Roots: Stage Three

Roots 3

60" x 40"

300lb watercolour paper

It has been awhile. Placing appropriate pieces of tissue paper usually takes the most time. Things were getting tense. The inevitable question arose: How many more hours must I devote to this? with its requisite response: As many as it takes! Oh the agony of not knowing…. I must have control! There was a time when I would truly lose it. Control was big in my life. Relax. Enjoy the ride. This is fun and easy! And so it is. Once I began to breathe again I spent some time just meditating this piece. There are so many considerations. Where do I wish the eye to rest? How do I subdue some areas while enhancing others? I have several sheets of a single colour in various values, that is, light and dark. I also have several different shades of green with variations within by adding sprinkles of yellow or blue or red to the base. Making sure the tissue paper is well wrinkled before applying the colour washes ensures wonderful patterning. This time I required a certain colour in a certain value. It took three attempts to produce the sheet I needed. I now have extras for other projects. I make life more difficult for myself by not using scissors to shape the pieces but I prefer the softness of the torn edge. If I wish a hard edge I fold the paper on itself. This is fun. Taking artistic liberties I decided a few hints of red would focus and direct the eye. All was well until I noticed the bottom was disappearing. The carefully crafted watercolour grasses could not compete with the vibrant colour of the leaves. Oops. Now what? I looked at the piles of tissue paper scattered about the work surface and I saw scraps. Lovely. Perfect pieces for empowering grass blades. A little gel and a bit of patience later things were looking much better. Still… Something was missing. I opened my container of gold refuse, the leftovers from the leaves and other paintings. Ahh…. much better. I love the cheeriness of this piece. This stage is done. The only major question left to answer is: How do I bring it together? Yes, well…. that is for next time.

Safety

"Safety"

24" x 18"

Mixed media

on cradled board

Most parents concentrate on keeping their children safe, mothers in particular, or maybe that is just my point of view. This is the theme of the latest in my series “The Many Faces of Eve”. Balance is a challenge in life and in painting. Within the realm of parenting we have the opportunity to grow with our children. Our protective shields are slowly removed as they mature giving them more freedom to explore who they are. I remember holding their hands and finding places to set them free. Painting is much the same. I had a problem with this one. It hung on the wall for a long while. I could not quite see what it was that rendered the image unacceptable. Insights come in many forms. Usually it is just time and a fresh eye in the morning. On other occasions it requires divine intervention. My angel entered my studio, someone just passing the time as her laundry was drying. She made a few comments and I could tell this was a woman who knew what she was talking about. I showed her the painting and told her I did not like it. Her comment was, ‘The rocks are too well defined.’ Brilliant! My need for control was showing. Lately I have been challenged with the idea that the less I define my images the more interesting they are. That means releasing my notions of perfection or rather redefining them. Perhaps it is time to let go and let fly.

Come Along Children

Come Along Children

8" x 6"

Mixed Media

Canvas

I have managed to paint another daily painting. This time it only took about three days to complete. I am getting faster! Actually I was standing in the middle of the floor, gazing at the work I had planned to do, wondering what to do with my foul mood when I took up another prepared little canvas and began to play. Putting marks on a surface, whether it is watercolour pencil, paint, ink, or graphite, seems to immerse me in another world where bad moods and negative thoughts are not allowed to enter. Picking up a paintbrush is a direct connection to a better world, my God and an infinite amount of positive energy. As the painting proceeds there are always so many considerations: where am I going to put the important images on the surface; where will the center of interest be; what colours will I use; will the shadows be warm or cool? Once I put paint to canvas I may change my mind at anytime usually as a direct result of falsely interpreting what the results of my conclusions were. That is correct. I make mistakes all the time! I have found that the most important response to unpredicted events is to welcome them. This allows me to reconsider, imagine something new and step into possibility. I love my world. It is fun to be alive.

