~ Karen Phillips Curran ~ Riverstones Gallery

outside

2011-11-28T20:28:00.001-05:00

I like that red car car and the scaffold are the spark of colour in an otherwise dreary landscape. The new studio design is dynamic, but cannot compete with November skies and bare trees,... in fact I think they complement each other in their starkness.
The sink is now inside, with running water from its taps...(too much; as the taps leak...) sigh.
Now my job is to organize it all, get it all in order so I may create chaos, disorder and the sometimes frenzied, sometimes measured activity, that happens inside a studio.

2011-10-11T08:44:00.000-04:00

Now this is a Neat sign.....Neat Coffeeshop in Burnstown Ontario asked me to create their new sign on the brick face of their building, letting folks know that they have coffee, wood oven pizza and live music......

Up high, no drugs!

Neat Coffeeshop and all it has to offer can be found at Neat Coffee.

Burnstown and all it has to offer can be found at Burnstown.

+oPen sTuDio+

2011-09-25T19:49:00.001-04:00

My new studio is almost done, but not quite.

This weekend, October 1-2 from 10-6 I will let you in for a sneak peek.

You can take a drive and see the fall colours, and have a visit, take a gander, and see what all the excitement is about. I'll have paintings and prints for sale.....

Take Hwy 417, after Arnprior turn towards Calabogie on 508, where the river widens is SPRINGTOWN, and the Riverstone Studio.

Turn at BRYDGES Road...the ASHDAD Rd

432-8081

stop 19 on the

Festival of the Senses

http://www.calabogie.org/Documents/Festival_of_the_Senses.pdf

building the studio

2011-08-04T16:26:00.000-04:00

an insulated cement pad 24x24

smoooooth

the first wall, the short one....

my matchbox studio.....

even more real....

Images of the Madawaska

2011-07-28T08:34:00.000-04:00

Recently I was asked to be apart of an exhibit at South of 60 Arts Centre in Barrys Bay Ontario, regarding the Madawaska and Bonnechere River watersheds. Since water features prominently in some of my work, I took up the challenge. Instead of creating my usual stone and water images, I wanted to look at the rivers in a new way. I live across from the Madawaska and she has been part of my life for the past five years now. I love her, she is deep and dark, she flows with strength and purpose. I love the way the spring waterfalls show up crating into her with urgency....

You can see my pieces among the other beautiful works created for this event, at the link here http://www.bonnechereriver.ca/watershed---a-virtual-art-exhibit

Several of these fine works will be on display soon, after July 22 at the Neat Coffee Shop in Burnstown Ontario ....within shouting distance of the Madawaska River...
http://www.neatfood.com/

Breaking ground

2011-07-28T08:08:00.000-04:00

We broke ground earlier this month for my new studio.....more to come....the excitement "builds"

undulation

2011-07-09T09:38:00.000-04:00

These undulating keys acrylics on canvas, are shown in my studio, they are but a few of the several I have worked on......more can be seen at my flickr site ...if you are interested I can do one in the style of music you like, and the size you need......

South of 60

2011-06-12T08:20:00.002-04:00

Well South of 60 is a wonderful place and three of my newest works will be on show there for the Watershed Exhibition. June 17 to July 17. The gallery is in Barry Bay and is a culture centre for the area.
The exhibit is about the watersheds of the Madawaska and the Bonnechere Rivers.
http://www.southof60.com/index.php?whichpage=aboutus .........
for more information

Art Festival in Otttawa....

2011-05-26T22:18:00.000-04:00

Hey, it won't be long before tents are set up in Central Park in the Glebe...

for the annual art in the park......

I'll be at booth 23 in the south pathway with my new landscapes of spring......

along with several new pieces of my undulating keyboards.

I hope you can come on out and stroll the park, see and perhaps go home with some fabulous creation!

see you there

Karen

Classes

2011-04-02T13:10:00.000-04:00

My recent 2 day watercolour class, focussing on Bermudian architecture, was a fun, successful weekend! We all learned so much! Teaching eager students is always such a treat.
The class was part of my time with the Bermuda Society of the Arts, a fabulous organization in City Hall, Hamilton Bermuda. They are tireless workers promoting art in Bermuda. Look them up at http://www.bsoa.bm/.

