A Creative Day

Renewal

2012-01-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

As the month of January wanes, and our recent snowfall recedes I am filled with a sense of renewal, The kind of spark that comes to one after a deep restful sleep, when the morning light starts to dawn over the horizon.The possibilities before me are slowly revealing themselves and I have the glorious luxury of making this year and the ones to come exactly what I want.

2011-12-09T19:44:00.001-08:00

2011-12-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

2011-09-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited about our show. Seven women, seven eclectic creative energies!

2011-09-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

And my Dreams came true

2011-06-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

I'm Dreaming of Venice at Sunrise

2011-03-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

My trip to Italy is fast approaching. I've been devouring books on Venice. Also reading all about Tiepolo, Tintoretto and The Bellinis. I already feel as though I have walked the calles in the Dorsoduro. I smell the canals in my dreams.

2011-02-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

2011-01-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

Memories of Childhood

2011-01-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

Fabric Collage

2010-12-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

HAND MADE TREASURES BY LOCAL ARTISTS
A WONDERFUL PLACE TO SHOP FOR GIFTS.
SHOP LOCAL AND SUPPORT THE ARTS AT
THE SAME TIME!

New Work

2010-12-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

A fabric collage created for the Sun Yat-Sen Garden Works II show.
With this piece it is my intention to convey my particular affection for the bamboo plants in the garden as well as the deep respect I have for the rich cultural heritage the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Gardens represent.

My approach to making art is much like gardening. The landscape is built upon many layers. Some elements remain hidden and others are partially exposed yet they all contribute to the visible esthetic and structure of the whole.

Four Inner LIves

2010-10-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

My studio with work in progress

2010-10-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

I have been obsessed with an art show I am getting ready for. It has taken almost all my free time for the latter part of the summer and now it is almost upon us.

It certainly is a privilege to spend such a large amount of time with my inner thoughts and freely indulging the creative part of myself.

The constancy of being creative on an almost daily basis, certainly has provided me with an opportunity to fully explore my inner being, my inner life.
It's also been fascinating to observe myself on the roller coaster ride of emotion I go on when creating an art piece.
First there is exhilaration, the place where one is totally working form the heart with wild joyful abandon. This bliss is often pierced by moments of dark fear, which slide into pangs of self doubt. That is when the ego voice starts asking ridiculous questions like, "what the heck do you think you are doing anyway?" And then finally a huge wave of calm and peaceful sweet contentment washes over me and I shift back into balance.

Interesting to say the least!

Venice On My Mind

2010-09-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Dreaming of Venice

Muse

2010-09-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

2010-08-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't been making too much in the way of art lately so decided to do some spontaneous collage to kick start the the flow of the creative juices.
I feel this collage reveals quite a lot about how I am feeling regarding an up coming art show I will be in. My nervousness, what is my artistic identity, what is it I am trying to say, is there a message, what am I going to reveal to the public? Preparing a body of work is always daunting for me.

Needle Felted Bears

2010-07-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

my Bears on Chairs for the Start with Art show

Romance: An Altered Book

2010-02-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

I work on an altered book about Romance now and again. Actually it has been in progress for the last 8 years or so. Every once in a while I take it out and add a bit more. It is a good way to get the creative juices flowing. I love quotations so I have used quite a few in this book. There are so many things to be said about love and romance. Working in this way is so satisfying. There are no rules, it is just for myself so I don't feel any kind of pressure at all.

Winter Observations

2010-01-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Frost encrusted branches and evergreen ferns adorn
The murky decayed path beside the mist shrouded marsh.
Beaver dens rise ominously from the blurred water’s edge like ancient burial mounds.
The gossamer vapour curtain slowly rises to reveal the landscapes’ textures.
Swirling messy grasses, craggy branches and brittle leaves clutch twigs.
An obscured mountainside is somberly unveiled and comes into sharper focus.
Hues of winter wheat and gold are exhibited alongside soft green mosses, and
the tan and brown tones of the earth interrupted by the occasional black are a balm
that soothes my heart.
An assembly of ducks glide effortlessly as if on glass, while in the misty middle distance elegant trumpeter swans herald in a weak sun to give it strength.
An ice rainbow appears; a perfect arch of light complete in it’s absence of colour
And a busy woodpecker invites close observation oblivious to the imperfection of man.

