Studio Glimpse

Wow! since my last post, in April, the studio is humming. It's been a long few years of various stresses, illness, moves, accident, death, day job. Through it all I've painted and drawn. I've shown and I've sold work. I feel I've moved to a more solid place in making work.

For now, I don't have a 9-5 part-time job and other life stresses have let up. I'm able to spend more time in the studio and travel. I feel the difference. There is time, there is space and, in my new studio, there is light.

As usual I have two projects on the go. A project I'm calling Weathering Realities in ink and acrylic paint on paper that I showed, in part, at Galerie Cerulean last month. The second project, going on in the background, is a series of oil paintings over old paintings. 

The ink on paper paintings are not as cohesive a group as the oil paintings. They are wildly experimental within the confines of materials and subject matter, the subject matter being my response to and attempt to weather psychologically the impact of current political realities. In other words, making them helps me get through the awful days in which we live. 

The latest Weathering Realities experiments alongside some of the oil paintings on  the right.

The oil paintings started out as a side project, but they are a more consistent and calmer companion to the other work.

Painting over old paintings, a more cohesive group that started out as a side project.

All together now. One side of the studio, with dog, where I look at
some works from both groups of paintings

  

More oil paintings. The one on the floor is the first larger work.
I find it too blatant, too disjointedly expressive so far, I'll be going back in.

Studio vignette. The blue elephant sculpture (studio mascot) was made by my daughter in
elementary school a long long time ago.

A new start, ink on paper.

The most recent oil painting in progress.

Exhibitions, Travel and Change

Back from the desert

Well, that trip I talked about in the last post happened. It was wonderful 2 months and one week on the road. I'm back 6 weeks now and have already taken a short solo camping trip since then. I did only four small drawings of the desert while I was away and otherwise stayed away from art altogether.

Dome Rock Arizona

World affairs and change

My painting is changing. I think the Secret Messages series is done (but not all on my website yet, I'm working on it and planning to work on the website also). I'm moving more and more into abstraction. It started happening with the Secret Messages series. The change has been gradual and recent, so, we'll see how that evolves.

Oh, and, an online show of the new work! at Gallery Cerulean in their Project Room. This came out of the blue. The gallery director, whom I know through Facebook and Instagram, emailed me and asked me to show in the Project Room. Online exhibits suit me. The cost of framing for a show is prohibitive and this way I get to show my work at venues I have respect for and that are all about the art, not the commercial. Besides the online show, Timeraiser purchased one of my paintings. It will be auctioned this week at Timeraiser Vancouver as a way to raise volunteer hours for non-profit organizations!

The election in the US of a complete twit, threw me for a loop as it has done so many. Immediately I could not paint, feeling what is the use? But I needed to try to calm myself and painting is how I do it. I know my efforts 'don't mean a hill of beans in this crazy world', but they are what I have. It's how I communicate about, and weather realities. So I opened my sketchbook and started apathetically, it helped, I became less apathetic. The show  at Gallery Cerulean is an exhibit of some of these efforts.

Below is one of the latest pieces in this new series titled "Weathering Realities".

Turbulence, 4 x 6"

New Studio, new day. New work?

Despite my intentions, the move (now complete except for all the boxes still unpacked) and a lot of other stuff going on at the same time has interfered with being able to make work. And, it didn't turn out to be a bad thing. The itch to get back after the hiatus gives me energy and excitement to start again. There is also trepidation and questioning as usual.

I've finally set up  my new space. I hung all my most recent work up to get me in the frame of mind to start. I also pulled out some older work that I'm happy with and am going back and forth contemplating the two ways of working to see what pops. 

newest work hung for contemplation

Below are two older small pieces that I still love and am looking at for clues. To what, I'm not sure. They were made a couple of years ago. The newer work involves using figures. But, the latest of the newest paintings are becoming more abstract like these older paintings.

I've started something new. Where is it going? How is it connected, or not, to the whole? 

I was very happy with the start and now I'm asking where do I go from here? Make another mark, set it aside, work bigger, work smaller, return to the old ways, take a leap??  

Getting started has it's ups and downs.

What I Am Doing Part 4

Losing my nerve:

Feels like I'm going off on a wild fling with this painting. Please see the previous 3 blog posts about the process of painting this to see thoughts about and photos of the earlier stages.

When I looked at yesterday's stage these were some of my thoughts, "don't lose your nerve, it can fail, you can start again". "hmm, pushing it back with line", "it's too pretty", it's too wishy washy","too much or not enough?", "are those dull ugly bits good or bad?" "more graphic elements" "break up that black more, too awkward", "more grey to calm down the brightness"

For awhile I felt like I was losing my nerve because of my complete lack. Then it occurred to me I don't care, it's a search, every painting is a university course.

I'm going to let it sit and dry so that I can go back into it. Stay tuned, another post in a few days. I might have to do something drastic to it! I'm thinking, feeling kinda horrible about it right now. But, excited at the same time.

Today it has come to this.  The title that's running through my head is "All the Answers". I photographed it outdoors because I couldn't stand the glare any more and since it's not raining today:

Control, No Control

Everything is under control. Sort of. Well no, never really. But, good things are happening.

Everything's under control
24 x 18"
oil on mylar

I have a solo show coming up in January of the new paintings. Stoked. If you are a friend or follow me on Facebook you already know that. It’s at The Firehall Arts Centre here in Vancouver. I’ll send you an invitation if you are on my list, if not, and you want one, sign up on the right. Now I have to find a way to pay for all those frames, make the time to frame the work, to do the pre-show outreach… I have to hang the show myself and will have to find someone to help me. Exciting though.

I will post details closer to the date.

And, I’ve been asked to participate in an art project, The Mixed-Media Tapes, that involves artists making recordings about their thoughts on something that interests them, at least that’s my interpretation of the project. I’ve chosen “intuition” as my prompt for this recording. I’ve been developing my skill at following my intuition for a long time now; I’m going to try to talk about that. I googled “intuition”. Google said intuition is receiving input and ideas without knowing exactly how and from where you got them. I have stuff to say about that.

I will keep you informed about the The Mixed-Media Tapes project.

Summer’s over! my place is still full of boxes from the temporary move made in June. Looks like they will be there until after January, and then what would be the point of unpacking, only to re-pack in less than a year. Can’t face it, too many more interesting and necessary things to do. Letting go of that control.

If you want to see a sample of some of the paintings that will be in the show, titled "Today's Lesson Will be in Life", click over to my website. There will be other work in the show as well.