Find a generous handful of intuitive support in the Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck.

Time is of the essence. Your time is valuable and so is mine and that’s why we need to ensure we spend all of the time we have, wisely. To that end I have taken some time to get intentional about manifesting the Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck. This project, too many years on the back burner, is designed to help you to discover how a simple mindfulness practice can help us all to get a little more intentional in our daily lives. Read on below for some of the backstory of the process and suggestions on how to use this deck.

Above. Front cover of the Mindful Moments Affirmation deck’s enclosure card.

What are Intention Cards?

Intention cards in their simplest form are a collection of positive statements created around a theme.

The Mindful Moments Deck is a collection of 52 double sided intention cards. Card fronts are illustrated by painterly details chosen from my acrylic paintings. Here you will find Words of Wisdom taken directly from my personal meditation practice. These affirmative statements are designed to offer you a literal pause, to inspire you with a different perspective or encourage you to consider applying your energy in a different way. The simplicity of the intentions these cards contain is complimented by the words in action on the back. A little something extra to think about.

No need to reach for a supplementary booklet. Everything you need is right there in the palm of your hand. They make for a simple accessory and a colourful and thoughtful addition to your morning or evening routine.

Gotta hand it to my youngest daughter for having the best manicure on picture day.

Incorporating Intention Cards Into Your Meditation Practice.

Many use affirmation decks as part of a mediation practice. If you are already a meditator, incorporating intention cards will be an easy addition to your personal routine. I use mine every day. I have a deck in “the Starbucks Corner” of our living room at home available for guests and family members. I also have a deck in my purse. They are always available to inspire a peaceful pause before my day gets up and running or as a perfect reminder to take some time for myself during the day, particularly on the days when juggling my commitments to our busy household dominates.

Use this deck to…

- Hold art and inspiration in the palm of your hand.

- tune into the magic all around you through the action of slowing down.

- accept intuitive guidance in the words you find, in the moment when you are ready to hear them.

-to find support as you determine a path to your future, one simple step at a time.

My hope is that these simple affirmative statements will help you to prioritize you while also leading you to take small, affirmative, actions daily.

Card fronts are illustrated by painterly details chosen from my acrylic paintings.

Why Intention Cards can help you to be more mindful.

We all get by with a little help from our friends. When my world turned upside down after a major car accident in 2009, I was forced to substitute all the balls I juggled in the air for stillness and quiet. In the healing process that unfolded I discovered the practice of meditation and learned to be mindful before mindfulness was really a common thing. Meditation helped me to befriend an undeveloped part of myself in the process.

The pause is restorative.

The channeled words that emerged during my personal meditative practice helped me to heal and to grow in ways I had not considered before the crash. My intention in finally sharing them is to help you to be similarly inspired. You might like to use your intention cards daily as I do. You might also choose to hold these intention cards in the palm of your hand when challenging emotions arise, and use them as a guide to redirect your energy towards more positivity. This colourful deck might even end up feeling like the support of a close friend, and I don’t think we can ever have too much of that.

Speaking of friends…

“some clients are sharing their card pulls with me and they always hit spot on.” wrote one friend over text recently.

Please feel free to scan the QR code on the back of the product tag to share your feedback on instagram or drop me a note anytime. I would love to learn how you use and enjoy your intentional card set.

The Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck comes boxed and contained in a handy organza drawstring bag.

How to Use Intention Cards as a Daily Ritual.

Everybody has the ability to incorporate an Intentional deck like this one into their daily routine. There is no right or wrong way to use them. Fundamentally I would suggest, when sitting in a moment of pause, to take a deep and purposeful breath to ground you in the moment.

Select one of the intention cards to use as your daily inspiration.

I like to take a few minutes with my pause. Shuffling the deck feels like it takes my mind and my focus off what may or may not come up. It helps me to get myself out of my own way. If someone else has used your deck many suggest you tap the deck, like knocking on a door, to reclaim the focus on your energetic vibration. If you are keeping your deck for your personal use only you can skip this step.

I try to give up my desire to control the outcome by mentally asking the universe what message might be the right one for me on this day. I don’t look at the cards, though I know some are tempted to do so. I allow myself instead to feel the smooth laminated softness of the set. Should a card leap from the deck I will definitely accept that one as my daily inspiration. On other days I will stop shuffling when I feel urged to and take to top card as mine.

