Pattern

I have not done any "real studio work" in about two weeks.  Still, I am making a blog post anyway - to show you, dear Reader, a slice of the life of this particular artist when things are not going so well in the studio!  *laughs*

  

A series I began last month has come to a halt, perhaps due to overthinking but also perhaps because I have been clinging too rigidly to an idea with insufficient depth.  I've just got to let it rest for a moment.

I've been teaching a lot, and then part of my studio is under construction while my work rests.  So I decided to make a "Pattern Book", which requires neither a studio not any long-term, involved processes.

Feels like I'm back in school trying out ideas in a very unsophisticated way.  Looks like nothing much, but sometimes these things lead to surprising developments.  Meanwhile, the meditative nature of exploring different types of pattern is kind of nice.  I can let my thoughts wander over and around many ideas while playing with the simple colours and shapes.

In the teaching realm, I have been doing printmaking workshops with primary school students.  Basically I am teaching how to make collagraph plates, and then making relief prints.

The process leads to something like this:

Prototypes for a Grade 3 class studying Peru, made in the useable part of my studio.  The collagraph plates shown above measure 5 x 8.5 inches.  I make prototypes for every class because I am still learning about printmaking, and the process evolves with each lesson!

It's a bit funny, teaching kids, because there is always an aimed-for end result.  In the studio there is also at times an aimed-for end result, but it's much more fluid.  Getting sidetracked in the studio can in fact lead to greater productivity, if you want to think of it in those terms.  In a 90-minute primary-level art class however, things have got to stay on track.

I try to focus my instruction on techniques while encouraging students to create their own imagery and aesthetic interpretations.  Most of them are very creatively independent, while a few will copy my prototypes.  Either way, everyone seems to have a lot of fun exploring ideas while learning new skills, with occasional "eureka!" moments in the mix.

And isn't that really the point of education?  The point of being alive?

Until next time,

:)

V

audible signals

The workshop in Drumheller was loads of fun and very invigorating.

Everyone was so enthusiastic, open-minded and eager to really experiment and have fun.  Our purpose was not so much to make a finished work of art, but rather to explore and gain ideas that might further evolve in our own art practices.  We discussed my paintings in the TREX exhibition, and I took the group through some sensory-awareness exercises before we began playing with collage and drawing techniques.  A very good spirit prevailed throughout the day.

Back to the city...

Cycling along the river early one morning last week, I saw an eagle on the ice.  First time I'd ever looked down on an eagle rather than up at one.  Its size sure puts those magpies in perspective, hey.  Seems they're all having dead duck for breakfast.

Meanwhile in the studio I can't seem to find out what I'm doing or why.  Too much repetition and not enough insight.  Well, isn't that how most problems evolve?  *laughs*

Should I kill it and sit myself down to breakfast?  Or should I do a little colour inversion and let my spirit wander on an empty stomach?

The former option seems sweeter... but the latter may bear more nourishing fruit in the end. 

And here we have a potentially useful thing:

 ... A focus button!

Later, alligator.

next stop: Drumheller!

I'm doing another workshop tomorrow!  Feeling quite excited about it:

Mostly I have been working with children, but this session will be all adults.  I've been envisioning how I might present my work and ideas to this group, how I might engage them in discussions about art, life and urban environments.

Yesterday I pulled out the Book of Cities and made another collage in order to photograph my process, showing how I build up the shapes step-by-step:

large broad shapes first

overlapping sheer papers

smaller, slightly denser shapes

small opaque shapes and lines

Later, I may add some drawing details to finish it up... or maybe not.  Kinda liking the simplicity of this one.

Today I will pre-cut some shapes to use for a demonstration of collage techniques.  I hope that by doing this, my demo piece will turn out nice instead of the kind of mash-up that often happens when I try to make art under many eyes!  *laughs*  

I'm looking forward to having a bit of time to further explore the town and area of Drumheller.  It's a very beautiful geography there, with cactus-strewn hills above a deep river valley.

Also, I will visit the Tyrell Museum!  Because dinosaur bones are cool!  And it's nice timing because in a couple of weeks I'll be doing a simple printmaking class based on fossils, with 7-8 year old students.  That'll be loads of fun.

In the studio these days, my recent work is under reflection.

More about that next time.  

Thanks as always for your interest, Reader.

:)

V

Circling

At first I had intended to make a few more small oil paintings.  To begin, I worked out some proportions...

... cut some strips from an old painting and laid them on the canvas.  Then I became interested in how the strips looked, the random lines and shapes created by cutting up that old painting.  So I coloured blue and purple and laid the cut strips down again, and liked it enough to go with it:

Below, the finished painting.  It's a little one, 14x14 inches:

In order to further explore this aesthetic, I plan to destroy a number of older, unfinished, unsalvageable works and re-use the stretcher frames.  Below, two paintings slated for destruction:

Above, the coloured canvas which will go onto the stretcher frames.  That portion of old painting will be cut up for the strips... I think.  We will see what transpires.

Sometimes I spend hours just shifting the cut bits around until they feel right.  Getting the base colouring to resonate can also take a long time.

Well you know: time is not for saving.  May as well spend time by shifting colours around!

Today I began in the studio about 9am, and I worked until I noticed the shadows lengthening.

Then I took a break and then I worked some more.  Although they are only just slightly different from the work that went before, I am quite excited about the possibilities with these new paintings.

Earlier this week I taught an art class in which we made a couple of group collages.  

Kids are so much fun, spontaneous and happy to try new creative processes.  They are generally not too worried about what things "should look like", and just go with the flow of wherever the process takes them.

Between doing art classes with the schools and a couple of other commitments, I have less time now for the studio.  On the flip side, when I do get into my own work I am feeling a bit more free.

Paperlings

Chez Studio Verna, 2016 has begun with paperlings: small works on paper.

I took a break during the last few weeks of 2015, then on January 1st I was back into the studio - I was so much into the studio that I did not make any blog posts for awhile!  Now it is time.

First thing I did this year was to make some wee stitched paintings on paper.

I'd found some cool little frames several months ago, not knowing what I'd wind up using them for.  Often that is a good way to go about things.

These paintings are made with acrylic paint and ink on Arches rag paper.  They are called "Vibrato".  (thanks Russell for your suggestion!)

They are small; 4x4, 5x5 and 6x6 inches.  I have not often framed my work, and I'm liking these.

I like them all together better than individually.  Perhaps because they are so small, they seem to need each other to read and breathe and live.

In between working on the Vibrato series, I played around on some other small bits of paper about 8x8 inches:

Then yesterday I began to experiment with making collograph prints: working on paper again!

Above, printing "plate" made with school glue drawing on matboard, and printed with a roller and Speedball water-soluble block printing ink on 140lb paper.

Below, fun with feathers:

It's been a long time since I made prints, maybe 20 years.  Wow.  I am remembering just how much fun printing is!  There is a magic in working on a "plate" to create an image - and then printing from that plate, which changes the image sometimes quite radically.  

So there is the beginning of the year in my studio:  A new series of tiny, framed paintings, a few little open-ended explorations, and an initial foray into simple printmaking techniques.  All using paper.

Paperlings... I wonder where they will lead?

As ever, I'm curious about this ongoing creative journey, and happy to be able to make blog posts which I hope will connect with a few people along the way.

Thank you for reading!

:)

V