Before I began this challenge I wrote a list of 30 different things I wanted to do this month – monochromatic, figurative, portrait, abstract, oils etc. – and even though I haven’t looked back at the list, I think I’ve been hitting them all.
Yesterday turned out to be the day for the abstract, and like most abstracts I do it came about because I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to paint. I’m not thrilled with the photo I took, I can’t seem to avoid the glare today. That’s probably because it’s snowing outside, it has been the coldest winter in a long time, and if it weren’t for the challenge keeping me busy, I’d probably be a little depressed.
I started painting late yesterday because I had to take care of some other art business tasks, one of which is to do some prep for an exhibition I have coming up next month – The SLTA Arts Showcase. I’ve been asked to be the artistic director for the Showcase, and I have been involved thus far, but this month I’ve been too busy to give it any attention, so it’ll be one of my priorities next month.
The event is on Feb 22nd in Toronto, presented by the St. Lucia Toronto Association at the Brockton Collective Gallery. It is part of the celebrations commemorating the 35th Independence Anniversary of St. Lucia – the Caribbean island where I was born and raised till I came to Canada at age seventeen to continue my education.
One day as I was coming upstairs, our cat was sitting at the top watching me, and my 4’x4′ painting of a rose was leaning against a wall behind her. I was intrigued by the juxtaposition of the cat & the painting, and the idea of doing a painting of a painting. Though as it worked out I didn’t even try to paint the rose as if it were a flat object. I just had fun with it. Even the colour is emotive rather than realistic. Which is often the case in my paintings.
This is a view from Fort Rodney at Pigeon Island National Park in St. Lucia. I grew up very close to this location, and I often do this hike when I go back to visit my parents. Long before it became a National Park it was a popular place to go for a “beach picnic” with family and friends.
We would hang out all day at the beach, in and out of the water (and in my case, reading under a coconut tree). While the adults sat around drinking rum and playing cards or dominos, the kids would go exploring. The look-out point at the highest part of the island just had an old, shaky ladder in those days and it was quite scary climbing up or down, but the reward at the top was a fantastic view. Which is why there are also a couple of old cannons up there.
I encourage you to read this article about Pigeon island, it has some very exciting history of the place which includes pirates, battles (St. Lucia changed hands between the French and English 14 times) and even a period when the island was owned by an English actress (my Mom and her friends remember having to row a boat out there to go to parties). That was before they dredged up the sand and created the causeway joining the island to the main land.
The more I think of it, the more stories I have about this place. I even went there to take pictures on my wedding day. The red roofs you see in the painting are those of Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa & Beach Resort, which attests to the beauty of the location as well as to its popularity.
If you’re ever visiting St. Lucia, I recommend Pigeon Island National Park as a great place to spend the day, or even a couple of hours.
Intense I know. I might paint the pair to this, from photos I took while the rain was falling. On a mountainous island, when you’re up high, you can see the rain coming. When you have no-where to go, and can just look out at the rain, it’s quite beautiful.
My favourite thing as a child was to read on a rainy day. Actually, I read every spare moment I got, but my idea of bliss was to curl up in bed and read my weekend away. I loved to sit up and look out the window next to my bed at the water falling on the croton leaves. Or down the hill where the rain made puddles in the dirt road. And who doesn’t like the soothing sound of rain? Especially on a galvanized rooftop.
The rain can come on suddenly in the Caribbean, big fat drops that soak through your clothes and cool you down. Then just as suddenly it stops, and the sun shines down and dries you up. I never wore a raincoat as a child, very seldom used an umbrella. We weren’t worried about things like “acid rain”, it was just a part of nature, a fact of life.
If you were in town when the rain fell, you’d huddle under the nearest storefront with a bunch of strangers and exchange smiles and maybe some conversation. It never lasted long. And maybe we welcomed it too, after the long dry season … the same way North Americans welcome the spring after a long winter.
This is the painting I did yesterday, it was too dark to photograph in natural light by the time I was done, so I decided just to go ahead & get a head start on today’s painting & photograph & post them both today.
