Spiralling Evolution

It is pretty amazing how when your attention is drawn to something, in this case the spiral as can be observed in the carapace of a snail, you begin seeing the object of your focus everywhere you look. For instance, spirals are present all around us in nature; from fiddlehead ferns to the seed head of a sunflower to the centre of a tornado and to galaxies far far away. In fact, in countless plants and elements of nature, the spiral form, be it Fibonacci or logarithmic, draws you to the centre as if by hypnosis. 

Perhaps it is hypnosis that drew me to focus on moon snail shells on the beach. Some of them look as old as time, some look like they are at the pinacle of their existence. Although each one is unique, the spiral on each is unmistakable. 

Moon Snail at Cap Lumiére, NB, Canada on the coast of the Northumberland Straight

In creating my next series of paintings, I feel myself spiralling towards evolution. The other options, devolution or stagnation, are not very enticing to me. That being said, "spiralling towards evolution"  might be a bit of an exaggeration because this series of paintings is a long and slow process. As a matter of fact, the use of oil paints has been a key factor in the reduction of the rush to completion. Most of these paintings are weeks, even months, in the making. I started using oils when I did my Natural Abstracts series. It is very hard to go back to acrylics which were at one time my favorite medium. I digress. ;-)

Here are a few of my latest paintings:

Lunatia, Oil, 61cm x 61 cm
(This piece was chosen as part of a Juried Exhibition, Moncton Gallery, Moncton, NB)

Oil, 15cm x 15cm

Oil, 15cm x 15 cm

Oil, 51cm x 51cm

This is not the last of them. I still need to centre myself as I continue spiralling towards evolution...be that what it may!

Namaste!
(All images and text in this blog are protected by copyright by virtue of their publication.)

  

Harder than one might think...

Taking a break from your work or even an activity you love can be just what you need to renew your interest or give you a totally new perspective. You can get back at it feeling refreshed and full of the vital energy needed to dedicate yourself to the tasks at hand or it can be a little more challenging...Maybe the length of the break has a lot to do with it.

Don't get me wrong, I have been busy creating, it just hasn't been with any particular purpose or goal.  My home is filled with new paintings and photographs, but now what? Some will say it's like riding a bike, but truth be known, I was never the best bike rider.

I get the distinct feeling I'm just rambling on. I am just writing whatever pops in my head. Sometimes that might be just what one needs to get those juices flowing. Of course, it could easily go the other way and just turn into crazy-maker thoughts! I'm going to go with 'creative juices"...Yup, that's what is brewing in my head. And, until a path comes in to focus, I'm just going to post and share some of the work I have been doing in the past couple of years.

Background- Painting of moon snail shell 50cm x 50cm oil on canvas 2017
Forefront- Ceramic wave with celadon glaze, bits of ceramic messages, an shells 2005

Shells, waves, rivers, oceans...It's all about nature again, only this time I'm not land-locked. I'm more water-logged. ;-)

The shell paintings were destined for a group show that I had to bow out of due to health concerns and in the end they inspired me to redecorate the living room!

This is one of the livingroom wall arrangements.

Living on the coast also had a part to play. I started observing shells, much like I did the rocks in my previous series, and noticed that although they are similar, each one has it's own identity. Each one is unique, as these photographs which I have taken in the last couple of years demonstrates.

      

Some of these photographs are framed; all of the shells are part of a growing collection; all are art in themselves. Many inspired a few oil paintings, which I will be posting in the next few weeks.

In the meantime...Namaste!

(All images and text in this blog are protected by copyright by virtue of their publication.)

To be continued....

After three exhibits in three different communities, the paintings in my series Nature's Abstracts have each found a home. The culmination of this two year project came to fruition this week. Many were sold, some were traded with other artists and some were given to family.


 

 

 



In My Studio
 

 

Of  the 34 paintings, there were only three I could not part with.

ENTOURAGE
45cm x 60cm
Oil paint and paste on canvas

REFLECTION
36cm x 36cm
Oil paint, stone and resin on canvas

IRIS

30cm x 20cm

Oil paint on raw canvas, stone and feather

 

 

And a few were very difficult to part with.

