. I loved the old yellow bone handle which reminded me of flatware my grandmother had when I was a child. The ropes and wood reference the seafaring men that dominate the history of Newfoundland. If you look closely you will find other references.

New work

It's over a week since I've been in the studio, but my mind is constantly on art. I now honour these lapses in physical production as part of my process. I've been asked to create a painting as a surprise birthday gift for a friend of mine. We've already settled that it will be mixed media, but the subject matter is totally up to me. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes not. In this case it is good. I plan to create a diptych with two very different images having the same theme. The content relates to the interests and sensibilities of my friend. It is so much easier to create something when you know the person who will recieve the work. Here's a look at the source material I'm considering . It will be a challenge to pull this off. I'm feeling positive.