City in Darkness

City in Darkness

Mixed media
Inspired while on a trip to Toronto, this painting combines various mediums applied on a stretched canvas. The buildings were painted in acrylic which I then detailed with oil pastels and conté crayons. The angel on the left upper corner(many people can't seem to spot her) is decoupaged using a picture I had of a stone angel and touched up with the same mediums.

This was and is one of my favorite paintings. It was bought soon after it was created and I was fortunate to find a picture of it on a CD I had made as I lost many of my images when my computer was stolen two years ago.

Toronto, Ontario is in central Canada and went through some tough times a few years back but it managed to bounce back, hence the angel watching over the city.

Centrifuge

Centrifuge

Acrylic on canvas

One of the things about being an artist without a regular routine is that so many things take over your time...family, friends, gardening, spring chores. For my husband and me, this year it is the renovation of the interior of our house. Last year it was the outside, ie. roof, siding & windows. We are fortunate that we have enough skills to tackle most of these jobs ourselves. Our main floor is mostly complete with just a few finishing touches. Next is the lower level which is being gutted and redesigned completly. And my studio will also be getting new windows and siding.

Sometimes you feel like you are in the middle of a huge wave that is carrying you wherever it wants. The best approach seems to be to go with the flow even if it sometimes gets a little intense.

Intensity
Acrylic on canvas

That being said, I think about blogging daily, but only get as far as checking out a few of my favorites. Topping my list is Beyond Words and Art Propelled. Just those two blogs are enough to give me energy and the hope that one day I'll get back to it myself. So Karin and Robyn, if you read this, Thank You both for being there! Your efforts bring joy to so many.

Anyway, gotta get back to it. I am actually writing this in the middle of a construction zone and I'm starting to think I should put on a hard hat.

Worm - A Story about the Environment

Worm, The Story©

The precarious state of the earth soon became evident to the worm as it tried repeatedly to tunnel through an unrecognized dark mass which had been buried just below the surface.

Unable to break through, it turned its attention upwards.

Soon it found itself in the hot, glaring sun. As it felt the drying effects of the sun's rays it struggled to reach a small puddle that gleamed in the bright light.

The worm had to overcome what must have seemed like an insurmountable number of obstacles.

There were twigs and stones and many objects the worm had never seen before. There was a large rock and the trunk of a tree that was recently felled. There was even an anthill which the worm was determined to avoid.

It never occurred to the worm to give up the journey.

And when at last the destination was reached, the worm, slightering with the satisfaction of a job well done, soon suffered no more as the black oil which had dripped onto the driveway envelopped it and sealed its fate.

The End

©AtelierCurioStudio

I chose the royalty-free music for this video at: PacDv Free Sound Effects ( http://www.pacdv.com/sounds/index.html )

This is the latest storybox book. I began with a trinket box that I picked up for 25 cents at a second hand shop. I painted it burnt sienna, then added crackle finish and a raw umber contrast. The storybox books are helping me recycle lithographs and photo etchings I did while a student in a four year visual arts program. These prints, of which there are many, are going to supply my backgrounds for many projects to come. All my work generally has some form of social or environmental statement, be it in the subject or in recycling the materials used to create.