Radiant Yellow

A few days ago I printed some of the disappearing images that I had worked on the computer. Then added some washes of my new favourite colour Radiant Yellow, enhanced some of the lines with pencil and enclosed them in encaustic. I had forgotten how wonderfully the studio smells when you work with encaustic; warm summer day smell while out side the window there were snow squalls. The encaustic always changes the color of the print, usually brightening the colors and giving them more saturation. And I dripped some radiant yellow, a happy accident.

Radiant Yellow Contained, mixed media, 16 x 28, 2013

Radiant Yellow Contained, before the mixed media

Vermeer's Hat

Sitting on the coffee table hiding under a stack of other books, and found when I finally dusted, was Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook. This is a terrific read. He has a wonderful way of looking at Vermeer's work; not as an art historian but as a cultural history of the objects, the people, their clothes; the very space itself and leads one through a part of the history of globalization. It's a treasure chest full of bits of social history and culture, and, for me, a new way to look at these and other historical work of art. I always wished that in school they taught like this, a timeline, so that I learned what was being discovered scientifically, what was being written, composed, painted, invented, thought about, talked about and explored.

Johannes Vermeer, Officer and Laughing Girl. 1658, Frick Collection

On a totally different note, the Canadian Government has promised to match all donations made to the Canadian Red Cross for relief help in the catastrophic destruction in the Philippines,  President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity following Friday's typhoon, which has killed thousands of people. Here is the link.

Score

After all the struggles of trying to get a decent photo of the disappearing works [link here], I realized that I really liked what had happened on the computer, so I printed a few trial prints. Some seem to want washes of colour on top of the prints, and encaustic, and some I'll try gluing on to wood panels and cover with encaustic; and the smallest ones I'll frame and see which way this all wants to play out.

Score, image 11 x 36 in, support 15 x 40 in,  2013

Lake Ontario

Coming back from the Art Fair in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, we spent the night with some very old friends. Not old in that chronological way, although we are getting there,  but old in the way of friends you have known forever,  who know you truly and accept all the parts of you. There is something so precious about this kind of friendship. Their house is on a bay on Lake Ontario where you can watch the lake in all her moods, The night we arrived the wind was strong, rain lashing, waves rolling high. And the next morning it was all liquid gold.

Quietly Following

I am so enjoying laying down these layers of color, the deliberate placing of the brush, my arm moving across the paper on a hopefully smooth line, breath flowing and the lift off of the brush at the end of the line; and repeating for the next line, and the next. I'm impatient for the washes to dry though so I go up to the computer and play. I am still having a hard time shooting good photos of these pale works, although I have added more color to the washes, so these are detail shots, layered on the computer, which is a great way to see how future works might want to sit on the paper. If anyone has suggestions for how to shoot white on white with a touch of pencil I would welcome them!

oils on paper, 2013

oils on paper, 2013

oils on paper, 2013

November Blues

The garden is almost ready for winter, and on my list of things to do was rake the leaves out of the pond. While I didn't get that crossed off the list, I did take photos of clouds on reflected on the water. And remembered summer.

It Disappeared

As I said the other day the studio always has surprises in store. This one I didn't see coming, in fact I can hardly see it. What happened is that the paint dried and all my lovely auras and subtle colors disappeared overnight. If I stand at a certain angle to the paper I can at least see that there are marks on it, the camera is not so sure. So it's back to more experimenting with more color in the washes. And wait until it is dry.

detail, oil on paper, 2013

Pillars of Light

Unexpected things always happen in the studio, but I am finding that right now I have to pay attention in a new kind of way. I'm not sure if I can articulate what is happening but here goes. While I often don't know where I am going with a work now it seems a more acute listening is being asked of me. Lately I have set myself a series of exercises or studies; to get a better feel of what paint wants to do with me holding a brush. Why use paint, is another medium better for what I am trying to say? By now the original intent of what I wanted to do, and why I needed to use paint, has been left behind, and these subtle marks are emerging. You might want to click on the images to see them larger.

3 Columns, 2013

Pillars of light, 2013

Lot's Wife, 4, 2013

What I Saw At The Fair

Disclaimer...I'm not a great socializer, cocktail partygoer, ECT. In fact I tend to avoid these situations; to many people, to much art, to much theatre, it all becomes overwhelming and I tend to zone out. So after checking out friends work and chatting a bit, and discovering some lovely work by Tammi Campbell [link here], this is what I saw as I stared at the floor. I loved that floor!

Floor at the Toronto Art Fair

Floor at the Toronto Art Fair

Floor at the Toronto Art Fair

Toronto Art Fair

My darling has his latest 3 paintings at the Odon Wagner Contemporary Gallery booth at the Toronto Art Fair. I know some would feel that I am predisposed to his work; and I am, but these really are beauties.

 Haven't had my coffee yet and I forgot to put my darlings name is John Ballantyne, you can see more of his work here www.johnballantyneartist.com. I haven't updated his site lately, my bad!

Bull's Eye, 78 cm x 116 cm, acrylic on panel, 2013

Bell Rope, 2013, acrylic on panel, 76 cm x 122 cm

Milford United, 2013, acrylic on panel, 66 cm x 130 cm

If any one is going to the fair it would be great to meet up. Guess where we'll be!