Big Sky Artists 2014 Show and Sale

Big Sky Artists - Show and Sale

April 11, 12, 13, 2014

Where: 

Grace Westminster Church, Eastlake Ave and 10^th St, Saskatoon

When: 

Friday 5 – 9:30pm 

Saturday 10am to 5 pm

Sunday 12noon to 4pm

Contributing Artists: 

Hedie Borne, Jan Buttinger, Celeste Delahey, Donna Delainey, Myrna King, Anneliesa Kristiansen, Lorna Lamothe,

Jeanne Marcotte, Norma Rempel, Charlotte Sanford,

Laurel Schenstead-Smith; Jean Smith, Betty Ann Whittaker

Morning Coffee

Morning Coffee

I have a friend who regularly takes a book and goes to a coffee shop for morning coffee.  A pleasant location, a good cup of dark roast and the morning newspaper or a good book add up to a simple but satisfying way to spend some time.

Three times the past few weeks I have eaten my lunch on a bench overlooking 'river landing' - I especially like to watch the river eat away at the ice and I refused to take a book because I thought it would be good to just look!

This painting is of the Gallery Espresso, in Savannah, GA, a favourite spot we enjoyed numerous times when visiting a few years ago.  It seems like some places are good at helping one to slow down!  I'm looking forward to finding a few such spots this spring.

Lent: springtime for the soul

A friend posted photos of a crocus field and a nest with blue eggs on her Facebook page.  I checked out  the weather report and see that we can expect milder weather for the next 14 days.  Daylight savings time started today for those to the west of us… and I am ready to stop painting snow for awhile.  All indications that  winter may be giving way to spring.

Another indication of course is the season of Lent.  From the old English word lenten, meaning "spring" we find ourselves in a season before Easter which is also an "invitation to a springtime for the soul.  Forty days to cleanse the system and open the eyes to what remains when all comfort is gone.  Forty days to remember what it is like to live by the grace of God alone and not by what we can supply for ourselves."  [Barbara Brown Taylor]  Taylor goes on to write, "I think of it as an Outward Bound for the soul. No one has to sign up for it, but if you do then you give up the illusion that you are in control of your life."

I look forward to this season where I willingly pay more attention to my soul, to my thoughts, my actions, to what I value most, to why I do what I do, etc.  A time to search out moments of stillness - to sit by the still partially frozen river soaking up the sunshine, or take my coffee to the gazebo where I can listen to the birds and watch the icicles drip. A time to rest a bit and refuse to always be doing! A time to prepare myself to more attentively listen to and watch for the sounds and signs of spring.

And so I say, optimistically, "Goodbye Winter"and after a nights sleep I choose to awaken not with spring's renewed vigour and energy, but with a renewed sense of soul attentiveness to what unfolds in the days ahead.

Last of the "winter" paintings:

'Snowfall' - actually, I'm not sure this is quite finished!

"Clutter"

Clutter or Mess?

Dictionary definitions:

Clutter:  to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness

Mess: a disordered, untidy, offensive, or unpleasant state or condition

Well it is, in my opinion, neither:)

The top photo indicates that there are a number of "works in progress" which seem to be adding up. In quilting jargon these are UFO's…and I have plenty of unfinished quilting projects which I refuse to look at until I am finished the paintings! Yes, even though I know my sister just opened her new, expanded quilt shop and when I go tomorrow to see it I will be tempted to buy something….

The second photo is my desk with my new "wet palette" which I am finding very useful for acrylic painting.  This evening I was working on the smaller painting on the left with the trees.  The small "canola fields and clouds" on the larger easel is an unfinished watercolour which I started at our Big Sky Artists painting group today…. lots to do yet before our show in April but I am enjoying the process.

"Literature, painting, music - the most basic lesson that all art teaches us is to stop, look and listen to life on this planet, including our own lives, as a vastly richer, deeper, more mysterious business than most of the time it ever occurs to us to suspect as we bumble along from day to day on automatic pilot.  In a world that for the most part steers clear of the whole idea of holiness, art is one of the few places left where we can speak to each other of holy things."