Everyone is different.

Others I know like to shuffle and cut the deck, sometimes repeatedly before settling on the affirmation card that feels to be the right one on that particular sitting. My daughter likes to be inspired by a particular colour as she paiuses with a deck in hand and works the magic of her cards with her eyes wide open. You do you and however that works out be confident you are using the deck in the way that is the right way for you.

“One friend who routinely puts everyone else first is learning to self prioritize with the help of this deck.” wrote DW.

Getting Intentional With Your Cards.

I’m visual, always a painter first, l so I thought a little visual legend above would be the most effective way to document the card story. Your deck comes packaged in a 3 1/4” square white card stock box with a sturdy translucent lid. There is an enclosed card to introduce your cards and all is contained within a pearl white organza draw string bag. The product tag features a QR code on the back to take you to my instagram feed where you are invited to share on any post how the The Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck is working for you.

Unwrap your cards to get a feel for them before making your wise selection. Accept the words of wisdom on the front before turning to the words in action on the back. Some days you might like a second card. Go ahead. A second helping of intuitive support has no caloric value. I like to end my intentional pause by placing my daily selection on the top of the deck to peak through the translucent lid before I return them to the organza bag ready for my next session.

Process and processing played a large role in the development of this intentional card deck. The Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck is printed locally in Canada on recycled card stock.

Intention Cards are now available.

The Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck is a set of 52 intention cards designed to support your self care practice. Why 52? Playing cards contain 52 cards divided into 4 suits and I love to play. I can’t colour in the lines however hard I try so, full disclosure, creating Mindful Moment subcategories was beyond me. 52 was the right number of cards though to comfortably fill the boxes I unearthed so 52 it is.

Where to get your deck?

Several options for you:

1. ON THE WEBSITE

Intention Card Deck

Canadians can save on postage by purchasing a bundle of four decks at a slightly reduced rate, and get a bonus copy of my book: Wisdom at the Crossroads. Intention Card Deck Bundle (for Canadian purchasers).

2. IN STUDIO. In Winnipeg, you can find me at the studio most weekdays. If you are in my neighbourhood please send me a text or an email to make sure we don’t miss each other.

3. AT LOCAL GALLERIES

The Mindful Moments Affirmation Deck can be purchased at the Pulse Gallery in the Johnston Terminal at the Forks, or at the WAG gift shop on Memorial Boulevard. More locations coming soon.

4. On THE WAVE TOUR on June 8 & 9 and September long weekend, August 31st and September 1st in Ponemah. Mindful Moments Affirmation Decks will be available at all in person events.

This intentional deck is portable and a perfect travel companion. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

A new year is full of potential. We dust ourselves off, cast off the old, and look forward to new adventures with hope and excitement.

Where will this new year take you?

2024 has already begun but before we get too far into the new season I thought it might be nice to pause and take a reflective look back at some of our friends from 2023’s paintwall journey. “Who were they and where are they now”?

“Don’t be afraid of putting on colour. …paint the essential character of things, generously and unhesitatingly…” Camille Pisssaro

“Passage”, 24” x 24”, Acrylic on Gallery Canvas, 2024.

Delivering the MANDART New Year’s Painting.

The first bloom of 2024 has made it off the paintwall and been installed at The Fairmont, Winnipeg. She joins small works representing all of The Pulse Gallery’s artists, in a winter show called, “WUNDERLUST”.

In my end of year clean up ahead of the Studio Pop Up I came across half a tube of a discontinued, surviver, Golden’s quinacridone red light, my long time favourite acrylic colour. That’s where this painting began. If you have a tube and are willing to part with it , PLEASE, call me!

The underpainting of “Passage”, above, was done in that luminous soft choral pink that l love and it peeps through to the finished surface of this little floral gem. 24” x 24” is a very manageable size that provided for a great way to get a new year of painting underway and finished in time to add it to The Pulse Gallery’s “WUNDERLUST”.

This show is a bit like wanderlust that adds U into the equation. Wander on down to the foyer of the Fairmont any time between January 10th and February 7th . There you will find “pleasure and delight” if you take “a little roam about”, acording to Merriam Webster.

“We love this energetic yet elegant painting.” -Pulse Gallery

“Wonderland: Soul”, 48” x 48”, acrylic on panel, 2021.

The Artist Residency at The Fairmont continues.

