vernavogel

presentation

2012-02-06T01:38:00.000-07:00

a proper photo of today's landscape:

#25

oil on canvas, diptych

9w x 18h

After making the landscape I had paint left over, so I mixed it all together into a lovely grey and completely worked over an old painting until I got this:

River

oil on stitched canvas

10.5 x 10.5"

highway 766

2012-02-05T19:25:00.001-07:00

another open air painting trip

set-up: was planning to paint a horizontal landscape...

...but wound up going vertical

Very happy I did!

Vertical format allowed me to get the layers of prairie distance, which is what really intrigues me about this country.

What the sky behind me looked like as I was finishing up

Out the window on the way home - lovely evening skies and mountaintops obscured by cloud

skype!

2012-01-31T01:01:00.002-07:00

Made using skype live video feed. This is very interesting!

L.Anne is an artist whom I have never met in person, yet here are two portraits of her:

And Darrell is someone who lives half a world away, whom I haven't seen in 20+ years, yet here he is:

Strange and wonderful world we live in.

I got it goin' on

2012-01-25T00:35:00.003-07:00

portrait made from a facebook picture

new canvas stitched today and the stretcher it will go on

painting in its early stages

playing with my old digital camera
it has a setting called "M" - no idea what that means except that it does a long exposure, maybe 30 seconds... this taken in very dim light

re-enter

2012-01-16T22:03:00.003-07:00

I like it better now

different wavelengths

2012-01-15T10:24:00.005-07:00

A painting finished a few weeks ago. This was done by painting acrylic washes into the raw canvas and gradually working up the layers:

Levels
acrylic and drawing media on stitched canvas
34w x 32h

New one stitched. Going to gesso this one and try acrylic glazes.
Until now I've been using acrylics on raw canvas and liking the staining effects, but sometimes the colour is not as intense as I'd like. The gesso ground should help intensify the colour, and hopefully I can get the glazes to look good.

I've been practicing acrylic glazing over gesso with these little 12x12 stitched canvases:

Terrible lighting here! But anyway I've been playing around with colours and various brushing and wiping methods, and I'm really liking some of the results.

Another new one stitched, not stretched yet. The plan here is to work up a lovely subtle sky and intensify the lower coloured part, leaving the middle bit raw and unpainted. We'll see how that goes!

end of an era

2012-01-10T22:50:00.004-07:00

The downtown studio is FINALLY completely empty and clean and whitewashed and ready to sublet!!

And since I am a nostalgic person, and since the light was just gorgeous, I took the last photos I am likely to take in this space...

portrait of the artist as a rock star... sort of

did I leave any imprint here?

The last studio task: wrapping 5 paintings for shipping. And with that, I am truly gone.

Ah, nostalgia, I love it.

sub-zero plein air

2012-01-03T00:13:00.004-07:00

So I thought oil paint was basically useable in any temperature, but no:

Titanium White becomes very stiff and sticky (a bit like half-set epoxy), although other colours appear unaffected in -4C
My oil/solvent mixture takes on a viscosity similar to raw egg white, but returns to normal when back in the studio.
Frozen brushes begin to fall apart, losing many bristles when used to forcibly brush out epoxy-like white paint!

Returning home after this paintings session, I spent half an hour with a pair of tweezers, picking all the little hairs off my painting, haha.

3pm - ready to begin

3.45pm - light shifting fast

this is more-or-less what I was seeing

and this is what my hand and eye made of it - quite dissimilar in colour.

near the end, getting cold but still smiling!

coming and going

2011-12-28T22:06:00.004-07:00

Hey, it worked! The power of optimism and envisioning the future:

I called my gallery here in town and asked if he'd like to show some of my older landscape paintings, and he said "sure" and so I brought 7 paintings (on 13 canvases, some di- and tri-ptychs) to the gallery today, thus creating a little more space in my storage area. How nice! Now I will envision people coming into the gallery and enjoying the paintings, and eventually buying each one.

Also in the last few days I have worked on this piece:

acrylic on stitched canvas - 16 pieces @ 12x12" each
Not quite finished but getting so close!

the future

2011-12-28T02:30:00.003-07:00

Revelation: I am a serious studio pack rat.

We are in the final stages of the shift. Tonight we moved a U-haul's worth of shelving, cabinets, tables, and paintings. I have decided to donate or destroy any work that has not sold and that I don't want to keep, and I'm sure I will not have to buy art supplies for many years!

Envisioning the future: shelves and cabinets emptying as the paintings find new homes and the supplies are used up. These empty shelves and cabinets will then also find new homes, the studio will become spacious and I will avoid cluttering.

This is the idealized version of the future from here where I sit at 3am, exhausted but feeling optimistic.
:)

layout

2011-12-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

growing

2011-12-23T19:50:00.007-07:00

A small potential difference:

Stitching bits of photos into the canvas!

Also I have re-discovered the process of drawing with a ruling pen and ink. Add a little brushwork, and we come to this:

Not sure about the tree bit at the top here... trying to continue the tree branches in the photo, but I think it is screwing up the depth perception. Maybe need to just knock it back a bit, lessen the contrast of tree branches against sky - or maybe lose the trees altogether, white out. Well, I will let it sit for a bit before making irrevocable decisions.

Meanwhile: isn't this fun, though? I'm feeling pretty excited about the photo bits and loving the process of drawing again.

old becomes new

2011-12-11T18:29:00.002-07:00

These are oil paintings which I began in 2010, then put away for a year. In the last couple of months I pulled them out again and finished them, since we are moving out of the downtown studio and I don't want to paint with oils here at the home studio.

The Excavators
34w x 37h

Afloat
93w x 31h
finished these with some oil pastel, really liking the effect of the drawing lines over painted surface.

A Time Of Multiples
25 x 25"

Deluge
34w x 64h

Resonance III
24w x 30h

Now just a few more loose ends to tie up and the downtown studio will be a thing of the past!

Urban Spaces series 3

2011-12-11T18:19:00.003-07:00

Two more 11x14" in progress:

And three more finished:

I'm quite enjoying working with this photo-collage process!

Jim

2011-12-05T23:06:00.004-07:00

Jim is the husband of a former studio-mate. He had not done a formal sitting before and was very happy with the result. Me, too! This portrait catches some of Jim's character - besides maintaining a business career he is a jazz singer, can be quite flamboyant, and is a very kind and intelligent man. It was fun getting to know him a bit better as he sat for me.

oil on canvas
16x16"

my palette

Isn't it interesting : I often have difficulty painting a man's portrait, but this one turned out quite nicely. I think Jim's personality has something to do with that. :)

Levels

2011-12-04T03:24:00.002-07:00

mixed media on stitched canvas
78w x 39h

cows and paint

2011-11-24T01:37:00.004-07:00

Plein air painting this afternoon - pulled off the road near a farm gate, and just after setting up to paint we were surrounded by a herd of cows! They were being moved from one pasture to another by a cowboy on a horse and his trusty collie dog. Living in the city, it's not often we get that close to a herd of cows - it was a fun spectacle.