Almost gone

2011-03-25T07:07:00.000-04:00

My Bermuda days are numbered once more. It will be such sweet sorrow to leave, it's a second home to me. The weather has been varied, and well, divine as far as I am concerned, moist, windy, sunny. I spent some of yesterday afternoon picking loquats off a tree while waiting for a bus.
This weekend I teach my last watercolour workshop at the Bermuda Society of the Arts in City Hall Hamilton Bermuda, be there or be square...http://www.bsoa.bm/?m=20110326 to sign up or get information...I have always been fascinated by the light and values of Bermuda architecture, the white-washed walls and rooves and chimneys are marvellous reflective surfaces. Light bounces around and is reflected in strange and marvellous places.

Newly framed work is available at the Windjammer 2 Gallery in Hamilton Princess Hotel, in, well, Hamilton.Bermuda.

Featherbed Studio, St Georges Bermuda

2011-03-10T20:05:00.001-05:00

The weather has been fine in Bermuda. I am painting at Featherbed studio in St Georges, Bermuda....http://www.featherbedartstudio.com/index2.php...........can't beat it......

and these are two little pieces done at the plein air session last weekend...

Sunday Walls

2011-02-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

Sunday Walls is the title of my latest exhibition a the Bermuda Society of the Arts gallery in Hamilton Bermuda. The gallery is situated in City Hall. Friday night saw a great crowd of people viewing all the splendid artworks n display that night including mine in gallery B.
It was great to touch base with old friends and meet admirers of my work.
Several of my favourite pieces from the show were sold allowing a happy sigh of relief, as opening night has a certain exhilarated tension associated with it.

The piece pictured here, is sold, titled Sky & Orange.

Bermuda watercolour classes

2011-02-16T20:16:00.000-05:00

So, do you love travel...tropical temperatures, scenery to beat the band...?
Come to Bermuda where the liven is easy and I am doing two watercolour weekend workshops at City Hall Hamilton.
February 26-27....

Watercolour Basics for beginners and intermediate painters by Karen Phillips-Curran

Saturday & Sunday, February 26 & 27 2011: 10 am – 4 pm

Do you love watercolour? Learn the basic techniques: washes, colour mixing, graduations, layering, dry brush, wet in wet and more…

Once you learn the rules, you can explore creative ways to break them. All materials are provided

Cost: $195 Members & $225 Non-Members

Bermuda Architecture

Saturday & Sunday, March 19 – 20: 10 am – 4 pm

Cost: $195 Members & $225 Non-Members

If architectural details capture your interest then this is the class for you. Bermuda’s walls, windows and doors have their own unique character – they tell a story. Explore these stories with watercolorist Karen Phillips Curran.

Bermuda Bound

2011-02-16T08:46:00.000-05:00

"Sunday Walls"
is a collection of small works telling the story of texture and light in Bermuda.

This year I am returning to the island with a body of mixed media work on canvas called “Sunday Walls”. Sunday Walls speaks of texture, of light, of age of transformation and the diligence required to create the structures of Bermuda.

There are doors and windows and walls that I return to each time I visit. They are benchmarks of time, and have over the years created a continum in my work, an investigation of light texture and love.

Sunday Walls will be at the Bermuda Society of the Arts gallery in City Hall Hamilton Bermuda from February 25th to March 15th.

http://www.bsoa.bm/

Saint Carmen of the Main

2011-02-15T19:23:00.000-05:00

The front and the reverse of Saint Carmen of the Main, designed by the wonderful EO Sharp and now showing in Toronto at Canadian Stage, this production finds its way to the NAC stage in March. The pic does now show just how GOLD the set is!

a new sign

2011-02-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

I spent most of the summer creating and then they installed the brand new Blackbird Cafe sign in Burnstown....the best eats around!

Agokwe

2011-02-15T19:14:00.000-05:00

Then Agokwe came my way.
Agokwe is a marvellous play about being double spirited. A First Nations play about life and love.
I got to paint the set. Here's a bit of the floor, in progress....

Naivity...compells Nativity

2011-02-15T19:07:00.001-05:00

It took courage, all I had to attack a 60 foot double side (translucent) drop for the set of Nativity. I worked wonderfully....

This is what it looked like on the floor kiddie corner in the shop to accommodate the size. I had one day to paint the from another to do the back, a week all told to stretch, starch, and finish.

I love theatre.

Judith Bowden was the designer, thanks Judith!

an interview with a scenic artist

2010-11-30T15:11:00.000-05:00

The interview at the link above, was done as I finished the Oscar Peterson imagery....
here I am doing the final touch ups on the keys for the windows on Elgin Steet, with the larger boards waiting for me in the background, they consisted of 10 foot by 80 feet of hoarding material...times 2....most of it done twice in case graffitti artists found it too great a temptation to resist...

