VANCOUVER CANUCKS VS PAINTING
VANCOUVER CANUCKS VS PAINTING
A couple of weekends ago, my painting friend Marney-Rose Edge and I went on a Road Trip to Pentiction and Naramata.
The Road Trip had a dual purpose, one of which was “plein air” painting in watercolour along the way there and back.
“Plein Air” must be painted quickly to incorporate the rapid change of light. The challenge is also the humidity, or the lack of it, which became a huge challenge in the dry Okanagan heat. We both wanted to paint a bit of “wet in wet” skies, resulting in our nimble fingers not being able to keep up with the drying paper. We were also a bit out of practice in “plein air”.
Since we also love hockey, planning to watch the game on the Saturday night in our self-contained Bed & Breakfast overlooking Lake Okanagan, we thought that we could get our “plein air speed painting” up to a level which would be somewhat satisfactory.
We had set up our paints and paper to paint and to be ready to go as soon as intermission arrived.
First hockey, then painting, followed by hockey, more painting, more hockey and painting! Talk about an efficient learning experience! There is nothing like pressure to save the day, whether it’s our home team Vancouver Canucks competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs or painting during intermission!
Comment on or Share this Article →A COUPLE OF ACCOLADES
It’s kind of nice when I receive a notice of validation of my work from time to time.
Just the other day, I discovered that one of my watercolour paintings, Lean on Me, was a “finalist” in the Landscape competition of Canadian Brushstrokes magazine.
http://www.brushstrokemagazine.com/issues/2011/lores/2011_05_lr.pdf
This little painting just keeps on winning. It was awarded the "Peggy Staber" award in "Living with the Forest", accepted into 2 Federation of Canadian Artists shows, 1 local and 1 in the open competion of the Thompson Nicola Shuswap Chapter of the FCA, accepted and on the cover of the North West Watercolour Socieyt open competition invitation www.nwws.org and now a finalist in Canadian Brushstrokes!
A couple of weeks ago, I was also elected to become a member of the prestigious Society of Canadian Artists www.societyofcanadianartists.com
I must say it feels good!
MID-MAIN ART FAIR
Almost done!
The second annual MID-MAIN ART FAIR, which was a successful brain wave last year, featuring 16 established artists, is ready to go again on Sunday June 12, from 11AM – 6PM, at Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street at 15th Avenue, Vancouver, the home of Vancouver Canucks, http://canucks.nhl.com/. (Yes, I am a Canucks fan!)
For the past couple of years I have been thinking of holding a fine arts fair in Vancouver at an elegant location, just like the ones in New York.
The location was easy, HERITAGE HALL, which is the heritage building with the clock tower on top in the Soma (South Main) district, a mecca of fashion, art, and design boutiques. This is Vancouver's go-to-place for local artists and designers.
By a coincidence, the Sunday date I selected in June was the only date available! It was just meant to be!
Then the selection of the artists began. Who to choose? I did not want to go through the “call for artists” mode as I did not really have the time or interest to select and reject.
In the fall of 2009, I began with established artists, whose work I knew, who would be a congenial group with a variety of fine art from photography, prints, landscapes, florals, and abstract work. It was easier said than done but in the end I ended up with an absolutely terrific group!
To my surprise, we had a huge crowd of visitors from all over the Lower Mainland. Why not? Soma or Mid-Main, after all, was a destination point for Sunday browsing, shopping, and just hanging out.
I’m pleased to say that most of the artists are returning again this year for even a bigger event.
Being optimistic, I have booked the hall again for 2012!
LOOKING AND THINKING
On the subject of seeing things, whether in landscape or visionary images, mostly of which I paint, I begin to look at what creates the shape. Is it light and dark or colour?
The longer I look at it, the more I begin to think about improving the image, stretching it, shrinking it to see what other possibilities there might be; which becomes quite an exciting process. Then I get stuck, wondering how on earth I got the idea of doing what I’m doing in the first place.
The more I look at it again, think about it, sometimes after putting the painting aside for a few days or even a few weeks, it suddenly comes to me. Eureka! I’ve got it! Sometimes I wonder if this is some kind of hypnotic state that happens due to concentrating on something for a long time.
This reminds me of Picasso, not that I compare myself to him at all, but some of his quotes make absolute sense to me.
"I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them."
Pablo Picasso
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
My challenge in art is “How can I create a problem that I can resolve”.
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