Saturday, June 4, 2011

Spring "House" Cleaning....

































































































As I mentioned in my last post, Deb has been away visiting her beloved Grand Gals... Ava and Ella in Yorkton Saskatchewan for a week. I have been "keeping shop"... as promised... here at the Gallery and have managed to get in some good painting time... and of course... to the beat and rhythms of my own play list! HAHA!!




Before departing Deb announced that upon her return... "We"... would be doing a much needed "house cleaning". I knew fully what that mouthful of words would mean! Things that hadn't seen action in the past two years... would be on the way to Goodwill... or the dumpster! I will admit without any hesitation... "I" am a collector - a "keeper" of things sentimentally attached to any person, event or experience spanning my entire sixty-seven years on the planet. I even collect and keep stored things that I find ... and envision in future paintings. The list is endless... and I know... that Deb is pragmatic... and... realistically ruthless in her desire to keep order in her own life... and in mine!



We are celebrating our 6th anniversary today... so I thought that I would offer an unusual... but none the less... highly meaningful "gift" - a personal cleanup... before "She" arrived home. In so doing... I would at least have the benefit of ridding my Self of the things that had no meaning to "Her"... or to "Me"... perhaps!



The process began in earnest... with an inward promise to be ruthless and earnest in the process. As I made my way through the boxes stored in the basement... two bedroom closets... and the studio.... I began to share her feeling that perhaps this "collection" of memorabilia... was more an avalanche of dated "art-i-facts" which swallowed up precious space in our living and working environments.



I made two trips the the Goodwill Shop... with items of clothing that ranged from never worn... to worn out... to out of style and other items that had been replaced in our living area. There are a lot of empty hangers now... when the weekly wash day comes along! I ran our shredder none-stop for two consecutive days... filling ten clear plastic bags with expired income tax return materials well beyond the seven year period required... and "personal" keepsakes from high school proms and pictures... of faces that I hadn't looked upon since the 50's and 60's- teen aged girlfriends... who most likely look like their mothers at present! Zip!...Zip!! Gone!... but never from my heart! I remember... and cherish the time spent with each and every one!



I have all of my "treasures" remaining in two plastic boxes... filed according to subject so that I can quickly retrieve what I am looking for... without searching closets... the basement "cubbies".. or my piles. I actually know that I have them... but mostly I feel highly relieved and uplifted by the fact that the avalanche has melted away and that there will be no precarious negotiations necessary between Deb and "I"... when "She" assumes the helm next week! Whew!... What a relief that is!





This epiphany was not limited to just the physical "things". The process also crept inward and I began to cull out... or at least question "old" ideas... old rituals and goals. It was during this period of thinking that I landed upon the notion to work in a new medium... acrylics... just to see where that might lead. I also added some figurative pieces to the mix... and came away from the experience encouraged by my success... and the response of people who work regularly in that very specific and demanding genre.



I have gone back to my sketchbooks... and have assembled some great "possibilities" to be considered for projects in the near future. I also cleansed my computer files... deleting older images that now didn't seem to excite me... or that had multiple files. I rearranged my file which house copies of all of my paintings completed... again reworking colour using my Image Zone program... and eliminating multiple copies or ones with poor picture quality.



During my computer house keeping duties... I came across one experimental project...which then became two... and will now become three in the near future. These projects clearly illustrate what I describe as "imagineering"... thinking creatively... outside of the box we all put our Selves into at various times. These projects are "risky"... because they are so "unlike" us and clearly stand out in a roomful of one's work ... as orphans. A strange word to describe them perhaps.... but as in real life "orphans" are children needed love and attention - a chance to have a regular life... to be loved and cherished. These children are CHOSEN... not born! That... makes them SPECIAL!



I offer as an example of this thinking and working process..." Nine Days This Spring" a 24x24 inch canvas, created in the spring of 2008. The painting began in a purely experimental and random "splashing around" of acrylic greens on a pinkish toned canvas. I then divided the canvas into nine 8 inch squares with black ink marker. The I went out into the field and sat down to drawing with an ink brush...just one wildflower... as they appeared... and as I found them. I took several digital images for each at the end of each plein air session.



