Sound waves

Don't ever throw away your rejects in paper or canvas, you never know how they can be adjusted and resurface as swans.

This was the case for this piece.  I was doing to printmaking, using repeating patterns as a theme and as with most printmaking, not every single piece will be a winner.  I liked the base colour which was in acrylic and the subtle patterning marks on the surface, but it was too faint to stand on its own.

I added some bands of texture using natural sand paste and once dry added watercolour washes, letting it seep into the crevices and highlight the texture of the paste on the surface.  once dry, I added strokes of intense colour using soft pastels.  These hit the high points of the textured surface and the whole reminded me of graphs of sound waves.

This is 8" x 10" on subi paper.

Waiting and sketching

I've had an eye problem all week that's meant lots of time in doctors' waiting rooms. Waiting is not something I do well, especially when my schedule is hectic as it has been lately.

However, sometimes it does give an opportunity to sketch and observe human interaction and behaviour.   Today I learned that men become babies in the face of illness and women wait it through stoically.   Now I know that is not always true form for everyone, but it was interesting to observe. Every male that came through the surgery sat, head supported in a hand at some point; slumped, sighed and twisted themselves into contortions in a chair, while the women sat and read, looked off into space thinking or chatted to their neighbour.

I know some people have a fear of sketching in public places, especially places with a doorway as the only means of escape!   I have never had anything but good response to sketching for those who are even aware that I am doing it.  I try to be an unobtrusive as possible with no huge sketchbooks and elaborate numbers of pens or pencils.  I carry one sketchbook in my bag or pocket and a pen or mechanical pencil, nothing more elaborate.  My sketchbook is usually hard covered and black, 5 x 7 perhaps.

I don't make eye contact with the individuals who I sketch, who are usually unaware that they are under scrutiny and if they look up, I move on to the next person, til they resume a position and I can finish a sketch.

In settings with lots of people, I may do full body sketches or just heads, scattered all over the page so there is no composition, just mark making.  Sizing is all over the place and all I'm interested in is fitting a face in a space.  After all, sketches are not designed to be a complete drawing, more of a snapshot of a moment in time.

So today, I sketched various people who passed through the waiting room, in various moods, most faces registering the boredom that can only come with overwaiting.

When to wipe?

The inspiration that we have for a painting is something that may be fleeting initially.  A glimpse of movement, a flash of light, a colour contrasting against another - they spark off ideas that build in our heads until we have to get it down on paper or canvas.

Of course there is where the treacherous road begins.  Sometimes the inspired idea flows off the brush as if it has a life of its own.  Each stroke is genius, each colour perfect, each value precise and it all falls into place easily.  Then there are other times when the vision in our head doesn't flow as easily onto the support.  Brushes become clumsy tools, the paint colours aren't right, the values look amateurish.  Where is the point of no return?  When do you admit defeat and wipe the canvas to start again?

Each of us knows when we produce good work and as intuitively we know when we're headed down the path to mediocre or bad work.  There comes a point when looking at what is produced so far, considering time invested and the potential for success, you know a decision must be made whether to forge ahead or cut your losses and run.

Most paintings go through an ugly duckling stage.  You know it.  Its when its all gangly legs, big head and clumsy feet, but you know that if you push through, it will emerge on the other side transformed.  You also know that sometimes the ugly duckling will never fledge.

That is the case with this painting ghost.  I started with promise then the greens monster attacked and wouldn't let me find the right greens for the riverbanks.  The gods of water refused to allow the surface to reflect the wetness of the river.  I knew it was pointless to continue and wiped the painting.

The support this was painted on was new to me,  Ampersand Artist Panel with a canvas texture, that to me seems more like stucco than canvas and I'm not sure if I like it or not yet.  Perhaps that was part of the problem.  The wipe back left some paint in the pockets of the texture, giving a ghost-like appearance to the remaining surface, like a softly coloured underpainting.  I think I will try this again and see if the next version can overcome the brain/reality challenges and meet my vision.

Non profits and artists

 Red Shore

5 x 7    oil

As artists, most of us have alternate jobs that pay the day to day bills and keep us supplied with materials to continue producing our art.  Unless you have a source of limitless wealth or someone who is willing to keep you fed, housed and watered, we all have to work to supplement our art at some point in life. 

We often resent the time spent away from making art and think of it as worthless and impinging on our sacred time that could be spent in the studio instead.  While I often have those feelings too, I think about how the job I have done has helped me in my career as an artist.

