staying sane

One way to stay sane

when I can't get into my studio

is to work in a sketchbook

at the kitchen table

this book measures 5x7"

50 pages, almost filled

working like mad

I have been working like mad in my studio these last few weeks.

A spate of teaching looms ahead, which will monopolize my focus for the next three weeks.

  Being a person of slow shifts, I have never quite got the hang of teaching one day, painting the next, then back to teaching, etc.

It'll be great fun to work with the kids again, and afterwards I will return to my studio with a renewed energy.

Until next time, dear Reader  :)

piece-a-crap kind of day

Tried a new-to-me technique today on an old piece-a-crap oil painting.

Mix a black...

... well it's supposed to be black but I'm out of ultramarine blue so I used prussian blue instead and it went quite green, but OK no problem.

Old ugly painting gets obliterated, ahhhh...  *grin*

Rub most of it off with a rag (this was the new-to-me part).

Draw through residue a little bit with finger in same rag.

Those loose shapes over the precise geometry, hmmm. 

Kinda liking that.

End of day, glued some stuff to an old piece-a-crap acrylic painting.

It was a very satisfying piece-a-crap kind of day in the studio.

:)

Bits and pieces from the studio

Bits and pieces from the studio these last few weeks...

Re-organization and clean-up:

taking it all apart

putting it all back together

tossing some of it out

Framing considerations:

this is more difficult than painting!

but sometimes it works out all right

Trucking along with colour layers on small oil paintings:

none finished yet, but they begin to show promise

Trucking along with colour layers on larger oil paintings:

not sure about the (very similar) colours

morning studio in natural light

And in the life:

downtown, before the epic snowfall

front stoop, after the epic snowfall

Toronto, part 2

Besides working with my friend, I did a few other things in Toronto last month.

I went with several friends to the AGO.

On the 5th fllor, Rebecca Belmore installations and performance documentations.  Her work titled "Fountain" really caught my attention.  It was screened on a wall of water.  Technically wonderful and also very beautiful.

Rebecca Belmore "Fountain"

There were several of her works in the gallery, and I wished I could spend more time with them.  Good thing we have the interwebs, where I found this interview about "Fountain"

Also, as usual at the AGO I wound up in the Henry Moore room.  This room for me feels a bit like a temple.  All the plaster forms; the clean shapes with scarred surfaces.

I kinda wish I could have a sleepover in the Henry Moore room, spend 24 hours in there with all those gorgeous shadowy forms.

Another day, I went with a friend to the ROM.

We saw fashion: 

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/iris

Interactive installations:

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/philip

And spiders!

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/spiders

Above image is of a cape made entirely of spider silk.  It may be the most beautiful piece of textile I've ever laid eyes on.

I also visited the downtown studio of my friend, an artist whom I respect highly.  Here's a link to her website.

I took very few photos of things while in Toronto... I think I am losing my desire for making photographic recordings.  But here is one:

light pattern in subway station

In contrast, I have not lost my desire for making sketchbook recordings of people's faces.  Here are portraits of various friends, acquaintances and family members, in the 9x12 green book.  It's very close to being full now.

S, simultaneously drawing me
oil paint marker and gouache, 9x12 sketchbook

S, engaged in the process
oil paint marker and gouache, 9x12 sketchbook

TO, on his celphone
sharpie marker and China marker in 9x12 sketchbook

MO, engaged in the process
oil paint marker & China marker in 9x12 sketchbook

JS, conversing
oil paint marker & gouache, 9x12 sketchbook

JD, driving
China marker, 9x12 sketchbook

AC, watching television
oil paint marker and China marker, 9x12 sketchbook

LCK, reading a book
oil paint marker and China marker in 9x12 sketchbook

TP, playing her harp
pigma pens in 5x8 sketchbook

Returning to Calgary, I was very eager to frame my paintings for the Art Now in Saskatchewan, but had to wait to borrow a framing gun.  Argh!  *laughs*  Well what can you do... work a bit on paper while waiting.

Below, the paintings going to the Art Now fair, framed at last :)

Five Seasons, Dancing
acrylic on canvas and masonite panel, 15.5 x 16.5 inches, framed

And one more portrait!  MC, co-founder of Art Calgary.  She came to my studio to pick up my work for the fair in Saskatoon, so of course I had to record her face.

MC, oil paint marker and acrylic in 9x12 sketchbook

And now the teaching cycle resumes.  I'm hoping to amp up my teaching gigs because I could use a bit more income these days.  I'm also hoping to continue being able to get into the studio for some good swathes of time... wish me luck!  *laughs*

sound and motion

I recently spent some time in Toronto ON, working with a friend who is studying performance and movement arts at York University.  We had seven 8-hour studio sessions booked; here are a few of the drawings I made during that time.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

A long time ago I did a lot of life drawing, working with professional artists' models who would hold very still for durations of time.  It's an excellent practice, one I would recommend to anyone wanting to hone their drawing skills.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

Once I'd honed my own drawing skills (a 4-year process of drawing from life models several times a week), I began to be bored with immobile humans.  It's very unnatural for anyone to sit still for any length of time; in fact it's inhuman.  So I stopped.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

Instead, I drew people while travelling on transit.  I learned that it takes 30-45 seconds for most people to realize they're being observed, at which point the drawing must be finished.  I got really quick at making portraits!  And I've kept up making portraits all these years, mostly in 9x12" sketchbooks.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

Sketchbook portraits aside, I have done extremely little figure drawing in 20 years.  So it was a very open-ended endeavour to work with my friend, who would be in almost-constant motion.  And I went minimalist, bringing only big paper and drawing tools.  No paint, no brushes!

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

A challenge.  We didn't know whether anything would come of it, so we held no expectations.  I made some drawings of the movements she made, and some drawings of the sounds of her voice & body as she moved through the space.

oil paint marker on pale grey mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

About halfway into our time together, some of my markers began running out.  I saw this as an opportunity to procure a couple of hardware-store brushes and a bit of ink.  ;-)

various drawing media + ink on vellum roll, 24" x 10 yards

same roll, opposite direction

Mixed in between all this I made a bunch of large portraits.  

Because I can.  Somehow I can draw fast enough, even on a larger scale, to make portraits while a person is moving, and taking on various personas, and talking-whispering-yelling, and generally doing everything but staying still.  

I'm enthralled by the magic of that: a person just being human, and me drawing them.

oil paint marker, China marker on bond paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker, charcoal, China marker on bond paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker and China marker on blue mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker and China marker
on pre-painted BFK Rives paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker, China marker on BFK Rives paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker and ink on green mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker, China marker, ink on brown mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker and ink on black mystery paper, 22x32"

It was really cool to see my drawings emerge as we worked: to see my same basic style from years ago when I worked large scale from models, now augmented by 20+ intervening years of non-figurative art-making.

At the end, we are hoping to work together again, perhaps next year, and perhaps using some different materials.  

Already, ideas begin to emerge.  Wait.  Let them pupate.  See what happens.