I began the painting process... only after all of the nine images were in place. I had actually worked out which flowers and where I wanted them on the canvas beforehand in thumbnails in my trusty sketchbook. The paintings of each flower were completed one at a time... and when all were (more or less) completed... I fine tuned values and details until I felt satisfied that they "read" harmoniously.





The "Idea"... then a painting left the gallery quickly and gave way to the second piece... same format... "Summer In Transition' completed in the summer of 2008." In both projects which began similarly...advanced. The final product ... and the imagined version were immensely different... and pleasantly so to "Me." And now ... several years later my house cleaning has offered another slant... and chance for "me"... to play! Stay tuned....





I'll post a cross section of jpeg images from the sketchbook concept and planning... to the final work to give you a visual impression of the process... and leave you to judge for yourself its merit! I'll close with an excerpt from a book I read and reread constantly edited by Ian Jackman. It's entitled: "The Artist's Mentor" (published by Random House Publishing)... a motivational compilation of wonderful quotes and insights from the lives of major artists... from across the breadth of art history:



"Rather than wait[ing] for [a] creative urge to come, the artist is better served by cultivating it."






Good Painting... and Creating to All !























14 comments:

  1. Love your wildflowers--very pretty. Good for you for cleaning out so much! Something most of us need to do. Your wife will love it.

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  2. Hi there Stephanie!.... Thank "You" for dropping by and for offering your words of encouragement in regards to the painting... and my anniversary gift!

    I know that the anniversary gift will be as well appreciated as the the painting was. They share a commonality. Both were anniversary gifts. The client who purchased "Nine Days This Spring" chose the painting because his wife had carried a bouquet of simple daisies as her bridal bouquet! Thoughtful!

    Coincidentally... or perhaps not... daisies are my favourite flower... and I discovered the first daisies for 2011 just yesterday!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  3. Love this newly found old idea and paintings...
    I am amazed that you have managed to get so much done ... I find "spring" cleaning and being ruthless about it paralyzing and thus end up with stacks and stacks of useless stuff. I need to take your example and just DO it ... but I probably won't. None-the-less I admire you from afar... (as always).

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  4. Hi there Marian!... Thanks or visiting and for the encouragement... to "clean up my act!

    It wasn't easy.... believe me... but it was necessary... and well past the time to do it! It would be unfair to leave the responsibility to Deb... or anyone else to sort through things that were only important to "Me"... too many years ago!

    It was a cathartic feeling in the end... the "Donkey's" ol' knees no longer were tired and buckling under the weight of yesterday's necessities!

    Hope that I can continue... NOT to gather more to replace it all! Going to try hard anyway!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  5. Go Bruce Go!!! = Happy Deb!!! The pond lily one is super, as are the trout lily(?) and the Jack in the pulpit(?)!!

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  6. Hi there Linnyland!.... You're... OOOOOOOOOOOH so right! Happy Deb for sure!

    Thanks for visiting and for the encouraging comments about the wildflowers! You named two of them correctly too Linny! A plein air gal for certain! HAHA!!! The first one is a Marsh Marigold = pond lily in my book as well!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  7. I am like your wife in the tossing out and culling department. I suspect that the photos you parted with, however, would have been hard for me to let go. But then again, maybe not. We did the same thing with photos a few years back. Now they all fit in two large bins, but at least they are sorted! But I truly am not a clutter person and my house tends to be fairly sparsely decorated. Admittedly just this a.m. I was wondering if I am becoming a hoarder of art though. And to that end, I am wondering if you have a website that you sell your work from, Bruce? (Sorry about that horrific grammar!)

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  8. Hi Sherry!... I am really trying to come at this problem of "collecting" and to put forth an effort in the future not ro resume the old patterns!

    I am probably the product of two parents who came through the Great Depression years... and where everything was recycled... over and over again ... out of necessity. I always see another use for something... and sooner or later that occurs.

