Haiku Simple

I love haiku. Brevity and the selection of perfect words create beautifully crafted gems. Haiku invites meditation through repetition- a slow reading, a pause and then several other readings at a leisurely pace.

Reading haiku calms me down and gives me an opportunity to consider how someone else views the natural world. If you're feeling frantic read haiku.

One of my favourite blogs is Kelly Marszycki's Haiku Simple. It's interesting how apt the haiku she writes seems to be just the perfect one for where my mind is at that point in time. Perhaps I'm just interpreting based on my background and mood. Whatever is happening, Haiku Simple is a pleasure and provides a moment of pause in a hectic life. The evocative images Kelly includes with some of the haiku adds to the overall appeal of the her blog. Check it out.

Reading layers

In response to the last post Kathy noted that:
art primarily deals with "spaces in between." That is, we all observe what's around us and use it to inform our art, but we have to find connections that aren't obvious in order to make our work meaningful. Those "connections" occur somewhere between the realm of reality and our imaginations. Those are what I would call the "spaces in between." there is a space between our original perception of reality and how we represent this in our work.

It seems there are many" in between" spaces in art. A common one is the use of layers to build up a painting. There is also the use of negative space as a compositional device. Tanja Softic uses both in her work.

Morning over there (2008) 15 x 36 in. acrylic, graphite, chalk on paper mounted on board

Last year I was excited to find the work of Tanja Softic as I was researching various artists who cite memory as a driving force in their work. Since that time I've visited her website several times and each time I come away with new insights into her work.

Tanja is an associate professor of art at The University of Richmond, but she was raised in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. While she was earning her MFA in the United States, war broke out in her homeland permanently changing the pattern of her life.

In her words:

My work addresses factors of cultural hybridity that shape the identity and world view of an immigrant: exile, longing, translation, and memory.

.....The visual vocabulary of my drawings and prints suggests a displaced existence: fragmented memories, adaptation, revival, and transformation. Because I do not live and work within the comfort or boundaries of the culture in which I first learned to observe, interpret and engage the world, I have the arguable privilege of having lived more than one life. My memory is my virtual self and, paradoxically, my most authentic self.

Her references to memory as a "process that involves erosions and accretions" strikes a cord with me as I construct my paintings for Reading a Garden 18 months after my two week stay in Birr Castle Demesne. I am amazed at how quickly I forget specific details and how easily I embellish others and believe them to be true. Softic sums it up well.

" Re-membering becomes an act of reconstruction, where one works with what is there and tries to visualize what has been lost.

The images in Softic's more recent works suggest what Said called "an awareness of simultaneous dimensions." The maps and star charts represent conventional interpretations of distance and scale. Softic says:

I am interested in what they may become, layered upon each other, in visual conversations with other elements in the drawing. In Migrant Universe, the drawings function as re-arrangeable continuum of maps, landscapes and portraits of memory and identity.

The map of what happened below is part of the Mirgrant Universe series.

The map of what happened (2008) acrylic, chalk, graphite on paper on board 60 x 120

Nomad's polyphony (2004) 42 x 108 in. acrylic, charcoal, chalk on handmade paper

While I have found several different bodies ofSoftic's work and critical discussion of it, I was first attracted to the pods, orchid blooms and shells mixed with body organs and bones all juxtaposed with geometric shapes and architectural details.

Allegory of time (2000) 58 x 52 in. acrylic, charcoal, chalk on paper

The layers are complex but negative space exists within and top of the surface which has the ability to both calm and command the viewer. Her work has a dreamlike quality that provides a sense of past and present displayed together. Drawing and printmaking allow her to build up layers of subtle colour and texture. I like the way some of the objects recur in varying combinations throughout different works. David Bickman 2003 noted that "She combines the skill of a medical or botanical illustrator with the soul of a poet to make extremely detailed drawings that are nothing if not evocative."

Porous histories (2005) 15 x 48 in. etching and mezzotint

Perhaps you would like to look at the work of my friend, Catherine Beaudette, who has a summer home in Duntara near where we live. Catherine teaches at Ontario College of of Art and Design. Look at her Recent Works and read her artist statement. You will see why.

Venetian Red

I'm continuing with my December theme of Pattern and Decoration with a blog recommendation. It seems appropriate to be recommending Venetian Red near Christmas. I first came across this blog on Robyn's Art Propelled. The name intrigued me at first because of the Venice reference, but it's the content of the blog that hooked me and keeps me returning.

The duo of Christine Cariati and Liz Hager started the blog as a vehicle to share their " individual and collaborative perspective on the collective creative endeavor". Their posts dig more deeply into their influences and the ideas that spring from their examinations. There are many posts that focus on design, textiles, ornament etc. It is a treasure trove for the artist interested in pattern and decoration. Since I found it I've been making quick visits and reading posts here and there. I've decided to take a more structured approach and start at the beginning. This is going to be my Christmas holiday treat.

Christine's intimate paintings include birds, insects and flora presented in a "stylized theatrical format". Her background as a textile designer is evident in her use of pattern, line work and exquisite detail . She explores "the ways in which we re-imagine nature, finding beauty in chaos and wildness".

The intimate scale, subject matter and use of pattern parallels my own interests. Christine notes that her work can be "held and read like a book". I appreciate this about her work because it reinforces my need to keep the size of my work to dimensions that allow me to physically hold the work as I paint it. I wonder if Christine uses an easel or does she also need to physically hold her work as she created it.

Liz Hager's work is diverse in material usage - paint, wood, fabric, metal and paper. Like many artists who work in different media she feels that certain concepts require specific materials. See her Botanica series where she prints on various metals with the choice of metals dictated by the image. Her gouache Imaginary Textiles ,which I love for their colour and energy, connect me to a time in my life where my spare time activity was doodling textile designs. This summary just brushes the surface of her work.

Back to Venetian Red.... I've never used this colour in my work but I'm happy to report I have another connection to it. I 've seen the murals of Pompeii. Venetian red is everywhere.

What remains of these murals create spontaneous abstract works that are achingly beautiful.

Referred

I am enjoying a new blog, Tackad, that I found through Art Propelled, another favourite blog of mine. I highly recommend both blogs. Check both out, you won't be disappointed.

Today I'm focusing on Tackad. This blog is truly a treasure trove of artist sites that have been sorted into various categories. Of course, I love it because the categories are ones I'm very interested in- language based art, text in art, circles/dots etc. I especially liked the most recent post about collage artist Rex Ray and his work. His story is interesting. Check it out on Tackad.