Transition = Process - Part One

"Art is a process." This thought immediately chains itself to this next thought... together to read  "where nothing becomes something." This quote is borrowed from one of author Louise Penny's novels.I feel that her observation closely resonates with colorist-artist Casey Klahn's assertion that "A good painting never stops communicating."

The only difference lies in the fact that words used in the creative writing process are replaced by brushstrokes in the painting process.Both create a similarly full and equally expressive visual language. Both forms involve the use of composition, imagery, movement, color... and most especially... emotions. Each of these creative devices stimulate the viewer's imagination to invite deeper exploration, thought and involvement.

Like many of you, I have been examining my own process in regards to thinking about... and producing art. I find my creative spirit restless and uncertain as to how to proceed. What do I want create in this closing chapter of my own journey? Do I search for some path that is entirely new... or do I use facets of what I have learned and mastered to provide new connections, or extensions which lead to new learning and expression.

I have truthfully spent time seriously considering new mediums. But I have done before and in every case found myself circling back to oils. I have looked at new subject matter and forms of expression to infuse new interest. I cannot embrace a genre, say abstract expressionism purely for the sake of "breaking away." Although I may admire the results of many artists who excel in this genre, I simply don't have a feel for the underlying motivations to grapple with it.

After much thought, I have decided to launch this new direction using an approach that I have always felt comfortable using. The process offers me comfort because it continues to provide a foundation and framework for my thoughts and principles of learning. I think in layers of related ideas. I try to brainstorm ideas that I can connect into webs of measurable similarity. I refer to this process as Thematic Learning. The process that I employ, I call "Imagineering"... constructing using bytes from my imagination files.

I used the same thematic approach successfully for myself and my students in my classroom. To demonstrate this process... and to get myself off to a start, I refer back to an earlier project that
developed from this model. While carrying out my recess duties, I was drawn to how interested students were to a specific game in the yard that required very little space or equipment... and absolutely NO teacher supervisory involvement. Total... free play, quick decision-making, lightning reflexes, quick substitution and interactive cooperative gamesmanship.

From this simple exciting yard game template, I created my own variation... using canvas and paint... to play... instead of four players, a utility ball and asphalt.

"Fall Four Square" emerged from the extrapolation of (seemingly) unrelated situations and ideas. I think that the end result is successful and requires little or no further explanation on my part. The piece invites you... the viewer to "get a glove" visually and to get in the game.

"Come play in the leaves - if you are so inclined."

                                             "Fall Four Square" - oil on 12 x 12 inch canvas

Take Two!!!.... Roll 'em!

Represents a further extension of the "Four Square" theme on a single canvas... with a "twist". One which even I had not expected. That "twist" created a very valuable lesson... and new direction for my thinking. Such is the stuff of taking the time to look - to REALLY look inward. And then to see  and unlock unexpected joy and new potential.

The subject matter is likely one that most of you can relate to in your own current lives... or early growing up years. What started out as a pretty run-of-the-mill... ordinary still life subject soon took on new proportions and potential for me as I stared at it for (too long) on my easel. I simply became ... for the lack of a better term... STUCK!

What do you see in this initial frame of my new project? Can you see a point of transition... a place where this might move in another direction than I had first intended?

I wonder... and would be interested in hearing your ideas before I proceed to discuss the direction I took. And by the way... the piece... is still in a state of transition - a work in progress!!

Stay tuned...

Good Painting... and Happy Painting ... to ALL!!!

How Many Thank yous.. can one say?

On this Father's Day, 2019, let me count the ways... using my paintings to express my gratitude and lasting tributes of respect to my very special Mom and Dad. The very essence of  "Who" I am... and aspire to become manifests clearly a living physical testimonial of your undying love and generosity.

"Good paintings" continue to effortlessly communicate. They need no explanation... they are universals. They strike a common chord in the hearts of whoever views them. Simply put, such paintings reach beyond what the eye can interpret... more deeply to the heart and soul of the beholder.

They affirm the old and cliched notion that "a picture is worth a thousand words." Your gifts to me during my own lifetime and during the entire course of my life with you in your home(s) create more words of gratitude than I can offer today.

Let my paintings humbly attempt to offer tribute and my gratitude to you... beyond your earthly presence.

                                                     "Thank you for the Music"

                                         The many forms of music that we joyfully shared... sang together

                                 "August ...on my mind"


The taste of ripening August summer celebrations of foods and birthdays, both of which still linger on my tongue and forever in my heart.

"Keep Smiling"... not just a funny card tacked up on your bulletin board down in your basement "Inner Sanctum" Dad. You taught me to always carry this calling card with me daily and to share my smile... copiously... with those I met along my daily path. It has served me... and a host of others well.