I had some set-backs yesterday, starting with having to wait an hour for roadside assistance – I had a flat tire. It was a very cold day, so I was glad it happened just outside my kids’ school so that I could wait inside. The tow truck guy who did come said that the reason I had to wait so long, and why he would have not taken the call if he knew … was because of the kind of vehicle I drive. It’s a Grand Caravan, and the spare tire is not in the trunk, it’s under the van. A poor design in his opinion because you have to stick a pole thing (not the official name I’m sure) in a spot in between the driver’s seat & the passenger seat to unscrew & release the mechanism that holds it in place. And that gets trickier if you have a console in that spot, or if you have a big fancy radio put in (there is a piece that goes on the top of the pole to help you turn it & it’s a very tight spot. “Scratch that, and it’s $4000” he shook his head). Luckily, I don’t go in for bells and whistles – as long as my vehicle can get my kids and paintings from point A to point B and isn’t always breaking down, I’m happy!
Anyway, my original plans for painting on location were scuttled and it was already afternoon before I settled at my easel to begin this painting. Coconut trees are of course a common sight in St. Lucia – like most tropical locations. And the image that comes to mind when you hear the words “castaway”, “shipwreck” or “island” is of a little island/big rock with one or more coconut trees. I called the painting Nature’s bounty because I was thinking of ways you could use coconuts, or coconut trees to survive if you were shipwrecked on an island … you could drink the water and eat the jelly, use the fronds to build some shelter and the husks for kindling. And there’s more. But first, you’d have to figure out how to climb the trees to get fresh coconuts. Survival of the fittest.
This is the 3rd Hibiscus gem painting out of three.
I have to say my energy is flagging at this point. For those of you doing the 30 in 30 Challenge, how are you feeling now that we are almost 2/3 done? Has this been a good experience for you?
One of the interesting things that has happened to me is that a number of my artist friends have written to say that they are inspired by what I’m doing. Three of them have even started their own individual challenge!
Another positive is that a few people have said they’re glad to learn a little more about me as an artist, through my writing and through the new diversity in my subject matter this month.
One down side was some negativity from a couple of artists – which I realize stems from their own unhappiness & desire to be doing what I’m doing. Don’t be fooled, every artist can think of other artists who they admire for their skill/projects/sales/connections or life circumstances which allow them more time to pursue their art professionally etc. etc.
The key to getting out of this negative spiral is to change your attitude, accept that the other person has their own struggles, may even have had to make sacrifices that you wouldn’t even consider, and they are just on a different path. Life as an artist is a very individual path – it’s only when you make choices that are authentic to you that you are able to advance towards your own definition of success. So when you are having negative thoughts, before you lash out (even in a passive-aggressive way), look instead for the “take-away”, some insight that you can use to create positivity for yourself, and then take action.
Of course the overwhelming response has been positive. I’m hearing from people who I didn’t even realize were following my art career, and several people have commented that the work I’ve done so far with this challenge shows dedication, focus, commitment. The funny thing is that the only reason they’re saying that is because they’re seeing a new, SMALL painting every day. Usually I may take 2 weeks to do a large painting, or a week for a small one. And I put in nearly the SAME amount of time & effort!
Normally I take my time to build up the painting in layers, reworking problem areas as many times as necessary. And instead of blogging, I’d be reading arts business articles, looking at inspiring art on the internet etc. I’m not going to list the myriad of actual tasks that come along with being a professional artist, but let’s just say that this year I want to do less thinking, research & planning (worrying, seeking “expert” opinions & procrastinating), and more following my intuition and creating my own projects, saying no to the ones that are offered to me but don’t advance my goals.
This is the second of 3 hibiscus paintings, they’re three different views of the same flower … oriented to the left, center and right. They could hang as a series, but of course it’s not necessary, they can also each go to a separate collector. The 6″x6″ paintings also look really pretty on a simple picture stand on a table.
I like hibiscus because they’re open, bright and friendly, welcoming somehow. They do remind me of home, and a friend was just saying that they remind her of trips to Hawaii … I suppose they are reminiscent of any tropical location. Usually they bring back great memories for people … of relaxing vacations or exotic places, or just home.
Just in time … here’s my painting for day 17. (I photographed it again in the morning in natural light, this is a more accurate photo than the one I included with the post last night).
I was running late today for several reasons … so I did not start this painting till after dinner tonight. I hope to get back on track tomorrow.
I chose a subject I’m quite familiar with … I’ve painted many a hibiscus before, but they’re all different. There are so many varieties left to do … this is a subject I come back to often. If you take a look at my Available & Portfolio pages you’ll see some of the ones I’ve done already. Most of them were photographed on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, but they’re quite common here in Burlington too as houseplants, or outdoors in the summer.
