Janice Mason Steeves

Safe Home  42x42" oil/cold wax on panel © 2012 Janice Mason Steeves I am back in the land of the healed!  My arm is out of the cast, my right foot is almost better-whatever was wrong with it, no one still knows-and my eye is totally better.  Hallelujah.  It's been quite a winter.  I haven't been back into the studio yet.  The wrist is so weak and vulnerable still.  But soon.  After a bit of physiotherapy. Meanwhile, I am still getting lots of prep work done for my classes and having interesting email conversations with other artists. Today I received an email from an artist friend in Winnipeg who asked a group of us, "What effect does narrative have on an image?"  He wondered about the value or importance of text to support an image, such as an artist's statement or even a title.    I wrote back to say that  I have found that writing adds another dimension to my work.  My painting is totally intuitive ...

Poem Series: 10110  12x12" oil/cold wax on panel © Janice Mason Steeves 2010 My exhibition, Poems from the Moon Garden opened on Friday night at Abbozzo Gallery in Oakville, Ontario.   The show continues until November 7th.  Here are a few of the installation shots before and during the show. Abbozzo Gallery Owner- Ineke Zigrossi With artist friend, Shirley Williams on the right My painting of the past several years has been strongly influenced by the archetypal concept of pilgrimage.  This current work has increasingly become more experimental and exploratory, turning inward and moving toward abstraction.  As I began this body of work, I decided to drop all my known reference points—to step off the edge of what is familiar to me.  In Buddhism, this attitude of setting aside, for the time being, preconceived ideas, beliefs and expectations is known as 'beginner's mind". Beginner's mind is like a child’s mind, just present to explore and obse...

        Detail: River of Longing 8    24x80" oil on panel     ©2009 Janice Mason Steeves How often have I rewritten my artist's statement over the years?  Endless times.  It's a work-in-progress.  As my painting changes, I have to rewrite it.  As I complete another grant application or apply for a residency or have an exhibition, I have to rewrite it. Although I enjoy writing, working on my artist's statement feels like a form of torture.  There is something about the process that is incredibly difficult. It requires objectivity to write it.  I paint intuitively.  I don't conceptualize the work or the project beforehand, which makes it difficult to be objective. A couple of years ago, I bought an e-book from Alyson Stanfield called " The Relatively Pain-Free Artist's Statement .  It took me through a 20-day lesson plan.  It's step-by-step approach to looking at your art and your lif...