                                   Bountiful Blessings...
                       
                                  Count your many blessings... name them one by one
                                  Count your many blessings... see what God has done.

                                  You taught me by your example... to have Faith -
                                   To believe... and to live by practising it.

                          Happy Father's Day Andrew!!

I am so very proud of the new Father you have become to each of the three new Sherman faces that you have ushered into this life with Melissa. You make all Shermans... past and present
proud. Grampa Sherman thought you special... way back when. You have followed his footsteps to the "T". He had a good eye for Dad talent! lol

Happy Father's Day... to all my Blogging families. Celebrate the Fathers in your midst.... and say your own BIG  Thank Yous in your own special way!!!
                                 

Good Painting and Happy Summer Painting to ALL!!!

Rewind... and Fast Forward

Mother's Day. 2019 has arrived. Perfect weather has ushered this annual pageant.. the event itself, a harbinger of Spring. The lilting brogue of a Baltimore Oriole, resplendent in its orange and black vestments inspires Gratitude and Hope. Hope that the icy grasp of winter has finally stepped out of the room for six months.. at least and that the promise of new green life and wildflowers will very soon make us forget the icy clutches of winters' lengthy cold quickly.


Friday, I made my annual trek down to Oakland Cemetery in Brockville. I fully expected my Easter offering of a basket of Gigantico purple and yellow pansies to be ready for the dumpster. Several days of successive colder, rainy weather usually leave these hearty early blooms colour at least to dispel the drabness of late winter.

As I arrived with my brighter Mother's day offerings at my Mom and Dad's final resting place... I was overcome with the totally unexpected sight of the pot of Giganticos blooming better than when they were first placed.
Perhaps it was the even period of sun and shade... or the protective cover of the towering white pine under which my parents dwell... to Eternity. It truly was a time for Gratitude and I felt my Mom's warm presence smiling down on me... and I remembered her wise words: "When life looks rough- look UP!!"

And I did so... with Peace and Joy for the gifts she shared with me and my family of children. I paused to press forward to Mother's Day 2017... the first Mother's day without Allie. Scarcely a month after her untimely and unfair passing... and hardly a time for anything other than a deeper sense of grief and loss.
And in the Now... Sunday, May 12th, 2019 we will truly celebrate the life gifts of women in our lives who created such meaning and beauty. Women who sacrificed... who mentored and taught us how to live.

So setting sadness aside (momentarily) this Mother's Day, we will gather.... Deb, Joan and I for a meal together today and a trip down to Allie's commemorative ginkgo tree. We will decorate her tree with a new set of solar powered mini lights and flowers.Rather than tears, I intend to read this wonderful Emily Dickinson poem which came to me through Robert Genn's Bi-weekly Newsletters.

Dickinson has always been a poet I admired. A painter of paintings using simple language. A minstrel for "the ordinary man." A man such as I am... hope to remain.
Thank you to all Mothers... everywhere. Your lives truly matter!

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops at all."


Rich blessings to All! I close out today's post with my own painting tributes... past and into the present!

                                           " Venetian fragments... and memories of Allie"

"August on my Mind"

                       
                                                "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom Time"

                                                                  "Summer Reliquary"

                                            "Lilac Time at Saint Mark's Church, Barriefield"

Ironically, the quaint Barriefield Village lies directly across the road from where we now reside. I spent many pleasant hours plein airing my way around to the numerous painting locations. I intend to commence  a few trips to reacquaint  and rewind myself back to the remnants of the Past... hoping to fast forward myself with a new eye and skill set to capture Barriefields presence in 2019.

Stay tuned...

Andrew's lovely wife Melissa introduces Mr. Mac and Whitney to their newest family member, Reese Allison.

Deb cannot rightly be called "Mom" by any member of the Sherman clan. But she is readily recognized by all... for her numerous and generous contributions to ALL Shermans... large and small. That qualifies her with the honour of being a fully fledged Sherman "Mother.

"Happy Mother's Day"... Sweetest Heart!

I am truly... and deeply blessed!

               HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY... and Good Painting.                                                   to all Moms out there!!!

Celebrating...

This post had to be delayed until today, due to computer difficulties that arose during our move to Kingston. Thankfully, our kind webmaster - designer Brenda Stanley corrected them (as always) in a quick and painless fashion. Thank you Sweet Lady!!

Celebrating Allison's ongoing presence
                                                               
Friday, April 26th, 2019 marked the second anniversary of our dear daughter Allison's passing... over. Personally, I choose to express that event in her too short life in these terms. Our family... as a whole, I believe feel the same way.

