painting shown in full...

I just sent out my newsletter with a detail of this painting on it. ---detail because of the shape of the available space. So - here is the whole thing. It is a fairly small painting- 18" x12". I put the net stencils on the painting because the boat was "Ready for the Run", which was starting the next day, and would be using a net to catch fish. It was a way to get a little creative  and have fun with the subject. I just had this painting down at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in a display with other members of Richmond Artists Guild. Our last display, for a bit, is this month - winding up on the 26th and the last  indoor Farmers Market- but May and June we are back in Rocanini Coffee Shop with flowers and gardens as the theme. Putting down the measurements of this painting made me think about the fact that paintings and frames are still measured in inches here. I wonder if that is because of our closeness to the USA?  For those of my generation, it is easier to think in inches anyway - but it must be confusing to young people. Also, when I sold fabric designs to US magazines, all the measurements were in inches, not metric - so I must confess I have never really adapted and I have to think twice when measurements are metric. When measuring for one's own purposes, it doesn't matter what scale one uses anyway. Sometimes, for an artist, it is just comparing measurements on a pencil held at arms-length- as in "from this angle, how long is the leg compared to the torso?".

The Naked Truth

The naked truth seems to be that we are a nation of prudes when it comes to nude paintings. There is a Canada Council Art Bank in Canada  that has bought and stored more than 17,000 contemporary paintings by Canadian artists. Federally funded, these paintings are then loaned out to government departments and corporate offices for minimal rental fees. It is estimated that 500 of these paintings are nudes. These paintings remain in storage and are virtually un-rentable.  Most of them have never been seen. Now, however, the Kitchener, Ontario museum  now called THEMUSEUM  is displaying 120 of them for a 12 week show called "Getting  Naked". Interestingly enough, very few of the paintings are even printed in magazine or newspaper reviews - what I have seen makes me inclined to say "so what?"David Buchan has done a parodic update of Paul Peel's "After the Bath" and there are a couple of almost emaciated nudes by Fred Ross that are variations on the reveries of Balthus. Nothing startling there.  It is surprising, in this day and age that nudes are so forbidden in art displays. Our artist guild is not allowed to display any of the results of our Life Drawing in the Cultural Centre. We are told that there is an uproar and people even contact the mayor over such things.I think this shows how distorted our values are when young kids know the names of characters in pornographic cartoons and can see disgusting violence and torture on TV shows, yet a pastel like the one above that shows the beauty of a the human body is considered obscene. In the midst of all this, our Life Drawing group continues. Apparently, a number of years ago there was some protest about its very existence and a presentation on the value and tradition of life drawing had to be given to the powers that be. Life drawing is an ever-new drawing challenge. If a person paints a tree and it is not exactly like the tree in front of them or even distorted, it is still recognizable as a tree. But a head out of proportion to the body, an arm too long - and it is immediately clear that the drawing is "off".  Add in the challenges of foreshortening - which simply means perspective as related to the body- when a foot close to the artist is larger than one further away, for example, and it is clear that "getting it right" is bound to keep up drawing skills. One of the reasons I usually work in pastels for our long poses is because it takes less space to pile drawings on paper than paintings on canvas. The "unrentables" of the Art Bank aren't the only nudes that rarely see the light of day. Maybe "Getting Naked" will change things.

Paintings at the Cannery

We changed paintings at Gulf of Georgia Cannery again last week so I took this one in. The reference photo was taken from the water (obviously!) when a group of us had the opportunity to go out on the River Queen last summer. It was a day or two before the season opened and all the boats were getting organized. This one was loading on the purse seine net, an interesting operation. There actually was another boat just in behind so I had to consult multiple photos to separate out the two - especially the top structures- mast, radar and so on. The fishery does fly the Canadian flag but it would have been at the very right-hand edge of the painting so it got edited out. This was a fair challenge to paint but I wanted to do it because it is so very "west coast" and shows Steveston in full action. Farmers Markets continue at the Cannery and the next one is this Sunday, March 15th. There is free admission so you can shop the Market and then tour the Cannery exhibits . There are guides explaining the exhibits but the whole thing is really well-done on its own too. You can pick up audio devices (cleverly done with fish cans) to hear explanations, pull out drawers of supplemental information and see various exhibits- about the canning process, fishing industry and even labour problems!  As a big part of our history, it is really worthwhile to see - and good to be able to see it without paying admission. Richmond Artists Guild display is a ways down - not immediately back of the Market where they set up a lot of heaters.  So, it is cooler down there but we do have members there on Market days - so do drop by.

Poppies revisited

This is one of my newer experiments ... just playing around. Because of a presentation by Nicoletta Baumeister and a painting display by William Watt, I was thinking about stripes. This *was* a straightforward painting of California poppies until I decided to add another element to it. So, out with the masking paint and adding Sap Green and Prussian Blue. Then, when the tape was off, it needed some lines to carry over some of the stripes- plus some more added collage dots. Then I offset some of the petals on the stripes and painted them in a periwinkle blue - as the complementary. I think there is an added layer of interest - not just an added layer of paint. I have plans for more California poppies and more stripes in a slightly different way. I'm not sure where I am going with this - but art is always an interesting journey.