I manage a non-profit.  If you have ever worked in that field, you'll know instantly what its like.  If you have only worked in the public or private sector, you'll have no idea of the challenges that come with the territory.

Working for a non profit almost mirrors being an artist.  So many of the same issues arise and are dealt with in similar ways.  What are the similarities?

1.  The workload is huge and often done by one person or in conjunction with volunteers.
2.  There is never enough money to do everything you want (or sometimes need) to do.
3.  Time is spent chasing grants and donations that a thousand others are chasing.
4.  The work is often solitary without input from others or reward.
5.   The pay is below average for the work involved.
6.   There is a stigma to some degree working outside the mainstream

The benefits of this work experience for artists are these:

1.  You learn the ability to work by yourself.  No conversations with coworkers, no chatter over lunch.
2.   You learn to be creative with a limited budget and you understand financial management.
3.   You learn to become multifunctional and work with all levels of people and all levels of work.
4.   You understand marketing.
5.   You understand the commitment of others who work for no pay - volunteers. 
6.   You learn that not everything is based on labels and dollars.

Are you beginning to see the correlation between the two careers?  Without my long background in non profit work, I would not have had the experience in the business side of art.  Non profits provide entreprenurial skills that few other jobs do.  In art school, business should be a required component of the curriculum, instead of an aside or worse still, an idea planted in young heads that selling art is 'selling out'.  What other degree would you train for that discouraged you to make money from your training!?

The training in business that I did and have built on through working in the non profit field has broadened my ability to function as a visual artist as well as a business person.  Could I have done one as effectively without the other?  I doubt it.   Time constraints for art compete with daily work, but if you want anything badly enough, you find time for it.

So for all the artists working in jobs, day or night, think of the skills you are honing that can transfer to your art career and be thankful that the job you are paid regularly for helps smooth the path to your art work.

The Storm

 
The last two days have been disrupted by Hurricane Leslie as she barreled through, taking trees and power lines with her.   With winds clocked at 137 km per hr there was a lot of damage on the property to trees, luckily no structural damage or not much.  Power was out for about 30 hours for the farm and the generator was called into action for basics - and to please the chickens who like a little light later in the day.  I know, night lights for chickens, but have to keep those egg layers happy!

Most of St. John's was closed down for the day due to the high winds, downed power lines and poles, trees and debris flying.  I didn't attempt to head into the city as I didn't know what streets would be closed or what may fall in my path or if there even would be power at work.

I spent some down time finishing up the demo piece I started in the workshop last weekend.  This is watercolour on gessoed tissue.  

Trees went down all over the farm.

at the pond...

 

the back road to the woods...

 at the edge of the driveway

within the woods near the house

 

and in the driveway

Lots of clearing up to do, but power was restored this afternoon and life gets back to normal, more or less.  I guess there'll be lots more firewood that wasn't planned for this year.

Say it out loud: I am the Artist

I posted this awhile ago, but couldn't show the completed piece as I was saving it for a Creativity workshop that I was teaching on Saturday.  The workshop was great fun and pushed some out of their comfort zones, which is always a good thing for learning new techniques and ideas.

There were a few glitches, like blowing a circuit in the studio so we couldn't dry gesso and then my smart phone decided to not be quite so smart and refused to take photos and shut down.  There were about 17 OR 18 people in the workshop, so it was busy and we got creative both with work and with problem solving!

  photo credit  Dora Cooper

Isn't it odd how difficult it is sometimes to say out loud "I am the artist"?  Why are artists so self deprecating and scared of announcing their profession as if its something to be embarrassed about?  This multimedia piece puts that voice into a less intimidating package that you can display on your wall or send as a note card to someone who may just need that little extra pat on the back to reinforce what a great artist they are.

I have made this piece available as a reproduction, which is available in several forms from paper to metal supports as well as note cards.   On my Facebook artist page, if you share the post with this image in it, you will have a chance to win a 10 x 14 paper reproduction of this cropped section of the original painting "I Am The Artist".  So drop by my artist page on Facebook and share with your friends so everyone can have a chance to win.

Or if your really despise Facebook but still want a chance to win a reproduction of I Am The Artist, share this information on your blog and let me know in a comment on this post and you'll be included in the draw on September 30th.  The more the merrier!

Or if you can't wait til the end of the month, you can purchase your own card or fine art reproduction from my Fine Art America link.