We came together, as always at her fledgling... but thriving ginkgo tree. It was planted in her honour by her Queen's student family to remember her gifts to them in life. We choose to come together as her earthly family and friends to share laughter, good memories. We decorate her now budding ginkgo fulfilling our own need to nurture the spirit of her "being"... to kindle and keep it alive through our combined ongoing love and respect.

Others of her friends could not be present to join us. Their tributes to her did so from ever so far way through Face book. Allie sensed the presence of " legions of angels who continued to watch over her... never leaving her to feel alone, even in this darkened time."

Death still cannot extinguish the 'Light' that she shared so generously... with so many during her brief lifespan.

Perhaps the most comforting words that were sent online came from a quote from a very special Venetian friend, Jill Weinreich - Luppi was Allie's very special person during her time in Venice and has become a very special friend to the Sherman Family as a whole. Her soothing tribute:

To live in the hearts we leave behind... is not to die." Thomas Campbell (1777 - 1844)

Allison possessed many gifts... and used them all to perfection. Her way with words was perhaps the greatest of her assets. So in closing out today's post dedicated to her presence and legacy, I will leave a selection of a significant few of her own that clearly demonstrate her proficiency with language:

" Even in this darkest dark, I have never for a second felt alone hanks to your loving energy, prayers, messages, visits and gifts. You are the best evidence I have that I have made some good decisions along the way for they have brought into my life.

We cannot feel fear and sadness at the same time as gratitude. Fact."

Though I continue to miss you each and every day, gratitude is all that I feel today my darling Allie. Gratitude and Joy. That you came to us from out of the mysterious cauldron of Creation in this vast Universe. "You" travel with me in my heart... through to Eternity.

Each heart shaped stone forming this heart mold "found" me on different days... reminding me that you still  exist everywhere... and visit me mysteriously from out of nowhere.

We both loved Pooh so and we both practised the simple ... but generous ritual of sharing ... on every level.

    Allie's Mom Joan       Dawn Lloyd Allie's-Friend and Dept. Secretary  Deb et Moi

 
                            Spring has arrived at the Ginkgo... just not fully  to Kingston

This was the top of a side table that I created as an art gift to commemorate Allison's undergraduate Art History Degree at Queen's University . The iconography and message contained therein foreshadowed her accomplishments and her many gifts... her ever radiant Light.

I wish to conclude today's tribute to Allison using "pictures" from Allison's remarkable journey to speak for themselves. 

  
Undergrad moment toting her beloved "Hanno" his grad credentials matched Allie's... marching to the platform on each and every occasion to receive "their" diplomas. No fear!

Allie's last trip to Italy... note the bobbed hair. This is Roma... What was she thinking??? I wonder....

              
                Allie in the presence of master Veronese's "Adoration of the Magi"''' her fav!!!

                                             La Venezia di Allie by friend Peter Coffman
Inscription quotes Allie:

"I've encountered so many wonderful students and they know how much I love them, how much they've given me and how proud I am of them."

These last words very near the end of her life most eloquently offer significant evidence which supports my belief that Allie left this life fully aware that she had modelled for herself and her students... The Art of a Life Well Lived !

                                
                                                             "First Gifts From Venice"


                                   "I" love "You"... FOREVER Jemima Puddle Duck

                                                        Dad
                                          XXXXXOOOOOXXXXX

Transition...

Spring dripped in... ever more slowly it seemed this year than usual. Despite several false starts... it has finally tumbled in fully. Temperatures have risen dramatically... as have the creeks and streams... swollen to overflowing with melt water. Winter is definitely in rapid retreat. Hope has replaced despair. New choirs of bird song are added daily it seems... piping in swelling thoughts of Rebirth... and Resurrection.

Rockport Resurrection... Faith and Hope

                   Drip!... Drip!... Drip!... Sweet Taste of Spring - oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches

         Past memories shared... can still be felt... and held if not in the hand... then close to the heart

A largish watercolor memory entitled "Afternoon Recess" of a glorious spring day spent with the Drummond Family near Spencerville... and the sharing of hot pancakes dripping with Canadian liquid gold and locally made sausages. Annual rite of spring... for them... and myself! 

The result of a fifteen year "sweet" springtime relationship with the Smail Family near Groveton, Ontario. A portrait of "Old Majestic"- now disappeared... along with the Smail operation and bush. A 400 year old sugar maple whose ancient hatchet slash wounds just above the roots whispered the presence of indigenous harvests using birch bark containers... long before European settlers' feet first sullied the landscape. A sweet taste of renewal... even back then. The elixir of spring that brought  long and treacherous winters of hunger and hardship to an abrupt end. Life is a cycle governed (mostly) by Nature! 

