…this painting reminds me so much of my friend’s mother’s garden
I’m getting ready for a new show in January and I’m experimenting with a new technique of intuitive painting. You would never know that this painting was going to end up as a floral when I started. I think a lot of my paintings will go in that direction but because it’s abstract and intuitive it could take a completely different turn. Spoiler alert: the second painting is also a floral abstract but quite different from this one.
…I think this is what I’ll call this small painting I made last week
Mixed Media – 8 x 10 unframed
….a time to reflect on my Father’s life
Dad always said that November was the hardest month of the year for him. It always made him feel sad, especially in the last few years of his life. He was a very young man, only 17, when he joined the army and he saw many of his friends die before his eyes. He often wondered why he was spared.
The other thing that I think he found difficult was the fact that he fought for the ‘other side’ and he knew that no one, here, would be thanking him for his service. He never talked about it but I know that it weighed heavily on him. I do know that he was always very grateful for the friendships he forged after the war, first with the Americans who helped him after he escaped the Russian prison camp and then with the English who gave him his first job.
Years later he emigrated from Germany to Canada with his new and growing family. He quickly got a good job at the Royal York Hotel in his chosen line of work. He was able to buy a car almost right away and four years after arriving in Toronto he bought his first home in Oakville. Dad always made friends easily with other German immigrants and Canadians alike. No one seemed to look down on him because he fought in the German army.
Over the years Dad pursued a variety of jobs but his happiest days were as an entrepreneur. When I was 16, Mom and Dad started their own fabric and sewing machine business and never looked back. Again Dad was at the top of his game when he was surrounded by people and both he and Mom had close ties with the business and local community.
As the years passed, Dad lost my mother while vacationing in Mexico in 1993 and then his second wife in 2017. When he turned 90 in 2016 we had a big party for him. Despite having lost numerous friends already he always made new friends where ever he went and yet come November he would always reflect on those who had died before him and he would fall into a deep depression.
Dad passed away almost four weeks ago. This Remembrance Day I will reflect on all the good times I had with him in my lifetime. It will be bittersweet. This painting is dedicated to you Dad.
…thanks to Jez for hosting A Fan of …. https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2020/11/09/flowering-cacti-fan-of-84/
This week I’m a fan of my husband’s abstract paintings. Back in August he finally started painting again after a 45 year hiatus. He was primarily painting with acrylics but yesterday he started to experiment with watercolour. Here are his first attempts in this new medium.
This last photo is the first painting in a frame under glass. This one has already been slated as a gift to one of the nurses at MacMaster Hospital in Hamilton.
….another painting using this simple technique with watercolour pencils and black ink
….happy with the first one and not so much with the second
Painting for me is a process. I’m more of an intuitive painter. I put down a mark on the paper and go from there. Sometimes it works out well and other times it doesn’t.
Yesterday I put a heavy black stroke of black ink on my paper and I knew as soon as I did that it would overpower my subject but I continued painting anyway. After finishing the piece I showed it to my husband and he honestly told me that the black was too much. I agreed and I tried to calm it down with white paint and other marks but it didn’t help.
I’ve decided to wait a bit before doing anything with it but I will probably cut it up and use the parts that I like and collage them into another painting.
…it’s been too long
I cleaned off my art table yesterday. That was half the battle. Now I have no more excuses not to paint. On Hallowe’en I actually painted four individual cards for my neighbours but I forgot to photograph them. Painting is very therapeutic for me and I need to do it more often.
I’ve watched dozens of painting videos in the last four months and even though I felt inspired I just couldn’t get motivated to set up the paints. I want to enter an art show later in the month but I have to put my entries on line by November 6th. I’d better get busy. Here is my first attempt at mixed media ….mostly watercolour and ink.
I need a title for this painting. Any suggestions?
This show is running until October 8th and if you’re in town this weekend it will be open to the public on Saturday, Sept 26 for Culture Days. Normally WAAC is only open from Monday to Thursday.
When I went to WAAC ten days ago I saw this show first hand. The participating artists are all members of the Women’s Art Assoc. of Canada. Earlier in the year at the beginning of COVID a call went out for artists to create a piece of work that spoke to them about coming out of the darkness of the pandemic and into the light of hope and new beginnings. Here are a few examples of what you will see when you attend the show.
….instead I’ve been encouraging my husband to start painting
My husband studied art when I first met him and his first job was as a graphic designer. Over the years he contemplated making art as a hobby but life always seemed to get in the way. In the last two weeks after years of encouragement from me he finally picked up a paint brush and started painting. He’s hooked and there’s no stopping him.
To facilitate his painting I made room for him on my art table in my studio. I gave him my acrylic paints and when he ran out of canvases I gave him mine. Right now I’m looking at a mess and am waiting for him to clean so I can work on my own art. He’s actually been pretty good about cleaning up after he finishes a painting but for some reason he’s forgotten this time.
Before his journey started I did manage to complete a couple of assignments from Carla Sonheim’s on-line class that featured six different artists.
….still trying to send mail to our granddaughter
Before Easter our daughter put out a request to the family to send snail mail to Winnie. She was missing her friends and family and getting mail addressed to her might cheer her up. To date we’ve sent four envelopes stuffed with art and ideas to make art, stickers and other little surprises. So far three of the envelopes have been delivered.
We knew that we had to make a trip to Hamilton this week so I started making a paper doll house that came with a doll, furniture, dishes, a rug and a kettle. I ordered it on-line from an artist who was giving the templates away for free. I had so much fun putting it together and before I knew it I started to add more features, like a tree, a pathway, a wall in the backyard, and a outdoor lounging chair.
If you check out the website for Dawning Collective you might still be able to get the doll house kit. Have fun!