Note to self: wear longjohns next time!

And a few more of the mixed media panel pieces are finished:

These are all 6 x 6"

This one is 16 x 12". I'm not sure I like how it turned out...

the continuing story of the bungalow studio...

2011-11-22T00:28:00.004-07:00

in progress - 12 x 12" each
light's a bit glaring in this pic

And a new stitched one, shown here in several stages:

30w x 62h
No titles yet for these new stitched ones... but I have a possible show title:
Points Of High Silence
which may or may not make it to the final cut.

good mornin' sunshine!

2011-11-19T02:25:00.004-07:00

I seem to be in that stage where I want to take photos of the studio at different times of day:

both photos taken within seconds of one another - interesting how the camera reads light.

And here is some of the actual art work I've been doing:

A new stitched diptych - not finished, going to add a bit of drawing and colour adjustments, and who knows what else.

The little mixed media collage pieces are coming along nicely:

Urban Spaces 3.9
16 x 12"

Urban Spaces 3.10
16 x 12"

Urban Spaces 3.11
16 x 12"

These are not finished... well, the top one is maybe close. Wanted red ink for the bottom one and discovered I'm out - all decisions deferred until more red ink is got!

Happy days.

interesting times

2011-11-18T00:50:00.002-07:00

Moved the studio from downtown space into our basement. Missing the high ceilings but not missing the commute. Have been working here for a couple of weeks now and it's starting to flow again; after almost two months of very intermittent energy this is a great feeling!

whatever leads to joy

2011-11-17T14:02:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I became aware of the apparently common perception that if one works in the arts and is not rich and famous, then one is doing something wrong in one's career. And I thought: what a load of crap.

I don't need to be rich and famous. What I need is to paint, and I have been very fortunate in my life because here I am: painting! If this is not riches then I don't know what is.

Some mixed media/collage things I've been working on:

Urban Spaces 3.4
mixed media on panel
9 x 12"

Urban Spaces 3.5
mixed media on panel
9 x 12"

Urban Spaces 3.6
mixed media on panel
9 x 12"

Urban Spaces 3.8
mixed media on panel
6 x 6"

Gradually these are coming along... the plan is to have a series of about 20 collage pieces and 10 or more larger stitched paintings, as well as some other things, for an exhibition in spring 2012. How nice to just steadily plug away at my craft and gradually see the work emerging!

And the plein air painting I did earlier this week:

#21
oil on canvas
12 x 10"

Yes, I love my life. Rich and famous? Nah. This is better. :)

in response to your inquiry

2011-11-17T00:03:00.002-07:00

Hi L .....

So you asked about paint - oh boy, you are in for a long response! Hope this is not too much. I'm not sure how much you know about paint so here is perhaps a lot of information but still not nearly everything there is to know about paint. I'm a detail-oriented person so to me these are the basics, haha.

First, a little on the physical properties of paint:

(you probably know a lot of this from the silkscreening, but I'll go over it anyway.)

Pigment load is the ratio of pigment to medium. A medium has no colour and it can be oil, water, acrylic polymer, egg yolk, casein etc. Ok, so egg yolk is yellow of course, but when thinned out it is very transparent. No colour basically means no colour added.

If you are using paint with a low pigment load you will have colour that is less vibrant and more transparent than that of paint with a high pigment load.

There is also some variation of the actual pigments used to make very similar colours. Two colours can look the same optically, but when brushed out onto a surface or mixed with other colours you will see that they behave quite differently. Some pigments are inherently transparent, some opaque. Some have a tendency to dry flat while others dry more glossy.

You can mix mediums with your paint. Basic acrylic medium comes in gloss, semi-gloss or matte. Gel medium will thicken your paint, allowing for impasto effects. Modelling paste medium can be carved into for very textural effects. All the these mediums can be mixed with the paint, or applied under or over the paint layer.

One advantage to applying gloss medium over your paint layer is that you can paint on top. You cannot paint on top of varnish - the paint will not adhere properly and the colours (especially dark colours) will go cloudy over time.
Another advantage is that the medium will seal the surface so that when you apply varnish on top you will have a uniform gloss. Varnish protects your painting because it is non-porous (unlike paints and mediums), and some varnishes have UVLS filters which personally I like.

I use mostly liquid acrylics, because I like to use thin glazes and washes of colour. I tend to make a thin mix of 50/50% water and gloss medium, adding a few drops of Flow Release (golden product) because it does this cool staining thing.
I also like to draw on top of the paint with oil pastels. Then I seal the whole thing with several coats of gloss medium before varnishing. This is what I did with the purple/yellow one.

GOLDEN - intense colours and dry quite shiny. Some of their paints feel very "plastic-y" to me. Liquid and heavy-body acrylics. Huge selection of mediums. Expensive! http://www.goldenpaints.com/

CHROMACOLOUR - colours are often not as intense, consistency a bit like gouache - not plastic-y at all, quite opaque and a velvety finish when dry. Liquid and heavy-body acrylics. Not as expensive as Golden. http://www.chromacolour.com/

STEVENSON - similar to Golden but not quite as shiny. Considered "student quality" by some artists, but I find they have a decently high pigment load. Heavy-body paints only. http://www.dlstevenson.ca/

LIQUITEX - don't use much but very high quality paint. http://www.liquitex.com/

And then a little on technique:

Layering works both ways : light-to-dark, or dark-to-light. You will get different effects depending how you go. If going light-to-dark you will be able to keep a glow in the colour underneath. If you go dark-to-light you will be able to achieve lovely subtle effects in your dark areas. I often work both ways on the same painting, choosing areas for maximum effect.
(I think the yellow/purple layered one is mainly light-to-dark. With the hard-edged "folky pattern" ones I work both ways.)

Sometimes if you want a crisp or intense light colour over darks you can lay white down first, just in the areas where you plan to apply the light colour. Don't worry about making the white totally opaque, it is mainly to supply a lighter area where the light-coloured paint will show up better on top of the darks. If you don't use the white underneath, you will need to either use thick paint* or use several layers of your light colour over dark areas. Either method can give lovely effects.

*the danger of a thick layer of acrylic is that sometimes it will "crack" while drying! This applies to mediums and varnishes as well as paint.