Looking over my shoulder

This is a continuing series of Sunday posts where I reflect on Sundays past, subjects, topics and progress.  This week is September  2006 and a progress shot of a dog portrati that I was working on in coloured pencil.

I haven't used cp in quite awhile, but always enjoy the process of layering and developing the piece.  The final effect of coloured pencil work is unique and always beautiful and has really come a long way into the art world, with Canada now having a society dedicated to the medium.

Coloured Pencil Society of Canada

You can read the full post from 2006 here.

Goldie

Goldie

 5 x 7     oil

Goldie, such an unimaginative name for a goldfish, isn't it?  I wonder how many fish in the world are called that by small children. Funny, how a colour inspires a name. I'm still in fish mode, but working on this small goldfish painting.  This is a challenge with the scales and colours of reflected light, that irridescence is hard to capture along with the shadow.   Also, it really is being difficult to photograph and/or adjust colours to read as they should.

But not to worry, I'll conquer it eventually.  I'm spending too much time on this little piece but I'm like a dog with a bone, I HAVE to do it correctly or it will bug me forever.  So hopefully, this weekend, all the fish pieces will be complete.

Tomorrow I'm teaching a workshop in creativity and use of multimedia so I need to spend tonight packing up the materials I need.  Its always chore, this packing and unpacking, isn't it?  Paint and palettes and canvasses and paper and brushes and, and, and...but worth it in the end as the workshops are such fun.  And after tomorrow I can share the full multimedia painting I showed you awhile ago as well as more that people did at the workshop.

Capelin Season continues

 12" x 12"

oil on canvas panel

I just love painting these little fish.  If I ever moved, I'd have to get someone to mail me some! Here is a small update on Capelin Season that I've been working on, off and on.  The fish are just about done, the paper bag is giving me problems.  Its just not looking papery enough.  I have to pay more attention to the values and colour to get it to fall into place.

Its funny how I do the parts of paintings that I like most to almost finished stage, only blocking in other sections before returning to them again.  Then its overcoming the 'blahs' to get the rest finished.  Its a bit like eating the cherry on the ice cream first, then wishing you had it back again.

A few more sessions with the bag and it should be complete.  Wish me luck!

Looking over my shoulder

I mentioned yesterday that this is my seventh year of blogging.  What an adventure that has been and it continues to be a main platform for me to share thoughts and art and processes, along with a few wild rants about perceived injustices. :)

I thought that Sundays would be a good time to look back over the Sundays past on the same date.  This image is a sketch from September 2, 2006.  Watch for more reflections on the past as I look over my shoulder on Sundays.

Bread and Seasons

Waxing

I haven't got a lot to tell you, as I've been in 'head down' mode, writing and planning and getting new painting ideas underway.  As a result, a lot of electronic communication has been pushed to one side while I work on other things.

I sometimes wonder about the effectiveness of blogs vs social media and believe that blogs still deliver a bigger bite of information that has its place in the sea of information we all sift through each day.  Social media allows that quick glimpse into lives and art but without the commitment of a long read or analysis in most cases. In the past year my blog posts have dwindled in numbers, as have many others that I read and I sometimes wonder if I'm talking to myself.  This is my 7th year of blogging! and I often feel as if I've simply run out of things to say, but even if I'm not as frequent in posting, it seems I always have something to say!

The image above is part of an encaustic experiment that I'm trying, using a gyotaku print of a sole.  What you see here is some of the embedded cheesecloth that resembles netting. I've also been carving into the cured wax with an etching stylus and will fill the grooves with oil paint then fuse the wax a little more to seal it in when it dries.  I'm not really sure whether I like this piece or not yet.  It is large, 15" x 30", and complex - I never seem to do things by halves lately - so it may all change again before its done.

A copy of Koi magazine turned up on my doorstep this week and in it a small review of The Gyotaku Project, a little book I'd written about my adventures in fishing printing.  There are huge numbers of koi fanciers in the UK and I'm pleased to have a little more exposure in the fishy world through this best selling magazine.

I am the artist

I will be delivering a workshop next weekend on Creativity and Multimedia for a local art group.   I've been working on finalizing it as well as creating some demo pieces to show technique.

There is satisfaction in paint and pastes and gels and papers and working on combinations of them to create what pleases the eye.   Each piece is a revelation as shapes and ideas form, almost without a lot of thought, one idea leading to another, one colour or hard edge sparking off a new idea.  The layers that build in time are limited only by imagination.