Frederick Beuchner, Whistling in the Dark

What's in a name?

Who says, that every poem one pens, every story one writes, and every picture one paints needs to have a "name"!   Who says, that a picture cannot call forth one term to express my thoughts about it and an entirely different term to express your thoughts! Would naming this painting something like, "Profuse" or "Bountiful" or "Red Bouquet" or "Gift" cause you to look at it differently?

I get frustrated trying to name every painting - you may have noticed that my Rhubarb paintings are now simply numbered!  Can you look at the three Rhubarb paintings on my previous post of November 7 and come up with something better?  

Well, here is what could be called, "Flower still life" - boring.   But, would this, in some way, determine how you view the painting? What is the first word that springs to your mind when you look at it?

Another thought I've had is, "It's time to use a bit less paint and put my palette knife away for awhile."  This painting had so much texture on it from a previous application of paper and rag that it was difficult to do anything but use lots of paint and the palette knife for much of it!  Below are a few closeups in which you can see that the paint got quite thick.  I also simply poured paint on in some places - several colours together - which caused some interesting effects….  the photo really doesn't say enough.  If you are able, you might like to view it up close at the "Big Sky Artists 2014 Show and Sale" April 11 - 13, Grace Westminster Church Auditorium, Saskatoon.

"spring blossoms"

I'm not so sure about leaping over fences and trying something new, although it does appeal to me sometimes… often on evenings such as this, when I have just finished a painting which seems to have taken "forever"and I'm left with a result accompanied by the thought, "Why on earth did I paint this!"

At least I think I am finished!  I do not want to add one more brushstroke, indeed, I don't even want to look at it.  I think that something less 'realistic' might be appealing.  Perhaps, my next endeavour will be a 'semi'- abstract - because at this point, realism is exhausting and somewhat dissatisfying.

Anyway - for the record, this is "Spring Blossoms" and is from a photo taken last spring on an early morning stop at the Patterson Gardens…

Started reading a book today, Nita Engle's, How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself.  Somehow I find the title inspiring yet at the same time totally incomprehensible!  But I do like her first point - "The one question you must ask yourself is this: "What is my underlying, guiding principle?""

While, I think it would be a good for me to process this question,  one goal that does guide me in painting realism is the idea of 'inviting the viewer into the painting' [as Engle also states her's to be, interestingly] - it would be good if there was a point of entrance for the viewer to be 'there' - a sense of being at home within what is portrayed…. lofty idea, I know…. but as I just said, I really must consider this more thoroughly.

All this being said, if you are reading this, and would like to comment on what it is about a painting, that 'grabs' - or makes you look at it a second time - please feel free to comment:)

Palette Knife Paintings

Palette Knife Paintings

"Creativity is a way of living life - no matter what our vocation, or how we earn our living.  The creator is not afraid to leap over the 'accidental fences' and to plunge into the deep waters of creation.  There, once again, and in yet another way, we lose ourselves to find ourselves…"
Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water

Sometimes we take the plunge and try something new.  Recently, when an acrylic painting just didn't have the life in it I wanted, and following an encaustic workshop, [note several posts back], I wondered if I could get some of the interesting effects of encaustic by using palette knives with acrylic.  Well, you can, to a degree.  Along with a narrow palette knife, I purchased a stainless steel cookie lifter which provides a 2 inch spread - it was a bit thicker than the palette knives so not as 'bendable' - but it has its uses.  And then I got busy.

All three of these paintings are done primarily with palette knives and very limited brushwork.  They are distinctly different in colours and range from quite a smooth to a fairly thick use of paint.  Actually, I like them and am thrilled to have leaped over an "accidental fence" and found a few new tools to paint with and styles to incorporate into my painting.

Winter Scene  10x8" - quite a bit of build up on the snow.

Winter Scene.2  10x8"
In this one I used a lot of paint with a variety of swirling motions
in the background, and scraping and setting down motions
in the foreground. 

"Cedar"  12x24"
For this painting I laid on and scraped the paint
with palette knives.  I love how this action
blends the colours.