No matter the medium (oil, acrylic, &c), if you start with a white ground you will get maximum intensity of colour. This is one of the reasons that canvas is gesso'd before painting.

There are some specific colour exercises that I could do with you if we were geographically closer! Maybe next time we visit... but that could be some time and meanwhile you want to paint. It might be worth your while to take a colour theory course somewhere. This will teach you a lot more than just mixing colour - it will teach you how paint in fact responds to itself and to various external factors. If you study these things you can experiment more productively.

Whew - I hope that's helpful and not too long-winded!

Please say hello to B and to J, hope you are all well and enjoying life.
:)
V

then and now

2011-11-11T01:42:00.004-07:00

Self-portraits done the night before my opening at the Front Gallery. Boy do I look tired!

39 x 39"
First larger work begun in the *new* basement studio. Good beginning.

Sky Light
mixed media on stitched canvas
45w x 51h
An up-to-date image.

day and night

2011-10-31T20:14:00.006-06:00

day: plein air painting at Sibbald Creek

night: Hallowe'en antics

our old shower curtain transformed with black paint and taped over the living room window

the lady of the house

how to make ghosties from plastic bags

2011-10-31T10:35:00.004-06:00

you will need bags, scissors, string, a large-eyed needle, black marker

cut the bottom, handles and logo off the bag - keep these bits

open up remainder of bag and cut into two pieces

lay the two piece one atop the other, ball up the bits you cut off and place in the middle

tie with string, then thread long end through large-eyed needle

push threaded needle through to the top of the head

if you like, draw a face with the marker

a gaggle of ghosties!

and again!

2011-10-29T01:37:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine is also interested in plein air painting, and today we went up the Kananaskis to Highwood Crossing. Beautiful day, temperature hovering around 0ºC and windy skies.

first one happened really fast

second one took longer - struggling and fudging the mountain

As usual the size is 10x10", oil on canvas.
This was an excellent plein air day - lovely views, lovely company, lovely hot soup shared after an hour of painting in the snow. What more can I ask of life?

- break -

2011-10-24T22:59:00.005-06:00

I have been taking a break from working in the studio, specifically from making stitched city paintings... but somehow find myself still compulsively painting other things, haha!

Doing the plein air stuff has been really fun, but now the weather quickly becomes too cold, and after 90 minutes' work I return home chilled and stiff. Lucky me : we have hot water, a furnace, dry cosy sweaters and blankets. Luxurious life.

Oct 23, 6pm
painted until the sun went down

Had to be at the studio today to ship the works for my November show in Edmonton. Sending the accumulated work out is like taking off many layers of sweaters - aaaahhhhh, feels like I can move again!

Afterwards I had a couple of hours to fill, so I revisited this portrait of Kim:

Angel
oil on panel
20w x 16h

Thinking about Kim, about her life and personality, about the insides and outsides of people... I really like this portrait now, to me it is her.

Soon my studio break will be over - I can feel new things wanting to come out. Need to continue with city-ish works for a couple of shows in the next 18 months, and having some ideas about how to keep it interesting, continue to make my living without it becoming endlessly repetitive.

Then there are some divergent projects - I have now a small list of paintings I would like to make, and intend to not lose sight of that list.

Feels like I may be learning how to do this artist thing...!

Oct 20/2011, 1pm

2011-10-20T15:38:00.002-06:00

Did another plein air painting today. This one is 9x12". Water is very difficult to paint! - but I am determined to keep practicing until I get it.

Forgot to bring the camera with me so took this pic afterwards, at home.

one night after work...

2011-10-15T23:40:00.004-06:00

... I invited one of my co-workers up to the studio. Here are the portraits I made of her:

First the requisite drawing on paper, which I gave to her.

The beginning of the oil portrait - actually mostly drawing with a China Marker

The model poses with her portrait.
Somehow this portrait looks like a mixture of her and me! Interesting.

Those photos were taken with her iphone - I worked on it some more after she left but have yet to photograph the results. Next post - stay tuned!

this morning

2011-10-14T03:41:00.002-06:00

A beautiful morning for plein air! My landscape paintings are still very much hit-or-miss, but how enjoyable to spend some time painting outdoors in these last days of autumn.

I like the top part of this one, but that big green shape in front has got to go. Maybe I will crop it and re-stretch... maybe.

portrait of Ola

2011-10-13T09:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Ola came up to my studio and I did her portrait.

First a pencil drawing, then an oil painting.

plein air IV

2011-10-11T23:10:00.001-06:00

9x12" canvas this time... I think I prefer square format

digressing and digressing

2011-10-09T20:39:00.002-06:00

Urban Spaces series #3
mixed media on panel
11 x 14" each:

US 3.1

US 3.2

US 3.1

And another portrait:

Angel
oil on panel
16 x 20"

plein air III

2011-10-02T00:27:00.003-06:00

Did two today. Pulled my dolly of painting supplies a little further afield and found some lovely spots. The overcast weather made for interesting skies.

in my kitchen late at night

2011-09-28T01:27:00.001-06:00

build

2011-09-28T00:42:00.007-06:00

stitched canvas

first two colours

up to here

and from here

up to here

They need more work yet, but I like where these are going.

exercise

2011-09-25T00:05:00.002-06:00

Did another one today. Results: meh. Water looked great before I "improved" it. Blame it on the couple who parked nearby and proceeded to have a loud and profanity-laced argument, they threw off my concentration! An interesting and unforseen aspect of plein air in the city, ha.

plein air II

2011-09-24T00:05:00.004-06:00

The gear - milk crate with paints, brushes, mediums & rags; canvas carrier box; easel - all bungee-corded onto a dolly.

The set-up - canvas carrier box becomes seat, milk crate becomes table, easel holds canvas - in the shade of a convenient tree.

The result - a 10x10" landscape in oils - what fun!

furthering

2011-09-21T14:30:00.006-06:00

Sky Light
mixed media on canvas
45w x 51h

Keeping it minimal was difficult with this one, mainly because of that black arial shape stitched almost in the centre - visually heavy, it needed to be balanced. I wound up painting more areas than I had intended, but I think it has worked out ok in the end.

progression of Sky Light

Levels
mixed media on canvas
35w x 32h

how time flies

2011-09-14T22:58:00.000-06:00

How Time Flies
charcoal on stitched canvas
19x19"

sky light

2011-09-14T22:55:00.003-06:00

45w x 51h
... not sure whether this one's finished to my liking, going to leave it for awhile & come back to it later.

the human element

2011-09-10T12:56:00.005-06:00

These are the people that live in the city:

Unmaking The Pattern
pencil and acrylic on paper
12w x 22h approx.

