print this

Above: Drawing with acrylic molding paste on 3  pieces of leftover MDF.  Maybe I'll try making a print off them all together like this.

Below: Two paintings from 2015, reworked last week.  I think for the better :)

BREATHE - 65x34 in.

PULSE - 65x35 in.

The last 4-5 weeks have contained several friend & family's health & life upheavals, an intense spate of teaching work, me getting laryngitis - and my studio was sidelined a bit in the midst of it all.

So it felt really good to get in there and tidy things up, take stock, let my mind wander through some possibilities.  Even small pockets of creative time can bring some soothing calm into life.

June newsletter

​Good morning!

I hope this day is off to a fine start for everyone.  Here in Calgary it has rained quite a lot lately, which is great for our garden, and sometimes leads to a rainbow.  Today the rain has stopped, the sun is shining, and I'm appreciating some indoor rainbows cast on the wall by a prism hung in the window.

A few new things have been going on with my art practice:

First, I am very pleased to relate that I have recently been accepted into Christine Klassen Gallery here in Calgary.  It has been some time since my old gallery, AXIS, closed its doors, and now I'm glad I waited to find a new place which seems like it will be an excellent fit.  Christine Klassen, Hilary Knutson and James MacIntyre are a great team with some out-of-the-box ideas on promoting the gallery and artists, and the gallery space itself is absolutely gorgeous.  I feel honoured to be working with them!

There is an introductory exhibition at CKG of work by myself and Calgary artist Mike Binzer; we are both new to the gallery.  The exhibition runs from July 10 to August 22, 2015.  There will be an opening reception on Friday July 10th, from 5-7pm, and I will give a brief talk about my work at 6pm.  Please come out and celebrate with us!  The exhibition will include selections from the Multiples series, and from the most recent Ellipse paintings which stem from an experience I had during an Artscape residency last November.  To view images of the work, click here.

Secondly, I have a 3-D piece accepted into "This House Is On Fire" at the New Edward Gallery", an alternative gallery space also in Calgary.  It's an exciting opportunity to make and show work which lies outside my usual studio practice.  This event, which includes visual art, music and food, opens on Wednesday, July 1 from 6-11pm.  The art will be up for 3 days only, from July 1-3, 2015.  Join us for the opening celebration or stop in to the gallery to view the artwork while it's up!

Thirdly, in May of this year I had another super fun creative opportunity: to alter and paint 3 hard hats for the groundbreaking ceremony of cSPACE Projects at the old King Edward School in Marda Loop, Calgary.  If you'd like to see the hard hats I did and learn a bit more about this cSPACE project, click here.

Finally, the AGA's Travelling Exhibition "Eye And The City" will be hosted by the Onoway Public Library from June 24 to July 22 and the Mayerthorpe Public Library from July 29 to August 26, before moving on into the Medicine Hat region for the next leg of the journey.  "Eye And The City" is an exploration of urban landscapes through artworks by Russell Bingham, Gordon Harper, David Janzen, Paul Murasko and myself.

I hope you are enjoying your day and taking time to pause for rainbows - literally and/or figuratively!

Until next time,

Meanwhile, in the studio...

A rather bland portrait made a couple of weeks ago:

looks more lively when photoshopped:

A new 2D series begun, these are 16.75 inches square:

And a 3D piece underway for an exhibition in a non-commercial gallery!  Here are some detail shots of the first prototype in my studio:

I will make another attempt at this, using a smoother string so the knots are more easily visible.

receive and send

Before I begin with the art news, allow me to show you this beautiful wildflower bouquet, comprised partly of garden plants (columbine, poppy leaves, arugula flowers) and partly of plain old weeds (grasses, violets, dandelions, and other nameless things)  Is it not wonderful?

One might say I receive the beauty of the weeds, and try my best to send some beauty back into the world.

The same day I composed that delicious bouquet, I received something else: a few older works back from one of my galleries.  I'm glad to see this painting again:

Precipitate
mixed media and stitching on canvas
45 x 51 inches

The title is interesting as this painting was made on the eve of a tidal change in my work.

There's a lot I like about "Precipitate" as it is, but now seeing it again after two years I can imagine some improvements.  It is from a series of works I made where I left quite a bit of the raw, unpainted canvas showing.  In this particular piece, I think there may be too much of that same raw canvas colour, so I may adjust the top portion a bit.

