Lost for Words

In the last post I was looking at where I'm going with the latest paintings. Wanting to pick a lane to travel in for a while. I seem to have picked a lane. Some photos below. I'm not feeling very articulate about these, a bit lost for words.

All the text and the language has disappeared from what I'm doing in the studio, even titles are mute. Maybe I will look at them all later and they will tell me what to say, and how to name them.

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"

Moving on Into the Pink?

I took down my last post, so rainy, sad weathery a post. I'm moving on. Today I get back to my "regular" studio work, and preparing for the trip. The way things are going down in the United States of America, I'm not sure how much I'll feel like going in December. But, it's still in the plan, I'll play it by ear.

Just gonna get to work on what's bursting to get out here in the studio. Fall is such an internal time for me. So, I'm just going to go there in my work.

I think I'll stop posting for a while and see where that brings me. Of course, I might change my mind.

Just rambling on here.

Here is a happy little drawing from the summer.

Dog in the Pink

What I Am Doing Part 6

Beginning to End

For Parts 1- 5 see previous posts on making this painting.

So here is the painting from beginning to end. I'm supplying a bit of a narrative about what happened in each stage. This painting was was not "thought" out, but each move was a response to what was there. In the narrative I'm describing what I see from looking at the photo of the stage.

There was no real plan, except to respond to the initial colour choices and marks made haphazardly at the beginning.

Stage 1: a painting I was not happy with that I decided to paint over:

Stage 2: I chose and mixed some colour to start with and covered as much as the first painting as I needed to in order to start fresh and loose.

 Stage 3: I brought in some warmer colour to give it more life.

Stage 4: more warm colour black, white and grey. More graphic/drawn elements.

Stage 5: Calm it down bring it together, cover some of the black and the red with grey, and white, bring up some of the yellow.

Stage 6: Bring in blue, calm down the reds and orange, bring it all together even more by breaking up the black more.

Stage 7: Bring it way down in brightness, bring in finer graphic elements. See what happens, then go from there.

Stage 8:  Warm up the cold yellows, liven up some of the dull parts to bring back life and movement.

What I Am Doing Part 3

Following up on the previous 2 posts here is where I am today with this painting.

Yesterday's painting session I left off with this:

Stage 4, painting in progress, where I left off yesterday

It's lively, and unfinished. When I looked at it today, my thoughts and feelings went something like this. "quiet it down" "remember the use of grey and white" "look at some of the other paintings in this series to see how you might do it" "don't go too far too fast, let it speak to you".

Below are two photo taken part way through today's session. One is a side view so there is not so much glare from the wet paint.

Grey and white brought in. Some of the large black marks broken up, some scraping back, some straight lines. I want it to be, wait now, I don't want it to be anything, I want to find out what it will be, I want to let it have its secrets... But I'm liking how it is becoming more delicate while still feeling full of movement, at least that's what I see.

Stage 5, front view

Stage 4, side view to minimize glare from the wet paint

Below are two photos from the end of today's session.

More blue introduced, more subtle mark making, more scraping. It looks mushy at the top in the first photo because of the glare. It's a little more bold than this shows, as you can see from the second photo. Hmm, what next? I will leave it and look at it and go back in. It might be a couple of days from now as I have plans for the weekend out of the studio

Stage 6 front view

Stage 6, side view to minimize glare from wet paint

Final thoughts and feelings about this, "ack, It's a mess" then "shut up and leave it alone for a while" then "that right side, not enough weight or something" then "give it some time, wait". It will sit in the kitchen/studio for a few days and it will speak volumes. I have to figure out which sentences to listen to.

Exhibition at Curating Contemporary!

Safe as Houses
oil and mixed media on Huile paper, 12 x 9"

Curating Contemporary, a terrific online gallery, is showing my recent paintings in the exhibition titled Open Pomegranate.

Curator of Open Pomegranate, painter and Facebook friend Frankie Gardiner, asked me to be part of this show. I'm honoured to exhibit with Sarah Nesbit, Kyle Staver, Shaun Ellison, Mary DeVincentis Herzog, Farrell Brickhouse,  Katelyn Eichwald, Melanie Parke. Richard Kooyman and  Thibaud Thiercelin.

Please click over and then click on "current show: Open Pomegranate" to see the list of artists. Click on my name and the individual artists to see the work.

As you may know this website is highly regarded as a venue for established and emerging contemporary artists. I am beyond thrilled to be part of it.

Have a look at previous shows too. So much good stuff here.