Meet the new kid on the block, above. “Wonderland: Soul”. She has recently moved in to the Fairmont Hotel to join the big three greeters at the entrance. You will find her adding colour and a cheerful welcome to reception. She has replaced “Big Pink” who has moved on to her forever home with Canada Life.

Side note: In my tiny studio I can’t always accomodate big pieces like this so blank walls in my husband’s office often come into play as part time storage. “Wonderland”, was much loved where she was waiting in the wings, bathing in sunlight and overseeing the work of the newest partner at LTGLC Law Firm. Moving her out required a stealth covert operation after hours to orchestrate that change which has left a fresh blank wall, for now, at LTG law Firm.

Storage storage storage.

Art comes to the party and sometimes the office. Art brightens a sunny space and can also become the light when none is available. “Poetic Liscence”, recently took up temporary residence at a friends windowless clinic for a win win arrangement.

“A bright and fresh new look on the eve of the darkest night seems fitting". A big thank you to @mandartcanada for hanging these beauties on the physio clinic wall today. Mandy has been hanging her art on my therapy walls for almost a decade. Her art is like therapy itself… colourful, and expansive for all to enjoy.” - Dona Watts Hutchings

“Big Pink” 48” x 48”, Acrylic on Panel, 2023

New directions forge a new path.

“Big Pink” was the beginning of a new direction for me in my painting process in 2023. She was also a reminder that change really is a constant. Unusually, “Big Pink” features black in the under layers after more than 20 years of studio practice without using black in any form at all in my paintings. I liked the direction these new marks inspired and the invitation the process offered to explore the new. Working on this piece reminded me that following the road less travelled can lead us to new and unexpected beginnings. And that’s never a bad thing. This new beginning has her own new beginning as the newest acquisition made by the Canada Life Art Committee.

Your opinion matters.

I don’t know about your household but our family of 4 can struggle with consensus, sometimes, over the simplest things. The often posed, what’s for dinner, can inspire a plethora of emails and opinions. With consensus not always part of my day to day, you can imagine how pleased I was to receive the following note.

“Big Pink” was delivered to Canada Life at the end of the day yesterday.  Congratulations again;  always an honour to be included in a corporate permanent collection! Even more of an achievement when 9 members of an art committee must ALL be in agreement! Cheers from all,” -Pulse Gallery. 

Above are the four large paintings on display as “The Fairmont Suite”.

“They are stunning in the entry and hallway. Great energy greeting visitors to Winnipeg”, wrote @anxietyartcurator on instagram.

They have garnered a lot of positive attention and will remain on display through the spring at least I am told. If you’d like a refresher on their background stories you can read about them on the FAIRMONT SUITE BLOG here.

We get by with a little help from our Pulse Gallery friends.

Having accepted the inviation to join Pulse Gallery in 2023. I have had to relinquish some of the control I have over my studio practice. And one of those things is meeting new people through our common connection to colour. Being one step removed from interractions with new friends I was pleased to receive some feedback recently, and very glad to know my work has gone to a new home where it will be loved. 

To put the feedback into perspective I can share that In the painting below, The word CHI was inscribed in the underlayers. This was my intention when I began to paint. I might not always have a plan but I always try to be intentional. Starting now work with a single word is a practice I am committed to.

In this case I tried to imbue the piece with the energy of a journey. My journey was with paint and composition on a 2D surface. The journey continues with the viewer. And, I love that the viewer completes the puzzle of the narrative my art inspires, from a different perspective .

If you would like to listen in on the backstory of the painting below, I recorded an episode staring, “Going with Flow”, in Season 2 Episode 9, of Wisdom at the Crossroads, PODCAST. You might like to LISTEN TO IT HERE.

“Going with Flow”, Acrylic on Canvas

Art is a great way to start a new beginning.

I love the connections I have made through my art over the years. I may not have been privvy to this conversation but I was very grateful to hear of it through the following note.

“The young couple who were interested in “Going with Flow” decided to keep your gorgeous painting :) They really appreciated the opportunity to try it at their home.

The young couple recently got married, and they felt that the bright path in the painting represented the exciting new journey ahead in their life. The beautiful colour palette was a great factor in their decision, but the meaning they saw in the piece played a big role.

They told us "We will treasure this piece forever at our home, that it will remind us about the path we decided to take on!". - A, from The Pulse Gallery.

