Near Alberta Beach

Early morning holds surprises for those who are awake. I often wake up about four thirty. I think it has something to do with the birds and the beginning light at this time of year. Got to love the fifty-fourth parallel! In this case I rolled over and went back to sleep. I jumped out of bed a couple of hours later thinking it was much later and decided to get dressed. We were on retreat. Lac St. Anne is surrounded by small vacationing communities and retreat houses. It has been a center for healing and spiritual renewal for many centuries, long before Europeans set foot here. We had been invited to share the space with five others as we explored our relationship with God and the organization with whom we are involved. I glanced out the window. Magnificent! I grabbed my camera and began to snap some memories. I had not noticed the buck right away. He raised his head and the light caught his antlers. Morning light, peace, and choruses of bird songs. We have a beautiful world. I am so fortunate to live in a part of the world where I do not have to be concerned about from whence comes my next meal or the safety of my surroundings. I can relax, renew and recentre. My studio is calling me. Patience is in order. I am sitting with the “Naked Show” today. I’ll tell you all about it next week.

Fathers' Day

The weatherman said it would rain. Well, our plans did not include external moisture. We wanted a picnic in the park that would last all day. My oldest son smiled cynically when I mentioned our plans. ”Prepare to be wet” was the implication. I sent out a request for perfect weather, not only for us but the rest of the celebrating population. It had been a very long time since we had gone camping. I knew that pulling the already packed boxes from the attic would be the quickest preparation. As I shook the dust from the various elements I selected what we needed for the day rather than a week’s absence. In deference to the possibility that my request would remain unanswered I brought down the tarp and threw in some rope. It was quite the load. The back of the van was full once I had the chairs and the firewood in place. All the utensils and the dishes needed washing. My daughter-in-law and I prepared a simple meal of hotdogs and salad. The only logistical problem we had was that there may not be room at the park next to the sand pile where the grandchildren would play. Once the final hymn was sung Papa and our daughter headed for the park as I finished off a few details including picking up our other daughter on the way. I decided to leave the tarp in the car as we set everything else out on the table. We sun baked, we talked, we told jokes, we laughed, we relaxed. Eventually the younger set arrived and the fire was started. Food, drink and merriment were the order of the day. And the rain? God has a sense of humour. I was just gathering up the tablecloths when the shower fell. Thank you Lord, for the perfect day.

Celebration

Once again I was invited to create a mixed media piece before an audience as the evening unfolded towards a live auction of the artwork under way. I had less time on this occasion so I showed up early, set up the table and got started practically before people began to arrive. The preparation had begun long before then of course. The canvas already had six or seven layers of paint and a transfer on it. The transfer usually takes overnight to dry and then around an hour to remove the residue paper. I had also tried to prepare torn pieces of tissue paper so that all I had to do was glue them on… That did not work. I got to the point (about three pieces later) where I needed to paste something down in order to see what shape the next morsel would take. So, taking a watercolour pencil I drew in the approximate shapes and shaded in the darker ones. I brought two sets of tissue paper, one dark and another not so dark. That would have to do. Having the gel, paint brushes, prepared paint for layering, pure pigments, pens, bibles and an already written poem helped complete the task on time. I even had time to eat! The supper was delicious. The live auction was a great success as there was a beautiful quilt which sold for $600 if my memory is correct and my painting  went for $550. Double from last year. Impressive. All in all, a great success. And there is a promise of red wine when I deliver the varnished, wired version to the new owners… Live is good!

Building Boxes

Looking into the interior

All gridded up

Ready to go

I guess I am not done with learning curves. My laptop is making funny noises this morning; the motherboard may have overheated during the night. I took the time to backup the system before I started writing this and I hope I will be able to finish. The topic today (celebrating my hundredth blog!) is building boxes. The last time I shipped to Vancouver I was in a panic so I built a box out of cardboard and sent it, then I asked questions. One friend suggested Styrofoam and Corplast emphasizing how light the materials are. Another told me how to ship glass. She said if it does break it will not damage the artwork it is protecting. And neglect to tell the shippers that the package contains glass…. Yes, well, okay. I measured my drawings and found that I did not have the framing I needed for the size. I researched the standard size that would best accommodate and ordered the box of glass and frames to go with it. Knowing the size the pictures would be, I decided to ship the two together and proceeded to design the box. I began with pencil sketches in various configurations then I bought some Styrofoam sheets, one 4’x8’ at ¾ inch thick and a second at 1 ½ inches thick. I had thought of putting the thinner sheet between the pictures but I ended up not using it at all. Once in my studio I cut the pieces of Styrofoam to size and the added half an inch to the Corplast exterior. Using good old duct tape I hinged the pieces together then inserted the Styrofoam. It looked so small. I thought, oh well, if the framed drawings do not fit I can always make another.  Once I had the drawings in their frames I took masking tape and put a grid pattern over the glass then slipped the piece into my box. I was delighted to discover I had room for bubblewrap. Amazing! Some days just go well. The show is in the Federation of Canadian Artists’ Gallery at 1241 Cartwright St. Vancouver, opening on 12th June. If you are in the area drop in. It is sure to be a great show.

