Spring it would seem... has Sprung

We have enjoyed about a week now of sun and elevated temperatures into the plus side of things. Birds everywhere are in good voice... and creeks have started to open up and run black as they always do in early spring.Geese are getting rambunctious and noisy signalling a rapidly approaching new mating season. Local maple syrup producers have set out their pails and lines to make our annual liquid gold- Maple Syrup!

I headed out this morning intent upon taking advantage of the bright skies and warm temperatures to paint outdoors. I had a destination in mind... but soon found my Self inebriated by the colour and plethora of possible subjects... ranging from a small herd of frisky Percheron horses... to squadrons of aerobatic Snowbirds in still whitened fields.. to drumming pails of a roadside sugar bush. Where to settle into some serious work? That was a difficult task for this visually drunken sailor!

I remembered a site where I could paint uninterrupted.. and where I knew the conditions would be perfect. I had painted Michael Holm's century homestead on Gauthier Road on another occasion, but felt that I had "missed the mark" on it, simply because I hadn't considered the best view initially. The old homestead... a still standing relic from our earliest French settlement in the Huronia area, bears the architectural trappings and detail that one finds in rural Quebec. Its mansard roof... minus the usual dormer windows is the giveaway factor. Such roofs were adapted to shed the heavy winter snow loads that both places experience every winter.

Michael came out for a quick visit on his way to do chores at his brother's nearby farm. Both were born and raised on this farm. Michael lives with his wife in the house... and they will likely be its last human inhabitants. This agrarian lifestyle is quickly waning... and with it the end of a part of our early pioneer history.I so enjoy recording these remnants.. and sharing time to learn of the unique stories that these simple living,hard working farm folk are so willing to share. My painting will likely at some point form the sole/soul record of this house's existence. That's reason enough to spend an afternoon painting... and enjoying... life in another time... at a slower pace!

After two and a half hours of pleasurable painting... I felt I could pay a visit just down the road to a small stream in a woodland setting... and add a small "run-for-the-sun" 10x12 panel to complete a great day of plein air painting... but... That's another story... for another day!

Good Painting to All... and Happy Spring!!!

A Few More Strokes...

The jpeg in today's post illustrates the few little details that I have added to the plein air sketch "Shoreline Sojourn". Very little more needed to be said except that I felt rushed because of the cold in the last minutes of the foray and I just "roughed in" the colour masses and values for the white cedar copse in the left foreground of the painting.

Back in the studio yesterday, I adjusted the greens from the deep darks within the copse... to the reddy-greens which caught higher light because they were located on the exterior of the mass. Cedars change their green to almost an ochrish-sienna hue at winter's end. It is a warm value and always provides an instrument to lift the tone and mood away from and provide complementary colour for the cold of the blue shadows. A few areas showing dark or lit bushes, trunks and branches in the upward masses can be seen to be broken by the (mostly) hidden trunks within the copse. These details add volume and just enough interest in the foreground to pique the eye's attention momentarily.

The painting is signed... the final act in the process before it can be framed and put on the wall.On to the next adventure!

Good Painting to All!
Bruce

Spring Tonic.......

February is, as always mostly grey and damp... as the winter ebbs.... slowly it always seems... to a close. I love winter when it is bright and sunny... and the snowy fields are ermine white. I never mind the cold really... but I do find the dampness and greyness defeating.

I have spent a lot of the month looking over sketches and photo references to find a project that would help lift my spirits and help me regain my focus and energy. Often, after large and demanding commission work, I find it difficult to "get back on my own horse" and back to my usual busy routine.

I have kept a vigilant eye on the weather reports and yesterday was encouraged to find that today we "might" expect a day of sunshine. So before turning in last night I decided upon a location that I would hustle to first thing this morning if the weather cooperated.

We are doubly blessed to live in a historically rich as well as beautiful region. Canada's earliest history began in this very region which was then known as Huronia... land of the Wendat Nation... or Hurons as they came to be known. The French led by Samuel de Champlain explored all of the region vigorously and gained the confidence and formed a strong alliance with this tribe of First People. They introduced them to Christianity, establishing a fort and church to develop a an alliance and relationship with them against the invading and warring Iroquoian tribes from Upstate New York.

The area I went to today is located along the shores of Georgian Bay, just north of present day town of Penetanguishene... a strong French enclave even today... and dating right back to the earliest French settlement. The site of my painting was just on the edge of Awenda Provincial Park... a beautiful and heavily visited park in the region. I snowshoed into the area located on Saw Log Point... the snow is still deep enough to make a walk-about uncomfortable when the crust yields to the higher and warmer sun during the midday.The trip out... when you are cold can be tricky and fatiguing. I learned that from such an early experience... but that's another story!

I traversed the shoreline looking for a good subject and decided to retrace my footsteps to a position that might give me some degree of cover from the cold north-westerly wind.These cedars helped out considerably. Though it was +2C... being in the shade and facing into the bitterly chilly wind made it feel more like a constant -10C experience. I was certainly happy to seek out the warmth of the van when the three hour session approached its finish!