Improv Award

2010-11-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

This summer I had the priviledge to paint the installation for the Oscar Peterson bronze sculpture created by Ruth Abernethy. The corner of Elgin and Albert Streets was blocked off as the Queen and Prince Philip unveiled it. It was a proud moment for all of us who worked on the event. And there were many who put this together.Recognition for one's part in a large important event such as this, often goes unoticed, but to my surprise I was nominated and won the Improv Award from the National Arts Centre for my contribution to this installation.

botanicals

2010-09-19T16:42:00.000-04:00

I've spent a bit of time this summer painting a few botanicals, they are acrylics on canvas and have black wooden frames. They are 5x5 inches....

Keys at NEAT

2010-09-19T12:39:00.000-04:00

Here are the piano keys created for the National Arts Center and the Oscar Peterson sculture inauguration this spring! Each piece is approx 3' x 6'....I'll do them any size you want.......on canvas or on board....

Canoe Print Published

2010-09-06T14:10:00.000-04:00

"Canoe" is a new print, reproduced in conjunction with Faulkner + Locke Inc. of Atlanta Georgia, and placed in newly renovated rooms at the Tuckers Point Hotel and Spa in beautiful Bermuda.
I have painted in Bermuda for many years now. I was glad to have them approve a printing of my water and stone series.
I hope that "Canoe" provides restfull imagery for guests, for years to come.

like a rollin' stone.....

2010-08-31T14:49:00.000-04:00

Soon The Riverstones Gallery in Burnstown will shut down, and re-open as a studio in the spring, in Springtown, only about 5km from my present Burnstown location....

Look for more news in the spring...

crows

2010-08-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

"Crow"

Acrylic on canvas 5"x10"

Always fascinated by dark birds I have finally begun a new series featuring them.

Look for more later......

Soon I will be moving gallery space to a new place just up the road. If you like my work let me know, maybe we can come to an agreement so I don't have quite so many to move.....

"Crow" is sold, but many other fine pieces grace the walls at Riverstones gallery and Studio here in Burnstown. If you see a piece you love, contact me....

Some're Trees

2010-07-04T20:28:00.000-04:00

Undulation

2010-06-24T15:03:00.000-04:00

Undulation, that's my vision when first asked to do something about Oscar Peterson in the windows by the intended sculpture installation.....
Here are two of the three windows.....installed on Elgin Street in Ottawa.

I'm having an AFFAIR!

2010-06-12T14:57:00.000-04:00

An Affair of the Arts........in Burnstown June 26-27 (with fabulous music on the 25th.....)
There will be sooo much going on...
Now one of the artists of Burnstown, Karen Phillips Curran has been creating art since the 70's. Her career spans several incarnations. A watercolourist at heart, she translates this tender medium with curiosity and conviction. As an artist seeking the monumental, her work ranges in size from 2 square inches to hundreds of square feet, even thousands at a time. A long time theatrical set painter at Canada's National Arts Centre, her technical repertoire gathers steam, carrying her work to new dimensions. Her latest work there plays a part in the inauguration of a brand new sculpture of Oscar Peterson by Ruth Abernathy, on the corner of Elgin Street in front of the NAC itself.

Karen's floor-cloths of natural settings; brooks, streams, wood and grasslands, are as playful as they are intense. She does them to your specifications.

Dynamic acrylics of dappled light have carried through in her new Tree series. They are an extension of her sun dappled, textured walls that are represented in hotels and homes in various countries.

This year in the gallery, framed paper quilts by mixed media artist Katherine Harriott will be available. Kathy is a conceptually creative Bermudian artist.

Joyce Morris is a print-maker, of the traditional sort. This year she is showing her collographs at Riverstones Gallery. They are the perfect complement to the space.

You can see all this and much more in downtown Burnstown, at our annual Burnstown Affair of the Arts. The village will be alive with music at the Old SchoolHouse Stage on Friday, June 25th, and full of all the arts on Saturday and Sunday June 26-27.

Tribute to Oscar Peterson

2010-05-29T17:11:00.001-04:00

Here I am putting the finishing touches on the undulating keyboard that is part of the tribute to Oscar Peterson at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa Canada. I love painting large, it satisfies something in my soul. I was brought up with Jazz music playing in our house all the time. It is with pleasure and pride that I created and designed this imagery. Mom would be proud!
I love my job as an artist!

rocky pool

2010-05-09T12:48:00.000-04:00

Rock pools have always facinated me, from childhood puddles, backyard streams and creeks, and the irrisistable lure of rushing water over worn tumbled stone or limpid pools dallying with the sunlight. In all its forms the fascination remains.