Roots: more beginnings

Roots
40" x 60"
300lb watercolour paper
mixed media

Stage two has arrived! There is always a hesitation and a quandary about the exact point at which a different media is introduced. I knew the transfer of an image of my grandmother holding one of my cousins would be part of the painting. Another piece of knowledge was bugging me. Once acrylic gel has been introduced to the surface of the paper it seals it and further adjustments are no longer possible with watercolour. The transfer also had to be done early enough for the drawing to have the necessary presence. Later. I will think about it later. Look at those leaves! Some of them must be gold. Out came the gold leaf and following some very anxious moments I admired the beautiful results. Fun. Transfer coming up! Oooh. I like that too. Now for the second washes of watercolour. Purple blue tree trunks here we come! Next: a few tissue paper leaves. I wonder what effect they will have on their surroundings. I don’t know. Do you?

Roots: beginnings

Roots

60"x40" (152cm x 102cm)

300lb watercolour paper

Roots

I am distracted. Definitely. I ran into a problem with one painting so I hung it on the wall to incubate. It is still incubating. I prepared four other canvases. They are patiently waiting at various stages of preparation. An idea had come along. It is amazing from whence ideas venture forth. This one came from disappointment. Someone had asked me to do a workshop on negative space so I looked through my photos and discovered the perfect clump of trees. Not only could we explore negative space in the background but the image lent itself to foreground adventure as well. The workshop was cancelled. So I had this image and an idea. Resistance set in. This was not the way I had imagined it to be. Having no idea when I would use the lesson I had prepared I put it aside to concentrate on the five works waiting for me. Resistance is futile. The more I thought about it the bigger the idea got. Watercolours were a must. I have such fun playing with watercolours and negative space. I toyed with the idea of a full sheet size. No. Too small. What was the plan for the other two sheets of 40”x 60” watercolour paper I had stored? I forgot. Perfect. First of all I looked for the original image on my computer to make a few other copies….. Lesson #135: do not delete images for which you may have a use. Off to the photocopying machine before I took a felt pen to discern the spaces I would use. Grid out the image and transfer it to the paper. What you see is the first play of watercolour. This is another in the series for “The Many Faces of Eve” so it will be mixed media…. Stay tuned!

Commissions

Alexandre Tache

Historical Portrait

24"x18"

Mixed media

Cradled board

Commissions come in clumps, feast or famine. This one is my latest. I was asked to paint a historical portrait on Bishop Alexandre Taché as a gift to a newly opened school bearing his name. I love challenges. I was neither certain where to begin nor when I was going to take the time as I was teaching in two different schools as artist in residence and leaving for a week to San Francisco. God provides. I decided to accompany my husband (a school trustee) to the opening of the school and was totally delighted with the keynote speaker, Père Bélanger, who provided me with all the historical data I required. I asked him for a copy of his speech, visited the archives for photo references and set to work. Mixed media is such fun! I tore out the tree shapes from tissue paper, transferred a sketch of Père Lacombe and adjusted everything with watercolour pencil. I prefer oils for portraiture and proceeded to render a full colour likeness from a black and white reference. Challenges: the spice of life! There was something not quite right about the final image. I could not identify it so I took it with me to my regular mastermind meeting for critiquing. The eyes of others are so clear. One less tree clump and voilà! I love masterminding almost as much as I love mixed media….

Lipstick and Sunshine

"Lipstick and Sunshine"

6"x8" (15cm x 20cm)

mixed media

canvas

The idea of creating a painting per day, quick and easy, totally intrigued me. This is my first attempt. I decided to remain consistent with the other work in which I am presently involved so I chose mixed media. Having previously prepared several panels beforehand (which means at least four layers of various ingredients) I grabbed one and marched into my kitchen. The sunlight was pouring through the semi-opaque window pane (I must clean that someday…) and danced across the tablecloth on its way over my struggling lipstick plant. If I remember to water it, it may bloom again one day and I will do a second version. As the image was generally green in my area of focus I chose a red watercolour pencil to do the drawing. I love drawing and was soon lost in the foliage happily creating darker and lighter shapes, playing with negative space. When I looked again the shadow patterns on the table had totally renewed themselves in a different composition. Lovely. I will have to remember that…. I decided not to redraw it and began adding layers of colour. By this time it was lunchtime. All in all it was a delightful exercise and it only took me four days to complete!