An Art Filled Day - Maximum Entertainium

Day Tripping to Petrolia


Saturday found the town of Petrolia featuring a feverish embrace of extreme individuality and free market pursuit with the arts as the center. I first took in the art show at the Victoria Theatre. Below are wall shots from that show.

Next I find myself walking through the labyrinthine alleys(not really) that snake between the canopies and stalls at Petrolia's "Art in the Park". Live music from the stage enlivens the art scene here. Have you heard of "Kat-Spat Art"? It's Karen Benusik's art business. Karen won Honourable Mention at a recent art competition held by the Sarnia Artists' Workshop. Karen is pictured above with a selection of her art.

Lindsay Peterson, shown to the left and below, is into art in a huge way. Her canvas for this exciting acrylic towers above her in height.


My last stop in Petrolia was at Tim Hortons. I couldn't have timed my visit there any better. In walked the town celebrity artist Diane Nelles!

The Heart of Broadway - Downtown Sarnia

Evening fell and the performing arts beckoned. The Heart of Broadway is part of Imperial Theatre's Starbright Summer Festival. Prior to the show I enjoyed the art of Aron Tager which is featured in the lobby area at the theatre. While chatting with this Toronto Artist, I learn that he is an actor who took a 25-year hiatus to focus solely on art. He has now returned to the stage and may be seen in "Tuesdays with Morrie" another performance in the summer festival. Aron explained to me his technique of collageing corrugated cardboard to small areas of his canvas and then painting on it. His art is unique and interesting. Then it was show time! A wonderful musical performance played to a packed house. "Arthur in the Afternoon" and "I Feel Pretty" were high hilarity. David Rogers did not disappoint the audience with his "Music of the Night". The performers energy even permeated my mind, however, after an Almond Joy martini at On the Front Restaurant I was ready to head home.

My weekend did not go by without actually painting. From one of Jack Reid's art classes, I remembered his statement that one must use the proper brush for the subject being painted. He also said that as a general rule of thumb to use a big brush as long as you can to paint broad areas like backgrounds.

I wanted to paint my friend sitting on a bench in Wawanosh Wetlands park. So -ooooo what would be the proper brush? I went looking in my handmade brush bag (pictured above) and found a number 20 round.

Even the name on the brush suggests it is the "proper" brush to paint the wetlands - the name being "Wet Willie"! I kid you not. How could I fail? I could be a real painter that was derailed in life by circumstance. I do hope you realize that this is all very "tongue in cheek".
I stand at my paper with Wet Willie in my hand, and hope for a mystical dimension that would be filled with visionary moments in which images would appear uninvited onto the paper. I am having fun with this - I mean this blog, as winged words flow from my fingers on the keyboard.
And here is "Helen of Wawanosh". I feel it does capture a sense of solitude and silence. It's a watercolour approximately 24" x 13". I could subject my efforts here to the whims and perfectionist attitude however I prefer to think of my painting as an "unclaimed treasure". You may have an opportunity to critique this painting at our Thursday meeting.

Believe it or not, chicken breasts are now calling my name - using smoke signals that are billowing from the BBQ on my balcony. Hmmmmmmmm blackened chicken on tonight's menu! Happy Painting!

Talented Thursday

The day - Thursday, of course. To be precise, July 9, 2009 at the Kinsmen Center in Sarnia. The magical morning when creators gather to socialize, paint, and critique each others works of art. Artistry rules the morning and masterpieces appear with the stroke of a brush (oh, how we wish). There is no single optimal path to producing a successful painting. Coping with the uncertainties of a blank canvas, members approach their labour of love using different methods. For some of us, expectations do not conform to what we actually produce, however there are those happy accidents and being involved in a creative act is its own reward. When we put our brush to paper, the power that makes the grass grow, colour glow, and fruit ripen, is alive within each of us. This Thursday, Josee, one of the group's members shared this page from her sketchbook. The drawing to the right is a scene Josee sketched while on location.