Here is a new floor cloth I am working on in the sudio...it is 7'x7' right now but eventually will be a runner and a living room area "rug" under a glass coffee table.
I had fun painting the minnows...

This blog has moved

2010-04-03T13:33:00.001-04:00

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Stuck in Bermuda

2010-02-11T19:10:00.000-05:00

Winds water and wild weather have me 'trapped' here in Bermuda. The isolation of the island is intense, we are further from the reset of the world, here, than almost anywhere else in the world. Only in times of bad weather is it an issue. The rest of the time, it is a blessing.

I have been in Bermuda for about a month now, painting in Featherbed Studio in St George's, recharging my Bermuda battery as it were, and teaching the art of watercolour to some wonderful people, beginners and those with some experience, through a marvelous organisation called the BSoA (Bermuda Society of the Arts) Their residence is at city Hall in Hamilton. A wonderful space with the National Gallery just down the hall. I also have spent time passing on my accululated knowledge and expertise to the Bermuda Drama and Music Society (BMDS). They are a keen goup of theatre aficiaonados with a lovely little theatre space in downtown Hamilton. All over the island I am met with the joy of creating. Wonderful!

I was not destined to leave on schedule and so am enjoying the downtime afforded me by winds, weather, and the most marvellous sea air!

I will await that great goddess of serendipity to direct the path.....

Courage

2009-12-26T15:24:00.000-05:00

Ahh another set painted, ready for set up in a few days. A large translucent drop for the production of Mother Courage at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. This is an image of the reverse of the piece, in progress. It is a translucent drop and so has particular theatrical properties designed to amaze and astound...that need to be applies in certain order and style.

finally

2009-12-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

Back on line again after a lengthy respit, made posible by ineptitude.........

Painitng again big time, the next project is an 18x50 foot drop for the play Mother Courage at the National Arts Centre. Its a kind of abstract expressioist sunset.....wonderful!

summer light

2009-12-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

Ahh, summer is in full swing. I find myself entranced once again, by light. Dancing shadows on walls, windows, shutters, gates and columns capture my imagination. Large watercolours veer towards the abstract, as light and colour dance together on the paper. Monumentalism embeds itself as my vision creeps closer to the subject. Colour rages vibrantly, as my lost sight returns and the joy of pure rich colour is like a prodigal son returning from far away. I revel in the rush of dense layers of colour on the paper.

I work in two studios at once, upstairs and down. Watercolours in one area and acrylics in another. Right now I have four separate series on the go, a sense of exploration is pushing me ahead. Rich landscapes, in bold acrylic, and a collage series using gold and red oxide take up the space upstairs. As well, I am working on a series depicting yoga poses related to chakras.....it is pure joy.

Fire!

2009-12-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

The Changeling, the last production of the year at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. It is a Norse children’s fable, with trolls and cats and ducks…, you get the picture.
I’m here painting one of the several folding panels that indicate a fire….seen through the various windows of the main flat.

returning

2009-07-26T13:35:00.000-04:00

Ahh I've been away from my blog, lots has been created since I last wrote.....this piece was a part of my exhibit at South of 60, the Barry's Bay Arts Centre. http://www.southof60.com/.

Karen

Seoul

2009-05-10T13:57:00.000-04:00

Life slips by with such speed these days...its hard to keep up!

My time in Korea seems the distant past, I've painted two theatre productions since my return. (The Governor General Awards in the Southam Hall opera stage, as well and a most wonderful production of a Norse tale called The Changeling, for the Studio stage at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.)

I want to hold the images from Korea in my heart and mind a bit longer. While I was there in the midst of it, the astounding largeness of it all was overwhelming, my muse got drowned out by sheer volume of it all. Upon my return, the images of it all repeat unexpectedly, like an unfortunate pickle, abrupt, and full of the aroma of the pleasure it gave upon ingestion.

The forms I recall, haunt me, their simplicity, their complexity, secured embedded by centuries of time.

