Gnôthi Seauton

Gnôthi seauton, latin for " know thyself "...This seems an appropriate way to start my blogging in 2012, a year for which I have chosen ' transformation ' as my theme. One of the many aspects I would like to transform is my blogging habit...Let me reword that, I'd like to make blogging a habit! So this is my plan - I will blog once a week for a grand total of 52 new posts by December 31 2012. Hmmmm, okay I think I ' know myself ' well enough to state that if I post a mere 26 times I'll consider that a resounding success and transformation.

Gnôthi Seauton
Mixed media 3ft x 3ft

The mixed media painting "Gnôthi Seauton" is a bit of a reflection of who I am. My fingerprint, the shadows, the darkness, the light passages - all held together with wire; my life story written between each ridge of my print, sometimes a little smudged but mostly pretty evident.

My fingerprints can often be found in my work, even as a signature when I sign as Curio. As an adoptee from many years ago, there isn't much I know about my genetics. All I have is my DNA and my fingerprints. As a matter of fact, the only two people I know I am connected to by blood in this world are my two children. This is why identity often surfaces as a theme in my work and fingerprints have naturally become evidence of my identity.

As for holding it all together, so often it is only with a thread. The problem with thread is that with time it often becomes weak and is easily broken which is why wire is the binder I chose. It's not fail proof because it can rust and break down, but if you have enough layers it should see you through to the end.

A couple of examples of past works using my fingerprints.

Identidy
(You can read more about this painting in the post for July 16, 2009)

Entre la vie et la mort
(Between birth and death)
Monotype Chine Collé

All blogging aside, I think it worth mentionning, the time not posting will be devoted to ' knowing myself ' a little better and knowing my blogging friends better as well. I'm grateful for each and everyone of you and the inspiration you bring into my life.

Fragments, Resistance, Passion and Shadows

Most of my days are made up of fragments, bits of this and that, intertwining but not quite connecting. The fragments are often in motion, falling away, leaving shadows in their wake - shadows that haunt, shadows that disguise, shadows that cripple - preventing forward movement.

Fragments is this oil painting, a pictorial record of how life appears at times. Red for passion:  passion for my family and my home; passion for my two littles kittens, Mim and Pip; passion for nature - fauna and flora; passion for earth and all it's glorious bounty; and passion for creativity, however it chooses to express itself. Still with all that passion, I resist living life to the fullest.

Fragments
20" x 30" oil, slate and paper on canvas

Fragments are oftentimes obstacles, cold and grey like slivers of hard slate dappled with blood, sweat and tears. They fall all around and avoiding them can be hazardous...so you let them fall and you accept the shadows they cast. Fragments, like words, can cut and diminish. Fragments, like incomplete thoughts, keep you suspended. Fragments of life, love and loss...

Still, every now and again you tune in to the passion and once again you rise and greet the day with enthusiasm. That day is at hand!

Exploration Continues

In the very small community that I call home it is not often that the opportunity comes around to take an art course but in January I got lucky. Amber Lounder, a beautiful artist in her own right, offered painting classes which I quickly enrolled in. (You can see some of her work by following this link to Visual Literacy, her art journal/blog( http://amberlounder.blogspot.com/  ).

I decided to take the opportunity presented by theses classes to use oil paints rather than the acrylic I've been use to. It was an adventure, to say the least. For some reason, I also decided to use spatulas rather than brushes. Below are the paintings I created in the 10 weeks the course ran, as well as a couple I did at my studio and one that I'm still working on.

  

Snowed In
12 in x 12 in

Sky Ways & Water Ways
6 in x 12 in /each

Ice Cold
12 in x 12 in

Northern Lights Reflecting
6 in x 12 in /each

P'tit Feu Sauvage I
20 in x 24 in

P'tit Feu Sauvage II
Work in progress
20 in x 24 in

 

Where am I going with this? I wish I knew! Yet another medium to contemplate, yet another choice, yet another way to express myself, or not! I guess the last thing I need is another technique to neglect. The constant exploring, analyzing, experimenting is wearing me down. I can't seem to stop. I seem to be looking for some answer or something. I need somebody to tell me what the answer is so that I can latch on to it and focus, focus, focus!