A few before & after pics. Unfortunately as the camera battery dies the photographs go more yellow - please try to imagine the natural canvas colour unchanged from "before" to "after"!

before

after

Connection
acrylic and mixed media on canvas
62w x 25h

before

after

Bridge
acrylic and mixed media on canvas
25w x 31h

and again

2011-09-03T13:50:00.008-06:00

I went to Vancouver a few days ago and took this photo while walking over the Burrard Bridge.

Since returning to Calgary I've been happily working away in the studio.

The following images show a series of little paintings which has been gradually developing over the last few months. Whenever I use oils (not often these days) and have leftover paint, I work on them. They are all 12x12" on wood panel, and all have various textured materials collaged onto the panel. Some are finished, some not.

These are the brushes I used last time I worked on those 12x12 panels:

I do love taking photos of my brushes, they are my friends!

Some more new pieces underway:

45w x 51h

62w x 25h

23w x 31h

And a few photos of things I see almost every day:

the building across the street from the studio, with evening light effects

cycling along the river path on my way home, this is towards home

and this is looking back towards downtown

a little painting that hangs on the wall in the computer room, shining in the sun

2011-08-29T10:03:00.002-06:00

"Inventing questions is easy. Inventing answers is easy too... but to ask important questions and finding the appropriate answers - well that's an art in itself."

raymond robert

sweet

2011-08-20T15:37:00.003-06:00

Surprise surprise, the commission has been accepted as is!! Haha, people are always telling me I'm too hard on myself and here is proof: ready to give up on the whole thing, I get this good news. Soaring heart, from one extreme to another.

comes together

2011-08-20T14:51:00.002-06:00

The project that I initiated last January is coming to fruition!

Just to reiterate: I asked 12 different artists to paint landscapes on canvases into which I had stitched city-inspired lines and textures. Everyone's response was very enthusiastic and so the project was born.

We will exhibit our works at the UAS satellite gallery from September 16th to October 7th, 2011. This week I have been collecting the images of everyone's works, and it looks like it will be a really great show!

Invite and blurb designed last night:

E C O S Y S T E M S

This group exhibition combines the work of 13 contemporary visual artists who live and work in Alberta. Together we explore ideas of natural landscape and urban environment.

Cities first grow upon a foundation of natural landscape. Over time they evolve and eventually deteriorate, becoming in their turn foundations for newly evolving natural landscapes. More time passes, another city is built over that landscape, and another landscape eventually grows over that city. One day our present cities will be just another layer in this cycle of environments built and grown - consciously constructed and naturally evolved - a cycle that moves backward and forward through time.

Verna Vogel, 2011

where

2011-08-18T00:26:00.001-06:00

getting this

to here

...so close, and yet so far!

I have never before tried to copy one of my own paintings. Copying is much more difficult than making originals.

A few years ago some friends of ours wanted me to make them a painting - I knew their home, they knew my painting style. I made three original paintings and they chose one and bought it. They would have bought two if space allowed. That was fairly easy.

Why? Why so difficult to copy a painting?
Because:
Everything Has A Life Of Its Own

That's the title of this painting, made in 2009.

Attempting to infuse the life of one thing into another does not work. It's about so much more than the surface isn't it. I had momentarily forgotten.

So the challenge is how to give this current commissioned piece a life of its own while still fulfilling the wishes of the client. I have some ideas...

more portraits

2011-08-17T23:41:00.002-06:00

Daylight Zen
charcoal, conte, acrylic on paper
30w x 22h

Strings
o/c
20x20"

crop looks better...
if I were a very enterprising artist I would remove and re-stretch onto a smaller frame.

new worlds

2011-08-13T00:47:00.001-06:00

thinking about painting landscapes from photo reference

dibdibdibdibdib

2011-07-29T21:41:00.004-06:00

Finally finished this portrait of Mel!
I think I started this in March, in Mel's studio, and was frustrated and left it there to dry. Wish I'd taken a "before" pic, it really was quite awful except for nose & mouth, which I did not alter.

Relativity
oil & china marker on canvas
16x16"

Titled "Relativity" because Mel is someone with whom I'm very comfortable, and my portraits of her almost always turn out great.

Then a quick small drawing, maybe 9 x 20" with acrylic wash. Love the eyes, these are really her eyes:

And in between things I finished this painting:

Urban Spaces series 2 #5
acrylic on stitched canvas
32.5w x 31.5h

continuuum

2011-07-28T11:14:00.005-06:00

A productive week in the studio! We are going on vacation very soon, and I've been happily working away knowing that a break is coming.

Earlier I had thought this one was finished - but this week I worked on it a bit more:

before
after

Hmmm ... not sure if I like these changes!

Another one of this type finished. Very minimal working in the raw canvas areas. I really like it:

Horizons
mixed media on canvas
61w x 34.5h

Yesterday I stitched, stretched and began painting another photo-based work:

32.5w x 31.5h

Last task of the day is to pull out the oil paint & alkyd medium, don vapour-barrier mask & gloves, and do another glaze on the commission:

Glazed cobalt violet + white.
Next the sky will need more lights, and some hot orange-yellows glazed over the lower areas.

Then I quickly leave the studio! Next morning the fumes are almost entirely gone. I can do a glaze every second day - the plan is to finish by the end of August.

the beat goes on

2011-07-22T19:09:00.005-06:00

Starting to glaze with oils and using alkyd medium again, wearing a mask this time... so far no problems.
I'm excited by the progression of this work, but also will be glad when the time for wearing a vapour-barrier mask while I paint is behind me.

re-discoveries

2011-07-22T09:46:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Shannon came up to the studio to sit for a portrait. We met in the accounting intro class.

First I did a drawing of her, using 2B pencil and India ink wash:

And then a 16x16" oil painting. At first I did not like it - haha, almost always the case with portraits for me! As time passes they inevitably grow on me,and already I'm liking this one more than yesterday.

Shannon has quite a delicate face, which I feel this painting does not convey. I can tell you why:
It's partly because I used a wax medium with the paint, which has a heavy consistency.
It's also partly because of the many raised lines on the canvas. Usually I draw into the paint with a China marker, which gives a wonderful delicacy of line, but this time I didn't draw much because the raised lines interfered with the smooth movement of my drawing tool.

It's also because I am not so interested in exact depiction. I like to work very quickly (this painting took a little less than an hour from start to finish) because I like the spontaneous emotional reaction I have to my sitter. These quick paintings have a fresh immediacy that would be lost if the sittings were prolonged and I concentrated on some conservative notion of accuracy.

Besides, the more I discover about life, the more I realize that nothing is accurate anyway. It's all in the mind of the beholder, so to speak.

