Su Blackwell

   
As a book lover, I am continually inspired by Su Blackwell's remodelled books that quite literally bring the stories within to life. Intricately cut paper sculptures emerge from the pages of old books, creating a new narrative from the old and transforming flat paper into a fully realised world.

 The stories within each scene are vividly imagined, offering a tiny glimpse into the world contained within the books pages, while her meticulous cutting offers a wealth of detail, bringing a sense of movement and narrative to the sculpted pages. I'm drawn to the transformation taking place within a normally contained work, books splayed open as though the writing within has escaped from its pages. The text still visible in the sculptural elements ties each piece together and the gentle glow in many of her more recent works give a feeling of habitation as though they really have come to life.

More of her work can be found at her website and information for her kickstarter which aims to fund an illustrated activity book "Into the Dark Woods" is here.

Whale Fall

Whale Fall

Strange bodies meet

where taxidermists stitch

by tall tales and lamplight

Flesh erupts in putrid neon,

and bones float softly in their sockets.

Filtering anodyne dreams, you sleep

wrapped in sweat-damp sheets

yellowed and rippling.

A wake attended by the hungry.

And I'm standing here,

sucking in iodine tears

for a fallen whale.

 "In this collaborative exhibition, artists Nicholas Crombach and Nurielle Stern explore subject matter derived from the complex, problematic and often mythologized human relationship to the natural world." On at the Clay & Glass Gallery until September 8, 2019

The blind boy and the loon

The blind boy and the loon.
Happy Nunavut Day! July 9 celebrates two acts passed in 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act. Nunavut then officially became a territory on April 1, 1999. This beautiful animation is based on a traditional Inuit tale that explains the origins of the narwal and the perils of revenge.

Rivers and Tides

Andy Goldsworthy has long been one of those artists I am continually inspired by. His work is a collaboration with nature, often defying all expectations of what can be accomplished using only raw materials found in their natural environment. As his works are site specific and often sculptural, it is all the more wonderful to me that they are constructed using the natural elements of each site so that the work is integrally linked to the space in which it is assembled. Part of the beauty (or perhaps downfall) in using these materials, however, is the ephemerality of many of these works. Leaves, twigs, ice or water based projects can quickly decay, wash away or fall apart leaving only their memories, or a photographic reference that most of these works are viewed through. Even the more sturdy of his constructs such as his many stone cones and other rock sculptures have the potential to eventually be disassembled by time...

Harry Clarke

The Eve of St. Agnes

       Who can describe the magic that is Harry Clarke's stained glass images? His most famous piece, The Eve of St. Agnes is an illustration of the Keats poem of the same name. It resides in the Hugh Lane in Dublin–the work is admirable in itself but I am drawn in by Clarke's distinctive style. I originally saw the sketches for this work before the finished product and was enamored with the delicate and detailed drawings and slightly odd looking characters...

The Eve of St. Agnes (detail)

The finished product is essentially a comic book in stained glass, a series of panels that show scenes from the poem. It is enchanting, enthralling and and lovely but also holds a sinister bent, not just from the tale itself but in the renderings of each person. The glass panels, though transformed through the brilliant colours and backlight also carry shadows that hint at some of the strangeness and creepiness of the narrative.

The Masque of the Red Death

Harry Clarke, illustration from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

   















 I am very much drawn to the incredible detail of his pen work. The stark black and white images carry the same magic that his stained glass work does, yet the closer you look, the more there is to discover. When seen from a distance they are arresting, the images convey a sense of narrative and an intriguing sense of mystery. Many also have an odd disturbing quality that I find equally intriguing, appropriately he illustrated Edgar Allen Poe's stories as well.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Inspired by: Alan E. Cober

Illustration from The Dark is Rising

Lately I have been working more in pen & ink, sketching and doodling than in painting and Alan E. Cober is one of those artists who I've been looking to for inspiration in terms of the many possibilities open to the medium. I was introduced to him through his fantastic illustrations for Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, but his creations extend far beyond his work for books (he also illustrated Beowulf). His unique style bridges the enforced gaps that occurred between fine art and illustration and he was an advocate for the acceptance of these new values in illustration. Much more detail can be read on him at the society of illustrators page.