Here's a glimpse of one of the pieces I'm working on, using multimedia and acrylic.  I won't show the full piece until after the workshop on September 8th.  I'm limited to acrylic for this workshop due to restraints of the space and to allow quick drying time.  Unfortunately, any pieces done in acrylic won't be candidates to continue on with encaustic layers, as only oil would be compatible.

Each day a new layer is added, I think I could go on forever.  Tonight its embossed foil which give a lovely sheen, similar to metal leaf beneath the surface of a semi matte gel. But its not complete yet as more layers are still to be added before I can set it aside. The piece is 8 x 16  on canvas panel which remains immobile for the multi layered surface.

Empty Bed Blues

Painting drapery well, whether it is bed sheets, clothing or curtains relies on two elements; accurate drawing and good value control. Without these, the painting becomes an exercise in frustration.  This is one of those times when rushing in without a plan seldom works. A detailed drawing on toned canvas was done on Friday night, ready to start work on this weekend.

Drapery always looks intimidating and complex and many people steer away from it, but like most things, if broken down into individual sections,  and with a value map to guide me, it becomes much more manageable. 

This painting is 12" x 12" oil on stretched canvas.  Its at the stage where I have the shapes and values in, now its time to add more detail and make adjustments to bring it to completion.   I had titled the painting Empty Bed Blues, then realized there was an 1928 song from Bessie Smith called the same. Does that mean I need to change the title?

Texture

Texture is addictive and so full of possibility.  One cannot help but adore it.

I'm still working on tissue and gesso with watercolour washes and am preparing a snapshot of different pastes and gels and how they behave for an upcoming workshop.  I splurged today and ordered some more to add to some of the basic ones I already have and look forward to seeing what I can produce with them.

This is a piece called 'Laundry Day'.  I love the look of an unmade bed, all those wrinkles, dark corners and mounds.  Making a bed, well that's another story, one of those chores that have to be done without a lot of thinking.

I have a painting in mind for an unmade bed and need just the right light to make it happen, hopefully this weekend.

Firebird

The beauty in abstraction is that it can also let you find form where you thought there was none.

This combination of gesso and tissue on watercolour paper was randomly placed, simply 'glued' in place with gesso behind and on the tissue to act as a receptacle for colour.  The crevices that the paper creates and the texture of the gesso give a wonderful surface to experiment with.

After a few washes of watercolour, the form of a bird started to emerge from the surface.  I continued to allow it to come forward with darker washes at the edges and suddenly there was the firebird.  So named because of the intense golds and reds that predominate.

You never know what you will find if you look hard enough.

Monotypes

Today the art group that I am part of met to do some monotype printmaking.  Its good to get together and see how everyone approaches a technique and subject and to learn from successes and failures.

I was tired today and I think that impacted on how I approached the printing.  While I enjoyed the process, I couldn't seem to create anything that was a 'keeper'.  Not that I expect everything that I do to make the grade, and often it doesn't. Like many techniques, the more you practice, the better you become, the less mistakes and more successes.

I used several plexiglass printing plates as well as a gel plate.  The use of oil based inks allowed me time to work on drawing into the plate with tools, cotton swabs and tissues and this print of a river was one of the first pieces I tried today and about the only one that is worth showing.

I had worked on a series of "hidden" rivers in the city a couple of years ago and this was one of them, fairly close to where I work. Small streams that wind through the city on their way to ocean are often overlooked by the public who walk and drive past them daily.

The print is 8" x 10" on Iwara Japanese paper using prussian blue oil based Caligo ink.

Fossil

 The process of seeing the world through a sheen of wax has inspired me and I'm bubbling over with ideas of things I want to try, both large and small with this technique.

I found an old experimental gyotaku piece I'd done a couple of years ago which reminded me of a fossilized piece. It was a highly textured surface with a print of a smelt on the surface before additional gesso and sand had been added.  Additional texture had been added by pressing spinal column bones of fish into the surface, leaving trails of spikes across the surface. The wax gives a wonderful new dimension to paintings and prints like this, diffusing the light and swirling coloured wax over the surface,still allowing the shapes beneath to show through.  I still don't know which way up the final piece will be.  Logically, perhaps, this should be how it sits, however, a vertical format works well for it too, as well as flipping it horizontally. 