A big congratulations and many thanks are going out to this young couple who have chosen to begin their new chapter in life with my art in view.

“The Path”, 18” x 24”, acrylic on panel, 2023.

Endings and beginnings.

I ended my painting year with one last commission, that was actually a “4 for.” This one was initiated by an employer to honour a retirement. If you know me you will know I don’t ever suggest buying art as a gift. Our opinions are subjective and its good to keep it that way. Afterall, nobody wants to live with something they don’t love. On the other side of that coin, I can say with all certaintly that no artist ever wants you to live with their art for any other reason.

The recipient of this commission was an old friend who has a collection of my art from the earliest beginnings of my studio practice. We had a history together and it was a fun project to be a part of. Given the unusual circumstances, I created more than my usual 2 pieces for this project. I was not up to surprising the recipient and so offered an invitation to preview the group of 4 paintings in person, I may have killed the surprise but I got a front row seat to listen in to someone’s “thinking out loud” decision making process. It was a fascinating look into another persons thought processes that might become it’s own blogpost in the future. Suffice it to say all is well that ends well and “The Path” above, that carves a visual journey into what lies ahead across the horizon, was the chosen one.

This painting was a bit of a new direction for my work and I look forward to seeing where this new year will lead me.

Pop ins and Pop ups.

Spontaneity was a thing there for a minute in December so if you missed out because a Wednesday on the lucky 13th with short notice didn’t work for you, I apologise. We had a lovely afternoon and evening reconnecting, with those who were able to join us in the sharing of stories and a common connection to colour. My friend CJ joined in to help out and I was most grateful. It’s true, we really do get by with a little help from our friends.

“Even if you are not in the market for art, time spent among Amanda’s colour-filled, joyful work will fuel your soul, ease your breath and lighten your step.” CJ wrote @cjtennantjewellery on instagram.

Reflection.

The New Year seems to be inspiring a clean up in our basement at home. It was there in my former sewing room that my daughter unearthered this reflective look back at my younger self. She seemed shocked to know I was once younger. ..Werent we all?

Oh what we could say to our younger selves.

I kind of want to give her a hug, to let her know the words she subconsciously chose each year were meaningful and apropriate, and that she was destined to meet all manner of wonderful, creative ,seekers, and supporters, along the way, for whom she would always be grateful for.

Finally…

This is by no means an exhaustive list of 2023’s productions but thank you for reading to the end of this blog. I really do appreciate your intyerest in and support of my work.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line by replying to the newsletter, via email atonchulenko@mymts.net, or find me on Instagram here.

The best way to keep in touch…

Sign up for my newsletter. It’s free, and a reliable way to stay connected. (I’m talking about you Instagram algorithm!) I try to produce a monthly note. Sometimes the studio holds me hostage so my newsletters will be as little as seasonally and occasionally biweekly. You can rest assured, though, there is absolutely no chance of me inundating your inbox.

Curious about other artwork?

Where can you go from here? You can go back to the Gallery Page to view available art work on this site or head to The Pulse Gallery Winnipeg to see what paintings of mine they currently have on display. You can also pop into The Fairmont Hotel Winnipeg to meet “The Fairmont Suite” in person, or read about the project on the blog here.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Until we connect again,

all best, Amanda

Need a pop of colour to get you through the coming winter?

A MANDART Pillow might be just the dose you need. For a very limited time pillows will be available for order. Offer closes October 20th 2023. Local studio pick up only at this time in the last week of November.

Thanks for your interest in my work. Please see the designs below.

Mandart Pillows conversing on the bunkie deck. These are 1the regular size, 18” x 18”

Two sizes and twelve designs to choose from.

The pillows began as a little side project after a research grant I was awarded by the Manitoba Arts Council in 2009. Each season I added designs to the offering. At this time there are 12 available. Pillows are zippered for easy cleaning, washable, tossable and very giftable. I never suggest buying art for someone else but these pillows are the exception. We can all benefit from a little pop of colour in our indoor spaces, particularly in a Manitoba winter.

How to decide?

Take a look at the images below. The first image is the pillow 1. Solitude the others cleary state the number and title.

Please refer to the number and title when making your selections.

Check the details…

Four of the designs above have wrap around designs which means they are different on the front and the back. As a bonus, when purchased as a pair they complete a painting.