This is the raised-line drawing on the canvas before I painted Shannon's portrait on it.

Harbour

2011-07-18T08:36:00.001-06:00

mixed media on canvas
73w x 37h

soundtracking

2011-07-15T19:18:00.002-06:00

It's Stampede time in Calgary...
The studio has been very noisy because there's a bar directly below and they have a boom box! They are cranking out the country tunes every day at full volume! Starting at noon!

So I decided to utilize this time to make some noise of my own, and fired up the compressor, put on earphones and built some canvas stretchers!

:)

harbour

2011-07-12T08:19:00.005-06:00

Danse Russe

If when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees,—
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
“I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!”
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades,—

Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?

- William Carlos Williams

I first came across that poem sometime in high school, and decades later it remains one of my favourites.

In the studio yesterday, among other things, I worked on this painting:

before

after

I'm very excited with this pencil drawing on raw canvas juxtaposed with the painted surface thing that I've lately gotten into!

to be or not to be...

2011-07-10T22:04:00.004-06:00

...that is the question, indeed.

I went for a walk this evening and found myself on a path going through some very tall grasses, almost up to my shoulder. They had heavy seed heads on top, and tiny yellow flowers, and they were moving in the breeze. Their colour was dark in the path front of me and going to pale green further away - it was one of those evenings when everything seems lit from within and colours glow.
This is the place where I can rest my eyes: the grasses are like water.

Today Juan-Carlos sat for me and we had a lovely visit.

The Explorer
oil on wood panel
16w x 20h

In the last few days I made these:

Passage - 24w x 25h
Still needs some work!

Horizon - 73w x 33h
Just stitched and stretched. Now I have to consider about the drawing parts, and whether to add a second skyline, &c. Almost wanting to just leave it as is...

A slightly strange, dark, camera's-out-of-batteries shot but I like it.

present future

2011-07-07T19:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Joyce came up to the studio to sit for me.

First I painted this portrait while she talked about recent experiences in her life teaching abroad. Her joyful and animated spirit comes through here, I really like this painting!

Then made a quick pencil drawing - this actually looks a more like Joyce than the painting.

another perspective

My paintings and I in the Axis gallery. Actually they are two diptychs, but one pair has been hung with sides touching. They look good on the brick wall!

making adjustments

2011-07-05T12:27:00.005-06:00

Two finished works, seemingly suddenly, as is often the case.
Whoosh!

A Small Potential Difference
acrylic on stitched canvas
51w x 34h

Later, There Were Pioneers
acrylic on stitched canvas
29w x 45h

Ongoing progress:

Yesterday I added white and red and more orange, also a bit of cobalt blue. Gradually it is taking shape.

And some small but, I think, very effective changes to these two:

before

after

Sightlines
Mixed media on stitched canvas
45w x 51h

before

after

Out Of Sound
mixed media on stitched canvas
51w x 45h

in focus

2011-07-03T09:44:00.002-06:00

oil on canvas
14w x 18h

3 & 21

2011-06-30T21:06:00.001-06:00

mixed media on paper
15w x 22h

introducing darks

windscapes

2011-06-28T13:51:00.012-06:00

kite festival in Swift Current, Saskatchewan

How do you find a kite festival on the prairie? Look ahead, look up.

in the wind sculpture garden:

in the town of Swift Current:

on the bluffs above the river valley:

going places

2011-06-24T10:21:00.009-06:00

Another portrait, more drawing than painting, really.
Not sure if I like it, also the rectangular format is less appealing than square. Perhaps it will grow on me.

No title
oil and china marker on canvas
18w x 14h

In progress work for the November show

This one's coming along too - starting to look a bit messy at this point, which is good!

time and place

2011-06-21T09:10:00.003-06:00

The stretchers finally arrived this week!
Stretching 21 canvases, even such small ones as these, is quite a job.

The're so beautiful, all neatly laid out on my table and full of possibility.

And so it begins.

the beat goes on

2011-06-21T09:06:00.001-06:00

Urban Spaces series 2, #4
(alley in downtown Calgary)
acrylic on stitched canvas
31w x 33h

Urban Spaces series 2, #3
(Chinatown, Toronto)
acrylic on stitched canvas
31w x 32h

All together now!

Sometimes I like these and sometimes I don't - they keep me guessing. Some sort of evolution is underway.

interpretations

2011-06-21T08:47:00.003-06:00

Here again are the paintings I made on Wednesday, with reference photos:

Canmore trailers with misty mountains

Birch trees and mountain

Atmospheric evergreens

Wolf willow, spruce, pine, birch trees

plein air

2011-06-16T11:51:00.009-06:00

Tuesday evening I wrote the final test for my accounting class. Wasn't as easy as the mid-term because I hadn't studied as dilligently! But I think it went ok.

A friend and I had made plans to go painting in Canmore on Wednesday...

Undeterred by the weather, our intrepid heroes make a shelter out of tarps and found materials, and begin painting.

Mel is interested in the quirkiness of the trailer park juxtaposed against the mountains, and boldly begins a large work.

This woman has staying power: after 6 hours it is nearly finished.

Verna cannot stay in one place for too long, and after making an initial painting under the rigged tarps she moves along, inventing temporary shelters as her shifting locations demand.

Occasionally the rain lets up, the sun almost shines, and there is no need for umbrellas.

Almost 8 hours from the time they arrived, our tenaciously good-humoured artists are still smiling.

My four small canvases, from left to right in the order they were made:

And the box I devised for transporting wet paintings in the car:

more urban spaces

2011-06-12T12:14:00.004-06:00

A nice shift, doing photo-based work again!
These are not finished yet, but getting close - I hope to have them done this week.

30w x 31h

30w x 33h

my pots and jars

you see I want a lot

2011-06-08T19:10:00.004-06:00

You see, I want a lot - perhaps I want everything
The darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing
and are raised to the rank of prince
by the slippery ease of their light judgements.

But what you love to see are faces that do work and feel thirst.
You love most of all those who need you
as they need a crowbar or a hoe.

You have not grown old, and it is not too late to dive into
your increasing depths, where life calmly gives out its own secret.

Rainer Maria Rilke
translated by Robert Bly

back to the drawing board

2011-06-08T18:42:00.006-06:00

The drawing board being, in this case, photo-referenced paintings.

before:

after:

Not yet finished but starting to look all right at this point.

When I visited the Front Gallery in Edmonton in early May, I met one of the gallery artists - Tom Gale - and he gave me a box of canvas scraps.