City of "Soul"

2009-03-31T06:08:00.000-04:00

The city of Seoul is large, its huge, its monumental, its grand, its massive....I know, you get the point. I live in a town of less than 100 people, its taken me a week to get used to all this. I come from a country that is young, the antiquity here is hard for me to grasp. The longevity of this country, this culture, is astounding to a Canadian. It will be a few weeks before I can absorb what I have seen and experienced here.
In this mass, this hubbub, I am finding it hard to locate my muse, where is she? She is my constant companion, yet I think the mass of humanity has scared her off, she's in hiding. She has disappeared! I hope to turn a corner here, one of the millions available to me here,. and there she will be. Maybe she's wandering around looking for me in this mass of humanity....I'll be easy for her to spot, I'm one of the few Caucasians here, or so it seems. I hope I run into her soon...I miss her.

home again

2009-02-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

Image shown is one of the projects I did while at Cobalt Studios. It is 9' x 12' painted on muslin in traditional theatrical style designed and painted by...me.

Ahhh, that delicious feeling of arriving home again, all that familiarity kissing you on the face.
Life switches gears now, and the self~directed approach reigns again., the keystone, or the baine of existence, of the artist. My house and studio are full of post it notes with ideas of things to do, I'll be sifting through them all this weekend to figure out where to start!
My time away at Cobalt Studios in White Lake New York taught me many things, new ways to look at the paint surface, new ideas about things to do!
Creative energy abounds right now.
Off we go~

motivation

2009-01-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

Shoot for the stars , I always do, guess I'm an idealist. Here I am at Cobalt Studios, learning all I can about scenic painting. The best tool a scenic artist has is ingenuity- how can I get this done, the fastest, most efficient, physically easiest method? (You begin the think this way after spending 8 hours hunched over, on your knees on the floor drawing with a magic marker...). Process is as important as inventiveness. What to do first, then what, these are the important questions, think ahead. To have to go backwards is a nightmare, a waste of time and resources, not to mention spirit. I beautifully finished foreground usually precedes a fast and easy application of background. The question of tools comes into play, what tool is best for the job, most efficient. Often scenics use tools in unique ways, as well as a raft of unique tools of their own. Bow lines, scenic foot, snap lines, long handles brushes...
But, I was talking about motivation. What is artistic motivation? In this instance it is a project, a challenge. I am beginning work on a small canvas, (by scenic standards) only 9x12 feet. I am planning it to include as many challenges as possible within its borders. It is a piece of hung drapery, crumpled folded, trusted, above an arched doorway that is also curtained with sheers with lace, and a heavy curtain with tassels. All this is encased in marble, with a stone wall and a wooden floor. Surely this will be a gleeful test of my capabilities hopefully with lovely results!

week one!

2009-01-13T17:54:00.000-05:00

I am having a great time here at Cobalt Studios, today is one whole week! It has flown by, as well as a sense of having been here forever. I am comfortable, warm, engaged in activity all day long, so no time to be bored or restless. I am learning new things all the time but not in a pressured environment, all very easy going. I even have an opportunity to occassionally teach them a tidbit or two. The environment is great, the workshop is well equipped and bright. The processes used here are more traditional so I get a chance to learn the good old ways, see the tools, use them, nothing like hands on to embed a teaching....

Cobalt

2009-01-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

A drive, a path I've not taken before, leads me to Cobalt Studios, nestled on the edge of the Catskills, wonder and experience anew awaits me, tantalizing me, teasing me, almost scaring me, until I settle in. A short walk through the wintery woods of New York state brings me to the workshop of Cobalt Studios. I am here for a month, time enough to learn and rehearse, then embed most of the tricks of my trade. I'm an artist who, when called upon, paints scenincly, for the theatre that is. I hope, after my time here, to finally feel comfortable calling myself a scenic artist. I think this hope my well come true. Turning hopes and dreams into reality is the stock and trade of the artist is it not?
Collabaration, risk taking, geometry, absolute rendering capabilities, strength of character and physical strength, flexibility, ingenuity, persisitance, diplomacy....just a few of the required traits to be a scenic artist.
My first of four weeks has been wonderful. The challenges met, the rhythmn comfortable. The learning curve steep, as I discover new ways to tackle old challenges. A sense of callaboration and a common goal permeates each day.
At Cobalt we work together, eat together and live together, surely a test of character, diplomacy, compassion and a healthy dose of a recognition that we are all in this together. Only working together will the job get done. Not for the faint of heart.
I am in love with it all.
Cobalt, a colour, a place, a dream, a tradition.