Today I sent out my first newsletter with Mailchimp. There are a lot of things I’d like to change before next month’s newsletter, but I’ve been promising to do this for a long time, and it was one of my January goals, so yay me!
Also I had a lovely visit with a friend who I haven’t seen in years, but recently connected with on Facebook, when she came to pick up a painting – “Fast food”. It was perfect timing, the studio and surrounds really needed cleaning & I’ve been so focused on this challenge and juggling everything else in my life that I’d been putting it off for too long. I’ve always found that visitors are the best incentive for doing housework. Now I can probably make it through the second half of the challenge!
It’s an incredible feeling to get an e-mail from a gallery to say they’ve sold a painting WHILE you’re at the easel working on a new painting. I’ve been lucky enough to have that happen several times. However, the down side is that you don’t know who has bought the painting … though sometimes they’ll tell me which country it’s going to, or if it’s a couple, or a corporate gift etc. It feels good to know a little something, I’m not hugely sentimental, – as long as I have documentation of the work, I’m thrilled for someone else to take it home and pay for my supplies to work on the next painting – but it does give a little closure.
However, my point was … I love it when I get to meet the collectors myself, it’s usually such a positive experience. And I love studio visits from collectors, other artists, dealers, journalists … ok, ANYONE who will let me talk about my art. I suppose that’s because it’s my passion, but on the other hand, I’m not exactly anti-social. And usually I’m equally as interested in finding out more about the other person. I would not do well as a hermit. That’s why my studio is completely open to my family, steps away from the kitchen or front door. If I need to concentrate, I put on headphones, but they always know where to find me.
I painted this nude from life earlier, but today I added the anthurium flower and reworked the painting to give it a more subtle/soft mood to enhance and play up the feminine subject & the softness of skin. I did however try to keep as much of the original painting as possible.
Several of my artist friends are figurative painters, and sometimes I join them for life drawing sessions organized by 337 Sketch Gallery, upstairs 337 Ottawa St. N, Hamilton, ON. There is no instructor, but Anne is the facilitator – we all contribute towards the model fees and snack. It’s an enjoyable way to spend the evening, and a valuable practice for an artist to maintain, even when it is separate from their regular body of art like it is for me.
Every now and then I do something that l’m proud of, like this sketch of a female model.
However, most of the time I jump in with colour long before I’ve resolved issues with the drawing and try to build the form that way. That may be partly because of the way I paint, and partly because I don’t draw from the figure often enough have an intimate knowledge of the musculature etc. Anyway, since I see this as an exercise, and I don’t plan on doing anything with the finished drawing, I’m more willing to take risks and make bold moves. Which often means I’ll experiment and the piece ends up being mixed media, like the one below.
The great thing about these sessions is that we are painting from a real live model as opposed to a photo, so not only is there more information to take in, but you have to stay in the moment to get as much out of the session as you can.
This is a form of daily painting, like plein air painting, and the best part of it is seeing directly how an artist thinks. Ideally, each stroke tells something about how the work was made, and this directness probably conveys more about the artist’s initial reaction to the subject than if the painting is worked on through several sessions. At its core, there is something spiritual about this practice, something to do with the mind, spirit & body connection.
I’ve wanted to try a monochromatic painting for a long time, and I really had fun with this. Some artists do something similar to this as an underpainting and then glaze on other colours. I sketch in the basic composition with my paintbrush to start off, but I usually can’t resist jumping in with colour soon after. This time I planned to keep the painting somewhat monochromatic, but I added a few extra colours to keep it interesting to me. I used burnt umber, raw sienna, titanium white and dioxazine purple.
I found that working on the 6″x6″ paintings I was using smaller & smaller brushes to get the detail I wanted, so I decided to work on a little bigger canvas so that I can loosen up. It really helped. Although I still painted on two days (last night & this morning), I wasn’t feeling as rushed because I was enjoying myself more.
I have a lot of great reference photos from this photo shoot, I’d like to try a much larger canvas some time. If that sounds interesting to you …e-mail me about a commission! We can work out payment terms to suit your budget. Also, please share this post to let your friends know about my work … maybe they’d like to follow my progress through the challenge as well.
Today’s painting marks the half-way point, two more weeks to go!
BLUE ROOTS ART STUDIO – acrylic paintings of Caribbean & Canadian landscape, flowers & foliage. Burlington, ON, Canada. 905-639-3419