MUTATION

10 cm x 12.5 cm

Oil paint, paste and stone on canvas

 

MOSAIC
60cm x 51 cm
Oil paint and resin on canvas





LEVITATION
Oil paint on Canvas
70 cm x 27 cm

The feedback I received from the three exhibits by way of written and verbal comments was most rewarding. It seems that this series of oil paintings successfully conveyed the very message I was trying to transmit-abstract art is all around us! I'm not sure yet if I am quite done with this theme because as I developed it so many new yet related ideas emerged. I am leaving them ferment as I take care of a few slightly more mundane tasks, i.e. cleaning my studio and prepping house and home for winter.

As for my blog, what can I say - To be continued....

(Note: I have been having the hardest time putting pics in my posts that it has really reduced my entries...Soooo frustrating!)

Speaking Natural Abstract

I started drawing and painting some thirty years ago yet in 2006 I called my first real solo exhibit "In search of a voice". Although I had been painting just as a hobby you'd think I would have found my personal style in all those years. I even completed a four year degree in visual arts...Yet only now do I feel I can speak.

I'll admit, I mumbled a few words in this language every now and again but I always fell short in the vocabulary. The syntax and grammar left a lot to be desired as well. And now, today, I feel like a babbling brook. My language of choice-Natural Abstract.

I have often created inspired by what I saw as the abstract in nature but it was always just a piece or two. In no time at all, my inspirations seemed mundane. Then a few weeks ago I held a small river rock in my hand and I really looked at it, I read ever line and crevice, I really felt it's story.

Then I held another, and another, and another...and it became evident that each stone has it's own story.

Suddenly, I have a studio full of rocks and stones, full of ideas and inspirations...And I am the story teller.

As you might tell, I treat each stone as a unique artifact. The only common denominator is that they are all oil paintings. As for the composition, I let each stone tell me how it wants to be expressed. Some want to be part of the painting, some just want to accompany it, while others just want to inspire and return to the earth from whence they came. Others I feel so connected to that they will become my personal treasures, my personal rock collection.

Recently I heard a quote on the radio that seems to fit how I've been feeling "I love ideas because ideas are always pregnant". Are they ever! I had the idea to paint what I observed in one stone and twelve paintings later, I see no end in sight.

(All images and text in this blog are protected by copyright by virtue of their publication.)

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.

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!

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!

The Divining World-Part II

The cards I created below may well hold the key to your Destiny. Have a peek...

The Destiny Package

Inside you find 11 Destiny Numbers

Instructions are handprinted on the envelope itself.

(For the sake of clarity in this photograph I played around with colour and contrast.)

On each card is a Destiny Number and 6 attributes.

Sample cards

Outer Envelope

This Destiny Set was a first for me and will serve as a template for future sets. A couple of changes I intend to make are to go a little lighter on the backgrounds and to use a transfer method for the written information. The latter will cut down on the amount of time needed to produce a complete package, yet each will remain unique because of different backgrounds.

(For more on this project, check out the post

dated December 12, 2009)

Threads

As a multidiscipline visual artist, I find there is a certain cohesion lacking in my environment. I am literally all over the place. Still it remains clear to me that I cannot specialize in just one area of expression. Having accepted that, finding my unique voice seems all the more difficult.

In an attempt to bring order (that ever elusive state) into my creative endeavours, I have been trying to compartmentalize my projects, while still looking for common threads between the different forms of expression. The ultimate end to this exercise would allow an observer to recognize the works in my studio as mine alone. At present, the collection of my works gives the impression that I have a multiple split personality.

Some years ago I started writing journal which I titled Know Thyself. In it I wrote (and write) my personal beliefs about life in general, from the mundane to the exhilirating, from the surface to the deepest recess of my mind. It is far from complete. My best hope is that I will "know myself" in this lifetime.

I am applying this same process to my art, that is, I am going to examine the pieces I have created and will create to see what the common threads are, from colours to subjects to the choice of medium...Surely my voice is in there somewhere.

One place to start is with the subjects that seem to attract me most and today the focus is music and shadows, the colours are reds and blacks and the shapes are square.

Passion in Musical Shadows

Each is 4"x4" acrylic on canvas

I've had strange experiences with most aspects of life, music being one of those aspects.

I remember a Christmas long ago when a piano was delivered to my childhood home.

I will never know why, and I will never forget, only the children in the house were to play it even though none of us would ever play well.

That piano now takes up a corner of my livingroom like a sliver of my memories.