The composition required no alteration or embellishment. What you see ... is exactly what I saw and painted. I was totally alone in this milieu, save for an odd curious approach by a pair of red squirrels... likely expecting a handout. No chance for that! I ate my lunch before strapping on the snowshoes... one less item to carry about!

The sketch shown in this post is untouched... done totally en plein air...a spontaneous response based upon a three hour experience. I see a couple of areas that I "might" correct. But for the most part... "I" am happy with the result.More importantly.... "I" am..... "back in the saddle again"!

For those of you who shy away from the outdoor experience because of the cold... "I" invite "You" to taste the elixir... the Spring tonic.... "my cup runneth over"!

Enjoy!... and Good Painting to All!
Warm regards,
Bruce

More palette Talk.....

"My palette,newly set and brilliant with the contrasts of the colours, suffices to inflame my enthusiasm".
-Eugene Delacroix

During my last post I described a personal experiment with a palette arising from previously used Masonite panel to "imagineer" an intuitive image or response. The more that I thought about the exercise... the more I came to understand that as artists we are all searching for ideas and devices to extend both our knowledge of mediums, styles and subject matter.

As I visit different blogs that I enjoy, it becomes ever so obvious that we are all "restless" in a sense. I run across some who have "found" the Zorn palette... or the Singer Sargent palette... or in my own case a "split" palette suggested in John Carlson's classic "Guide to Landscape Painting". I continue to use that palette and rarely do I feel a need to change at this point in my journey. Others employ or experiment with limited palettes, or add in a new pigment such as black which seems the rage at present.

All of these devices are legitimate efforts towards gaining new knowledge and add new and necessary excitement to the painting process. It pays huge dividends to extend one's knowledge... or as I would offer... to "shuffle the deck". There is a trap however, if one simply "floats around" from one new venture to another without spending a significant enough time to really understand and develop an idea or approach further.

Success in finding one's own "style" comes from hard work using your own comfortable method... adding "dashes" of discovery into your own recipe... as "You" grow in confidence and capability. It takes time... and perseverance to develop... or discover one's own unique palette and style.It takes courage and conviction to "stay the course"!

My own exercise from the last post is not an isolated example of my trying to "think outside the box" in my own search and artistic method. Here are a couple more jpegs which illustrate a couple of more "ramblings"... and moments of "play" in my journey.

In closing... "I" would offer this anecdote regarding Pablo Picasso and his "discovery" of Cubism. I read an account which describes Picasso passing by a curio shop in the Montmartre... where he discovered some smallish wooden African carvings that excited him enough to purchase them, in order to study them in his studio. Out of that "discovery" Picasso shocked... then reshaped Modern Art with the creation of his iconic "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".

"I" would offer this question. Who is the true "genius"? Picasso coming out of his Blue and Pink Periods... or some unknown "uneducated"... searching African artisan... from who-knows-where.... carving for what reason?

That is a reasonable question... that does not matter. It IS... that all artists build upon their own work, drawing from the vast treasury of ideas of those who are their contemporaries... or from those who preceded them.

Ramble on!... Search and discover! That is the primary joy received from a journey of painting!

Imagineering... or Envisioning

Looking in the dictionary one finds that "to imagine" can be defined as the ability to make mental images of things not present. The dictionary similarly defines "to envision" as an ability to conceive something as a possibility.

I firmly believe that all serious artists possess both of these qualities, or abilities in larger degrees than many others around them in their daily lives. I also firmly believe that this same group of individuals possesses these "gifts" right from the very beginning of their lives. I believe that it is in "their nature" from the start... but that it is often also recognized early on... nurtured and encouraged by parents, relatives, teachers and mentors who appear along the course of one's journey.

I believe that artists in general, are more curious about and sensitive to the world they live in... the people they meet and the natural rhythm of Nature. How many of us have been asked: "To stop day dreaming"?... or "When are you ever going to grow up"? I have always known that "I" was much more "Child-ish".... capital "C" and hyphen intended, even up until today. "I" ....continue to "see" the world through the eyes of a hopeful... optimistic and trusting child... and for these reasons often am disappointed and am vulnerable to the pessimism and oppression of many adults... if I permit it.

However... "I" choose to move ahead in all areas of my life... and ALWAYS in my Art continuing to search and learn more about my Self... and the wonder-filled world that "I" am privileged and blessed to live in. My art talents and passion DO NOT set "Me" aside from others... because "I" am ALWAYS open to ... and willing to share my findings with any person... regardless of age or ability... so that they might feel the same joy that "I" receive in creating my own work.

Often... "I" create a challenge for my Self... to step outside of the box... "to imagineer"...or to create intuitively from deep within my imagination... without the normal benchmarks we all establish as our "working method".

This post demonstrates one of these exercises. Perhaps it parallels one of your own.. and if not... perhaps it will unlock a new way to channel your Muse. I hope so.I began this exercise after finding a discarded 1/8 inch piece of Masonite... a 9x12 inch gesso-primed a burnt sienna toned panel which had served as a makeshift palette for one of my young students. I sanded it a bit with a rough piece of heavy grit sandpaper... wiped it clean with solvent... set up a new palette of my own... and waited for the sanded panel to dry.