Human Passage and Transition

Human existence is no different. It is simply the earthly stage passing beyond into another plane of existence. The same laws and tragedies play out in our own daily lives as well. The difference lies only in our ability, or inability to respond to these changes and to permit safe passage, or transition through these tests.

I can assure you that one never "gets over" such losses. They follow you through the rest of your measure of time and they rear their wretched heads unmercifully at times. Each of us must choose our own path and find touch points to maintain positivity and health. Both come into play... and must be addressed... or lost. But in our own time frame and unique way.

Fortunately, I have a uniquely wonderful collection of family who has chosen to join hands to keep Allison's memory alive and present in an active fashion in family celebrations and events. My painting... and my writing/sharing here in this blog are ways specifically carried out by my hand alone. 

On Thursday... Joan, Deb and I met at Allison's commemorative ginkgo tree on the waterfront to decorate it with the colorful handmade Easter eggs which Deb crafted in stained glass and Joan had purchased. After some quiet sharing... we met back at Joan's house for a wonderful lunch of spinach quiche (Allie's fav food) and a rich brew of stiff coffee to warm up the bones after the biting cold wind coming relentlessly off Lake Ontario.

Here are some quiet moments from Easter Celebration - 2019

                                                 Easter eggs-actly... at Allie's ginkgo tree!

                 

                                        Mom and Dad... with you in spirit... ALWAYS Allie!

                                       

                             Dad and "your other Mother", as you called her...  honoring "You"

                    "Choose Love"... the Taro card that you selected for me Brave Heart... AND I DO!!!

The portrait  "Il Camino di Allie" that I completed to honor you has been entered into the Kingston Prize portrait competition for 2019. Fingers crossed!!!

Stay tuned...

Happy Easter to you Sweetheart... and to all of my blog Followers!! 

PS More transition to come. Our move to Kingston is complete. We made a final trip to gather the last dregs of "stuff" to be dealt with. We definitely are "living tinier"... and that will take some getting use to over time, We attended a fish fry at the home of good friends Captain Wayne and Mate Jane Green of Rockport in his man cave/gathering place. A friendly gathering of river folk that we have enjoyed during our ten year stint in Rockapulco.

Stay tuned... for further updates... one is already in the making...

Life on the River

My life on the River that I have been blessed to have grown up on has helped shape the very person that I have become. Throughout my entire seventy-five years, she has offered me an unceasing sense of belonging and nurturing that continues to enrich my spirit and zest for living.

She has conducted my rich outdoor education program upon which my knowledge and respect for all things wild is built upon. That same knowledge became the crucible and engine for my creative activity.... both en plein air and then carried into use in each of my classrooms, as well back into the studio.

The solitude and silence that she provides has continually stilled the reoccurring anguish and confusion... in a world driven too much by money and technology. Her banks, channels and bays provide undefiled refuge for all living things - mySelf included. "Still waters... it restoreth my soul."

Life did necessitate my leaving all of this at certain points in my journey. But I never found myself able to feel comfortable without the presence of water nearby. So I rooted those early chapters beside similar sources in Kingston located on Lake Ontario... Nova Scotia and the Georgian Bay area. I added regular trips to Algonquin Park during intervals when I was not living within sight of water. Thus I always found ways to support my need to be near water.

At the close of our tenth season here in Rockport we came jointly to a firm decision to close The Paint Box Gallery permanently... not solely because it wasn't enjoyable or lucrative, but rather because we both were experiencing health issues that made continuing a struggle. It was necessary to decide upon a course of action which provided less stress and greater latitude to grow in different directions with new opportunities together.

We made a firm decision to travel upstream fifty kilometers to Kingston... located on the shores of Lake Ontario. I enjoyed a rewarding twenty-seven year teaching career in that picturesque and historic city... so it was an easy decision to make. Hospital care is conjoined with Queen's University offering the best of medical services.

Culturally, there are unlimited opportunities and facilities to engage in and enjoy. What's to lose? A no - brainer, as they say. So the search for an acceptable new place to hang our hat was begun back in the late fall. A sprawling student population has all but swallowed downtown residential opportunities and have driven up the rental costs astronomically.

We had almost given up hope of finding one for ourselves... when the Universe... ever so mysteriously laid a perfect one in our laps. Perfect in every way. A condo, meaning no more stairs... no more property maintenance... no more hordes of noisy, rude and invasive visitors.  The condo has everything in the way of space and amenities  that one could ever wish for at our time in life. We snapped at it right away.