Between taking in older work and preparing newer work to send out, my studio can get a bit cluttered:

before

after

Ah, that's all nice and tidy now.  Hey, aren't artists supposed to be messy, creative geniuses working in hives of clutter?  *laughs*  Not this artist, apparently - at least, not all the time.

9 large and 55 small paintings
arrived at CKG gallery

I'm really excited that my work is now being represented by CKG here in Calgary!  The people at CKG are wonderful, the space is beautiful, and they have some exciting out-of-the-box ideas about promoting the gallery and artists.

It's been a year and a half since I've worked with a local gallery.  During that time my work has evolved quite a bit.  First the Multiples, and now the new Ellipse series have taken me wholly into the world of pure abstraction.

I've really felt that I'm going out on a limb in making these purely abstract works.  Going out on a creative limb is exciting and invigorating! ... but the potential of a parallel financial limb can be stressful.  This is something to consider when making artwork for one's living. I wouldn't have it any other way, though.  

After periods of darkness there is always light.

two sketches and a shadow

1, 2, 3

Did I already mention this book I've been reading?  I started making the "Ellipse" paintings a few months before I began reading the book, and I'm finding it very interesting, the correlations between the ideas in the book and in this work.  

Silence - and sound - are very important to me.  For example I often work in silence in the studio.  Also I avoid places that have ambient music of the sort that is designed to create a "brand tone".  Do you know what I mean?  Mall music!  It makes me anxious to the point of being physically uncomfortable.  The claustrophobic effect of shopping malls is based largely on their aural atmosphere.  This is true of some restaurants and pubs, too.  And don't even get me started on advertising noise!  *laughs*  

So I am making work which in some way provides a space for silence.  I am trying to make silent paintings.  This does not mean there is nothing there.  It means that there is space, an open space to think and feel, room to move.  Yes?  I hope so.

simple tools

time

Time, hey.  Sometimes it seems we have a lot and sometimes only a little.  We say "life is short".  But we could also say "life is long".  Or we could just say "here I am, what can I do?"

When I don't have much time for art-making in the studio, I can always make quick drawings in a sketchbook.  They don't take long and they can be quite satisfying, and sometimes they lead to further explorations in the studio.

These drawings were made over the last couple of weeks, with markers and coloured pencils in my 5x7" hardcover book:

They're not, you know, great works of art or anything, but I think I ought to do more of this.  Maybe a sketch or two every evening?  

Lately I've taken on a few extra things and am finding it difficult to organize my work.  Maybe I've taken on too much and will need to scale back, or maybe this is one of those learning curves and I will find a balance if I stay focussed.  Maybe making some wee drawings every evening will help with the focus part.

This morning I photographed the fence paintings:

They've been out on the fence for 4 years now, and today they're looking ready for another cycle of spring.  

focus

Variations of colour and composition on Arches 160lb watercolour paper:

Circular templates and sunlight and work in progress:

A lot of things are happening, a lot of things are needing attention.  No time for a long meandering blog post this week.  In precious moments of studio time, focus trumps all.

a long slow current

In the autumn of 2014 I began making purely abstract work.  I should say "began again" because a couple of decades ago I was making abstract paintings, but you know how life has its detours.  

Over the years my love of abstraction endured, and finally I took the plunge.  So I've spent about 18 months now focussed on abstract work; it has been the main thrust of my studio endeavours and I've enjoyed participating in the unfolding of this renewed direction.

I tend to make blog posts about all the stuff that happens - the plein air paintings and portraits and little side projects - but in reality those things take up maybe 15% of my creative output.  They are a break from my "real" studio work so to speak.

Yesterday I had a fantastic day, finishing two more "Ellipse" paintings.  One of the paintings was a real struggle while the other just seemed to come together effortlessly.  I love that balance of struggle and flow.

I now have got 8 finished works and 2 which need some improvement.  My plan is to have 10 finished works of an excellent quality by the end of this month, because I have an important visitor coming.  Therefore I need to have made 15 pieces by then, of which I can reasonably expect 2/3 to be of sufficient quality.

I think I can do it.  I think I can...  

:)

difficulty leads to play

This one is presenting me with some difficulty.  Hooray for photoshop, where I can try out a quick effect without making permanent changes to the actual, physical work just yet.

In studio:

In photoshop:

A definite improvement, hey?

So this is what happens when I begin a new series of works: the first ones are very playful and often very successful.  Then I try to make more, and it becomes difficult because, after the initial success, I begin to judge the work much more seriously.

Something to think about, hey?

Right.  Back to the studio; it's time for a sheer white glaze.

