What's up?

It seems my whole art career during 2013 is in the stage of getting ready, but never really getting very far.  If doing everything related to art  counts I am in the thick of things. If  art production is the assessment criteria I'm a dismal failure!  I am involved in art related things thought.....

•  I wrote project  grant for the new body of work I've begun called Black or White.  Fingers crossed for funding. 
•  I taught  a two day encaustic workshop focusing on building complex surfaces using collograph and stencilling and learned lots myself while preparing .
•  I'm mounting and framing two bodies of work for two different shows at The Leyton Gallery , one in June and the other in the early fall.
• Finally, I am going to Europe for a month beginning the end of May.  I've spent lots of time deciding what galleries I want to visit. That I'm sure will lead to new work My trips always inspire me.  

I will be writing several posts related to stencilling, collograph and encaustic when I get a free moment.  My students created inspiring work using both techniques and we had a load of fun in the process.

It was such a pleasure to go to The Leyton Gallery's 10 anniversary show yesterday and see a piece created at my workshop. The ever delicate touch of Louise Sutton is always an inspiration.

  Louise Sutton, Far From Here, encaustic on panels,  2013

Who knew cotton lace could inspire such work....  

Louise and I will be in a show together this fall.   Interesting times ahead. 

Sentinel

 

 Failed  Fishery - Margaret Ryall

Time Changes, Butter Point, Jerseyside - Margaret Ryall

Growing up with access to a beach with a fishing stage nearby brought me in constant contact  with all sorts of angry ocean remnants. I continue to seek the sea's treats during the summer months on the beaches of my then and now homes.

 

 Keels, NL - Margaret Ryall

 Codfish bones remain one of my favourite things to find. 

 source

  They have such delicate fluted edges and the colour is a wheaty white. As a child we had funny names for  all the different bones and we found creative ways to use them in our play. 

 Sentinel (2013) mixed media  (codfish bone, paper, gesso, encaustic)  6 x 6 in.

This work stems from that period in my life.  Our original name for this bone was soldier, but age has moved my thinking along to Sentinel.  This is another work in my "Finding my way" series.

Finding my way

I am beginning a new series of work in encaustic and this is one of the exploratory pieces.  I am still experimenting and deciding so until I find out what I am actually up to I've named the series Finding My Way.

 The work is stemming from a temporary visual experience I had during cataract surgery when my lens was removed prior to having the new one  put in. You are looking into a bright light so the world becomes  fuzzy white.  The experience is both frightening and thought provoking. It brought a  lot of observations and questions with it.

 Without colour and contrast how would you represent the world?  What  art elements can you use?  How would you represent your thoughts?  .....

          What if ..... Beach Language  ( 2013 ) 12 x45 in.  encaustic, encaustic gesso, driftwood, glue

Saturday solutions

Monday problems from my previous post now have Saturday solutions!  My husband managed to cobble together a solution to my ventilation problem for encaustic.  Today I plan a test  run.  If is doesn't work we will have to go to a more elaborate set up with a vent hood and exterior exhaust.  Fingers crossed on this one.

 This dual fan has variable speeds and draws pretty well. 

Don measured the window casing and cut plywood so he could mount  the finished product  on the frame with two hinges.  Once the plywood was cut to size he placed the  fan on top of it  and traced around the edges.  Then a hole needed to be drilled to  cut out the fan shape with a jig saw.  An access hole for the plug must also be created.

 If I had been around when it was fabricated  I would have the fan as low to the edge of the window as possible so it would be closer to the palette.  I did not voice this after the fact!!

  I needed the set up on hinges so I could have access to the window to open and close it.  The window opens up to the top so there is plenty of air flow.   You can see how he built a frame  on the back to hold  the fan  in place and to also allow removal when I want to  move it  to my summer studio.   I have the perfect system there because the windows are table height and the  fan fits the window size.

A simple wooden bar on a screw lets me open and close the system.  I want to paint the whole thing  white so it isn't quite so unsightly.   Hint:  You need two hands to mount it, one to hold and one with the screw driver. Even then the screw often grabs and pulls the board up or down.  We had a little drop on the right side.

 I didn't even have to forgo my new vanity and it is almost ready for staining.  It was a productive week all around in the Ryall household.

Monday problems

Working in encaustic in Newfoundland's wind is not for the faint of heart.  It seems I am always fighting the movement of cold air into the studio. I need a secondary source of  fresh air  to replace what is lost by the  exhaust fan spinning like crazy sucking all the warm air out of  the house (according to my husband).  It's not an efficient system.  If the air is too cold the encaustic will not flow smoothly.  When it is windy the cold air blows back into the house around the fan.

  Window without the fan

I tried closing off part of the window with styrofoam which is easy to insert, but it blows down!

