Alberta Landscape #57

It had been over two months since I went field painting, and last week I finally got my kit together and made another foray.  The evening light on this hillside is so beautiful - and hard to catch!  The composition of my painting is also not as strong as it could be, but oh well, it was great to be out there meditating with a brush in my hand.

photo courtesy of a friendly passerby

environment

First:  I awake in a world in which there is no means of preserving knowledge apart from human memory.  Imagine that.  Imagine the structures necessary: the checks and balances, the formal positions.

Second:  I push the button on the machine that washes the clothes.

I am fascinated with the things we humans make - in particular the environments we create.  It seems to me that a growing part of our collective identity manifests itself in urban environments.  This is what we leave behind: relics of the practical application of our imaginations.  This is what I explore in my paintings.  I use various techniques and mediums to make aesthetically diverse work, but underpinning every effort is a further exploration of the urban environment: the environment we have evolved to create for ourselves.

It may be argued that we as individuals do not create our environments, but rather that a select few have that power and the rest of humanity learns to live with what the few create.  But I am talking about a broader scope of human evolution here, and for the most part do not care for political positions when I am working in the studio.

What I really care about in the studio is this: how this colour interacts with that one; how this brush mark has a certain feeling; how that shape resonates.  The paintings are built, layer by layer, from the ground up.  Like most built things, more than one choice of technique and material is possible for a successful outcome.  

That having been said, I have posted images of the completed outdoor paintings here.

journey

I have been working on several different streams of painting; here is one stream nearly complete.  These are my outdoor paintings - begun in May, they have been made entirely out in the yard.  There are 10 paintings in total, not all visible here.  

The Alberta Flood Rose Project

A few weeks ago, in addition to documenting the turbulent waters of the Bow river, I made and donated some small paintings to a very interesting flood relief project.

The project was initiated by artist Terri Heinricks, who wanted to help with relief efforts after several rivers in southern Alberta flooded their banks, wreaking havoc for many.  

Terri made the Alberta Flood Rose Project website and put out a call to artists, asking for 4x4" wall pieces depicting Alberta' provincial flower, the wild rose..  Around 450 artists responded!

Here's a short video about the Alberta Flood Rose Project, and a link to the site's gallery page, which shows all the work together.  They do look fantastic!

I feel so honoured to be able to participate in this initiative.  Like many other artists, I wanted to help with flood relief efforts in a substantial way.  How better to do so than to work collectively to create something larger than any one of us could do alone?  

I don't often paint flowers, and it was lovely to sit in our garden, enjoying the activity of the bees as they collected wild rose pollen, and finding inspiration in these seemingly delicate flowers that grow everywhere here, thriving in this harsh prairie climate which includes droughts and floods.

The experience of painting those roses was made all the sweeter with the knowledge that they would become part of a collective flood relief effort, joined by artists from all over Alberta and a few from Ontario - and even one from Australia!  

one thing becomes another

This week I've finished the commissioned painting which I had been working on for awhile.  Finishing paintings is always accompanied by a feeling of elation - a grand outward rush! - regardless of how long it has taken to make them.  Today I am happy with everything.

A brief recap: The client will be able to choose two of the three paintings I made, in whatever combination they decide.  In this way, they take part in the creative process.  :)

Here are the various combinations, some of which I like better than others:

One Thing Becomes Another

mixed media on 3 stitched canvases

widths: 32", 35" and 38" x 29.5" height

You can read about the making of this work here and (near the end of the post) here.

After photographing them in pairs, I began playing around with various combinations of all three together, with and without spaces between the canvases:

I am oh-so-pleased with this work!

The people who commissioned me to make it have given me a lot of creative leeway and virtually no time constraint.  This is how I work best.  The painting is finished within my own estimated time frame, and I feel it is excellent work, better in some ways than I had imagined.

opening

Looking through my files in search of an image to send to a friend, I came across this one:

Taken around 4am on October 6, 2012, during a bout of insomnia the night before my show opened.  My husband lay sleeping peacefully in the next room, and I was so envious of his ability to sleep!  Ha.

submerge

submerge  v.t.  to place beneath or as if beneath the surface of a liquid  ‖  to become as though covered by water  [fr. L. submergere]

Working in a studio located partially below street level, my mind functioning below the distraction of everyday concerns; my heart beats slowly and light passes through.

Four new pieces close to being finished:

recently discovered music which is to my liking