Kawartha One, by Clive Powsey

The stillness of autum descends on the reflective waters of the Kawartha Region of Ontario.

When I first went into Peer Christensen's Gallery in Peterborough, Ontario, I found myself standing transfixed in front of one of Clive Powsey's works. I would have eagerly taken one home, but my many years of collecting art have caught up to me.

Here we find a Clive Powsey interpretation of the part of Canada where I live. I prowl the lakeshores and rivers at home, in search of the perfect scene to paint. But, Kawartha One, tells me that there is no need to search relentlessly for the beauty that unfolds around me. Its all right there.

Here in typical Clive fashion, we find richness and depth of colour. We find boldness in the evergreens and we find the contrasting beauty of a shoreline of autumn evergreens. Clive creates a mood of tranquility with his long lakeshore and the stillness of water. The sky goes about its daily business without the interruption of wind blown clouds. The viewer gets the impression that time is held in suspension and that nothing much has changed since the beginning of time.

Its hard to know where to begin to describe Clive. His personal biography is rich with his many accomplishments. I will expand on this in a forthcoming blog.

Expect more future paintings from these Courteney, BC area artists.

A tribute to Lawren Harris in Song and Picture

Best painting tip you've ever received (watercolours)

Have you received any suggestions which have made you a better painter? Feel free to add your comments below, before today's blog entry sinks below the horizon. Here are a few tips which I received which impacted me.


1. Never clean your paint tray at the end of a day's work. Your tray provides you with a visual memory of what you mixed the day before. Its hard to pick up your painting where you left off the day before, with an empty palette.

2. Keep it simple stupid. Some of my best pictures, have the least detail. A good artist studies the scene, and then decides what to exclude.

3. "Put away that damned small brush." A professional artist and teacher said to me. And with that, he literally picked a small brush out of my hand and tossed it down on the table. A small brush constricts your thinking and you work from the left brain hemisphere.

4. Paint with a restricted palette. This is rather personal, I suppose, but I try to restrict my paintings to about 5 colours. I find that the smaller the palette, for me the easier it becomes to
create atmosphere.

5. Never paint after the sun goes down. I lose my ability to discriminate colour.

6. Its your call.....add what you wish.

Watercolourist Profile: Ron Morrison, Courteney BC

Whatever else, Ron Morrison will surprise you. He's a dynamic Canadian Watercolourist from Canada's west coast. Ron is a self admitted motorcyclist with a passion for art. He is self taught, and admits to having began dabbling in watercolours after he left school and he has never looked back since. When you check Ron's profile on his website, you discover that Ron likes shaking the boat.

And shake it he does! For one thing, Ron love painting old cars and boats. His portfolio is rich with paintings of junked cars and beached boats. This is Ron's primary interest, and as he has often said, he paints them a lot, because there is something in them which captures his personal quest for growth. And, when you peel back the "I like that colour," critiquing and delve into how it all flows together - colour dynamics, subject arrangement, visual flow, and atmosphere you can see what Ron means. And, I never cease but to be amazed how Ron can redefine the same subject, over and over - like a golfer perfecting his swing in that constant search for perfection.

Intriquingly there are parallels which can be drawn between the works of the earlier BC iconic painter, Emily Carr, and Ron. Emily explored decaying Haida villages where the people had vanished and their totem poles and buildings are leaning and falling into decay as the forest embraces and reclaims them. But for Ron, its his search for the nostalgic, haunting, primitive, reclaimative beauty in old discarded boats, cars and trucks, which blurs with a sense of loss and nostalgia.

I sense an empathy in Ron, for his crumbling old vehicles. And, I find myself wondering if it isn't all part of a grand metaphor on the human condition and Ron isn't making a statement that beauty triumphs over all.

What captures my attention is how Ron uses his art to create atmosphere. The car in this posting has dignity and pride as it sit alone in the field. It sparkles with light and it is the stuff of poetry.

Ron searches for what remains after the beautiful old family car which has been lovingly waxed by caring hands, and then experienced social rejection. If you look carefully behind the broken windows you see a teasing play of light and shadows and you sense the presence of a world of sprites.

Ron is a master extraordinaire in understanding what colours to use to create the atmosphere he seeks, be it a phosphorous, moonlit sky or the brilliance of an afternoon sun - and then, he takes this light and explores how it effects colour on metal and paint.

I suspect that Ron finds conventional landscapes and florals boring and too restrictive. There is not enough room for him to explore the breadth of his paintbox and to include the kind of detail he searches for and the fineness of expression he seeks.

The amazing thing about Ron's works is that he plots his course as he goes along. There is no preplanning, and there are no values sketches. What you see is what you get. Its the magic of his spontaneous touch. Its the ulimate of right brain painting.

Ron Morrison has carved for himself a unique place in the community of Canadian art and he is an artist to be reckoned with.

http://watercolourproductions.blogspot.com/

Adolph Hitler: Painter part 2

The End Game

When I finished the top picture, I cleaned my brushes and packed away my supplies and thought..."There...job done!" But, I am learning that its wise to sleep on my work and let it lie for a day.

