Behold

Behold 20" X 40" acrylic on canvas

Here's a new painting I've been working on, rather controlled and not as loose as my last abstract piece.
Seems to be done? I'll give it a rest and look at it with fresh eyes in a few days...


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Fish flashback

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It's a flashback painting because I'm back to my early representational phase for this painting. I chose the fish as I had taken some photos of him (her?) in the fish tank at the interpretive centre in Mallorytown, St Lawrence Islands National Park. The park is sponsoring a call to artists and I'll submit this when done. Needs some more work on the background and then some glazing to settle everything in.

I am reminded how relaxing painting like this can be, no abstraction, no open ended soul searching angst! Just paint a nice picture. Like baking a cake you've baked many times before. You know what to do, how to do it and how it should turn out. Maybe a little bit of manipulation of brush stroke and composition but it's all brain work. Heart and soul take a back seat.

Nice little fish, "Pumpkinseed" or sunfish as we called it when I was a kid. We'd catch these little guys and toss them back in, too small and too prickly to eat.

A glazing fiesta

"80F- hot, dry and clear"

"90F - hot, hazy and humid"

These are 2 little pieces (part of 6 paintings called the "Weather Series") that I sold at the eee show. Each is 5" X 7" . Working this small is new for me but the small size really allows me to focus and explore working with very wet acrylics.

This weekend I started on 12 more minis, working on all of them simultaneously. After many many glazes there are 6 that are close to being done, 3 that I will likely sand off, re-gesso and start over. Three more still need a lot of work before they sing.

Here are a couple that are starting to hum:

Focus

Here's another piece (24 X 36") I started last week in Brockville. I'm now saying started as the finished label no longer applies. After a few days of looking at it in a new setting I can see colour changes I want to make. Stay tuned, I have 4 days with the whole house to myself so there are no excuses.

No distractions, just focus and paint paint paint.

Memories of Kandinsky

I'm back from another week away, this time a class at Brockville's St. Lawrence College. Jennifer Lawton's approach to large and lush representations of photographic close ups had me revisiting some of my earlier approaches to abstraction. The above piece in acrylic (30 X 30") is reminscent of Kandinsky's improvisations I think, though that was not my intent when I started on it. It needs some more work, something looks unresolved. Perhaps some music may help me complete this piece. As Kandinsky said:

Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano
with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or
another, to cause vibrations in the soul.

Leonard please call

How the light gets in, Homage to Leonard Cohen 24 X 36

I frequently listen to Leonard Cohen as I paint, and while a friend says his work features music to slit your wrists by, I think he sings of hope, for the most part. Take his song Anthem. Despite the mess we may find ourselves in there is always some hope, a crack in the darkness, a crack in the universe where the light gets in. The painting above is in the current eee group show. It is called "How the light gets in, Homage to Leonard Cohen"

I recently saw Leonard perform and he was breathtakingly impressive. I want to have an art show, an homage to Leonard Cohen. Artists would respond visually to his music and prose. I've written to his management folks in NYC and I managed to get a flower and card to him on stage when he was here in Kingston. So far no reponse. Leonard, I'm waiting, you have my number!

Panic to Peace

Yesterday afternoon I was in a major panic, our show was opening and I thought no one would attend. Or maybe 4 or 5 people drifting around in the huge room. Many of my invitees were out of town or otherwise occupied. The show opened at 7 pm; at 10 to 7 we had one guest. Looked like a lot of food and wine would be going home and we would be pretty depressed about the turnout. BUT! By 7:15 the place was packed, you could no longer hear the music for the din of visitors. The crowd (yup, I call it a crowd) was steady and we all had lots of positive comments about our work. And a few sales as well! The eee show even got a bit of TV coverage as Ben and Terry appeared on the 6 o'clock news. A great show!

Whew, now some peace and relaxation......

56 inch centers

Yesterday I spent the whole day helping Ben Darrah mount the eee show. Ben is an artist and former gallery manager with lots of experience curating and hanging art. Needless to say I learned a lot. All the art is mounted so that the center of the painting is 56 inches from the floor. So, when one stands back the visual presentation is all paintings in line, the center of each at eye level. Sound easy? Well just where is the center of the painting and where does the center of the painting end up when it is hanging, stretched across two nails? Is the floor level? If not then the 56 inch rule will need to be adjusted. And if 2 paintings are stacked the center is in the space between them. No problem!

Kingston has no public art gallery space (a horrible situation) so we are happy to have the multi purpose room in the libary but of course there are lots of problems with the walls, projection niches, screens, switches, alarms etc. There goes the nice centering of the work.

Despite the challenges I think the show looks pretty good.

Join us : Thursday evening, 7-9 pm

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Bubble and Squeak

I have now done 6 of these little mini landscapes. Each is 5"' X 7 with many layers of very wet paint applied using sponges, rags, brushes and my fingers. These are all on masonite board; those I did on canvas panels are not as effective. The canvas texture interfers with the glazing effects I am after.

I plan to exhibit them at the eee show next week. Naming them is going to be a challenge. Perhaps Bubble for the one above and Squeak for the one on the left?

A Great Week Working with Megan Hinton!

Here's a final shot of Megan Hinton's new studio which our group christened. The 5 afternoons examining abstract representational painting was time very well spent. Although the demos on colour, value etc were not new information the treatment of each was new and Megan's approach reflected a style and method that was unique. I have a new respect for black paint, charcoal, the palette knife and drawing with paint.

It is wonderful to see how other artists work. Most of the time we artists work alone. I wonder if we could be more like musicians, play and create together. We can "listen" to the music our fellow artists play.