Perhaps I’ve stepped through The Wardrobe.
Or am I in Avalon?

Repositioning the Spirit on Winter Walks

2010-01-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

It has been difficult to find my muse lately.Perhaps it was the feasting and the socializing during the dark days, because it seems my mind has been unable to settle since then. It lacks direction and purpose. When I am in my studio I experiment but the ideas don't seem to flow, they seem stilted and forced. In an attempt to counteract this lethargy of the spirit I have gone on some breath taking winter walks. Everywhere I walk I see wonder. There is texture, and a smoothness of colour and a certain mood within the filtered light of the fog and the grayness of the sky. A luminescence. I let it fill me up and cleanse that which is within.

Deer Lake and Pit Polder

2010-01-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Como Lake Ducks and a dear little Woodpecker

2010-01-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

Light House Park

2010-01-20T19:29:00.001-08:00

An assemblage dedicated to great aunt Margaret and her friend Caroline

2009-07-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

In March 1926 two friends Margaret Warner (my husband’s great aunt) and Caroline Mytinger symbolically threw off the “corset of conventionality” and set sail in the direction of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Against the advice of family and friends they set off with 400 dollars, a tin cigarette case filled with art supplies and a ukulele. Despite experiencing numerous mishaps and illness, the women eventually reached their goal, which was to paint and draw portraits of the indigenous people of Melanesia before the cultures were lost to the inevitable encroaching westernization.

Margaret Warner was an accomplished musician, and known as a person who could make music out of anything. She played the violin with virtuosity, but it was her beloved ukulele that accompanied her to Melanesia. Caroline had studied at The Cleveland School of Art and worked as a portrait artist and art model. She was one of the original Gibson Girls and was a model for the famous Charles Dana Gibson. The women met when Caroline took music lessons from Margaret and became instant friends. Early in their friendship they developed a keen interest in anthropology after reading the works of Margaret Mead; thus the idea of “the expedition” was formed.

The women planned to earn money along the way by painting portraits of Europeans in the British settlements. Their partnership was a successful one and had been previously tested. They had already gone on several long trips throughout the United States and beyond: “Margaret had been playing Hendricka to my Rembrandt ever since I chose the highroad making portraits. Together over these broad United States we had followed portrait commissions from city to hamlet and from coast to coast. In the many studios she entertained portrait sitters, singing them soothing lullabies with her ukulele, reading to them and generally keeping them awake in the pose and interested in paying for the finished portrait. In between times she kept house, mended clothing and the car, caught my tears of despair over a piece of bad work, and then went abroad and by some metaphysical system known only to Margaret attracted new portrait commissions. But it was her enduring patience and merriness that best qualified her.” (Pg 4, Headhunting in the Solomon Islands around the Coral Sea, Macmillan 1942)

The women returned in 1930 and Caroline’s work was curated by Margaret Mead at the American Museum of Natural History. There were other exhibitions including the Brooklyn Museum and the Seattle Art Museum.

In the early 40’s Caroline wrote two books based on the duo’s adventures: Head Hunting in the Solomon Islands around the Coral Sea and New Guinea Head Hunt.

Corsets

2009-04-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

In the last months I’ve been exploring the image of the corset in my art. I visited Holland last September and I came across a corset at an antique market. It was faded, translucent, vintage and intriguing. The garment fascinated me as it hung above antique jugs, books and other memorabilia. Perhaps it was the way it was staged under the awning in the open air that made me notice it, waving in the breeze with a 15th century church looming in the background. Perhaps it was what the corset represents for women that drew me to it. All I know is that I was transfixed by it for a while. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased the garment, I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me at the time…all I know is that I was spell bound.
The following is my exploration of the corset image with lift prints and collage:

fresh lift prints

2009-04-07T18:24:00.001-07:00

Corset drawings /collages

2009-04-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

finished lift prints with hand colouring and collaged elements

2009-04-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

2009-03-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

About a year ago my Husband and I attended an open house at the Downtown East Side Women's Centre. I was moved by the women who hosted the event. The women and staff presented a play, poetry, music, a talk and there was a Taiko drumming performance. I observed, listened, interacted, and was incredibly moved and humbled by all these women. I also became increasingly aware that the separation between me and the women who find themselves in the circumstances that bring them to the Downtown East Side is really a very thin line. Had I had a slightly different history, had my story taken a different twist or turn, I too might be in a similar situation. These women were beautiful, powerful, loving, courageous and they were deserving of respect and honour. It seemed to me they had stumbled into a mistaken identity. Over the next weeks I experienced guilt about my privilege and couldn't get the women out of my head. My husband suggested I create something around my experience to help work through my feelings and the following is my attempt to honour the women I met.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

