VISIT

This morning a meeting to organize for the November SAW show. Paid as much attention as I could to how this was coming together cause I may very well need to know next year. This time however, my task will be to do the emails and to be present to help as needed any where. We shall see how that goes. Learned that Dave is in Palliative care at the hospital and receiving visitors. Not good.

An email from Floyd's son Mark advised that Floyd had died of a stroke at home, some time last Tuesday. In the afternoon, went to Smith Funeral Home to pay respects to Floyd's family. What a wonderful bunch of people! Others from the Arts community were there throughout the time, some coming, others on their way out. Karen was there! It has been a long time since seeing her and she seems to be doing well. Floyd's painting of his grandaughter's cat was on display near the casket and there were photos of him with all the grandkids sitting on the couch. Poignant. Beautiful!

Talk About Art

There was more posting to SAW members using the SAW gmail service this morning. Gallery Lambton is hosting a meeting tomorrow night to hear back from the consultants regarding a New Gallery or New Space for the Gallery. The other news concerned Floyd. The Lawrence House is going to rename their upcoming annual show and sale, previously called Colours, now called The Floyd Gibson Colours Show. I hope he is pleased. Floyd really pushed our members to participate in this show and was quite disappointed if the numbers were low. He worked hard in encouraging entrants but also at the desk at the Lawrence House. Thanks Floyd!

.

It was Joey day, and I did not get time to apply several more layers of paint onto the canvas I have tackled. Jojo is a busy little one flitting from one item to another and leaving a trail of "Joey's been here evidence behind." Cutie nonetheless. Later when Amy and mom returned from music class, she went off with mom. Then, Amy and I opened up the magnetic version of paper dolls. Barbie of course! This absorbed her/us and was a good interactive exercise. I am going to try to find some magnetic sheets and will show Ames how to trace clothes she has now and create new ones. She will do the painting and decorating of the new ones.

.

Once weary of this entertainment, she wanted to paint. Off to the art room-come-studio where I keep an Art Box. The kids use my old watercolour paper that has been torn down to postcard size. They use children's paint trays though. Amy made two paintings with lots of colour and more controlled design than what she was doing in the spring. She said she had copied my painting of the cottage. I couldn't tell that.

.

I remember being in a watercolour portrait class a few years ago and a very fine looking female sat for the class. We all worked on our portraits and the instructor came by to give hints and encouragement. My neighbour received as much as any other in the room. Later I looked at her painting and could not understand what she saw when she looked at this model. It escaped me then and does still, but I wonder, does Amy see the cottage in her brush strokes, just as that young woman saw the model in hers? Is this the truly different way of seeing that is talked about in art circles?

.

The tree painting begun yesterday, has developed further but now looks more like a single trunk with many off shoots. The gelled marks left on the canvas from the previous painting are attracting too much attention and are starting to make little sense in this composition. Could they become a fence? It would seem a good idea since the tree now appears to sit at the edge of a very high elevation, overlooking treetops far below.

.

I have found and printed out various sizes of the North Carolina goat house. Thursday I will get a canvas and begin this more realistic but hopefully painterly work.

DAY OF CONTRASTS

Yesterday evening I pulled out some acrylics and began to reshape the painting on my easel , semi-satisfied, set it aside, and pulled out another canvas that had been gessoed. With nothing in mind, the marks placed on the canvas became trees, clustered together as though all belonging to the same roots. The bottom portion of the canvas had already been gelled for another purpose and using the same colours that had been used for the tree, I developed the roots and a division of land. Both were given an isolation coat and then set aside, waiting........

Today I went to a church fair and reacquainted with several old friends, enjoyed looking at the silent auction items [hope to hear that my bid was highest for one of them], bought a Christmas mug, had tea and muffin with Norma, headed off to Gallery Lambton.

What a powerful pair of installations! Shawn's: The entire floor covered in dirt and straw. Tree trunks arranged around the room, and a flashing video of the downtown core, one devoid of green and the other filled with green trees. Peter von Tiesenhoeven's was dramatic. The gallery was nearly dark but enough light to lead the way in. Separated by dividers , with entrance pillars of tall invasive grasses like corn stooks, sat the iron model amongst corn husks, and in the corner a mossy triagular pile. On the wall a video played of waves lapping onto the beach. Almost hidden, I discovered another video presentation, 2 screens, contrasting beautiful sunshine while the other portrayed pinkish gases. Then the feet, huge feet from toes to ankle top, backed by box pillars and of various heights holding large bottles of clear water. Wah! Gets to the core!