PAAM (Provincetown Art Association and Museum) has an amazing roster of classes. It will be hard to return to Cape Cod and not consider another class with Megan.

Colour Color

Yesterday's studio lesson was supposed to focus on colour but we all got yakking and working so Megan didn't have time to do her demo.
The weather has improved and we finally walked one of the many beaches which are all very clean and serene.
The old weather beaten ball above was a beautiful piece of flotsam.
Or is it jetsam?

Lesson 3: Value

Today Megan started off by mixing 2 blues: cobalt and ultramarine. Next she created a varied palette by adjusting the value of the mixture by adding black and white to varying degrees. From there she proceeded to paint a quick value study of one of the objects in the still life collection.

After the demo I worked from a photo I took while in England, one of the woodsy canals. I like the compostion but am not yet happy with the colour and brushwork. Here it is:

Lesson 2: Shape

Today Megan started with a demonstration that focused on shape while painting with a palette knife. I too focused on shape but started with line and quickly moved to emphasize the forms of the various items (old cameras, radios, phones, cans etc.) I used only blue, yellow, orange and white. The limited number of colours unified the odd shapes. I plan to add more white and emphasize the darks as well.

Abstract representation with Megan Hinton - Lesson 1: Line

Above, an abstracted representational photo of the Cape Cod shore by water on the windshield and HM.
A brief break in the big wind and steady rain allowed for a more traditional view of the dunes:

Greetings from Cape Cod! I am here with hubby and pooch to attend a workshop on abstract representational painting with PAAM (Provincetown Art Association and Museum). Our instructor is Megan Hinton and we are working in her new studio in Wellfleet. Today's session focused on line as one of the 5 basic elements in visual art. After a brief demonstration the group began working on a abstracted still life based on objects Megan had set up to inspire us.

Here's my work so far. Starting with line is new for me, but I like it! Megan also adds line as she works, sometimes using charcoal. I am seeing changes I want to make but this one was nice and quick.

Despite the stormy weather this is a beautiful place! A couple more photos:

eee Show Coming Soon!

Seismia 8" X 10" (HM)

I've just finished writing a little description of our upcoming show. Hopefully we can get some good press and get lots of folks out. Here is our "press release"

The “eee” show is an unusual name for an unusual art show
which opens July 9th at the Wilson Room at the Kingston Public Library.
The show owes its theme to the proliferation of e descriptors
in the art world. Artists explore, examine, evolve and may
finally leave the emergent field to become known as established artists. The artists represented in the eee show will cover all these e’s and promise not to evoke the commonplace. Prepare for a highly diverse and stimulating exhibition!


Sheila Dunkinson is an emerging artist whose work reflects an intimate connection to the natural world. Organic forms are interpreted through bold use of colour, pattern and shape.

Irina Skvortsova is a multi-media artist, working in both
traditional print and painting and experimental community arts
collaborations. The eee show will feature Irina’s unique and intriguing
prints.

Hennie Marsh has been creating richly textured and abstracted landscapes pushing the potential of acrylic paint using various
mediums and tools. Her work is constantly evolving and attests to her
strong belief that consistency is highly overrated.

Ben Darrah is an established artist who portrays a playful exploration of elements in mixed media work. His choices reflect a curiosity in elevating an everyday, recognizable, common object or image to the status of scrutinized subject.

Terry Culbert is a writer and illustrator whose paintings represent daily life in Kingston and Amherst Island. His work is often whimsical and
humourous; each canvas tells a tale.

The opening reception is from 7 to 9 pm on Thursday July 9th. The show continues to July 29 during regular library hours at 130 Johnson Street.

More hot stuff

" The Way I Remember It" 16 X 20"

Another one with lots of hot colours, maybe it's the summer influence, maybe it's Fred Williams. More fun with drips, drops and very wet acrylics. I think it's ready for the show on July 9th. Maybe just a little more green....

Trio done

Here they are finished, more or less.
A lot more colour and a lot more detail now.
I worked on all three simultaneously,
trying to make sure they each had some
unique features while the palette is fairly consistent.
Iceland or Australia - take your pick!

Size matters?

These are works in progress, very small, 5 by 7 inches each. I haven't done any work this tiny before but am enjoying focusing down. Once again I'm letting the water do it's thing and I'll be adding more of "my thing" as they reach completion. Can you see the Icelandic landscape that inspired these?

Before and After

These two paintings are the same canvas. The lower one is a piece I did last winter, very soft and atmospheric, thin paint that looked like water colour. Above it is the piece reworked, much bolder. I'm not sure it is better but it has a very different feel.

I have been attacking older pieces, anything is fair game. There are some paintings that are perfect as they are, at least in my mind. But lately it is survival of the fittest. The studio is stuffed with canvases and the runts have to beef up. Mean. That's me the mean painter. Even the newset one may not survive the week.

Cooperate

The piece above is one I have been working on, getting ready for a show in July. Not sure if it is done or not, the usual dilema. Wouldn't it be great if you could just set the timer on your stove and you'd know when it was time to take it out of the oven - off the easel. Or in my case off the table. I have been working flat as I'm using very wet acrylics. At times the water controls the work and I'm trying to cooperate with the natural properties of the water. I'm learning what it will and won't do, mixed with the paint and mediums. I can encourage it to make little bubbles or drips or thin washes. I use a variety of sponges, rags, spray bottles etc. And my fingers, moving the thin wet paint or dabbing to make little spots. It sometimes surprises me how these layers change as they dry. The process is totally different than work I've done with tube paints and brushes. Stand back, wait, watch and play some more.
Click on the pic to enlarge and see the lovely effects of water play!