Here is the inauspicious beginning.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
My Brush with Dry Brush
I have used dry brush technique in watercolour painting, usually combined with wet technique and occasionally for the complete painting. I have had little experience with using dry brush in acrylic work. Follow me, and comment as I hash my way through a "dry" painting.
Here is the inauspicious beginning.
Here is the inauspicious beginning.
A Word or Three to the Wise
- to ensure that the composition, values, perspective and the colour scheme work, is to view your painting flat on the floor, upside down and then view it in a mirror. As a final check, leave it on your mantel or other prominent place for a few days. This eliminates glaring problems, but can also lead to "overworking" if you aren't careful.
- sign you name to either the front or back of the painting, unless you are of the school that believes it unnecessary* (topic for another blog post).
- photograph your painting, for documentation and many other uses.
The last two reminders are particularly important if your work is going to be framed under glass - "been there done that".
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Friday, October 19, 2012
Frida and Diego
What a wonderful exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario of the art of Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera. Leave lots of time to read the posted commentaries and appreciate some of the details in the paintings.
The sections of intricate and political murals by Diego and his other paintings glowing with colour were wonderful.
Most affecting for me, however, were Frida's paintings. Many of her paintings depict the pain she suffered from an early accident which affected her health throughout her life, and her subsequent miscarriages.
Their's was a complicated relationship - hints of which are in many of the paintings.
Their story becomes real as you view the many photographs taken of them through the years, including those taken after death, in their caskets.
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Monday, October 15, 2012
Art Appreciation
Painting can sometimes be a lonely activity. Discouragement can sometimes creep in and you wonder if you will ever paint anything worthwhile again. That is when being selected for a juried show by artists that you respect, can be a "shot in the arm".
I was pleased to have a painting accepted for the second time in the Toronto Watercolour Artists Exhibition. This particular abstract painting is one of a series of three and is called - "From Space".
Details of Exhibition:
There will be a wonderful selection of paintings in a very interesting setting.
I was pleased to have a painting accepted for the second time in the Toronto Watercolour Artists Exhibition. This particular abstract painting is one of a series of three and is called - "From Space".
Details of Exhibition:
There will be a wonderful selection of paintings in a very interesting setting.
Go to My Website
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Art on a Canadian Theme
As a promotional activity for the Fall Art Show and Sale of the North Toronto Group of Artists, an art exhibition titled Parallel Lines is on display at a Starbucks location for until the end of October. The address is 3250 Yonge St. at the corner of Brookdale Ave.
"Parallel lines" refers to the fact that all paintings are on canvas that is "30" x "10" and hung vertically. This is the third year of this exhibit and each year a different theme is chosen. It is fascinating to see 20 different intrepretations. This year the theme is "Canadian" - lots of fun and possibilities there. Here is my interpretation:
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"Parallel lines" refers to the fact that all paintings are on canvas that is "30" x "10" and hung vertically. This is the third year of this exhibit and each year a different theme is chosen. It is fascinating to see 20 different intrepretations. This year the theme is "Canadian" - lots of fun and possibilities there. Here is my interpretation:
 |
| Canadian Blanket |
Go to My Website
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Exciting Upcoming Art Events
North York Visual Artists
2012Fall Art Tour and Sale
Saturday September 29 and Sunday September 30, 11am – 5pm
Toronto Botanical Garden (by Edward’s Gardens) and home studios.
This year’s Tour covers 37 artists in five home studios and one large
group venue in the Floral Room at the Toronto Botanical Garden.
Admission and parking is free.
For more information and to download a brochure and map
you can click on http://www.nyva.ca/brochures/2012ArtTourBrochure.pdf
Yonge-Lawrence Business Association
8th Annual Fall Art Walk 2012
October 11 thru November 1st
Celebrating local arts in the community. Local businesses host the works
of local artists in a variety of mediums in windows and establishments along
Yonge St. from Lawrence to Yonge Blvd. Go to www.yongelawrencevillage-bia.com for more
information and to vote for your favorite.
North Toronto Group of Artists
Fall Fine Arts Show & Sale
November 2 & 3, 2012
Blessed Sacrament Church, 24 Cheritan Ave.
(Yonge & Cheritan)
Blessed Sacrament Church, 24 Cheritan Ave.
(Yonge & Cheritan)
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Art Reflections: Boston
On a recent trip to Boston, I encountered some wonderful architecture. The city itself is really a work of art and a wonderful place to visit. I recently posted about "Inspiration" related to the paintings of the members of the Aphasia Institute. In Boston I was inspired again by two very different art-related sites.
Artists for Humanity originated in Boston and is making inroads in other areas. Here is their mission:
I visited their brand new shop in the Faneuil Hall and purchased a great tote for carrying art materials.
What a joyful group they are!
How industrious!
And talented!
Visit their website at http://www.afhboston.org/
Visit their blog at http://www.afhboston.blogspot.com
On a more serious note - I also visited and was very affected by the beauty of the Holocaust Memorial.