:)

circular

A few weeks ago I was in Arizona, and in the desert I found circles!  Old rusted-out buckets, parts of wagon wheels, and other vestiges of a bygone era.

Apparently a circle is the most perfect geometric shape, since every point along its edge is an equal distance from its centre.  A circle also has the greatest area of any two-dimensional shape in proportion to its perimeter.  Here's some more interesting information about circles.

My "Ellipse" works are intuitively an attempt to find balance and calm.  Lately the world around me seems very convoluted and overwhelming, and perhaps my job as an artist is to help maintain balance, to remind myself (and possibly others) of how to be calm and centred, to take time, to be thoughtful in the great mad rush of the world.

I'm not always calm and thoughtful.  However, I believe that when we are engaged in making art we can transcend our human frailties; and I believe that the art of making art lies in a willingness to be, simply, a conduit for something that already exists, something bigger than ourselves.  Because nothing comes from nothing, right?  

For myself, I wish to be a conduit for the calm and peaceful rationality that I know is already out there, even though it often seems obscured or distant.

(small) Ellipse #1 and #2
mixed media on canvas
20x30" each, approx.

it's in the details

Ellipse

When I got back from the Artscape residency I was very keen to get back into my studio!  Whee!

First job I tackled was to finish the cards which I began at the residency.  It was my intention to send them out for xmas... 

handmade art cards
mixed-media stitching, acrylic and gouache
on 300lb acid-free rag paper
5 x 5.5" each, approximately

... however, as I finished each one and pinned it to the studio wall and continued to work, those cards got into my peripheral vision!  And from there into my my subconscious creative brain!  And they clamoured for more attention!

So I could not send them out just yet.  I had to leave them up on the wall (and send out *gasp!* store-bought cards) while I began a new series of large canvas works inspired by those paper explorations.

One of the repeating patterns in the cards was circles.  Easy to free-stitch on a small scale, exponentially more difficult when scaled larger!

I found I had to plan ahead, do layouts, try out variations of shape and line with my materials and then trace out the selected patterns prior to stitching.  

This is more planning than I have ever done in the studio.  How strange for me to work this way... but I am very determined and I enjoy a creative challenge, so I soldiered on through many workings and re-workings until I got something that felt all right.

materials layout

stitching completed, ready for stretching

Then I built the stretchers for these new works:

Stretched some of them, and did a bit more painting and fine-tuning after they were stretched.

I think I can live with them.  As I work, inevitably more ideas run through my mind, too many to grasp.  But it is a start, and with diligence and a bit of luck I think I may find more depth in this very abstract imagery, this very deliberate way or working, than I first was aware of.

As to how this relates to the residency, beyond the fact of finishing the cards which began there: 

While at the Artscape facility I did a variation of one of Ross's exercises: I walked with my eyes closed, letting my other senses guide me.  

I have done something like this before.  On the city street, when there are no pedestrians near, I sometimes walk for, say, ten paces with my eyes closed; it is not as difficult as one might imagine.  But here was an exercise going well beyond a mere ten paces.

I walked on the grass, and when my feet touched concrete I thought I had gone into the road.  I stopped and blinked my eyes open for half a second, just long enough to perceive a narrow path of partly overgrown paving stones laid in a circle.  

With eyes still closed I decided to walk the path, letting my feet feel the way and just listening to the sounds around me: waves on the beach nearby, some sort of utility box which hummed electrically, wind in a copse of trees, and the sound of my own shuffling feet.  I had to walk very slowly in order to stay on the path by feel alone.  

I walked this circular path for about an hour, during which time I developed in my mind an image of the place based on the sounds I heard, audio markers which corresponded to the variations in the path: that bit which narrowed and then was completely obscured for half a step just where the wind was closest in the trees, that bit which had sunk on a tilt, just before the waves of the beach took aural precedence, that jutting-out bit just beyond the electrical hum, which I learned not to trip over simply by listening carefully.  

It was a very interesting mental image.

More interesting still was when I opened my eyes and saw for the first time, visually, the path I'd been walking for an hour.  It was, of course, completely different than I had imagined.

For me, the exercise of walking with eyes closed was the most intense and rewarding one of several that Ross had planned.  I've read statistics that say humans take in 80% of their information about the world visually.  Perhaps we visual artists rely on our eyes even more than others.  Spending the time to form an idea of the world without any use of my eyes, even for just an hour, was quite an experience.  

Gradually it occurs to me that the circles in my studio could be reflective of that circular walk which had such an impact on me at the residency.