This piece was in that box. Isn't it lovely? Looks like coffee cup rings among the paint splatters! A residue of Tom's working history. Of course I must photograph it for the record? :)

Here it is stitched into a new canvas. The pity is that I'll be gessoing over those stains... but the history will still be there, imbedded, an invisible part of the finished work.

And here's the photo it's based on.

Another day indeed. The book is not quite as poetic as I had thought it would be, but well-written so far, and I think the scope will widen as the narrative progresses.

The Excavators

2011-06-07T21:50:00.005-06:00

oil on stitched canvas
41w x 43h

Sometimes my imagination is bigger than my body, and I forget to remember to just be myself.

Just took out a library book: "Lost" by Cathy Ostlere.
Simply put, it's about a woman's brother who goes missing while at sea. He is eventually presumed dead, and the book is her reaction to her brother's life. Or so I gather, having only just begun reading.

The inside of the jacket says
"Lost is a (...) meditation on the idea that to be lost can be a fact or a state of mind. And sometimes the difference isn't clear."

Lately I have been feeling a bit lost. I put this book on hold a couple of months ago and it has just become available... good timing, perhaps.

And tomorrow is another day.

"the third game is meaningless"

2011-06-07T09:30:00.002-06:00

...said my husband at the pub last night. And I thought: that's kind of an interesting sentence when taken out of context.

in a flash of sun between rains

And so begins another photo-based painting. This one's 31w x 33h.

Storm
yep, I began painting it, got some half-formed ideas for this one.

let it be

2011-06-04T01:05:00.005-06:00

Initially I had planned to have all new acrylic works for my November show at the Front Gallery in Edmonton, but I'm realizing that I have a lot on my plate right now, and could make things easier on myself by finishing some of the 20+ oil paintings that I put away in January.

So today I pulled out some of those unresolved oil paintings and worked on them.
Ahhh, oil paint. So nice.

A quickly collaged image of the work which I feel is ready for the show - can you tell which are acrylic and which are oil?

This is the one that's mostly hidden, lying on the table in the first photo.

This is the one that's really hacked up in the foreground of the first photo.

And lastly a couple of shots of yours truly:

a day in the life

2011-05-30T21:59:00.004-06:00

7:15am
Arrive at studio, light breakfast while doing accounting exercises and homework to prepare for tomorrow's class.

10:20am
A call from my local gallery, they sold a painting, I will have a cheque next month! Sweet feeling, first cheque since early February, finances have been a bit low.

10:30am
Second breakfast. Begin painting, work on 3 canvases.

1:00pm
Sylvain drops in to say he'd like to accept my offer of a stitched canvases to paint a landscape on, joining the collaboration I set in motion in at the beginning of this year.
Also he gives some interesting feedback on my new works.

1:30pm
Go to public library, pick up "exit through the gift shop" Banksy movie which it is finally my turn to take out!
Swing by grocery store for ingredients for this week's lunches.

2:30pm
Lunch & sudoku sitting in sunshine, open studio window

3pm
Stitch, stretch & photograph a new canvas, 22w x 25h.

7:15pm
Tidy up & leave studio.

This was actually an ideal day in the life: no class this evening, no work shift during the day. Time enough for studying and artworking, a productive day. AND another painting finally sold!!
Ahhh.

a few new beginnings

2011-05-27T19:12:00.002-06:00

stitching and initial colouring
51w x 33h

stitching and initial colouring
31w x 45h

stitched
71w x 37h
thinking I may not paint this one, maybe draw with graphite & conte...

in pieces

2011-05-25T19:40:00.007-06:00

The commission I've taken on will consist of 21 canvases measuring 9x9" each, making one large image all together. It will be hung on a curved wall in a client's home.

Here is the idea sketch for the stitching:

All 21 canvases stitched:

(I used yellow thread which doesn't show up well in the photo)

The finished work will look something like this:

Soon the pre-made stretcher frames will arrive, and then I can stretch them all and begin painting - I'm impatiently waiting!

Meanwhile, I continue working towards my November show...

so far

2011-05-23T21:45:00.002-06:00

Here is my last 4 weeks' worth of city(ish) work.

1st, drawing with pencils and a bit of acrylic colour wash on the stitched canvas:

2nd, stitching pre-painted canvas together with raw canvas, drawing with pencil and a light acrylic colour wash in the top bit:

And then it all seems to come together in this one, using all kinds of drawing media and collaging some architectural drawing bits, too:

Today I stitched a couple more canvases which I'll paint overall, in the now-old way, haha. Need a little break from these and also need to produce some work for a show in November.

let's go!

2011-05-19T21:45:00.002-06:00

My latest new work:

mixed media on canvas
45w x 51h

Having fun with drawing on the canvas, excited by the possibilities of graphite, charcoal, conte, china marker, acrylic ink...

The camera has been acting up a bit, taking photos has become a hit-or-miss endeavor. I will need to get the camera repaired or buy a new one, methinks.

Wrote the mid-term exam for the accounting course tonight, and I think I did quite well. Next week tuesday I'll see if my feeling of doing well matches the reality of my mark, haha.

re-enter and re-enter

2011-05-09T17:46:00.003-06:00

Today I stitched and stretched this canvas. Some of the canvas was already painted, a work I wasn't feeling very excited about, so I tore it up and used the bits. This is where it led me.
Now this is getting interesting, huh?

This thing measures 51w x 45h. I have decided to experiment in large format, haha! And I likes it.

doing and becoming

2011-05-08T21:42:00.004-06:00

“Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
- Mark Twain

Nice to come across this quote.
My dreams were not encouraged when I was younger and I feel fortunate to be where I am now. And where am I now? I'm here:

I recently quit my job at the art supply store and, after job searching awhile, will be starting a new one next week.
Have a solo show to prepare for in November, with a new gallery in Edmonton which I just joined.
Took on a complex but exciting commission through my Vancouver gallery.

What a wealth of choices I can make, options I have in life!

And I am in the midst of taking an evening class - Accounting. Of all things, accounting! Why on earth?
Because:

1. I went through a time of hating all things art a few months ago, and wanted to do something, anything, with the other side of my brain.

2. Knowing a bit about the financial side of things could be useful in my self-employed life.

3. It could also be useful if I ever need to get a "real" job with decent pay.

And taking the course is all right, it satisfies that part of my mind which longs for order amid the chaos. However finding myself immersed in meticulous rule-following activities is a bit disconcerting.

I struggle not to stare out the window at a wonderful view of highrise buildings in the early evening sun, their silvery edges and reflective glass, the blue shadows of receding spaces. You know how the light is at this time of year, sigh, so beautiful. I could probably draw that view now, from memory, fairly accurately.