"The design utilizes uniquely powerful symbols of the Holocaust. The Memorial features six luminous glass towers, each 54 feet high. The towers are lit internally to gleam at night. They are set on a black granite path, each one over a dark chamber which carries the name of one of the principal Nazi death camps. Smoke rises from charred embers at the bottom of these chambers. Six million numbers are etched in glass in an orderly pattern, suggesting the infamous tattooed numbers and ghostly ledgers of the Nazi bureaucracy. Evocative and rich in metaphor, the six towers recall the six main death camps, the six million Jews who died, or a menorah of memorial candles."
The pictures I took there don't really do it justice.
Two very different and unique experiences in Boston and two very close together on the "Freedom Trail" near Faneuil Hall.
Go to my website
Artists for Humanity originated in Boston and is making inroads in other areas. Here is their mission:
To bridge economic, racial and social
divisions by providing under-served youth with the keys to self-sufficiency
through paid employments in the arts.
" Since 1991,
Artists For Humanity has empowered and employed Boston teens in an intensive
program of arts, creativity and enterprise. AFH partners youth with
professional artists/designers to design, create and sell art products. With
fully equipped, staffed studios in Painting/Murals, Sculpture/Industrial Design,
Screen-Printing, Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, Photography, Web Design and Video, youth and mentors
collaborate on creative projects, many specifically commissioned by clients. In
the process, young artists develop entrepreneurial skills, and introduce
audiences to their voice, vision and virtuosity. Artists For Humanity
apprentices have produced fine art and creative products for Boston's largest
firms and organizations."
I visited their brand new shop in the Faneuil Hall and purchased a great tote for carrying art materials.
What a joyful group they are!
How industrious!
And talented!
Visit their website at http://www.afhboston.org/
Visit their blog at http://www.afhboston.blogspot.com
On a more serious note - I also visited and was very affected by the beauty of the Holocaust Memorial.
"The design utilizes uniquely powerful symbols of the Holocaust. The Memorial features six luminous glass towers, each 54 feet high. The towers are lit internally to gleam at night. They are set on a black granite path, each one over a dark chamber which carries the name of one of the principal Nazi death camps. Smoke rises from charred embers at the bottom of these chambers. Six million numbers are etched in glass in an orderly pattern, suggesting the infamous tattooed numbers and ghostly ledgers of the Nazi bureaucracy. Evocative and rich in metaphor, the six towers recall the six main death camps, the six million Jews who died, or a menorah of memorial candles."
The pictures I took there don't really do it justice.
Two very different and unique experiences in Boston and two very close together on the "Freedom Trail" near Faneuil Hall.
Go to my website
Friday, August 3, 2012
Picasso
You have until August 26 to see a fabulous exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario:
The galleries are beautiful and the paintings are exciting. The audio commentary is extremely helpful and there are some charming sections in which the narration is by a group of children attempting to make sense of it all.
One of my favorite pieces is a self portrait of "himself" licking an ice cream cone on the beach
A joke might put things in perspective:
Artist Pablo Picasso surprised a burglar at work in his new chateau. The intruder got away, but Picasso told the police he could do a rough sketch of what he looked like. On the basis of his drawing, the police arrested a mother superior, the minister of finance, a washing machine, and the Eiffel tower.
As Picasso said - "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life" - so go and get cleaned up!
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Thursday, August 2, 2012
In the Beginning - The Art of Embarrassment
There is one school of thought that suggests that all old and embarrassing pieces of art should head for the dustbin. If the painting is on paper, then it is even better if it is torn in little pieces first, so that it will definitely never again see the light of day. Another school of thought suggests that such pieces should be retained as a record of one's beginning as an artist and subsequent development. Supposedly this sort of review and comparison will build one's self esteem and provide encouragement to forge on.
I began painting in 2004 at a a local four-day watercolour workshop where I fell in love with paint and water. Here is my very first painting-it had paint and it was wet! Love the purple! This must have been the beginning of my interest in abstracts.
Undaunted, I carried on in my "home studio" known by my family as the kitchen table to produce this painting of a famous rock formation in New Zealand.
I have discarded paintings, washed them out in the sink to start over again, and cut them up to use as colour test sheets. I have kept quite a lot and they do show progression in my work. The danger in reviewing them, however, if you are in the painting "doldrums" is the thought that enters your mind that you are devolving instead of evolving. That's when I throw them in the sink!
Go to My WebSite
I began painting in 2004 at a a local four-day watercolour workshop where I fell in love with paint and water. Here is my very first painting-it had paint and it was wet! Love the purple! This must have been the beginning of my interest in abstracts.
Undaunted, I carried on in my "home studio" known by my family as the kitchen table to produce this painting of a famous rock formation in New Zealand.
I have discarded paintings, washed them out in the sink to start over again, and cut them up to use as colour test sheets. I have kept quite a lot and they do show progression in my work. The danger in reviewing them, however, if you are in the painting "doldrums" is the thought that enters your mind that you are devolving instead of evolving. That's when I throw them in the sink!
Go to My WebSite
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