When I returned to it the next day, I saw the picture with fresh eyes and a clear mind. I realized then that the picture didn't pass the test.

It didn't take much to give the picture life: a bolder and more dramatic sky, and lots of cloud shadows on the forest line below the mountain, and even the suggestion of a cloud that loses its edge and blends with the forest on the right side.

Interestingly, the end game was all intuitive. I simply mixed my paints, and laid them on and watched the picture come to life. It was right brain play, all the way.

Emily Carr's Reaction to Lawren Harris's Critiquing

Lawren Harris North Shore Lake Superior: L Harris

December 24. 1940
Lawren and Bess came in today. Lawren pulled out a lot of canvases but his crits were not illuminating, although they were full of admiration and appreciation. He seemed to pick on some small unimportant detail and never to discuss the subject from its basic angle. Trivialities. I observed that he turned back to former canvases often with epithets like "swell," "grand," "beautiful", and the latter canvases he was perhaps more silent over. I wonder if the work is weakening and petering out. Perhaps so, I feel that the angle is slightly different. Perhaps the former was more vigorous, more disciplined, but I think the latter is more thoughful. I know its less static. Perhaps the static was more in line with his present abstract viewpoint. He was enthusiastic enough and complimentary - but not enlightening. Praise half as warm many years ago would have made me take off into the sky with delight. Now I distrust criticism. It seems to be of so little worth. People that know little talk much. And folk that know, halt, wondering, self conscious about their words. Perhaps the best thing I got out of this visit was a calm looking with impartial eyes at what Lawren pulled out of my racks, things that I had almost forgotten that stirred my newer and older thoughts together in my mind and made me try to amalgamate them.

source: p. 434. Hundred and Thousands - the Journals of Emily Carr

publisher: Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, Toronto, Berkley.

Painting: National Gallery of Canada

Georgia O'Keeffe, American Artist, US tv network

The Georgia O'Keeffe Story will be viewed on Lifetime TV network, in the USA, on September 20th. Canada's Emily Carr has often been compared to O'Keeffe, insomuch as both were strong women and foremost female oil painters, in their respective countries, at a time when painting was dominated by men.

Premieres Saturday, Sept. 19 at 9 pm et/pt. Encores Sept. 20 at 7 pm et/pt and Sept. 22 at 9 pm et/pt

From Lifetime.com's website:

When fiercely independent and then-unknown female artist Georgia O’Keeffe (Joan Allen) discovers famed photographer and art impresario Alfred Stieglitz (Jeremy Irons) is displaying her drawings in his gallery without her permission, she confronts him and orders him to remove the collection. But Georgia finds herself taken with Alfred’s charms as he convinces her to allow him to become her benefactor and to champion her artistry. Their working relationship evolves as they fall deeply in love and Alfred eventually leaves his wife for Georgia. She soon becomes a rising star who is poised to eclipse Alfred’s light. As their relationship suffers, Alfred finds twisted ways to emotionally wound her, including taking a younger lover. Georgia’s search for solace moves her west, where she finds new inspiration for her paintings – and ultimately her own voice – in the New Mexico landscape.

Adolph Hitler - Painter part 1

Winston Churchill Artist

Winston Churchill Artist

I did a bit of online searching to see what I could locate on Winston Churchill, artist. Churchill painted at his country home, 'Chartwell'. His wife Clementine said that he never even been in an art gallery before he took up painting. Although Churchill did study under an artist friend, Robert Lavery. In 1921 Churchill sold 3 landscapes under the pseudonym of Charles Morin, at a Parisian artshow. Check out this website for an interesting article on Churchill as an artist: http://www.winston-churchill-leadership.com/winston-churchill-painting.html. Churchill presented his painting Marakesh as a gift to President Harry Truman. This picture was later put up for public auction by Truman's estate. Sotheby's sold it for for 468,500 pound, or about $1,000,000 US.

For additonal information, see Robert Genn's Painter's Key: http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/churchill.asp and reader's comments on the subject: http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/churchill.asp

The Grombich website, from the UK lists in an article on this url: http://www.gombrich.co.uk/showdoc.php?id=15, the following items.

Beginning in Watercolours - Biting the Bullet

The first time I picked up a paintbrush, I knew where I was heading.
I watched with amazement as colours flowed from my brush onto paper.

Within a few sessions, my first watercolour teacher, took me aside and asked "Can you see yourself as an artist, selling your works professionally."

Yes! Yes! Yes!

There was only one problem. As the kids say. I sucked! My first paintings were terrible. They were so bad that I was embarrased by my lack of skill. Whatever Maggie saw in my art was puzzling. The only thing that kept me going was sheer, mindless, determination.

I have since learned that I wasn't alone in being shocked by my lack of competence in watercolour art. I have talked to many painters who decided on the strength of their first futile attempts that watercolour painting was definitely not for them. Fortunately, the one thing that life has given me was an ample supply of patience. And trust me, it has taken a lot of patience - and hard work to see my development.