I think this may have merit to try a larger gyotaku piece with, embedding the print into the surface.  I have some more encaustic wax and damar crystal on its way so that I can make my own as well as use commercially prepared wax. That way I can ensure I have the colours I want for the pieces I have in mind.

Meanwhile this piece  6" x 12" shows the range of colour and depth that can be achieved with encaustic wax over other mediums.

Floating around

 This is the first paint I've put to canvas in about two weeks and I've missed it.

This boat is part of a demo for an upcoming online workshop on painting water that I'll offer later in the fall.  There's a lot of work to go into the workshop yet and I hope I can meet the deadline I've imposed.  If not, I'll simply push it forward a couple of weeks.

Here's a short excerpt where I try to paint and talk at the same time.  That is so difficult.  I'm sure it comes with practice, but I find one or the other takes precedence, leaving its partner in limbo.

Tonight is the loosely blocked in form of the boat.  I may alter the palette for the darker sections of water.  I used Moonglow, a Daniel Smith oil paint, simply because it was new and I wanted to try it, but its a bit to purple/grey for this piece I think. The experimentation and finding the right palette to ensure success for those following is crucial.  Although any palette of colours could be used, I have my own favourites, one being Manganese Blue.  Its a perfect blue, reflecting sky in the Atlantic I believe. 

The working tools

I never lose my fascination for drawing or my need to encourage others to envelop this most basic form of art.   Without strength in drawing, the ability to create is compromised I believe.  To see the concentration on classic technique being lost in some art schools in favour of conceptual art and freedom of expression is worrisome.  The need for knowledge on how to construct shapes, understand values and colours and how to apply paints to surfaces will always be there.  Avoiding the those skill development tools is denying or holding back potential for creation.

Sketchbooks are my working tools. I keep a sketchbook near to try out ideas and compositions and as with most paintings, a drawing is the first step.  This fish I found in a market in Saint John.  I think its a gar, but perhaps someone can correct me.  If I hadn't been on holiday, I would have bought it and printed it!  Instead I had to confine myself to sketching.

Of course water or creatures that live in it are never far from my thoughts, so these, done with a water soluble pencil and wash provide the basis for painting.  I use a sketchbook as way of recording colour as well as shapes.  The notes serve as reminders of specific areas of colour that I want to remember when transferring the sketch to a painting.  I take photos too, but the sketch gives a stronger impression of what I see and feel at the time, such as the one below. 

Tools for creating art are what you make them do for you.  Supports can vary from the most primitive to the most elaborate as can mediums and tools to make marks with.  One is no better than the other, although a degree of snob appeal for branding is present in some artists, no different than there is in clothing that people like to showcase as status symbols. Tools don't 'cheat', they provide shortcuts to lessen the amount of time tedious work takes to complete.  I can't be persuaded that just because an artist lived 200 or 400 years ago that they wouldn't have jumped at the chance to shorten the time it took to enlarge a drawing or use a reference photo instead of freezing themselves in the cold and rain trying to duplicate the exact weather and light conditions for a scene.

Each person has different tools and varying needs, as well as ability.  How important are your tools and the process of creating through technique as well as expression?

Fissure

There are some pieces that take a lot of coaxing to get out of their shell and this has been one of them.

It started out as a multimedia abstract, fairly straight forward, but with a vision in my head of what I wanted the final piece to look like.  I wanted it to seem multidimensional, layered, as if I could see through it as if looking down into clear water.

I ordered cold wax but it didn't seem to do quite what I wanted, or maybe I didn't really give it enough of a chance to prove its talents.  I have pots of beeswax that I use when I create lotions and creams as well as using it and paraffin wax for batik, and thought they might provide the depth I was looking for.

Then I visited a new local art store which carry KAMA pigment products and I picked up a couple of encaustic paints.  Using small amounts of these diluted with my own beeswax, I created layers and fused them with a heat gun found in the barn.  The process becomes a little addictive and its difficult to know where to stop with it, the temptation to continue to add layers is so tempting.

I bought a small muffin tin to experiment with some of my own mixes of colour for additional encaustic work as I'd like to try another piece to go with this.  The fumes with melted wax can be a bit overpowering so good ventilation is needed, either an open window or an extraction fan system.

Meanwhile, I'm calling Fissure complete and apart from buffing it to a shine, it will be ready for a new home.  This is an 8 x 16 piece on canvas panel.