Searching for Beauty

     I'm currently re-reading one of my favourite inspirational art books--"Creative Authenticity- 16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen your Artistic Vision"- by Ian Roberts. The first principle si Searching for Beauty. Ian says the book is not for those who would like to create but are too timid to get started- it is "a book for people who are in the thick of the creative struggle." He says "interestingly, we have come to the point in the contemporary art world where beauty is suspect as an aim in art." He goes on to explain that he doesn't mean pretty or sweet and that a great, powerful, beautiful painting - Goya's "The Third of May 1808" can also be horrifying. It is moving.
      I love where Ian trashes  "the technology of the media  as the vehicle of art, in which the means of communication alone is considered relevant, even devoid of any content". He talks of videos that go on and on leading nowhere. That reminded me of one I saw recently -  in an art gallery--it was as if it was termed "artistic" because it was lousy photography with no point.
     "Life cannot be lived well without standards . Art, as a part of our life, would obviously seem to benefit from standards as well...... I think new standards of meaningfulness in art are resurfacing. Which is where authenticity comes in. Standards that are transformative, that will last, will have to come from a deep, quiet harbor of spirit if they are to anchor us today."
      This book is one that makes an artist question the process and really think about directions and what the artist is trying to express. We all need to  work on our own growth and our authenticity so that our work will matter.
     The drawing is a pastel of Yui in a casual kimono. I tried to capture her beauty and grace. This was a long pose at Life Drawing and is posted in on Pinterest on my Life Drawing folio. I like life drawing because it is always a challenge to capture the beauty of the human figure - even when not necessarily what modern conventions would call "beauty." There is a beautiful person within  and I want to be "authentic" in showing that. I'm currently trying to move in a slightly different direction in some work. This piece is more conventionally realistic  than some things I am trying -although I elongated her a little bit to stress the quiet elegance.

The 1950's era Shopping Mall Nesting Dolls

I've been working away on these for ages and finally got them all done and varnished. the idea is that they are store owners from a shopping mall, circa 1950's. They were painted from a set of blanks that were made in Russia. I gessoed the blanks and painted them in acrylics. The outside one has an added hat,nose, eyebrows and mustache as well as an arm extension and hands to hold sausages. The others  have to fit inside each other, so are all just painted.

Mac of Mac's Meats is the outside doll and wears what used to be the traditional butcher's straw hat and striped apron. He holds sausages which were made from acrylic molding paste.

The second doll is George of Super Save Grocery. He stands beside a display of sale-priced tomato soup and holds organic carrots from a bushel basket. Obviously a man ahead of his time featuring organic produce ! - but, besides a bin of apples, he also has a bin of candy bars.

The third doll is Betty of Betty's Bakery. She wears a gingham dress and a pink apron with a large bow at the back. She has quilted oven mitts on her hands and displays a tray of cupcakes and a chocolate cake with cherries on it. On the other side, she has a tiered display of cookies.

The final four smaller dolls are: Joe of Joe's Hardware. He is carrying a hammer  and displays a variety of goods such as grass seed and bone meal, a broom and shovel, nails, screws and caulking. A practical man ready to help out with advice, he is dressed practically in a plaid shirt and blue jeans.  Next is Pat of Pat's Pharmacy,  looking professional in her white jacket while carrying a prescription in one hand and shampoo in the other. On the other side there is a display of toothpaste as well as one of magazines. Then next is Amy of Amy's Pet Foods, bird cage in hand while one cat is on her shoulder and another is also gazing at the food dish. A large bag of dog food is on the other side. Last is Barbara of Barbara's Beauty Salon - holding scissors and shampoo while a display of nail polish is on the other side. She is smartly dressed in black and displays her gorgeously coloured tresses.

Separation of art from daily life-

     I was re-reading "The View From the Studio Door" by Ted Orland. He certainly makes some important points. "Artists today work in the face of some very large problems. These are the big ones:
              ART plays no clear role in our culture
              ARTISTS have little direct contact with their audience
              ART MAKING is indulged, but rarely rewarded"
Later he says "Step outside the arts community, and the separation of art from daily life is so complete that many people rarely give even a passing thought to the value of art in their lives."
     I think, alas, that he is probably right.  It is hard to know how to keep presenting art to make people realize its importance. Politicians like to talk up the arts - and then give main support to sports! I think one thing that would help is free admission to art galleries. There is a fairly hefty fee for Vancouver Art Gallery and I now hear that it  costs $20 to go to the Ontario Art Gallery -plus $25 more if you want to see the  current featured exhibit of Basquiat! Not too many people are going to take the family to that. In London, the National Gallery is free. It would certainly help encourage people to take a look at the offerings if they weren't charged for entering.
     In the meantime, our art community in Richmond keeps trying to make a difference. This "Afternoon Class" painting was one of a ballet series I did. I liked the sun gleaming on the polished floors and the contrast of the instructor in black while almost all the students are in pastels. Too bad the instructor did not have a big stick and then it would have been like Degas' painting with the instructor. It has now been framed and will be going to Richmond Hospital to bring a little  more art  on the walls. We try.