I was invited by Veronica Funk to join a blog hop project. Thank you Veronica. The project consists of answering some questions regarding art and my art process; as well as to to highlight three artists I admire. Due to the summer holidays, many of the artists I contacted were busy and away. So I am highlighting two artists here today. First here are the answers to the questions that were asked of me for the blog hop project:
1) What am I working on/writing?
Currently I am working on a series for a new show opening in September called Seasons, this is a two person exhibit with Sandy Middleton, at the MJG Gallery, in Leslieville, Toronto, Ontario.
The interpretation I am taking for this theme, "Seasons" is to explore the concept of patterns in our lives, like seasons, which have natural rhythms. Seeking meaning from those patterns that come into our lives like seasons that repeat. There is something very beautiful about the seasons changing, the predicability of them. The predictability can bring comfort, especially when a particular season might be a hard one, knowing that it WILL CHANGE…as it always does …can provide HOPE.
For that matter those unexpected turn of events, like anomalies in our seasons we experience, such as the severe winter we just had, with the ice storm etc. how does that impact our lives, our understanding of these rhythms on our beings, our souls? The connection to our world, the seasons in our lives are definitely present…It is undeniable that we are unequivocally connected to the rhythms of the earth's energy, changing seasons, the birthing of life and the decay of it as well. I am hoping to delve into the contemplation of that..how patterns in our lives occur to tell us something, to make sense of our lives if we are paying attention to those patterns. So I do my very best to pay attention.
2) How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?
3) Why do I do what I do?
4) How does my writing/working process work?
And now let me introduce the wonderful artist, Veronica Funk, who asked me to join this blog hop.
Veronica Funk was raised in Northern Manitoba, studied art & design in Alberta, apprenticed with potters, stone sculptors and painters and spent a year painting on a farm in Saskatchewan. She is inspired by the changing colours of the Rocky Mountains and prairies which surround her foothills home. She has been painting professionally since 1999 and is currently continuing her education towards completion of her Bachelor of Fine Arts designation. Despite forays into mixed media, altered books and pottery, she has always returned to the medium that got her career started: painting. Over the years she has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles and her work and writing have been published in a number of art books and magazines. Her goal is to create a visual story. She combines symbols, imagery and vibrant colour through the use of opaque and transparent acrylic glazes, stamping, utilizing her hands as tools and drawing with her brush. Her images are an endeavour to capture the essence of Canada. http://www.veronicafunk.com/
The two artists I have asked permission to highlight are:
Leslie Sobel, and Bridgette Guerzon Mills, both artists, I admire. They will be publishing there blog hop posts next Saturday August 2nd, 2014.
1) What am I working on/writing?
Currently I am working on a series for a new show opening in September called Seasons, this is a two person exhibit with Sandy Middleton, at the MJG Gallery, in Leslieville, Toronto, Ontario.
The interpretation I am taking for this theme, "Seasons" is to explore the concept of patterns in our lives, like seasons, which have natural rhythms. Seeking meaning from those patterns that come into our lives like seasons that repeat. There is something very beautiful about the seasons changing, the predicability of them. The predictability can bring comfort, especially when a particular season might be a hard one, knowing that it WILL CHANGE…as it always does …can provide HOPE.
For that matter those unexpected turn of events, like anomalies in our seasons we experience, such as the severe winter we just had, with the ice storm etc. how does that impact our lives, our understanding of these rhythms on our beings, our souls? The connection to our world, the seasons in our lives are definitely present…It is undeniable that we are unequivocally connected to the rhythms of the earth's energy, changing seasons, the birthing of life and the decay of it as well. I am hoping to delve into the contemplation of that..how patterns in our lives occur to tell us something, to make sense of our lives if we are paying attention to those patterns. So I do my very best to pay attention.
2) How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?
This question is an interesting one…is anything different really, or are we all elements of what we see, and absorb…not sure how my work is different. I feel my work is similar in fact to other artists who explore their lives through their artwork. The way in which my work manifests is from life unfolding, the outcome can be the heavy use of symbols, iconic imagery and bold colour. This in fact has been done across many cultures and over many decades. So for that reason, I see it as being deeply rooted in something more than myself and intensely intuitive. Hence it doesn't work if I am too busy to listen to be paying close attention to the imagery around me in life.
I do the work to get grounded again..to find balance and to be in touch with the things that really matter in life. Connection to the source of joy, happiness, to play, to find peace. With long periods of not painting I know I would feel like a big part of me is missing. It is integral to my life being WHOLE.
4) How does my writing/working process work?
My art making involves the conscious process of first slowing down. I do this by either puttering first in the studio, to get grounded, this might include sorting, absorbing the found objects I've been give, collected or found randomly. A part of this grounding involves journalling. Once feeling ready the painting begins, which is some layering of encaustic medium -- several layers actually, of one colour, usually my fave…Indigo. This sets the next step to being ready for the imagery and colour to flow into a narrative, and sometimes a surreal piece.
And now let me introduce the wonderful artist, Veronica Funk, who asked me to join this blog hop.
The two artists I have asked permission to highlight are:
Leslie Sobel, and Bridgette Guerzon Mills, both artists, I admire. They will be publishing there blog hop posts next Saturday August 2nd, 2014.
Leslie Sobel’s work is motivated by her relationship with nature. She is particularly interested in the impact of climate change on habitat - both developed and wilderness. In the past three years she has hiked at Death Valley, Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument, Zion, Mount Rainier, Olympic National Park and many weekends in local state parks in Michigan. She spent September 2013 at a wilderness based residency sponsored by Colorado Art Ranch and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Southwest Colorado.
Her process is studio intensive but starts outdoors with experience, photography and drawing providing the visual and emotive references that come back into the studio to be realized in mixed media artwork.
Sobel was born in New York City and grew up in Chicago. She grew up in a family of scientist as the only artist and that mix of outlooks has profoundly shaped who she is and how she views the world. She spent much of her childhood camping –growing up with a profound appreciation of the outdoors. The result of that upbringing is a deep interest in different ways of understanding and connecting to the world. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art in 1983. After working in computer graphics for many years and doing Master’s degree work in Interdisciplinary Technology at Eastern Michigan University she went back to being a full time artist in 1999.
Sobel is active in her community as a member of the Arts Alliance board and former chair of the Milan Art Center. She co-founded the art alchemists, an artists‘ collective revolving around the use of digital tools in art-making and was a partner in the artist owned Washington Street Gallery for a number of years. Sobel is married and has three young adult children. She has lived in southeast Michigan for more than 30 years.
photo by Robin Samiljan at Provincetown Inn, Encaustic conference
The second artist is: Bridgette Guerzon Mills
The second artist is: Bridgette Guerzon Mills
Bridgette writes: "My mixed media paintings incorporate moments captured by my photographs with the richness of paint, creating a bridge between two worlds – the real and the reconstructed. I lay down layers of paint and pieces of photo transfers, papers or fibers to create depth in both form and meaning. The canvas becomes a multilayered surface that speaks to both the visual and tactile senses. This integration of diverse layers creates an intimate connection that invites exploration."