The feet were featured on the front page of our newspaper just after the installation opened and we were told that they were costructed out of the dirt that was exposed by the sewer-separation project on the main street outside the gallery. More recently, the iron man was pictured in the paper. Peter is seeking permission from City Council to bury the iron man in road, not to be marked, or anything, simply buried there. It will likely happen, but I think that is to be determined on Monday.

How lucky we are to have the opportunity to experience this form of Art right at our doorstep, a 7 minute drive away.

I signed up for the silver jewellery class to be held at the end of next week, got groceries and came home. We went to see Paschendale this evening. There was a verbal painting of a picture that passed between the two lovers and came in and out of the story from beginning to the end.

On another note: 600,000 people died to take/defend that town and three months later, it was lost/taken back again. Futile!

SAD

Tonight I have learned that one of the artists in our community, a friend, and recently a member of 6+1 has died. There is currently no more information as not all family has been contacted.

Floyd grew up in Gananoque though we met here in Sarnia. Angie, the love of his life died in the spring. There are two children.

Apparently, Floyd was painting when he died.



Painting by Floyd













.













.

SURPRISES

This painting that came home from the cottage finally made it to our Thursday group!

I wasn't sure if it was done or not and wanted some input. I was amazed by the response, most saying it was done but also that I'd changed my style and they liked it. I don't think my style has changed but perhaps it has become looser, or the realism of the landscape is more evident this time. Whatever, I am pleased and I think I will enter it in the Colours Show at the Lawrence House.

We had a very full group this morning at 6+1 group and a lot of paintings for critique. A critique really helps but sometimes ours gets too nit picky. I wish we could learn this skill together and be more like our guest critics at the Wolfe Awards. Floyd broached that kind of critique recently.

Yay! We have a new Web Master for SAW! and I may have help with sending out the Emal messages to our members. Good Stuff!

I want to paint that old falling down house and the goats that I took a photo of when visiting cousins in North Carolina. Will I be able to keep it loose?

White Water Rafting Spill

.

After the experience!

White Water Rafting Spill

on the Ottawa River

Acrylic on canvas

All 12 of us survived, including the guides!

.

.

.

ELECTION DAY CANADA

What is the picture that forms when one thinks of Election Day in Canada. I see in my mind's eye, a black and white photo or sketch, or is it a scene from a movie, and think it is Darcy McGee. Is that because of our visit to Parliament Hill and reading of his assassination on a plaque there. [Also saw the bronzed bigger than life statues of the five women who helped our parliament declare the status of women...persons! Beautiful. Bless them!] Oh dear, where might that go with a pencil or pen in hand.

.

You may have noticed the new links to art articles on the sidebar of this blog. If you wish to read any of them you will leave this blog, and can only return by clicking on the 'back arrow' in the top menu of the page visited or of course, you can always use the same method you used to get here in the first place.

No works of art being produced here yet. The SAW Annual Meeting is this evening and there is prep for that to be done. Other things beckon as well, so I have decided to share my driving home from the cottage artistic experience.

The Doodle. I purchased my grandson's version of the etch a sketch from their garage sale and merrily doodled away as we sailed through Toronto on the 401. Pretty much from Oshawa to Guelph, I was pre-occupied in my car studio. Eventually, I took photos of some of the doodles. They grace this blog!???

.

If you Google "Etch a Sketch Artists"..... you will see the real thing. Unbelievable!

Some videos on Youtube too.

The drawings are made using the right and left dials not with a stylo like I used.

Note: The sand is drained so that the image cannot be shaken away.

Old Watercolour & Street Art

Today all sorts of emails arrived in response to yesterday's Exec Meeting. Rita has the brochure ready and Margaret has the agenda set. I've contacted Dewy and got a photo of her pottery to send to Rita for the brochure.
I see there is a meeting re Art In The Park on Friday morning. Am I to go?