7. Prairie Sky has a blue sky on the back, not shown.

8. Celebration is shown with front and back noted.

9. Pink at Ponemah is shown with front and back noted.

12. Best Seat in the House is shown with front and back noted.

Some pillows are a full composition while others are details of a painting.

Pricing.

18” x 18’ pillows are $65

12” x 12” pillows are $45 all taxes included

These pillows are known to be conversation starters. Shown are Connection and Solitaire chatting at the lake.

To place your order

Simply send me a message via instagram, text or email on or before Friday October 20th, 2023 and I will place your selections.

Sorry I cant deliver or keep pillows for very long in my tiny studio space. My “Art Office” is tiny and pillow orders have been known to quickly turn it into a ball pit. That was fun for our kids when MacDonalds provided them but not so fun to get lost in while trying to paint or write. Thanks for your understanding.

Finally, a thank you..

Thank you for your interest in my work. I really appreciate your support.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line by replying to the newsletter, via email atonchulenko@mymts.net, or find me on Instagram here.

The best way to keep in touch…

Sign up for my newsletter. It’s free, and a reliable way to stay connected. (I’m talking about you Instagram algorithm!) What to expect when you sign up for my news? I like colour and I like words so there will be lots of that. I’m also my own boss. I try to produce a monthly note. Sometimes the studio holds me hostage so my newsletters will be as little as seasonally and occasionally biweekly. There is absolutely no chance of me inundating your inbox.

Curious about other artwork?

Where can you go from here? You can go back to the Gallery Page to view available art work on this site or head to The Pulse Gallery Winnipeg to see what paintings of mine they currently have on display. You can also pop into The Fairmont Hotel Winniepg to meet 5 large paintings that are currently part of the Inaugural Artist in Residence program.

No time to visit in person? No problem, you can read about the project on the blog here.

I look forward to hearing from you.

All best, Amanda

MAKING CONNECTIONS…

With the summer coming to a close I have been looking back over the season reflecting on the creative pause I devised for myself . The process has me wondering, How do you fill your creative cup? What is your avenue to presence? What helps you to relax, restore, and recharge?

I got intentional and turned my nurturing nature inward.

This post shares the story of a project I challenged myself to take on in the summer of 2023. It turned out to be an interesting twist on my creative process and painting in particular, both processes that have always been my path to presence.

I don’t know about you in the summertime but I can be quick to answer the call of my garden and accept and extend invitations to gather with friends and family. I love my communities and I love to connect. While I have done a lot of nurturing for others this summer I devised a restorative game. The result is The Meditation Series, a large group of small works on paper. Read on to discover the game I played to fill my creative cup to overflowing.

Establishing a Challenge…

WARNING: Please be advised, this meditative project began without any intention beyond being present and engaging with materials on a surface. You too might be inspired to slow down and take a creative pause..

Marks and the making… getting intentional about being unintentional.

In the beginning…

 I began the summer by getting serious and asking myself a question. Where do my creative intentions lie?

Then I had to get intentional. Time management and focus are not the easiest tasks to navigate in Manitoba’s short and lovely summer but I did intend to get creative with a portable project I could easily access wherever the summer took me. At first I was a bit of a bag lady, packing up and schlepping my box of materials between my studio in the city and the bunkhouse at the cottage. My good intentions were not initially successful but after a break I eventually found my groove.

Plan, what plan?

Once I prioritized my creative intentions I allowed myself to engage with materials and get to work at play. I played with media on paper without a specific outcome in mind, casually devising all sorts of playful parameters for my daily dose of creativity.

Taking Action…

Initially I taped large sheets of watercolour paper to the wall and added gestural marks in paint to get the process started. The following day I divided those sheets into uniform 6” x 9” sections that fit nicely into a padded grocery bag. It was that change in size and orientation that began my game with contrasts,.

Process, is a process…

I allowed myself to get quiet with materials at hand. I paused with the soft and delicate marks made with pencil crayon, I dabbled with stencils, I masked areas off with tape and painted swarths over multiple surfaces, I used a restricted colour palette, I used every crayon in the box. Each day was different but each day I was intentional about engaging with materials on a surface. Some days I added a layer to everysingle piece in the series while on other days I worked on a smaller group until I ran out of energy or time. Some studio or bunk house visits were peaceful and restorative, some felt more successful until I returned to them on another day to think of them as more of a hot mess.