    But often the period in between... is painfully drawn out... and really does offend the eye and the comfort level of people like you and Deb.

    As well as physical "things" being discarded... I have looked at my methods and process as well. Hoping to "shuffle the deck" a bit in that area of my life as well.

    Change is difficult for all human beings. But only through change can growth occur Sherry.

    "The mind is like an umbrella; it functions better when it's open."
    -Body Shop Products Promotion

    Good Painting!....Cleaning house!... and Changing!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  9. Hi Bruce,

    Congratulations on the clear-out. I'm the same as you and tend to collect things that 'might be useful'. On the other hand, I would like to have a less cluttered life and fewer possessions. I'm working towards it, but it's hard to let go sometimes.

    These composite paintings are a nice idea. I wonder what the third project will be: I imagine that various buildings in Hillsdale could be 'assembled' in this way.

    All the best,
    Keith

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  10. Hi Bruce, well done on for spring cleaning out everything! I often think that we have so much that is hidden away in drawers etc that are there when we want to find them and then gaze upon that time. Images and letters can be scanned and put onto a computer disc they store up a great deal of information and are a good way to have photos and letters from the past still with us. I have been gathering photos of my sold paintings and putting them into a book with poetry underneath each painting photo. Of course I am chosing only the ones that I want to show in the book, but it is good to have family photos too. Computer books can store a great deal of images for keepsakes and are not too expensive. What do you do with all your unsold paintings and sketches these can take up room in the studio too? I think your spring time paintings are really lovely and I like the nine days of spring together in this format.

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  11. Hi Keith!... Thanks for the visit and your own comments regarding..."clearing the way"!HAHA!!!

    It is the very nature of serious artists to examine... re-examine... and to make something out of... "the ordinary world
    about us! I think that we would be lesser artists... and teeter towards "the ordinary" ... if we didn't have this quality about us!

    Great idea about the Hillsdale buildings group... but not the subject in mind... this time! Thank "You" for the "Idea"... I'll store it away!HAHA!!

    Thanks too for the wonderful music selections that you suggested! Both are now in my personal playlist!

    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  12. Hi Caroline!... Thanks for visitin g and for sharing your very sound suggestions for collecting our "collectibles" wisely and more efficiently.

    I already employ some of those strategies... and will take a look at putting others to work at my end!

    AS for older painting storage - not really an issue for "Me"! I already had a culling evening when Deb entered my life with me here in Hillsdale. I cut up over two hundred older works with scissors... but since then have been offering them... as reduced price... and unframed "My Choir Boys" in elevated rows...along the two steps on the exterior of the Gallery. They attract passerbys... like bees to flowers... and they have ... as time goes by... yielded honey... no... make that money! HAHA!!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  13. Bruce Sherman, Deb is a very lucky lady to have a husband like you. To start the spring cleaning process without is one thing, but to get rid of your things is truly amazing. My husband Mike loves to collect and I can tell you, oh well, long story short. I call my garage A&S Department Store. He's happy, and that makes me happy.

    But truth be told, I also have a difficult time letting go and discarding stuff.

    All the best to you,
    Joan

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  14. Hi Joan!... Deb and "I" are BOTH blessed!We share common passions for art... good people and family foremost... like your Self and a simple lifestyle!

    Overlooking "idiosynchrasies" in one's "significant other" is a must-do in my books!!! So many relationships get derailed simply because one of the partners is trying to shape... mold... manipulate the other into a "that's-what-I-want" kind of appliance. It simply doesn't work in the long run... and leads to the BIG "R" work - Resentment!

    I really am going to work at the "collector" in "Me"... still collect ... but perhaps more selectively! A plan!

    Maybe I should just get down to some harder work and paint some of those precious props out to the curb! HAHA!!! Stay tuned!.....

    Thanks for stopping by Joan!

    Good Painting!... and Good Shopping at The A&S!
    Warmest regards,
    BRuce

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