Threads and Journeys

There are always threads aren't there, that connect one thing and another in our lives. I wrote last week about the threads that connected many events in my life that week. This week I found some new connections.

In preparing a slide presentation for Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts near Victoria, BC, where I'll be teaching next week, I've been looking at images of the paintings I did at my artist residency at Cill Rialaig in Ireland last fall. I haven't looked at the work for a while and in fact tended to dismiss it as only experimental work. I've put it on a shelf in my studio and haven't looked at it since I came home last December. My artist talk is about Journeys: a short version of how I came to be doing the work I'm doing now-where it came from, what influenced it, and what I learn from it.

Sometimes we don't know the strength of a painting until we put it away for a while. I was using acrylics in this Cill Rialaig piece, a medium I am not very comfortable with or familiar with. I was surprised-when I looked at it after all these months-at the strength of this painting that I had done in such an experimental manner. I was surprised also, to notice the similarity between this work and my current work. The use of shape, line and strong value contrast are present in all of the paintings. I often tend to dismiss the work I do at artist residencies as simply playful and exploratory.

In my workshops, I always encourage a playful approach. So often artists come to workshops with the intention of producing a saleable work of art in a 3-day workshop where they are learning to work with a new medium! It's a tough job trying to encourage people to let go of the product mentality and simply explore. That doesn't mean that I feel that finished paintings can be slapped together in a few moments of play. There is the analytical piece that is important to balance that sense of play. But it is the playful exploration that leads the way. It comes first. There is a sense of detachment to it too, where it's the process that is important not the results. In fact the results (at that moment) are very secondary and when they become important, it no longer is play. That's the moment though when really creative ideas are born-that moment of detachment and freedom. The analytical part comes later.

In putting together my presentation this week, I clearly see how important this attitude is in my own work. In April, when I was trying to get back to work after a month-long hiatus from the studio, I painted on small sheets of paper in a very carefree, experimental fashion. I came gradually to realize that this process produced some strong pieces as well. They shared a close relationship to the Ireland work although I didn't think of it at the time. That creative process led the way into what has become a body of work.

Although I've spent way too much time this week putting together my presentation, I'm delighted to see how much I've learned from it.....the threads that have been woven, the connections made.

“Go and play. Run around. Build something. Break something. Climb a tree. Get dirty. Get in some trouble. Have some fun.” Brom, The Child Thief

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 s...

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 ...

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 Fr...

Janice Mason Steeves

Search This Blog