To the left is one of Josee's completed paintings.

Painting can become obsessive. It can also provide a sanctuary. We toil for hours developing imagery gleamed from our minds. Someone once said that no art that isn't personal has any vitality. Well, 6+1 members are now working on a self portrait project so it can't get any more personal than that. Our Gallery of Self Portraits will be a tribute to vitality!

Our art group is not composed of introverts who seek refuge in the thicket of our lush imaginations. We also avail of every opportunity to exhibit our work. Currently you will see artwork by our group hung at On the Front Restaurant, Olive's Fine Dining, and at Young's Jewellers. To the right and below are two of Phyllis' paintings that are now hanging at Young's Jewellers. Cicero said "Constant practice devoted to one subject often out does both intelligence and skill. " In our group, we do practice constantly and it has paid off. Passion is always in fashion and our art shows scream passion - we cherish and celebrate our artistic endeavours. Check out our members' galleries on the group's web site.

SUMMER SUMMARY

Keeping my brush in the 6+1 painter’s pot…
and brushing up on the art of painting, here at St Lawrence College, Brockville Campus. (They have a Summer Arts School and a full time arts course as well. Paint me Green!)
I have been able to take two full weeks of instruction this summer and in each course, I ran the gamut of anticipation, challenge, intensity and exhaustion, finally ‘getting it” some time midweek. Whew! Though both courses were different by description, instruction, and medium, they both emphasized and re-emphasized, design and value.


In the non-objective course, Abstraction in Acrylic, (actually Non-Objective in Acrylic), we began the week by filling 36 boxes with 3-7 shapes, using the whole sheet of watercolour paper. That was followed by value exercises of 36 boxes of 3-7 shapes in 3 values – white, black and grey and then, 36 boxes of 3-7 shapes, applying colour (and value!). From boxes to quarter sheets, to half sheets and finally to the full sheet. Everything, even the boxes, every one's work, was critiqued. The last critique, our 'masterpieces', 3 of each of the 22 participants, ran from 1 pm to 4 pm on the last day! As you know, a great learning tool.
What I also learned: Though one might think these paintings look like a child had painted them, ( maybe a child could), it is not that easy for an adult to do so.
Instructor’s Quote:
- Non-Objective Painting does not have an object, there is no subject, there is no image, ever.

The Revelations from the Renaissance course, (oil painting), included Art History, a visit to the National Art Gallery to see the exhibition, “From Raphael to Carracci The Art of Papal Rome” 1503-1605, Michelangelo, Raphael, Vasari, Caracci; and a live model for a day. It was an emphasis on Space Rules and included Value Sketches. Movement. Telling a Story. Planning. Underpainting.

Layering. And much more.
What I also learned: Renaissance Paintings have underlying mathematics and Layers of Meaning.
Instructor’s Quotes:
-Beware the Visual Artist, they are the only ones who survived the Inquisition.
-Every square inch of the canvas is important
-Art Should ask questions, be open for exploration

Looking forward to the posting of 6+1 Self Portraits!!!

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Creative Self-portraits

The challenge of doing a self-portrait is a bit intimidating, I think. Should it be mirror-image or photographic?(because we know that the two sides of our faces are different from each other) Realistic or fantastic? Dolores had some creative interpretations of a few photographs at Group yesterday, to get us thinking!

Anyway, I thought I would get my pretty friend Phoebe to help me play around on the computer and see what I would come up with. There are a couple of distortion tools that could change just one area if desired, or the whole picture. Yes, this is fun! I'm not so sure I would paint myself green, though...and Phoebe didn't tell me which portrait she liked the best (if any!).

It will be interesting to see what ideas we all come up with for our own self-portraits; I think it will be liberating in a way, because we will be free to choose any treatment of the subject that we wish. Is it still a self-portrait if it doesn't resemble the original? Maybe we would have to ask Picasso for the answer to that!