 Sometimes it is so windy the fan is  turning half as fast as it  should be.  Next the motors will burn out!     I want my husband to build a wooden frame around my new double  fan  I just purchased  to allow me to  insert  the whole thing into the window to cut any cold air coming in above my palette.  Fingers crossed.  I also have a new vanity for the bathroom on the to do list.  Now which do I want more?

While he's at it I need an extension added on to the top of my encaustic work space to accommodate the larger work I'm currently creating... 45 inches long.  Really, I'm working on a piece that is that long!

 

OOps!

When I create encaustic monotypes I usually work with  mulberry paper on a roll and sometimes this paper is joined.   I get so caught up in the excitement of my creations I don't notice I have to move into a seam.  Now that is truly disappointing because I love this piece where the sun is nestled into the hills.

Would you mind a join in the paper?  

Echoes of Venice Series

Venice lives fresh in my memory since 2005 and its patterns and textures keep reappearing in my art work in the series Echoes of Venice. This series has been around since 2006 and I keep adding  adding small pieces to it.  I am even more focused on it this year because I return to Venice this June.  I anticipate a fresh batch of work.

 The old section of Venice is a treasure trove of patterns and textures.  Walking the narrow streets brings you in close proximity to walls and windows and you can't help notice what is around you.   Everything is within reach of your fingertips. Churches, galleries, shops and other historical attractions reek of gold and beautiful patterns.  Masks, hand made books, gowns, ornaments, fabrics - how can you not want to build all that lusciousness into your work. 

 Here's a peek  at two different  sets of work that keep getting added to. 

Two of  six which will be mounted side by side and framed as one.  Each piece is 4.5 x 6 inches.  I feel more of these in the offing.  

Then there's the newer work that is very neutral and light with a strong focus on pattern and texture.  Each piece is 6 x 8 and when complete they will be hung in grids of 9 (at least that's what I think now).  It seems I can only get the look I want in encaustic.

 This one is incomplete because the great divide needs to be filled but nothing is speaking right now. 

Sea and sky series

Living by the sea awakens your senses to all kinds of sounds, scents and sights.  The night sky is usually spectacular with thousands of stars hanging from the sky. I sometimes imagine them on springs just pulsating up and down as if they want to dislodge themselves and take the long trip to meet me in my little house by the sea.

These two works are  interpretative and just plain  fun. They will probably not make the cut for my exhibition but they are lively each in its own way.

Tumbling Stars #1, 2012, 3 ( 3.5 x 7.5 in. ) encaustic monotype on paper

Tumbling Stars #2, 2012, 3 ( 3.5 x 7.5 in. ) encaustic monotype on paper

Sea and sky

 

More  new work from my summer encaustic monotype marathon....

Northern Lights, 2012, 3 (3.5 x 7.5 in. ) encaustic monotype on mulberry paper

Every now and then  in the late fall I get to see the Northern lights at my summer house.  It is the only place I see them so they are part of the fabric of my experiences there. I often connect them with the ocean, only because the ocean is part of my experience there too.  I'm quite pleased with these bursting pulsations.

Seeing landscape

 I am always astounded by the variety of interpretations you see in landscape paintings.  Let 10 artists look at the same landscape and chances are you would get 10 different interpretations of it.  Some would be fairly literal and some more abstracted.  

 I am attracted to landscape paintings that are interpretative in some way.  It could be a stunning use of intense colours, elements of elongation, surrealism, whimsy, abstraction, pattern and texture..... The more interpretative the more I am attracted because I know the scene is being filtered through someone's thought processes and imagination.

 

 Paul Bailey 

I'm not usually attracted to landscape in watercolour, but I always give a second look when I see Paul Bailey's work.  With strong forms, intense colour, and minimal details, he catches the essence of a scene.

Anselm Kiefer

source  

What is a tree and how does it function in our lives and in the landscape? Here are two artists who  have interpreted trees by using objects. 

 

Susan Schiesser

Vibrant colour, patterning, and simplified forms all working together to created the patterns of landscape.  I can't resist the positive energy in Susan's work.

 

Karen Jacobs

Thin and thick colour, washed/scumbled over surface, assorted marks, open areas, line variety, drips and spatters all come together to create landscapes that provide a sense of the accumulation and the essence of time.

 

 Andrew Wyeth
One of my favourite landscape painters.  Enough said! 

 Lauren Adams

 

West Virginia artist Lauren Adams, uses thin veils of colour as a background and then  adds thick oil paint .  This unusual pairing creates a dialogue that questions the essence of the land.

 "Limerick" - Shawn McNulty

McNulty's abstract palette knife paintings reveal the process of their creation much as the land does.  While there is a quietness in the landscape created, the energy of its creation is evident.

 

Carol Nelson, Ancient Dwellings

Nelson's landscapes are obviously inspired by rocks, cliffs and other geologic features.  The texture, colours and effective use of line, as well as a high horizon line draws the viewer's eye. 

Do you have favourite elements in landscape painting  or a favourite landscape painter? I would love to link this post to a new one based on your suggestions.