2009-03-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

I made traditional baskets with my grandmother

and the Elders smiled.

Then came residential school and now

I am ashamed of who I am.

Proud First Nations Daughter to "good for nothin' squaw."

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

2009-03-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

I was a cheerful young girl who
became a problem child.
"Don't tell anyone, It's our special secret."
So I ran away
and then I lost myself.
Laughing, dancing girl
to hooker on the street.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

2009-03-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

I was a joyous bride looking forward to the future

Two drinks were OK but then he drank the bottle

and then I lost count.

I hardly felt the sting of his hand when I wore the wrong

dress, his words hurt more.

Now I keep my bruises hidden.

Woman full of hope to broken invisible mouse.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

Working Collaboratively

2009-01-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

Recently I got together with two good friends to experiment with various art techniques. We try to do this on a regular basis when time permits. It is such a delight for me to do this. I am increasingly inspired by these two amazing women, they are so fully talented, open and supportive. Each of us is quite different but I believe our souls come from the same creative place and hence we share a wonderful bond. Our last meeting felt extra special to me because I had not taken the opportunity to create very much at home in the last month. So here we were in my friend's beautiful light filled dining room surrounded by the art materials we had all dumped on the table to share communally. What a feast. And that was just the art table! Before we started making art we had been served a delicious Italian meal so beautifully prepared that it was an art in and of itself. I felt pure joy while we were talking, laughing, mucking, cutting, gluing, pasting, inking, rolling and finally printing the collagraphs we had created. We were fully engaged in the creative process and I truly felt for the first time that I wasn't attached to the out come. I just played a bit. A few days later I looked at my prints and really wasn't that inspired, but I let myself just be, and told myself to withhold judgment and soon something wonderful happened, ideas just came pouring forth and over the next few days the work began to take shape. Some examples of the results follow.

Collages from Collagraph Prints

2009-01-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

In the first piece I hand coloured the prints, then cut up the various elements and collaged them to one of the print backgrounds that I kept intact. I just kept layering until I felt satisfied. The owl just seemed to emerge out of the ink so I defined him with coloured pencil and gave him a branch to sit on. I think he likes the luscious moon garden. The print on the left was done in a similar manner but I added some elements from another collagraph done in a previous Art Group session. The horse was inspired by little foil animals my friend had made with her children. I made one after dinner from a chocolate and used it in the collage.

Homes for All

2009-01-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

In this collage I used prints from the collagraph, cut out elements and the original collagraph plate all in the same piece. The layers of paper, cardboard and various textured ephemera give this piece extra depth.

Tiny Collages from Left Overs

2009-01-29T17:44:00.001-08:00

Sketch Book Pages

2009-01-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

some

sketch book

pages illustrating a few photo transfer

experiments and an idea for an ancestors art doll.

2009-01-04T22:50:00.000-08:00

A collage using one the transfer techniques
from my sketch book

2009-01-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year

Delft Spirit Child

2008-12-30T23:51:00.000-08:00

When I transferred this photo of a favourite place in Delft, something truly wonderful happened. The figure in the foreground emerged unexpectedly. This was a very powerful moment for me confirming that the creative process is a journey of intuitive exploration and that being fully engaged in this process means letting ones self be intuitively drawn into unexplored territory, not only technically but spiritually and emotionally. I call this little fellow my spirit child as he seems to be looking at me from another time, confirming that this city of my heart, the city of my ancestors, will always remain a very significant place for me.

photo transfer collage

2008-12-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

These photo transfers were done with news paper over gesso on card. I like the way the words show through my photograph of David taken in the Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence.

In the Gouda Madonna I used the same technique as with David and attained a more solid effect, no words became visible.