Stepping Out

June is a busy month. The Works is on in Edmonton, a festival of culture in the form of many creative pursuits: music, theatre, visual arts, formal and informal. There are street performances everywhere. As part of that Harcourt House (10215 112 St. Edmonton) opens its doors to the public with two exhibitions and an invitation to visit artists in their studios. I submitted five drawings for the “Naked Show” with the possibility of having one to three showing. ‘Stepping Out’ was one of the ones rejected. It should be a great show. The drawings are all from this past year’s work done in the Annex with a live model. I will submit drawings for the Member show “Symbiosis” which opens in the main gallery on the same night, June 21st at 6:30pm. Two drawings have also been selected for show in the Federation of Canadian Artists’ Gallery in Vancouver (1241 Cartwright St. Granville Is.) I am in the process of framing and packaging them for delivery by June 7th.The exhibition runs from June 12th to 24th.  June 7th also sees me doing demonstrations in the foyer of St. Albert Place as part of the ArtWalk for St. Albert (5 St. Anne St.) which coincides with the opening of the fundraising event for the Art Gallery of St. Albert (19 Perron St.). I have one drawing in that as well. The month begins however with another fundraiser at Holy Family Parish in St. Albert (75 Poirier Ave.) at 6pm on June 1st. I am preparing a mixed media panel that I will finish onsite during the evening. It will be auctioned off at the end in the hopes of garnering mega dollars for a foundation that supports several farming and community activities in Nicaragua (Roots of Change). To finish things off there is an unveiling of vignettes and tableaus in the St. Jean Baptiste Park in Morinville on June 24th probably in the afternoon. I will keep you posted on that event. In the meantime I am going swimming. Have a great week!

Palettes

Doctors’ offices are great places to catch up on reading. I was glancing through a book on colour and came across the section on how to lay out a palette and the thought occurred to me that that might be a topic of interest for some people as not many watercolourists I know do things exactly the way I do them. So here is how I lay out my colours. I keep lids off jars of jam, pickles, condiments, anything that has a white interior so I can better see the colour wash within it. I squirt some water into each lid and add the colour I choose from the moistened tray to the point of intensity I wish. A test paper is essential to determine the intensity. I keep adding colour until I am satisfied. I repeat the process with each colour so that the colours I choose each have a brush, a wash and the original block. Some artists squeeze the watercolour straight out of the tube for greater intensity. I find I can make use of every bit and have very intense colour if I fill my tray, let it dry and moisten it just before I paint. Intensity comes from the quality of the paint as the higher the quality the greater the pigment content. I also limit the number of colours I use at one time. With the painting I am working on at the moment only six colours are set out with their washes. There is a seventh brush which I use to soften edges or add paler layers of pigment in certain areas. I rarely mix colours before I put them on the paper. Instead I begin with one wash and drop in other colours while it is still wet so that the mingling and mixing occurs right before my eyes. It is such fun watching the colours swirl. When I leave for the day I know that my lids, brushes and tray will be dry by the time I return. I simply add water and carry on. Love it!

More Murals-Military Vignette

This was an accident. I had been called in to give some free advice and I got another job. It is amazing how charity and prosperity are linked. Our oldest son had the same experience: a volunteer computer maintenance position at his high school fostered his first job. When I live in abundance, giving with no strings attached, a flow is created that usually results in my receiving tenfold more than I gave… This particular vignette (a name chosen because of its small size--three feet by four) presented particular problems. I had three reference photos with three different horizon lines and I wanted to put them all on the same horizon. There was too much of a difference between the scene on the left which had been photographed standing in the street and the one on the right which must have been taken from a cherry picker. Separating them seemed appropriate. Separating them all with use of the street worked quite well. In the end I ended up with this image that was not entirely working but the deadline loomed. I handed it in for approval with the suggestion that I move the cenotaphs to the left to balance the space better. Another suggestion was forthcoming in that I reverse the order of the monuments as well as moving them. Brilliant! The lady who did the research for me supported the change in spite of the fact it creates chronological disorder. So now the task of painting is at hand. I so enjoy mucking with the paint in the first layers. That is a very technical term: mucking. It means having fun! I better get on with it… the deadline is tomorrow!