Remembering the meanings of terms like "Capital" vs "Equity", in which order does one make a Balance Sheet, Income Statement, &c... shall we say it requires some mental effort. Which is what I signed up for, I'm not complaining.

In the class with me are people who work in offices, or have other similar knowledge of this world of business, and I feel a bit slow in comparison.

What, me? hard on myself? impatient? no, never! Haha.

So here I am, reminding myself that I am a great artist, that I can make great work for the November show and also complete the commission I've taken on, that I will enjoy the new p/t job, I'm intelligent and likeable enough and have the courage to return to school after 15 years to learn something totally outside my comfort zone, and that these things make me what I am.

Yep.
:)

2011-05-03T09:54:00.004-06:00

‎"There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle" -Robert Alden

we share air

2011-04-29T22:23:00.005-06:00

So I stitched another canvas with various coloured yarns and threads, and have begun drawing on it, using soft pencil, charcoal and gesso:

I am liking the simplicity of this. Really enjoying drawing again - but also the very shallow surface and lack of detail makes me a bit uncomfortable. Feels unfinished. Could work it up more... I will let it sit awhile and see if a little time alters my view.

Meanwhile another colourful painting is finished:

Play of Light
acrylic on stitched canvas
45w x 33h

some I like, some I don't

2011-04-21T22:05:00.004-06:00

His glasses are disconcertingly not right! I want to go over the background colour, maybe I can fix it then.

one painter painting

2011-04-13T12:10:00.003-06:00

While I was painting the "looking out" portrait, my sitter took this photo of me:

He adjusted a bit in photshop, I love the dramatic but subtle effects. Thanks Christian!

Meanwhile

2011-04-12T11:10:00.003-06:00

4 new paintings underway. 3 are not stitched.
Kind of nice working on plain smooth canvas!

bug on

2011-04-12T09:16:00.002-06:00

Well I have got the portrait bug on!

Looking Out
o/c
15x15"

Changes One
o/c
20x20"

Been doing one per week or so... wonder where it will lead?

goings on

2011-04-05T16:48:00.005-06:00

portrait of a friend done 3 days ago

Sunlit
oil on canvas
16x16"

portrait of my husband done last december

One Painter Painting
oil on canvas
15x16.5"

and a better photo of this lovely new work!

Spring Rain
acrylic on stitched canvas
51w x 37h
There are 5 grommets in this one, can you see them?

spring rain

2011-03-31T09:41:00.002-06:00

hand-held out-of-focus shot - but I am feeling excited about this one so here it is.
better pic later.
:)

and then...

2011-03-28T21:24:00.005-06:00

So that's what I did with the 30 x 30.5" stretchers!

:)

in between

2011-03-28T10:30:00.002-06:00

...I painted some more faces.

oil on canvas
10x10

around the corner

2011-03-23T11:59:00.002-06:00

So I've been working on these larger pieces, based on photographs I've taken around Calgary. Still in progress, here they are in all their unfinished glory.

Here the colour definitely has to be knocked back! But often a bright underpainting gives the work more life in the end.
31x32"
based on the upper photo here:

Only just begun this one, a good start too. I've worked on it quite a bit since - updated photos soon.
31x32"
based on the lower photo here:

Not sure how well the larger size translates for the photo-based image, but I'll keep working away and suspend judgement until they're finished!

hi ho silver!

2011-03-23T11:32:00.007-06:00

Well this is neat: here are 4 finished paintings in just a few weeks!
I'm hoping this work will go into a show at the Front Gallery this autumn.

http://www.thefrontgallery.com/

Dwelling
acrylic on canvas
43w x 41h

No Small Thing
acrylic on canvas
36w x 48h

River
acrylic on stitched canvas
45w x 25h

Time Change
acrylic on canvas
49w x 29h

I've decided not to worry about whether it's "the same old stuff" and just go with what I love doing: I love painting in this semi-abstract way, playing with colour & form, creating depth or flatness as my whims take me.

"The world needs you to find out what makes you come alive, and then to go and do it, whatever it is."

:)

oh no!

2011-03-05T19:02:00.004-07:00

Well, I seem to have figured out how to make pretty much exactly the same kind of paintings with acrylic as I used to make with oil.
This was not the plan! The plan was to experiment and try new things!
OK, well, so this new thing is about the medium - acrylic paint - and I have proved to myself that I can make this type of work with it:

Lovely!
And now I need to do something else, expand my painting (style? process?) lest I get bored.
:)

Here are some newly built stretchers:

They measure 30x31.5" and on them I am going to do the aforementioned "something else". Just wait & see!

Look what I found at the bus stop - only to be seen by standing in one specific place, in a certain window of time when the sun shines just so:

hee hee
love yourself!

exhibition proposal for UAS Main Gallery

2011-02-25T13:11:00.003-07:00

Hello,

I would like to submit an exhibition proposal for the UAS Main Gallery space.

The project which I have in mind involves a number artists and would not be easy to show in a commercial gallery because of its experimental nature. The process has been started; no one knows exactly what the end results will be.

My own work is based on the cityscape. I am interested in visual layers and perception, painting in translucent glazes on stitched canvases to show the ever-shifting nature of the city and viewer. So far this has been limited to the cityscapes, but I have recently been thinking about how the layers of humanly built environments are inextricably entwined with the natural landscape, and how they evolve together, and thought that I would like to explore this idea in a series of works.

Our cities are built on a foundation of natural landscape, which in some cases has grown over a foundation of previous cities, built in their turn on a previous natural landscape. The layered cycle of environments built and grown - consciously constructed and naturally evolved - moves backward and forward. Perhaps all layers exist simultaneously, it just depends on the view. With this in mind I created several variations of landscape paintings on stitched canvas, in which the stitching depicts a humanly engineered environment.

In Heaven And Earth I experimented with an all-over colour field, allowing the paint layers to highlight the stitched texture. The resulting work is reminiscent of a map or aerial view of the landscape, with roads and rivers delineated by the raised, stitched lines.

Next I created All We Need, which is somewhere between colour field and more literal landscape imagery. Here again the paint layers highlight the stitched texture, with a closer to ground-level view of the landscape superimposed on a built environment.

The painterly effects of All We Need is more interesting to me than the simple tonalilty of Heaven And Earth. Although I can envision a series of paintings in either vein, my stronger inclination is towards the more literal landscape. However, my landscape painting skills are not highly developed, and ultimately my inclination to paint landscapes is limited - but I liked the idea of layering built and natural imagery, so I decided to approach other artists who are skilled at and enjoy painting landscapes, and I got a very positive response.