While this was occurring, I put on a CD called "Forest Music"... and just sat listening and looking (as I do outdoors on location) at the "nothing" panel... hoping for a direction or guidepost to emerge. It did not take long to happen. I will not... no... really cannot tell you anything about the process... except that the painting that emerged ..."fairly painted itself"... "I" merely held the brush. How many times have "You" experienced just that? I wonder?

At this point "I' will let the "Voice" who conducts my writing using his words sit down... and let the "Voice" who conducts my painting process explain with his images. "I" think... that though they are silent... they speak as sensitively, fluidly and eloquently as the written word.

"A picture is [indeed] worth a thousand words".

What do "You" think?

"Art Matters!

Good painting... and Imagineering...All!
Bruce

PS The painting "lives" as shown framed in the home of one of my ardent collectors... another "Dreamer"!!!

Tanglewood... a roadside study

Our Oro-Medonte region is literally littered with swamps, creeks, streams, lakes and rivers a part of the Canadian Shield geological region which stretches across most of Ontario. One never has to venture far to find suitable subject matter for a good landscape. This particular subject is less than 10 minutes away from the Gallery. I have passed it by on many occasions in all seasons... but on this particular morning everything seemed right to give it a go.Winter light and shadows reveals new "magic"... and really adds drama... isolating previously hidden passages for the searching eye.

The actual composition is a bit frenetic and complicated... not the usual thing one looks for in an outdoor session. I knew that there would be a lot of small, fussy shapes and spaces to deal with... sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. But... Hey!...Who doesn't enjoy sitting down once in a while for a few hours of such "puzzlin'" fun.... with a thousand or more pieces strewn out on a large table?

I liken the painting to exactly the same kind of leisure pastime... Focus!Focus!.... Search!.... Play... and look for similar passages of line or colours. That's sort of how the exercise unfolded... and how the final image emerged. Hooking onto certain elements... pushing others into place to create a new whole.

"I" do like the final outcome. It's definitely a bit on the tight side... but I really like the colour harmony and the warmth in the piece. I enjoyed the day... and learned a little more about perseverance! A good lesson for us all in our daily lives.

Keep the Faith... and do what "You" feel and love!

Good Painting to all!
Bruce

The Value of a Second Glance....

My last post fully demonstrated the process whereby I approach a large studio painting. A subject is conceived (usually)through a process of careful preparation... study and distillation and moves slowly towards a constantly changing and emerging ending. That ending can be dramatically different from the reference photo ... or the plein air version. It depends upon what enters into my thinking as "I" work along in "The Flow".

My next project is an extension of a previous project from the last winter painting season. It is a largish canvas as well... begun in somewhat the same manner as "Canadian Gothic". However... I took shortcuts... didn't bother to grid (when the ratios of sketch to canvas were different) because I had a "deadline" to meet to get the requested three paintings off the easel... crated and shipped to the gallery. "I" felt good about the three pieces... in retrospect... likely grateful they were completed and ready to ship. That's where... "the wheels fell off"!

The first disappointment came when I received the large painting back after only days at the gallery... hardly enough time had passed to justify the cost of shipping and effort to get it there. I unpacked the piece and stood it vertically... ignoring it for a couple of days while dealing with the discouragement.During one early morning visit to the studio... I happened to glance over my shoulder in the direction of "orphan".... and there it was... SMACK in my face... the reason for the quick return/rejection.

The canvas and subject were of a horizontal format and in that plane looked.... well... at least half respectable. But in the vertical plane... the painting glared and certainly "spoke" even to "Me" with much less respectability. I was actually shocked that "I" would have not seen these glaring errors... before letting them out for the eyes of qualified "others" to view.It was to "Me"... an embarrassment and something "I" didn't want to look at or revisit again! So the painting has been face-to-wall ever since.

In January... when my wife and "I" were putting together some changes we wished for our personal and artistic lives... we cleared out a bunch of "hangers-on". Many things were delivered the the local Goodwill Centre. I paid a visit to our area where I store older canvases.... tidied it up and went up into our apartment above the gallery where "Winter Residents" was residing in shameful exile.I sat down momentarily and looked at the canvas.This time, however... it was a look to find a solution... rather than the look of condemnation and embarrassment that it had received upon its untimely... and unexpected return. For the first time "I" saw a directions... changes that could make this "child-of-mine" something that "I" could be proud of.
Through viewing the plein air sketch from ten years ago... along side the "failed first large composition and then the corrected version. I hope to usher "You" through the risky but rewarding process through which that painting and I passed through. "I" truly hope that if nothing else is attained through this record... what will emerge is a belief that "Redemption" is ALWAYS possible... where there is (1) a recognition and acceptance that there exists a problem (2)that there exists a deeply felt willingness to work at improvement and (3)that one has the capacity to "let go" and forgive things that happened in the Past. This applies not only to painting... but as well... to all other areas of one's life.This is the true pathway.. to "Inner Peace."

I" hope that "You" enjoy seeing the trio together for comparison... and that perhaps this post might encourage "You" to revisit... and reclaim an earlier disappointment. It is a great feeling to overcome adversity and succeed!

Good Painting to All!