Buried Child

2008-12-26T10:21:00.001-05:00

The set for Buried Child, a Sam Shepard play, is finished except for the final touches. It lies in wait in the now quiet workshop; in the dim light, it has a spooky presence, and rightly so. It consists of high walls made of slats, that we wallpapered over then cut out all the slats, it resembles a skeleton of a home. A porch lies behind the walls. Large doors and windows stare like dead eyes towards the audience, action will occur behind them, in jagged, hard to see snippets. Stairs and a tower rise from stage left. All is grey, worn and nicotine stained.Wikipidia says: "Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard that won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwrite. “Buried Child” is a piece of theatre which depicts the fragmentation of the American nucleic family in a context of disappointment and disillusionment with American Mythology and the American dream, the 1970s rural economic slowdown and the breakdown of traditional family structures and values."Playing at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa Canada from Jan 7-24th.

Giving Thanks

2008-10-13T14:46:00.001-04:00

I thank my talent on a daily basis. It is so much of what I am now, after all these years of being a painter it is part of my cellular structure, it is deeply embedded in my being. I take the world around me, the one I experience, and endeavour to replicate the joy and love I find for a simple splash of sunshine on a stair, the wonder of a fall landscape, the simplicity of transparent liquid skimming over some smooth rocks. Its the stuff of life for me.
It is said one must enjoy the wonders of the world around us, 'smell the roses' as it were. I feel thankful to have the capability and nerve to smell the roses every single day now.

Happy Days are here

2008-09-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

'Well Done' I say. The play Happy Days is up and running at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. I was there to be a part of opening night. It is a wonderful production. The play is intriguing, as Samuel Beckett explores with humour and a, barely underlying, dark sensibility. It speaks of our enduring strength in the face of our own real, or imagined, adversity. Winnie, (the main character) finds hope in the smallest things, despair is experienced than sloughed off in order to survive to the next moment. The set we created exhibits a sense of desolation, and isolation, yet has an enduring solidity to it.
My job is done. So, on to the next. I am gearing up, framing and getting the space ready, for the next exhibition here at teh Riverstones Gallery in Burnstown. Richard Gill, my neighbour and fellow artist, is setting up his fall show. Both begin on the 3rd of October continuing through Thanksgiving weekend. "The Sense of Light" are paintings, in watercolour, that explore that sense of dappled warm light. Dancing shadows intrigue me.

Soon there will be an image gallery on my website look for it!
Karen

Happy Days

2008-09-01T12:10:00.000-04:00

'Happy Days', by Samuel Beckett, is on its way, being created. The set for the upcoming production at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa is in full swing. The rather large frame, resembling a beached whale, has been constructed and we are in the process of applying fabric and our painterly version of mud, to its carcass. It develops gradually. My interior child gets a workout as we apply our ‘mud’ to it all. There is a lot of it, the mound is about 20 feet by 30 feet. We have already painted thousands of square feet of floor cloth to accompany the mound. This week we began work on the curtains…. A very red curtain, a yellow, a blue one, as well as a brown one. Whew!

Summer Works (In Progress)

2008-07-25T17:46:00.001-04:00

“Summer Works (In Progress)” is the theme at the gallery right now. I am working hard this summer, using a new found creative fire to keep on paintin’. A steady stream of a few new series’ has kept me busy this summer. Right now there are watercolours of fabulous dancing shadows on the downstairs easel. In the upstairs studio, I rotate between a new gold encrusted trompe l’oeil collage series and a new evening landscape series, and at the same time finishing off the chakras yoga series.

I will be leaving it behind soon, as I get nearer to my return to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, to construct and paint the season opener in the theatre, Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days. The set will be a challenge. It is what I love most about theatre, the constant challenge to think outside the box. The designer decides upon an idea and we must work out how to effectively, efficiently and convincingly to create an effect, and sense of place that cannot be found anywhere else other than the imaginations of the designer, director and playwright.

Till then, I paint. Happily

the seasons

2008-05-21T18:25:00.000-04:00

They say time flies when you are having fun, these days are whipping by at a breakneck speed.
This winter I was I Bermuda for a month of sun warmed painting. Work flows easier when the days are unfettered by the concerns of everyday life and your only mission is to paint. I’ve been painting in Bermuda since 1986 when I first ventured to the island in search of inspiration. My work has sold here ever since. These days you can find pieces of mine at the Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard. I love the light the texture of Bermuda and the colours are to die for. The sense of age and sunbaked time embodies my favourite places there. The people themselves are warm and generous.
Since my return I have been the beneficiary of the everyday miracles of medical science and my failing sight has been restored. A rare iris melanoma in my eye was responsible for greatly diminished sight, a darkening of the light, which has now been restored. Colour, light and my life has been returned to me, for an artist this is truly a wonderful gift.
The National Arts Centre has taken my attention since my surgery. I’ve painted at least one set for each stage there this year. The work I do there helps pay the bills but more than that it fosters a ‘monumental’ dimension to my work.
The month of June will see my Stones paintings at the Arts Centre at Brockville, Ontario. My work will hang in the lobby of the theater. The ‘Water & Stones’ images explore lake and riverside water and stone’s reflection and movement.
My own gallery/studio The Riverstones Gallery, in ‘downtown’ Burnstown, will be open Tuesday to Sunday 12-5pm starting in June. We are about an hour from Ottawa, at the crossroads of Renfrew, Calabogie, Arnprior and White Lake, beside the beautiful Madawaska River. You won’t regret a visit to our marvelous collection of artist’s studios, cafés and shops.
See you soon!