I selected the participants based on the artistic merit of their studio practices, and on the thoughtfulness of their ideas in every day conversations. I have asked them to create landscapes on canvases into which I have stitched city-inspired imagery using a variety of textured materials. My hope in working with other artists is to elicit a variety of visceral responses to my stitched canvas textures, while creating a body of works which might give a sense of the fluidity of time: who can say whether the city emerges from or recedes into the landscape? They are inextricably part of one another.

Each stitched canvases measures 19x19". There are 12 artists (including myself) working on this project, creating one piece each. Most are painters, but there will be some drawing and mixed media work as well. Participants are as follows:

Aaron Sidorenko - oil, encaustic, mixed media
Amy Dryer - oil, acrylic
Dale Kirschenman - oil, acrylic
Dawn Saunders-Dahl - oil, acrylic, mixed media
Darrin Hartman - acrylic and mixed media
Frances Vettergreen - oil and wax
Jill Armstrong - mixed media
John Pritchard - encaustic, oil, acrylic
Mark Holliday - encaustic
Melanie Aikenhead - oil, pastel
Shyra DeSouza - mixed media
Verna Vogel - oil, acrylic, mixed media

I would like to present the completed body of work in the UAS Main gallery, which has ample walls to hang the work with enough surrounding space for viewers to consider each piece, but not so far apart as to unduly isolate them. The variety of wall space would lend itself beautifully to this project, as some of the finished paintings could be best viewed in the intimate closeness of the hallways, with others more suited to the larger open areas.

Our timeline is to complete the project by June 2011. Therefore we would like to exhibit our works in any available time slot after the end of June.

Please find attached artist statement and CV, images and image list.

Thank you for considering this proposal,

Verna Vogel

Something In Common
stitched and stretched canvas before painting

Something In Common
oil on stitched canvas
64w x 56h x 2d
2010

Heaven And Earth
oil on stitched canvas (triptych)
3@ 24w x 30h x 1.5d
2009

All We Need
oil on stitched canvas
43w x 41h x 1.75d

Example of stitched, stretched canvas prepared for this project
19w x 19h x 1.75d

here

2011-02-24T22:09:00.004-07:00

From here:
to here:
City Lights series
acrylic on stitched canvas
12x12" each

And from here:
to here:
No Small Thing
acrylic on stitched canvas
36w x 48h

For some reason this last one has a kind of glow under the light... maybe the particular colours I used? maybe because the paint layers aren't built up quite so thick? Whatever the reason, I'm happy about it and hope it will happen again!

velocity

2011-02-19T18:42:00.004-07:00

I calculated 46 hours in 4 days working in the studio this week, not including breaks.
!!!

And this is what I have to show for it:

City Lights, stitched

City Lights, begun painting
(the middle one is finished)

Urban Spaces #15
acrylic on stitched canvas
12x12"

Two new large ones begun:

And one large work finished.
begun 2 weeks ago:

mid-way:

finished:

Dwelling
acrylic on stitched canvas
41 x 43"

So this is interesting.
I can, with acrylic, make a painting in just a couple of weeks. The oil paintings took 5-6 months to make!

Of course the oil paint has a glow under lights that acrylic will never have, no matter what high-end brand acrylic paint colours I use. This is because light bounces off the surface of acrylic - whereas with oil the light travels through the colour, bounces off the white support, back through the paint layers and then to your eye. Which brings an incredible depth to oil colours.

This week I decided to stop lamenting the lack of glow and just go for it. So here on my computer screen the acrylic painting looks good, but in the studio when I put a spotlight on it the paint seems to go a bit dull. Light bouncing off the surface instead of traveling through...

Yes, I am a colour snob and it kills me to make a painting that doesn't have that glow. Wah! But I have to make my living, and maybe this will do.

Another thought: if I can make paintings so fast, how will my paintings change? Because they will change. Spending 6 months with a work is really intense, it's like getting to know the thing, becoming friends over the long haul.
A 3-week relationship is going to alter the spirit of the thing. Yes indeed.

But I'm on this boat now and I think I'll remain for the trip and see where we land.

Art is what we call

2011-02-18T22:17:00.002-07:00

the thing an artist does.

It's not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human.

Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It's in the soul of the artist.

- Seth Godin

zoom!

2011-02-11T22:33:00.004-07:00

Where to begin?
Seems like a lot has been going on, most of it internal as usual, but some things external.
I got a little black book which I keep in the studio now, and write a bit in the morning before I start work. Notes on projects, ideas, etc.

Just finished writing an exhibition proposal for the stitched city/painted landscape group project I began last month. Took me 4 hours. Haven't sent it yet, might need a bit of editing. Whoo, brain work! Haven't done much of that lately. Feels good, once I get going.

Last weekend was my solo show in Vancouver. It was a lightning trip, but great nonetheless. Met with an old friend, established a higher level of trust with the gallery owner, met some new friends. Took loads of photos for reference on one of my new(ish) projects.

Some photos from the opening:

A few of my old college classmates showed up, and one of my instructors. How cool is that, I haven't seen them in 14 years!

Some of the works for the new(ish) project:

Basically just working directly from photos, creating much more literal images. These are all 12x12" so far. Acrylic. Found a way to work with the stuff - hooray! Just dilute with water and work on raw (ungessoed) canvas. Then seal with medium and varnish. Pa-da-bing, I love it.

Now I have some big ones started, not using photo references, stitching and painting in the "usual" way except using acrylic on the raw canvas. No gesso, no oil paint. We'll see if they turn out nicely.

la la la

2011-01-22T17:05:00.004-07:00

After many days of cold cold weather the Chinook winds have blown through and it is mild and sunny. We all have more energy and smiles!

Some small paintings:
Top row made a few months ago, used oil pastel which is lovely but a pain because it never dries and then has to be sprayed.
Bottom row finished last week, no oil pastel, trying for similar effect with brush.
10x10 each

More small paintings just begun, these made with acrylic.
No stitching the canvas, but texture underneath by "drawing" with modeling paste, then gessoing.
Also 10x10 each.

A whole shwack of small paintings!
Trying out new ways of working.
Some are on canvas, some on panel. Some stitched, some not. Some oil, some acrylic.

Newly made canvas: my traditional stitching but planning to paint a little differently.

Sewing seat in the friendly sun.

Also I have been doing some portraits, here is one.
approx. 14x15"

a project

2011-01-22T16:57:00.003-07:00

I had an idea: to stitch cities into some canvases and ask other artists to paint landscapes on them. I got a really positive response from the artists whom I asked to participate!
The project should be finished over the course of this year. Then we will find a place to show our results.

Here are the first canvases which I made last night.
All the canvases measure 19x19"

And today I gesso'd them.

There will be 11 in total.