Why then does watercolour painting attract so many 'entrance level' artists? Go into any major bookstore and you quickly discover that watercolour painting books vastly outnumber books in acrylics or oils. Watercolour classes for beginners abound. But yet when the grain is sifted through the seive and the chaff is blown away there seem to be relatively few professional watercolour artists left over. Watercolour paintings in galleries seem few and far between.

What is there about watercolour that attracts so many beginners?

The answer to that is embedded deep in our childhood years. Almost all of us come into art with experience in painting in colouring books and water based paints in school. If we could paint in waters as children, then surely watercolour painting must be much easier for an adult to learn.

But yet, when we bite the bullet in watercolour art - we had better be careful which way we aim it, for as any serious student of watercolours knows, its a tough media to learn! But the rewards are great for those who persevere.

Quotation from St. Francis of Assisi

"He who works with his hands is a labourer,

he who works with hands and mind is a craftsman

but he who uses hands, mind and heart together is an artist."

Another Van Gogh Theory: What They See In Van Gogh's Ear

I wonder if there has been an artist in the post Romantic
Years who has been as intriquing as Vincent Van Gogh.
I was looking at Robert Genn's Painter's Key, yesterday
and discovered that there is another theory afloat.

In 2008, Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, floated the theory which eventually became a book: "Van Goghs Ohr: Paul Gauguin und der Pakt des Schweigens.

Ann Landi, explores the theory of the missing piece of ear, in her readable article, "What They See in Van Gogh's Ear."

You can find this by chasing down this link in Art News.

http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2723&current=True

I won't take away from Ann's column by advancing it on my blog, but I think you will find it a good read.

Also, if you have a spare hour or more, you may wish to check out this super documentary by Simon Schama. Another great BBC production.



YouTube - Simon Schama's Power of Art: Van Gogh 1/13

Emily Carr and the Haida Basket

Totem



Emily Carr was influenced by Lawren Harris, a Group of Seven painter, noted for his effectively simple and powerful paintings which captured the atmosphere of the Canadian north. Many people linked her works to Van Gogh's Romantic impressionism. But there is more to this painting. While this work is impressionistic, it is also has strong qualities of realism. The lines are hard and the angles are sharply described, metaphorically indicating a life which was defined by hard realities.


Emily's Haida village appears like a metaphorical basket. It is painted with strong bold colours and it contained the lives of people who lived interconnected lives, in buildings which touched and were linked to one another.


The village basket is wrapped beneath defining folds of a cloth of deep ultramarine blue waves of mountains. The mountains and sea were defining features in the lives of these people.


But the basket, while being rich with design, is empty. There is a sense of desertion. The people are gone, and their structures are indicative of the cultural richness of the life they left behind.


The Haida village basket is pinned together by the spiritual presence of tall, black, totems which are staggered throughout the village and stick out of the ground like upraised darning needles from a ball of wool at the bottom of a sewing basket, joining together the native tapestry by linking the earth with the sky.

Mona Lisa - Painted with Hamburgers?

And when you've think you've seen everything in art?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orjALWsyaR4

or try this: How to paint the Mona Lisa using MS Paint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2sPl_Z7ZU

Come now! Who would really want a name like Mona?
And while I'm at it, try out this history of Lisa Gherardini, born in Florence in 1479.
http://sify.com/news_info/fullstory.php?id=13565799

Ice Bear, Canada's Native Leonardo?

The upper work, was painted by Ice Bear, (also known as Chris Johnson), and

is a foremost Canadian native artist. The bottom work can be seen on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican and is painted by Michelangelo.

An Article on Chris Johnson

http://www.artistsincanada.com/php/article.php?id=960

Chris Johnson in his studio (from his webpage)

http://www.icebearstudios.com/IceBear_Studios_/About_IceBear.html

Chris says about his technique and style:

"I believe that as an artist, to be an artist, is to continue to learn, explore, expand one’s knowledge and skills. This means constantly testing, pushing the boundaries of both one’s own skills and the products available.

For me, to ever be confined to one genre, palette, or family of products would be impossibly stifling. The creation of Art is a lifelong adventure, to be explored and savoured, Each vision has a life and presence of its own, and demands its own unique way of being presented to the world"

Celebration Time

Wedding Weekend - Kristi and John Say their Vows





Is this the little girl I carried?

I don't remember growing older. When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?When did he grow to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterdayWhen they were small?




Sunrise, sunset Sunrise, sunset

Swiftly flow the days

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers

Blossoming even as we gaze

Mr.Bean and Whistler's Mother

This is quite possibly the most recognized face in the world.

I had thought of using this video clip, "Bean: The Ulimate Disaster Movie" to introduce the painting session I will be having this fall. This, I am sure, will become the source of many a blog posting to follow.

I won't tell you about the You Tube video clip. I will let you see it for yourself. Its almost six minutes long, and it is a delightful art story.

Comedy in itself is an artform, and this man is a giant in the world of humour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9xR2MI2KQo

Definition of the Age of Romanticism

For an excellent definition of what the Age of Romanticism represented in art, you may wish to check the site below.
When I think of Romanticism, I find myself thinking of Turner's great skies and the seascapes.

http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/c17th-mid19th/romanticism.htm