Risk

I'm thinking about risk today as, yesterday, I saw "The Highest Step in the World" at Gateway Theatre. The theme was said to be "risk" and, while I enjoyed it, I'm not so sure that came across as the main idea. The centre story was about Captain Joseph Kittinger and Project Excelsior but it also told the story of Icarus and the air stewardess who survived a plane crash with a long fall- Vesna Vulovic. The staging was very well done - I enjoyed all the  projected visual effects and the actual "flight" out over the audience. The acting was very good too. Mainly, it was the story.   I question whether Icarus - although interestingly portrayed as a bit of a young punk- belonged in a "real" story, since that is a myth. And, if we were to have him in the story - the grief of the father was a touching bit- there should have been, in my opinion more made of *why* he flew too high. Then we have Vesna, whose story has since been discredited by Guinness. (Not that it is *her* story since she has no memory of the crash- it may have been Soviet propaganda.)  However, even if it was really that high a fall, it was an accident and not planned. It was interesting how the incident made her a "heroine" -- a role she felt she did not deserve .  Instead, I would have liked to have more made of the motivation behind Kittinger's decision to take part in three parachute falls, especially to continue with the third when the compression glove on his right had failed. In fact- maybe I missed something- but I wasn't sure it was the third flight until I looked him up. I also wanted to know more about how his hand was- hands being a bit of an obsession with artists! Anyway, it was an interesting play and it did provoke some thinking about it afterward. I've also been thinking about more "risk" in art - as in -"why the heck not try this..."  Friday, we had a model and I decided to really push the colours. It seemed extreme and risky at the time, but the results, as seen above, don't seem that far out. So, I think more "risk" is what I'll be pursuing for the next while.

Bridge at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden

June is speeding along and the "Nooch" show is now down. A new show on Steveston Themed Paintings will be going up in Rocanini coffee shop- corner of #1 and Moncton- for July, August, September. I'm showing, along with Jeanette Jarville, Karen Parker and Rita McArthur. Next week is the Cocktail pARTy at Gateway Theatre. Attendees pay $350 per couple for a fabulous evening and the guarantee of a painting worth at least $300. I have donated this painting of the bridge at Dr.Sun Yat-Sen Gardens so I wish it a happy new home. I picked this because it is peaceful and would fit into a lot of homes. As anyone who reads this blog will know, I love reflections - and here I have the magic to enjoy again. This garden is one that mingles nature with art and has made this piece of land a better place. For this, I did work from a photograph as there was simply not enough time to do a painting of this size on the spot with changing light conditions. However, the scene has to be interpreted and edited in order for it to be a painting and not a photographic enlargement. I also worked to get a feeling into this piece so that feeling would be there for the viewer. I definitely wanted the painting to be serene. I usually don't frame my paintings, but I felt for this event where it would be with a number of framed paintings, it would "show" better framed. So, it does have a simple frame and I think it does set it off and give it a classic look.

Gateway Theatre Exhibit

Richmond Artists Guild was asked to provide an exhibit of paintings for the lobby of Gateway Theatre. Margreth Fry organized the exhibit. There was a size limit and it was to be one painting per person. The exhibit can be visited when the ticket office is open in the daytime and when there are performances in the evening. The show will probably run for six weeks. I picked "The New Walking Stick" as my entry. I thought it wa suitable for the season with the spring greenery. It is acrylic on canvas and is unframed since it is wrap-around canvas. I'd rather not frame paintings but leave it up to a purchaser to frame or not frame and to choose what suits their decor and other paintings that they may own. I wonder if the man with the walking stick will be walking to a new home when the exhibit finishes?