Wide Sargasso Sea

acrylic on canvas, 2014

"I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its beauty and its magic and the secret I would never know. I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and the loveliness. She had left me thirsty and all my life would be thirst and longing for what I had lost before I found it..."

–Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea

Gallery Visit: Jane Ash Poitras at the ROM

"Potato Peeling 101 to Ethnobotany 101" Jane Ash Poitras, 2004
mixed media

Jane Ash Poitras is a well recognized figure in First Nations contemporary art and the paintings featured in the ROMs First Peoples gallery show why. Bursting with colour and rich in imagery, they give a profound sense of narrative that explores the impact of colonialism in First Nations people.

Enso

This series of paintings is based on a class workshop where each student was asked to teach something to the class. I chose kung fu. I chose to translate this through enso paintings because of the many shared philosophies between the two practices. Both are a Buddhist tradition (Shaolin Five Animal Kung Fu) and can be linked in terms of both mindset and movement.

These works are not true enso paintings in the strictest sense but were heavily inspired by the philosophy behind it. Enso in Zen Buddhist painting is a moment where the mind is free to let the body and spirit create. It is not an art form practised by professional artists but rather a form of meditation, letting the spirit be present in the work. It is believed that the true character and spiritual realization of the painter is demonstrated through the mark making. 

Since this series was based on my kung fu workshop, I strove for the evidence of explosive movement coupled with dedication to the stroke. I also wanted to draw the connection between myself and my art, creating a more personal aspect to it. To me, they symbolize the inherent perfection of imperfection, the striving to improve but also the humility to accept things as the way they are meant to be.

“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.” 

― Albert Einstein          

Plein Air

Dwarfed by boulders, set in a landscape of stone and wood, the beach looks out onto the waters of Georgian Bay where the Giants Tomb stands in stark relief against the sky. It is the resting place of the spirit Kitchikewana. Blue shadows chase each other across its surface, quick and silent as if at any moment the giant could  be awakened. As fast as they are gone, they are replaced, a constantly shifting mass that seems to bring the island to life under my very eyes. The wind is a perpetual, ever growing presence, playfully lifting the waves into white caps that dance around the rocks on shore. The trees wave back in response, only just beginning to show the brazen colours that will soon adorn them, as yet revealing only a hint of what is to come.

Plein air painting at Awenda Provincial Park

Painting a picture with words is harder than painting with a brush, but neither of them do the reality justice.

Touch the Sky

"The High Road to Linton" acrylic on canvas 8x10

"Lochaber Dance" acrylic on canvas 8x10

"Return to Kintail" acrylic on canvas 8x10

     These paintings were inspired by traditional Irish and Scottish tunes, hence the names. I've always wanted to travel to both these countries but so far have only managed it through my art. Celtic music is especially inspirational to me as it is so evocative of the landscapes where it originated.

Picasso

"I paint the way some people write an autobiography. The paintings, finished or not, are the pages from my diary." So said Pablo Picasso, and after having seen an exhibition that spans most of his career, I can testify that his life was evidently as interesting as his art.

The exhibition I saw at the AGO was a collection of numerous paintings, sketches and sculptures that Picasso had kept for himself, works that would continue to inspire him over the course of a 70 year career.

Two Women Running on the Beach (The Race)
1922

Although Picasso is most famous for his invention and pioneering of Cubism along with Georges Braque, he experimented in virtually every style and medium of the time. From realism to abstraction in his painting along with sculpture, collage, and drawing, Picasso mastered it all and radically changed modern art.

Figures on the Seashore, 1931

Of course Picasso is a staple in any art history class as he was a major innovator in the art world, inventing new styles that completely changed modern art. But seeing these pieces in the flesh is a completely different experience then that of viewing small scale reproduction. The same images are shown again and again in art history texts in an effort to reinforce the importance of the artist, almost excessively so. Seeing a show comprised entirely of his works makes you realize why Picasso is so emphasized in the first place.

Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937

What I love about Picasso is the fact that he didn't confine himself in his art. His style constantly changed significantly as he explored many different ideas and techniques. He painted, collaged and sculpted, experimented, invented and ultimately became known as one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century.

Seeing these works also drove home the fact that it is not simply their exposure that makes Picasso's works powerful. As Picasso said, these paintings are an autobiography of himself. They reveal the unique vision of the artist in a way that draws you into the work to become one with the painting, and ultimately the story.