Shifting views

Every artist experiences change. It is that which can either compel creativity, or thwart it.
I am in the midst of an artistic change right now. After 17 seasons as the head scenic artist for Canada’s National Arts Centre,  I am moving on. I have called it ‘retiring’, mostly to signify it’s job like status. I was, have been, contracted each season since the 1999-2000 season, to paint all the English Theatre productions as well as various Theatre Francais sets, the Governor General Awards sets, as well as other special projects around the building.
It has been a rewarding experience. I was renumerated for the work I did on an hourly basis. The workshop is a large well equipped studio to work in, it has its faults, but we worked within those boundaries.  It has a typical 70-s building issue, poor ventilation,  and so I have been spared many of the toxic chemicals I may have been seconded to use. I learned to paint with what I call the ‘30 foot eye’, seeing the images from that distance, when you are actually only 5 feet away. (I am 5’4” and that is as far away as I can be holding my paint brush on a pole to paint with,  standing up. ) I’ve learned to paint on the floor, in the air, and sometimes, even upside down.
One of my favorite art teachers always said, what you don’t say is just as important as what you do say with your paint. It was a lesson I took greatly to heart. Let the mind of the viewer  fill in the details. So today i am at a juncture where I must look at the 30 foot view and let the details figure themselves out.
I am looking forward to this new phase,  I have more ideas than years ahead of me, so let me stand on this hill for a moment as I look over the view.

Open studio

This week is my open studio.
It has been a labour of love ...a few years ago I built my studio, on the foundation of 45 years of making art. This past year I joined my cold water cabin to it....literally. it was lifted from its place in the lowlands of my  property here in Springtown, and transported to its new position, almost ajacent to my studio. Then, a place I call the new room,  was constructed between the two.
Heaven on earth I have created here for myself. It has become a rambling telescoping structure. I have lived in a 14' X 19'space for several years now, and so, just about anything is rambling from my perspective. ....

the north side

The south side

From sticks. ...

always busy

studio time

ahh where does the time go?

Working quietly in the studio today. I say quietly, but it is interspersed with periods of song. I often sing while I am painting, and dance. (I can't actually carry a  tune in a bucket but hey I'm alone so who cares?) The actions energize me, and the work. 

Right now I am working on some undulating keyboard images that will become small floorcloths. I am doing two at a time here and one is upside down, so can move the board around and not be distracted by the other image. It also gives me a chance to see the image as an abstract, so I can check composition. 

But today my paint brush has been all over the proverbial map. I painted a silver coat on a gate that will eventually grace my studio wall, a piece of theatre that will involve my bathroom door. I couldn't resist. Right now it is outside leaning against the wall, drying. 

I also went at my cabin, and screen door. First priming them, because much of the paint used here has been oil based, so priming was a safe bet. 

The O'Brien theatre doors I have been working on for a while now are done, they wait quietly in the corner, they need three layers of topcoat to keep greasy popcorn hands from ruining the paint job. 

I am still just getting used to the new space and am spending a lot of mental time wondering, pondering about how I can make this space work for me, monetarily. Lots of people have ideas for me, solutions....but I will of course go my own way. I'm like that.