So ... this will be my last posting from the village of Rockport. No longer did we find the village a refuge with peace and contentment. Like so many quaint places... or Paradise as we had earlier known and experienced, $$$ brought with it a need for substantial changes which did not serve the well being of all residents.

We have enjoyed our stay here and our relationship  with so many fine people who we have been blessed to live with. We shall carry fond memories of them and the "glory days" that we shared as a community of like-minded people.

High on that totem of Friendship are the eight individuals who made our quicksilver move to Kingston possible. Without them... we would have been lost.We will ALWAYS bee indebted to each of them. We are indeed blessed to have such people in our lives!

We are now fully embedded in the move... and establishing new directions for us both. We are still searching out answers for that rotten sciatica we both battle with still. But that is a small issue... and too... will come to an end!

Spring is indeed in the air here. But reluctant.. as always... to fully commit!

Rich blessings to ALL!

I wish to close out the Rockport chapter with this appropriate thought that I clipped out of a magazine a couple of years ago. Somehow... I always seem to find a suitable place to insert them into my thoughts and writing.


Life on the River

Send your worries downstream
Watch every sunset
Let the current give you strength
Have lazy days
Take walks and play in the sand
Make memories.

                  From Renaissance Magazine (Summer 2017 Issue)
                  - a sign at the Sulphur's (??) cottage

And sweet River memories will remain in my heart... no matter where my journey leads me from here. I am deeply blessed...

"Minuet d'hiver"- (River Dance) 1st take

  30 x 36 inch oil on canvas

Spring Tumbles In... and Winter Staggers Defiantly Out

                                  "Springing out of Winter" - oil on oak panel 10 x 17 inches

Although this plein air moment, painted directly from in front of our Rockport home and gallery on January 13th of 2013 the drama and mood of this very view repeats itself almost seamlessly for February 24th, 2019.

Two days ago ice spanned this inner channel view almost from shore to shore. Water appeared only where strong river current prevents total freeze over. The ever constant rhythm and flow of the River has always seen to that. Every winter.

The ice simply disappeared in the center of the channel overnight and a pathway grew steadily eastward. Within hours... a flotilla of graceful mute swans were able to work their way slowly westward against the current between the mainland and Club Island. Springtime Magic!

"Winter Rotting Away... Irondale River" - plein air oil on canvas 20 x 24 inches SOLD

The earth... scarcely bare and seen only in select southerly facing places offers a further testimony and promise that Spring is close by. One who pays attention can smell spring and even taste it in the very air that suddenly is abuzz with new visitors to our yard and feeders. Long absent goldfinches and mourning doves enter the feeding frenzy usually dominated by squadrons of selfish sparrows.

The din grows... as do the numbers of new arrivals. Chickadees, nuthatches, slate breasted juncos, blue jays and our timid resident cardinal pair add new voices to our springtime choir. And cheeriness - the underlying gift that Spring offers... fills every corner the winter wearied world.

On Friday, February 22nd as I moved about my Saturday morning ritual of preparing our garbage for pick up. I stood almost awestruck by the unmistakable trills of male robins - not heard here since their fall departure to southern warmth. Not just a single voice... but a grove of several who were obviously the vanguard of newly arrived migrants seeking to establish breeding ... and bragging rights. All played out just to gain the attention of the yet to arrive females.

Though Deb and I continue to struggle to regain our health and freedom from the painful clutches of this dreadful and unrelenting pain of the sciatica that we both have had to endure... for far too many months... Hope on the wings of this unexpected breath of Spring has arrived.

None of us can hope to be free of adversity, sadness and uncertainty in our daily lives. Each must
play the hand we are given with courage in your hand and heart. Be grateful for your blessings... and the precious gift of life and life in this magical Eden.

I am greatly blessed. Life is about living and since having to suffer helplessly alongside our lovely Allison for the pain-filled duration of her courageous journey, Deb and I fully committed ourselves to do our best to live our lives fully... in her honor. Plain and simple.

Change is indeed in the air in the natural world about us here in Rockport. But change has already been put into play by Deb and I as of February 1st. I turned the ripe age of seventy-five on February 11th. We feel that changes are warranted and timely for us both. We have set the wheels of change into motion.

Today... I wanted only to add another post from my roost here on my beloved River and to share it with my small but faithful blogging family. What remains to be told for the future...

Is a story for another day!

Good painting... and an early Happy Spring to All!

  
                                               "A Sweet Taste of Spring" - 20 x 16 inches

                                                       ... Coming your way SOON!