change of pace

2008-05-04T11:36:00.000-04:00

It's gear changing time again. I am almost finished painting the season's cache of productions. "The Way of the World" goes on stage at the National Art Centre on Monday. I will have a touch up call and then it will be opening night!
So, now I will be gearing up for our grand opening in Burnstown called "The Affair of the Arts" where local artists of many types will descend upon our village and create a festival atmosphere. Local business support and produce the event, now in its sixth year.
I will be able finally to get to some of my own painting too. It has been waiting in the wings for a few months as the NAC took precedence.
I hope to have some images up on the website soon, it has been a long time coming and I hope you will apreciate them when they finally do appear!

I can see clearly

2008-04-05T17:11:00.000-04:00

Mostly, I can see clearly now. The return of my sight continues to amaze me and I am so grateful I did not realize how scary it was for an artist such as myself to be in the process of going blind....I am glad for vision again.
This month I am painting a small set at the National Arts Centre, it is called "All for Love". Fortunately for me, it is a wonderful old fashioned trompe l'oeile style set, with columns, panelled walls and doors and a forced perspective floor and ceiling. A treat for this weary soul.

return of the vision

2008-03-23T15:02:00.000-04:00

After over three years of poor vision, as a result of an iris melanoma tumor in my eye, I have my sight back!
Modern medicine is to be congratulated!
I can see again.
Colour has returned as well, I had not realized I had lost it.
How have I been painting all this time without the aid of vision one could easily ask? Well, I just went ahead and did it. A lot of painting is movement and so I used movement learned from years of painting, to create the images. Like finding your way in the dark, through the rooms of a familiar home, you needn't see to get there. My style has had a chance to loosen up relax a little as attention to detail was lost. Its all for the good.
I am amazed, grateful, overwhelmed and excited for the future.

bermuda light

2008-02-26T18:12:00.000-05:00

Bermudifulllll
The transition from the cold blue light of a Canadian winter to the warm yellow light of Bermuda is, well, heartwarming.
For me Bermuda is all about the light. It is a palette of warmth. I use my cool blue for contrast, to accentuate the warmth. I am indeed enchanted by the island. the stone walls of all the buildings capture the light in ways unknown at home. Shadows dance, balmy breezes caress. I am transfixed, I have to concentrate to be aware of the rest of the world. I awaken and want to rush out to see what the day brings is the light strong, filtered angry stormy and so on. I go back to my studio and time slips by me. I speak in paint, in colour, in light.
The ambient humidity is my friend. The paper is moist and receptive. It stays alive for extended periods. I can spend lots of time on a wash, manipulating the paint pushing it here and there. the rush of my Canadian studio is gone, languid feelings envelope me. It is wonderful. I revel in the time allowed and keep moving. Paintings roll off the boards and I am very happy. Suddenly, a month of painting seems too short!
another 10 days to go.....

the snow show

2008-01-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

The Snow Show is the latest National Arts Centre production. Its a play about the time the Thames froze...1605 I think...
The best part was doing a 10 foot by 20 foot map of London circa 1605. It is detailed and a wonderful image on unbleached cotton. It is sewn up to be a curtain in the show.
I am looking forward to opening night.