Through the Mist

   It always seems so slow at first...coming out of a deep freeze. But, little by little, things begin to thaw. I'm not sure that the process is complete but I feel things are beginning to stir; the ice has melted, with perhaps just a few crystals remaining.

    There's no doubt about it, life really gets in the way of blogging. And that's what first happened. Then I lost the ability to blog wherever the mood struck when the wireless card went on my laptop. Then I got two kittens. Then it was Christmas time. Then it was winter. Then is was this. Then it was that....A whole barrage of excuses. But maybe it was just that I needed a break.

Rather than analyze this to death, I should be grateful that one day I looked out my front window and noticed the fog was lifting and there was a breathtaking vista in the mist.

It was so breathtaking that I jumped in the car to get a closer look. I ended up at a graveyard across the bay. I think the pictures speak for themselves. 

    The snow is gone now. The fog has lifted and all that is left is the awe...The kind of awe that leaves you speechless!

Frozen

My head is in the clouds much of the time these days and sometimes the cloud cover is so thick I see nothing but white...Oh no wait, that's a blank canvas. I'm actually in my studio. I look around at the dozens of unfinished projects, the lists of ideas, the lists of lists of ideas...Okay, I recognize this feeling...I AM OVERWHELMED!

The thing about taking time off is that it becomes increasingly hard to get motivated and to get back to the art of creativity. I hoped that a recent trip to Spain and Italy would really get the juices flowing and I would come back and miraculously(By the way, my goodness there was a lot of religion in both those countries) I would get back to my studio where creativity would flow out of my veins...Not so. As a matter of fact, my creative juices are like a container of frozen concentrate and I'm sad to say adding water does not seem to help! Art was everywhere during my get away, from the ancient to the contemporary, I came face to face with masterpiece after masterpiece. From the architecture to the holy sites to mother nature herself, every piece and  every view left me speechless and in awe. I tried to absorb the energy projected by such a concentration of creative energy but as of yet I'm not really feeling it. I'm still in awe, frozen in a type of reverie and I'm not sure that I want to fully thaw.

Chair and Clouds by Tapies
(I love metal sculptures!)

I will never understand how a tree can thrive rooted to a rock!

One of Gaudi's many architectural masterpieces. The light hanging in the foreground was one of numerous styles lining the streets of Barcelona.

Amazing to see contemporary architecture blending in with this gothic city but it did!

Part of the massive Sagrada Familia church designed by Gaudi, this sculpture, one of hundreds adorning this massive structure, really seems to reflect cubist tendencies, unlike the section below which reminded me of an elaborate sand castle...Truly amazing!

I'm not quite sure how I picked the above photographs to share out of the 1500+ digital photos I took...I just couldn't stop myself. A lot of my pictures were more like fractals and random bits of architecture and  colours or textures on buildings and lots of doors.  Presently I am editing a lot of the photographs, classifying them for future access. I'm sure they'll pop-up in my blog from time to time.

Well, December is right around the bend and this is traditionally a month with a lot of entertaining so I don't imagine I will be in the studio all that much. However, things will change in January as my husband has accepted a short term contract for a couple of months and I vow to go to the studio daily...I'm really hoping routine will help me focus and I will complete ongoing projects and create some new pieces that have been trying to get out of my head.

In the meantime, I will return to the blog community even if only to catch up with my favourites and perhaps even find a few more inspirational bloggers to follow.

Fools' Gold

Earlier this year, I decided to take time off from my studio, yet every now and then I find myself at Curio Studio working away on some creative venture, mostly crafty things. This is what I was up to earlier this week when suddenly my mind took a turn. By the time I awoke from my creative haze there was Fool's Gold oozing out of my canvas.

Fools' Gold

Acrylic/Mixed Media

20"x24"

I must confess I am not the ideal person to point the finger at environmental miscreants because I am far from being a hardcore environmentalist. Don't get me wrong, I really care deeply about the environment and have adjusted my lifestyle and many behaviours to preserve and benefit the planet. I strongly believe that it is better to do something to reduce the burden on mother earth rather than to do nothing. That being said, I also accept that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. (This is me trying to justify the many luxuries which surround me.) Still, while I might not feel I have the right to lend my voice to the tragedy that is occurring in the gulf waters, there is a latin phrase that often comes to my mind: Spiritus ubi vult spirat (Inspiration does not depend on will, it is a gift)...and so here I am.

