Monday, June 28, 2010

Hope


"Hope"
24"x18"
mixed media on
cradled panel

Welcome to my world! Things move quickly here. Mostly I have to watch out for flying ink, or paint, or water. Oops! Sideswiped the bucket again! I have not quite learned to put my water supply out of my traffic lanes. I am doing better with my cup of tea. It has been a long time since I dipped a brush in that. Out of chaos artists create order, or the other way around. I prefer order, not control. Accidents are the essence of masterpieces. It takes a lot of accidents to make a masterpiece. I am working my way towards that end. I have recently begun a new mixed media series entitled “The Many Faces of Eve”. “Hope” is the latest in that series. Mostly I am exploring the world of woman, my world, but in doing so I also explore universal subjects such as hope. I found an old photograph of my mother gazing out the window early in her nursing career. She was dreaming of other places. She had wanted to be a writer. The nearest school at that time was in Toronto and she was fresh off the farm from somewhere in Saskatchewan. It did not seem possible so she picked one of her three local choices: teacher, secretary or nurse. Years pass and life unfolds. Everything is linked. As it turned out Mom’s sister was more of a grandmother to our children because she lived with us. Still the continuum is forged as we work together to create a better world, filling in the voids and smoothing out the pathways.

In this series I begin with a roughen surface using molding paste, I had started with using plaster but it is too delicate. The initial layers are usually acrylic based when my supports are canvas or board. Occasionally I begin with watercolour on paper that I eventually hang as a tapestry. I start to play in earnest as I add graphite powder, ink, alcohol, tissue paper, gold or whatever happens to be handy. I may end in oils, especially when I am doing a portrait. As a finishing touch I write a personal poem in felt and a psalm in metallic pen throughout the piece in both official languages. Why? Well, that is a story for another time.