On another field, now that the play is done, I am getting ready for my painting trip to Bermuda! I am very much looking froward to being there in that special light, and in the warmth of the island.
I have a plan to execute a new series on water making use of my new vision (cataract). They will be acrylic paintings on canvass, in a long thin format.
More later.

selling art

2007-11-30T17:49:00.000-05:00

Ah, the vagaries of weather can once again be blamed for a poor showing at an art sale. (Its always good to have a handy excuse why art is not selling. Its an easy choice there are so many opportunities to gather excuses too!)
Selling one's own art, is an art. Your skin thickens with time (thankfully). Eventually one can begin to see your own work through the eyes of others. Its always a revelation, and trends seem to emerge.
It has taught me a lot about people and my art, selling it to them directly. I just wish they could get here tonight.

rock pool

2007-11-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

Several months ago now, I produced a 4 foot by 8 foot painting of a rock pool, on canvas. It is for Art Floor a company that produces high end, practically indestructible, floor panels. You can read about it inthe Ottawa Citizen article on Saturday November 17, 2007. Here's the link http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/homes/story.html?id=2f99c25c-1773-4dd7-8803-5886812bd55d. I am not mentioned in the article but that is my work that Mr Lance (the owner) is standing beside. To find oput more about art flors, click on www.artfloor.ca

It was a small project for one who is used to painting a theatre floor of 30 feet by 50 feet, on a regular basis. I loved how it turned out...

Dying to Be Sick

2007-11-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

Well, a new play at the NAC so I was just in doing the paint touchups. The set had traveled from Toronto and had also spent time in storage, so it needed a bit of TLC. Thats why I am here. Now it looks as fresh as the day it was comceived, ready for 'tech week' and opens next week. Its called Dying to be Sick and is a translation of a Moliere play. I am dying to see it...

black magic

2007-10-22T10:59:00.000-04:00

Well, all is said and done as far as paint goes. The set for Falstaff at the National arts Centre in Ottawa is up, on stage and tech week is in full swing. I was in for the paint call, where touch ups and adjustments top the set are made, a last chance saloon type of a day. they are usually gruelling days, reliant upon process and readiness for just about anything. The floor on this set, all black, did not go down well, streaks plagued the final finish. The vagaries of glazing can lead to this kind of trouble. I have been lucky that I have not run into it too dramatically (as it were)before. So we did our best to rectify it and can only know when the set lights go back on today. Hope is the best tool in theatre, maybe praying to the great god of theatre would not hurt.
It opens on Thursday.
Now, back to preparations for the exhibition in Coldwater, framing, advertising, invitations, and so on...tally ho!

stained glass challenge

2007-10-13T14:27:00.000-04:00

Set painting, always a challenge. I paint the sets at the NAC and a new designer always means a new challenge. The challenge this time, for the production of Falstaff is to create back lit stained glass window, without using stained glass of course, this is theatre after all and nothing is as it seems. So plexiglass becomes stained glass with the use of waxed paper and glaze to create a clouded cast glass look. It is meant to be renaissance period glass and so no Fancy stuff. Some colours will appear via the use of coloured tissue. Foam insulation, the king you would use to place around your door frame will work as leading. All this and a bit of scenic paint and some lights and voila, we will have it.
Now that the technique is agreed upon between the designer and I, off we go.
It goes on stage on Thursday, we have some work to do...

summer again

2007-09-07T15:02:00.000-04:00

Well, summer is back with a vengeance, a last big effort, heat billows around us and we swelter, hot sun belies the date. But I remember years ago, going to school in my new woolen uniform with knee sock in heat like this. My school tie ringing wet by the end of recess.
So inside I stay under the shelter of this old brick building, cool.
I frame and draw finshing off a small 'canal' piece of coloured pencil art on paper from Amsterdam last year, to give to the Judith Moore Gallery in Merrickville for an upcoming exhibit to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Kingston to Ottawa canal.

summers end

2007-08-25T11:26:00.000-04:00

Summer is ending I don't want it to go,.... I did not get out enough to draw! The intentions were there, but not the time. I want the rolls of hay in freshly cut fields, the sunlight playing on the rich golden hues contrasted by the complementary blue sky, a world of colour specific to our area, drenched in familiarity and love for the nature of it.
I want pastels in my hands finding the richness of it all.

beginnings

2007-08-21T13:45:00.000-04:00

Some would argue that now is not a beginning, having been here for almost three months. I would argue that since I am not yet unpacked, I am still in the beginning process.
After being wrenched unceremoniously from my home on the night of April 3rd, I have had to reassemble my life in new surroundings. I found the perfect spot, in Burnstown Ontario, with a gallery space to sell my work and an apartment upstairs in which to live. I am an artist. I live to paint and paint to live. My art is my life and it propels me forward each and every day. It is my life, my salvation, my one true love. I revel in the beauty of the world around me and process how I can use art to transmit that love to others. The simple pleasure of care worn shutters, a riverbed, a wall in shade can all provide the small nurturing signpost that we are alive, and that others have been before us.