Fool's Gold came about when I went to the studio to do a completely different piece and suddenly I found myself going in a direction I had truly been avoiding...Social commentary through art.

It is becoming evident to me that social commentary is often the direction my work takes. And the reason this befuddles me is that I'm not convinced that I can make a real difference. However, recently it has come to my attention that some of the greatest humanitarians attribute their success on the fact that they focus on the ' individual ' instead of the multitudes and that is how they made, and make, a difference. By that same token, if I choose to add my little statement to the thousands of voices outraged at the injustices and the callous disregard for the environment,  the message becomes so much louder and clearer.

Now all we need is for the Powers-that-be to open their ears and listen!

Sunset

I'm not sure if it's just me but I could take endless pictures of the setting sun because every day it is so different. Below are a few of the pictures I've taken while sitting on my front steps. All I can think of when I see this spectacular show is 'Oh my God!'.

This first picture was taken just last evening.

The sunrise is beautiful as well, however it is a

rare moment indeed that you will find me awake for the show...That being said it did happen a couple of times and below are samples of what the morning sky looks like on occassion at 5 am.

I've said it before and I say it again...Nature truly is the greatest artist of all!

Journey to Clarity

Recently I found my search to discover my own voice has left me anything but speechless. As a matter of fact, I sometimes have the distinct impression that I suffer from "painterly diarhea" and the end result is not too impressive.

In an attempt to find my personal style I bought yet another book, Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed Media Artist by Ann Baldwin, and I must say it is pretty good. I decided to try the exercises one at a time. Hopefully by the end of the book, I will have some sense of who I am when it comes to painting. I had originally ordered the book for one purpose only and that was to get a brief introduction to encaustic painting. Since then I have come to believe that the last thing I need is another way to express myself...Of course, that's not to say that I won't!

And Time Passed

12"x16"

Acrylic & Mixed Media

During this same period I also painted the following pieces which I believe offer a view into how confused I really am about what I want to achieve. These paintings remind me that when I was doing my Bachelor of Visual Arts, my professors use to tell me that sometimes I was brilliant and other times anything but brilliant! I think I can agree with them now. See below for proof:

Drawing Wild Cats

Acrylic Scraffiti

Descent of the Raven

8"x10"  Acrylic

Shadow Play I

12 x 12  Acrylic

Do the Math

Acrylic

Confused? Join my club!

What is the point of my rant? I have decided to take time off from producing this year in an attempt to declutter my brain and hopefully come out at the other end with a clearer understanding of who I want to be as an artist and what exactly it is I want to say as well as which medium would allow me to best express myself. In fact, I am considering myself on a sabbatical, a time in which to deepen my understanding. This will involve a lot of research, a lot of experimentation and a lot of quiet reflection.

I hope to post on my blog at least once a month in an attempt to track my progress. I know my research will probably bring me to many of my favourite blogs and will introduce me to new voices as well. My blog will be the perfect place to take note of the experiences and the knowledge I gather on my forays. Join me on my journey to clarity...Just remember, it may take my lifetime!

Threads II - Forest for the Trees

Renovate, paint, blog, photograph, renovate, print, carve, renovate....you got the gist of it. This total "busy-ness" makes it very hard to focus. Yet focus is becoming more and more important to me. I believe I need it if I'm ever going to really be good at expressing myself through my art, at reaching some pinacle of success. Okay, perhaps I'm overdramatizing a tad...Success is subjective and I guess I have achieved it in many regards.

What I really need is to quiet my mind and I feel a good way to achieve this is, you guessed it, Focus! With this in mind, I am continuing my search for the common threads in my work and lo and behold, there is the tree, a source of inspiration and awe! 

Although I have countless art pieces featuring trees I'll share these four, some old, some new, some unfinished and all in a different medium.

La pénombre (The Shadows)

Monotype-Ink on Somerset paper (32" X 55")

Moonlight Through the Apple Tree

Digital Photograph

Shadow Play

Acrylic on unmounted canvas

8" x  48"

Raw clay carving, not yet air dried. Bisquing and glazing to follow. (4" x 10" X 2")

Of course, don't get me wrong I do treat a lot of other subject matter, but when I look around in my home, in my studio, in my yard, trees are very present. And no wonder, where would we be without them!