I am on track getting some areas of this house cleaned out. Must have a 100 floppys waiting for dispersal to dump or recycle, along with broken head phones and other wires. The process meant looking at the content of each of the floppys and re-saving to the computer and then erasing from the disc. Lots of photos of early watercolours, some looking not too shabby.

This morning, Diane sent a copy of my father's 1910 baptism at Fairmount Methodist Church, Annex, Montreal and tonight, Judy called from Australia and asked what religion the family had been. I found a photo and some history of the Fairmount church, now a synagogue, on Montreal Spacing website and sent the link to both of them. Judy remembered hearing of Caledonia Road in Toronto and remembered that as the name of the street where our parents had lived as children. Eureka! She remembers a photo of her mother sitting on the steps of that house and will dig through her box of photos to try to locate it.

I went to Montreal Spacing to send the Fairmount Church article and then decided to check out Toronto Spacing re Caledonia Road. No photos of the street but some information regarding its past and photos of some murals that decorate bridges in the area. Street Art. If you want to take a look, google 'Toronto Spacing' and put Caledonia Road in the search box.

.

PAINTING for the New House

This weekend Rodger and Suzanne chose a watercolour painting for their new home. Interesting that a photo taken by Suze was the model for this particular painting and that the photo was taken on Hwy 42 enroute to Delta.

I wonder where it will hang?

Today is the SAW 'pre-Annual Meeting' Executive meeting at Dagmar's. We have a new brochure prepared by Rita to review and an agenda to put in place. Many things to do..................................leads me to exclaim, "I'd rather be painting!" but the Exec is filled with great people to plan with and to be with. I am off and running.

This painting was begun at the cottage. On Thursday it will go to the painting group for my entry in the challenge. This photo is so light and bright because the sun was shining on the painting when I took the picture. How to make that clean clear colour with paint?????

ARTY PARTY & Installation Gallery Lambton

Fantastic presentation at Gallery Lambton tonight.

The Arty Party was potluck and included a slideshow. There are currently three installations being set up for this month's First Friday Opening and we did not get a sneak preview. All three will be interesting, and having met the installers, visited the websites, watched Peter's slideshow and come to know and understand this artist a bit, I am now even more interested in seeing what will be presented.

The slideshow began with pictures of Peter's home located near the border of Alberta and BC and near an "energy recovery operation". The pictures showed that the land is being raped around him. The trees are dying in groves. His son has half a heart, literally! Is there a connection?

He made us laugh and he made us ponder. A view of a swamp pond and the sunlit green brush and trees contrasted with his neighbour's land, a flat field of pale yellowish crushed wheat stocks.

He explores his land, creates art there, sculpts the frozen pond. Boats and guys! He made a boat by weaving willow branches and set in a field. He created another in the ice on the pond. He lay down on the ice and traced his own outline, then chipped it out to reveal his form deep into the ice. He transferred that idea onto whitewashed charred plywood and gouged out the figure, black on white. Back at the pond, in yet another ice excavation, he saw a glowing figure against dark ice by looking through the side of his diggings. Now he made a white figure appear beside the darker one on the plywood.

But he was not done. Next he released five figures, five guys, from the trees and set them in his field. The five guys were transported standing in the back of a pick up truck. They were installed at a Hamilton Gallery and when it was time to move on, were taken to Newfoundland where they spent the winter standing on rock some 60 feet above the sea.

Peter tried to get them passage via ship through the Northwest Passage but was not successful. In the end, they were installed on the bridge of a ship that offered passage part of the way home and which was later rerouted - yes! - through the Northwest Passage.

Five guys hanging out.

They were picked up at Tuktoyuktuk and continued their journey to northern and then southern BC and home. A trip around the circumference of Canada! But it wasn't over yet. The guys were models for a casting in bronze. The bronze ones stand on a downtown Toronto street near St Michaels Hospital.

And there was so much more. The trailings on a leaf left by an insect known as the Leaf Miner, enlarged and compared to the trailings left by Yukon mining operations, sets off ecological alarms and points in our direction, a larger mite.

And the installations, well, they have to be seen!

Peter von Tiesenhausen (Alberta), Shawn McKnight (Sarnia) and Jihee Min (Montreal) are here installing at Gallery Lambton for the October 3, First Friday opening.

Websites to check out:
http://www.tiesenhausen.net/ and http://www.jiheemin.com/