Adrift

April 2013

I brought this painting home Sunday before last and, as though she'd been drawn to it, my daughter planted her finger right on a scratch I'd thought I'd aptly disguised. Harrumph.

The painting asks what the relationship might be between the boats. I hope the tension comes across.

I received some compliments from classmates on this one. A stranger in the parking garage asked where I'd bought it. One person thought the different styles of brushstrokes didn't work together. Another thought they did. My husband disliked the bottom boat. Someone else really liked the sky. And so on.

I guess there's no consensus when it comes to art. No truth everyone has figured out except me. Tastes are pretty whimsical. What someone appreciates in my work maybe says more about them than it says about my work. I don't particularly like this painting. I didn't like the one before it, and someone bought that one.

My teacher told me I do good work. Compliments feel amazing, especially from someone like Blair Paul, but no one can tell me what to do next because they don't know either. The only thing is to keep going.

I couldn't find any open studio space for the spring and there weren't any courses that appealed to me. So I'm on my own again. No bus, no class and only vague ideas as to what to do. This is the kind of uncomfortable-at-the-time moment you look back on and think -- awesome.  What's next?

Eastern Townships again & write-up

Eastern Townships III

I got included in a write-up in Apt613! I'm quite happy about this as I had written them a couple of years ago hoping for some exposure. They'd responded that they liked the blog and they'd happily review a gallery show should I ever do one. That's not an avenue I felt suited Bus Blog, sadly, so I was chuffed when I showed up in Alejandro Bustos' Tour de Blogosphere. He also has a very interesting side project, the Ottawa Blogging Library. Very ambitious!

This little piece marks the last of the Eastern Townships paintings I completed over the winter. I did this one at home and brought it in to show my teacher. That thing up there is a pipe. I'm telling you this because neither he nor my husband could tell what it's supposed to be. The man-made element mars the natural beauty of the scene, and my teacher suggested I paint it out. I did a good job with the colours and I quite like this painting.

I did a large canvas over two days of art classes last weekend. Five hours of painting in such a short period really lets me get into it. I'll show you the results after I get a chance to set up the tripod and shoot the painting.

Saturday's another day

April 7, 2013

I was feeling pretty out of sorts on Sunday. Yet another cold/flu. I'd only been well for a week since the last one and here came another one. I didn't have any thing to work from in art class, so I just picked a picture from a photo reference for artists. Can't really get into things when I've got no connection to it. So that's where this picture came from. Nothing special. Just pushing the paint around.

This weekend we have art class both days, though, so I'm super keen about that. If I can manage to get away, I should be able to do a big one. Hope I think up something good to paint!

Rent something

The last few months I've devoted many evening hours to clicking through the artwork available for rent through the Ottawa Art Gallery. I finally looked at the last piece tonight, and I'm sad to be done. Tonight I discovered or rediscovered Shannon Whittle, Amy Thomson, Patrice Stanley, and Anthony Tremmaglia. Quite a lineup for a single evening.

If you've got 40 or 50 bucks, you can rent you some Art. Perhaps a piece by my teacher, Blair T. Paul. Just a friendly suggestion.

Rocks, studiously

High Falls Gorge, Lake Placid

I hung the new landscapes of the Eastern Townships over the fireplace last week and, for a lark, quizzed three-year-old Ada on the effects of different lights on the paintings. We have several lamps in our living and dining room, each with different light colours. She surprised me by easily pegging how each light brought out different colours in the paintings.

Above is my rendition of High Falls Gorge near Lake Placid, which we visited last year. My teacher describes painting as problem-solving. I found balancing the palette and finding the right brush and stroke to be the most challenging parts. I already knew that colour and line mattered a lot to me, but texture was a main event this time.

Scratchify no. 2

This picture fits with my toys post from January. Never drawn toys before, which seems odd when I think about it. Since they're everywhere. We have a small house, no playroom, so our home mixes Rainbow of Plastic with Roadside Furniture Treasures. (Or, as I like to call it, "British Colonial.") It's a mess. Chewed over playthings can be found every which way, including the kitchen table, which is where I was when I began this drawing.

I stopped working on this eventually, though I think it would look better with another, larger toy at bottom (maybe the side of a doll's face?). Scratchboard is great, but I don't think it's for me. I can't figure out why. That's probablyy why it took a month for me to realise I was not going to finish this picture -- because I didn't want to!

I have a terrible time knowing which voices in my head to listen to when it comes to picking subjects, media, and whatever in art. My teacher told us about a book called The Widening Stream, which is apparently all about that sorta thing. I checked it out of the library but found it too spiritual for me. It doesn't fit my reality [ref. para. 1, above]. Oh well, onward I trudge.

Ottawa art: what's stirring me these days

Painting rocks and water and skies lately. It's hard and delightful. I feel my work developing quickly and I think I will really miss this stage. I struggle with which colour to use or which brushstroke. Something is growing but I can only help it along through trial and error. Areas of my current painting are getting re-painted over and over. It means I have nothing to show right now, so I thought I'd share some artists and paintings I'm loving lately, mostly by local artists. First, three paintings, then some series of works. Yum yum yum.

by Claude Marquis. Title unknown.

(Marquis has no art website because his thing now is his music with the Ottawa-based band The PepTides). This painting must have been tough to do. First there's how well he executed the landscape, then there's the what's-that-she's-holding-oh-it's-a-gun moment. The two realities sort of... throb... against each other. Even if you don't like the subject, it's an amazing piece, I think.

Paul Huot Africa

Pierre Huot is an Ottawa-based artist who paints abstractly now. How has he managed to balance so many blues?

Rufino Tamayo Landscape with Rocks

Rufino Tamayo's Landscape with Rocks appears to have been a bit of a departure. The other paintings I could find online by this Mexican artist were quite different, often a bit violent in tone, featured roaring animals and barren land. Very compelling as you can imagine. In this painting, I love all the different shapes and brushstrokes. It's so alive!



Adrian Baker I gasped when I saw the series on women giving birth. I've never seen anything like this, ever.
Click Labours of Love.

Karen Bailey Check out her work for the Artists in Afghanistan program. The medical staff paintings compel you. She has an interesting style for such a project -- it's not gritty, which contrasts with the subject matter. Would I ever love to join the Artists in Afghanistan program! Such an incredible, multi-dimensional challenge.

Philip Craig and his gorgeous landscapes. His mastery of colour! These are enjoyable, soft pieces that I want to look at again and again. My favourite is The Boat Slip, in catalogue 2008.

Sarah Hatton I linked directly to her series called Role Models. These close-up paintings of children wake the protective mother in me who never sleeps soundly anyway.

Jaya Krishnan has gallery after gallery of gorgeous scenes of Cambodia, but my favourite is his last gallery of amazing Ottawa snow scenes.