Skip to main content

Pushmi-Pullyu


It's been weeks since I've posted on my blog. I find December a disorganized and frazzled month. I get distracted at Christmas and it's all I can do to get into my studio. At the beginning of January though, I jumped back into my work. I've been painting as well as applying for international artist residencies.

I find each new year invigorating yet I begin to rethink my work, where it's going and what I'd like to accomplish during the next year.

I remember reading Dr. Dolittle to my children when they were small. I loved the Pushmi-Pullyu. An imaginary Pushmi-Pullyu sometimes comes to sit on my shoulder at the beginning of a new year and chuckles into my ear. Part of me appreciates it. The Pushmi side keeps wanting to push me forward in my work, not letting me relax into complacency, goading me on. Part of me can't stand the discomfort that brings, challenging me to find new ways to work.

I've been taking up the challenge, trying some new techniques, working more abstractly.....I'm playing.

I might not post those images for a while yet.

Meanwhile the Pullyu part is also at work. I am feeling the pressure of creating work for my solo exhibition at Wallace Galleries in Calgary at the end of April. It's the artist's paradox. Do I stay with the work that is feeling comfortable or do I play and stretch?

G.K. Chesterton says: "The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground".
Labels:

Comments

  1. Alyson ChampJanuary 18, 2010 at 4:20 AM

    Hi Janice,
    Glad to see you are back! I was missing your blog. These questions of "playing" in art making and having the courage to change directions are also especially relevant to me right now too. I'm doing a solo show in March- just collages!
    I can't wait to see what you've been up to.
    Alyson

    ReplyDelete
  2. jane lindJanuary 18, 2010 at 1:20 PM

    Jan, given who you are, you can't help but try new stuff. That's what is so energizing in looking at your work.
    Jane

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet the Owners of a Scottish Castle

Anne Tristine Nguyen, Ali Orr Ewing, their children, Ava, Atticus and  their dog, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dunskey Estate, Portpatrick, Scotland Anne Tristine Nguyen and her husband, Alistair Orr Ewing are the owners of Dunskey Estate near Portpatrick, Scotland where I will teach a painting workshop in September. Dunskey is a splendid Edwardian castle on 2000 acres of ocean-front land with miles of walking trails. As well as daily workshop sessions in the studio on the top floor of the castle, our small group of artists will enjoy breathtaking hikes, superb accommodation and fabulous meals.  Not having met owners of a castle before, I asked Anne if I could interview her to hear a little of their background story and that of the castle. Can you tell me a little of your personal story and that of your husband, Alistair Orr Ewing? Anne emigrated to America when she was ten years old, but it was at an art gallery in Saigon, her birthplace, where she met Al
Post a Comment
Read more

The Importance of Silence in Art

Gathering Light 60x60"  Oil on canvas © 2014 Janice Mason Steeves  Michael David Rosenberg, the musician known as Passenger, sings, "See all I need is a whisper in a world that only shouts." In the workshops I teach, I find that one of the most common problems with paintings is that they shout. Most have too much going on: too many small shapes, too much texture, extremes of colour, too many lines, too much, too much. One thing I say most often as I walk around the classroom working with students individually, is 'make bigger shapes'.  But not only bigger shapes. Quiet shapes.  Where can your eye go and rest in the painting? That isn't a consideration in much of contemporary painting or much of contemporary life.  Ours is a noisy world both visually and auditorily.  Ours is a world that shouts.  People are afraid of silence. I wrote a blog post  3 years ago about planning a retreat in my own home, where I shut off the computer and the phon
1 comment
Read more

Liminal Time

 The word liminal comes from the Latin, limen meaning threshold. an in-between place, a place of transition, a time of waiting and not knowing. Dawn and dusk are considered liminal places. Crepuscular animals, like foxes and coyotes are most active at this time of day, a time that is considered a magical time in Celtic spirituality and to Indigenous people which is perhaps the origin of their designation as tricksters.   As I write this, the northern hemisphere has just passed the vernal equinox, where day and night are of equal length.We are in a liminal space between winter and spring right now, unsure if we will have one more storm or snowfall before spring finally settles in. We're also in a liminal place as we live through this pandemic with the  anxiety and discomfort of not  knowing. A  time of great transition for the entire world, wondering what we've learned from this and what lessons we'll carry forward.     Author and Franciscan friar Richard Rohr describes limi
Post a Comment
Read more