Sorry State of Affairs

So much for *not* the best laid plans. It's been more than two months since I darkened the blogger door. The summer has been about travel and being in the studio. Lots of little trips, hiking and camping, swimming and recharging. Lots of work made and posted on Facebook, please follow me there for all the latest in this messy process. You will find, a painting on mylar here, a contour drawing there, a plein air drawing (not from life) in another place, some dabbling in collage, some studio drawings in my sketch book etc. See, messy.

The piece I posted in this blog in June has been reworked once again. I posted it here. I think you can see it even if you are not on Facebook.

When I say messy, I do mean messy. The whole process is messy for me. It's taken me the summer to get my head in gear, and my body recharged, only to have life just go on and on, requiring more head work and body recharging. You know how it is, one thing done, another thing crops up. One of life's curve balls dealt with and another just around the bend. This is not a complaint, this is just life. A sorry state of affairs sometimes, a glorious adventure others, and sometimes both simultaneously. A little health crisis here, a big loss there, a move over here, a birth, a death, a lovely trip, a brief fall into despair.

Some exciting news: I will be in another show in January, a small group show on a well respected and beautifully curated website with 5 other artists with whom I am thrilled and honoured to be exhibiting. Stay tuned for details.

Below is a look at my messy process: This is a piece I'm working on as part of the series (started last year) posted to my website on the page  Paintings on Paper. I've been meaning to get back to this series, and now I have.

First stage:  I don't like that Tim Burton face, and overall it feels wishy washy. I started with a light pink/white/blue background and painted in the green cloud and the blue bottom, then I globbed on some piles of paint from left over paint and responded to that, yes there are some sparkles in there.

oil painting on huile paper using leftover paint and fresh paint, stage 1

Next day I looked at it and decided the face had to go, I scraped it out and reworked the background, that figure is too blatant, or something.

oil painting on huile paper using leftover paint and fresh paint, stage 2 

Then I added more pinky purple in the top, integrate the figure, repaint the face, make that oil spill hand more globby. Hmm, I don't know, 

No, not right, redefine the figure, bring up that fence at the bottom a bit, more intense colour by the head to the right etc. Look at it tomorrow.

Sorry State of Affairs, in progress.

Edited to say, reworked and reworked again and  retitled

Can't seem to lighten up

Back to full time in the studio!

Since my show in February (see previous posts), I've been hibernating. Working 3 days a week and all the other demands of life meant that I had to prioritize art making and personal life over blog writing for a while. I am back in the studio full time now (yaay) and returning to writing here about this and that.

A long time ago, in 2013, I wrote this blog post. It was about the painting posted below. I was happy with it at the time and became unhappy with it later. It happens that way sometimes. So I've done some more work on it. It's still in progress. I have to see if it continues to sit well with me.

Cohere
14 x 12" mixed media on mylar

Just a re cap of what's been going on around here:
In 2013, when this piece was started, I returned to my earlier way of painting and drawing. I had taken a few years to explore painting from life and it was not giving me what I wanted. Every painting was too literal for me. Attempting to move them into abstraction made me feel all over the place. I need poetry in my paintings and drawing. Some people can do that with representation and abstraction, I couldn't. I needed to go back to the humour and pathos that I have always indulged in with my work.

Less than two years later I had a solo show and am putting together submissions to show even more recent work. We'll see where that goes.

I'm taking things one day at a time, trying to live every day fully, and not get ahead of myself.

Show Time (and statement angst).

Not long now and the show will be up. On Tuesday we hang. The show is in a non-profit space and so I have to do a lot of the work myself. Wow, marathon. I will have help with the hanging though. Thanks Kriss and Ming and Firehall staff.

Your invitation is posted below, but if you are a Facebook friend or otherwise a  friend, or are on my mailing list you have already seen it.

Things are looking good. Of all the things on my list in the last post there are only a couple left. "Blog Post" is one of them and here I am, blog posting. No statement yet, who knows if it will happen. If it comes naturally and I feel like it, it will be done. I've rewritten my initial statement many times. The last iteration is on the invitation but even that feels not exactly it. It's accurate but doesn't seem to cover it somehow. I recently refined it down to: "Today's Lesson Will be in Life: These pathos and humour filled paintings reveal an approach to current events and life's turmoil that may give some relief from the grim dark while at the same time not denying it's full truth and impact."  Ahh, I don't know. If I could say it, I might not have to paint it. Never mind, I'll do my best with it and that will be that

It's been a while since I've had a solo exhibition. I'm very happy that I did this show. I need and want people to see the new work in person. Thank you in advance for being there. And thanks for reading my posts and looking at my work online too. It's great to have a way to get it out there to appreciative eyes. And, even to critical ones.

Now, to make sure all the last minute things are done and take a walk in the bog with the dog. First I think I'll have lunch and a cup of tea.

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.