Each day I checked my judgement at the door.

Success is a relative term. The project was enlightening, though, and it was also very challenging. I had to resist my own judgement and sometimes just get out of my own way. I tried hard to allow each piece to become what it was meant to be and at the end of the summer I am excited to share all the pieces of the creative puzzle I have been tripping over all summer.

Seeing the full series matted up and named feels surprisingly good. In fact the process surprised me. Looking at the matted compositions I am reminded of the journey they went through to get to this point. Some of the most challenging pieces resolved into strong statements and though I may have lost the subtleties I admired in some of the early layers, each stage contributed to the surface of the final product. In life as iin art, nothing exists in isolation.

That realisation reminded of the wise words of a long ago soccer coach who addressed a young team of eager young girls with the unforgettable line,

“Everyone reveals their gifts when they are ready”

The pieces in this body of work revealed their gifts when they were ready. Given time, and an opportunity to play we can all develop in our individual ways. The layered marks of the finished surfaces have contributed to the narrative. They are a record of presence, and of being present in a daily practice of creative mediation.

I didnt always have the “Right” studio equipment but this little stand in palette felt just right for my mediative project while in the bunkhouse.

My support staff…

While at the cottage I worked amidst the action taking place within view of the bunkie. The antics of Peter the rabit, who we suspect originated in Teletubby land, were entertaining. He watched me warily at first with his trained side eye but eventually got so used to my presence that he would casually turn his back to me and sprawl out on the grass where I was comfortably ignored.

The bunkhouse. Peter Rabbit’s lawn out front. The bird bath is nestled in the front of this flower bed hidden by the rambunctious susan’s.

Robins and goldfinch skinny dipped in the birdbath as the sun warmed their pond and neighbours and hummingbirds popped by to say “Hi”. I worked hard at being aware of all the activity going on around me but tried equally hard to not to be distracted by it. Some days this was easier than others.

“It took some time to allow myself this luxury, to work intentionally, yet, without intention.”

“Your best work is always the work you do for yourself”, my husband reminded me as I began this series of smalls on paper. They were not intended to become a public offering but their eager personalities have them jostling with each other to get out of their box to meet new friends.

Meditation Series in progress, making marks and living life in the details.

Getting in the groove. What lights you up?

When I create an opportunity to get to work I light myself some incence, tune into a podcast or listen to some instrumental music. Piano inspires me to take a deep breath and get down to business and I am quickly drawn into the process of problem solving in colour. Engaged with materials where time can literally fly by is where I like to be.

Work at play took on a meditative feeling this summer and became the name of the series. A meditative practice goes along with the ebbs and flows of our lives. Sometimes it’s easy and helps us to feel naturally expansive while at other times I can end feeling small and elemental and very connected to my woodland garden, Peter the rabbit and my hummingbird friends. At other times it can be difficult to leave the daily distractions behind. And it is all perfectly Ok. We are all human after all, navigating our human journey as best we can.

Each feeling, and day, is equally valid.

One decision leads to another…

Moving forward in any endeavour is about making choices, one choice at a time. I enjoyed living in layers, holding one chalk pastel or pencil crayon at a time in my hand while I worked.

Incremental marks.

A batch of trimmings from a spiral bound notebook became stencils that provided for quiet , introverted moments with pencil crayon. These quiet moments matched the scale of these paintings. In those moments I changed colours as I changed surfaces or when a lead broke or wore down. I was aware of compositional placements without intentionally striving to create a representational composition.
Later these stencils were used with acrylic paint and some of them broke off and became collaged details.

“The process is what my soul craved.”

A day in the studio with acrylic paint on the palette.

Beginning in batches and adding to the collection as I felt I needed to meant two large sheets of watercolour paper turned to three and four and before I knew it I had many pieces on the go. The change in scale was significant when compared to the 4 foot panels i had worked on through the spring. This change required a change in location, painting at a table instead of standing at the paint wall and was major adjustment for my practice and focus.

“In life and in Art, our only constant is change.”

As I got intentional about the project I embraced the idea of change. Reframing change as evolution might help you as it did me. I try to give myself permission to accept where a compositions takes me and to be accepting of the realization that there is more work to be done in being present when they take me down a new and unexpected path.

Words are important to me. Text became a large part of this process.

The power of words…

Words were embedded into the fabric of these surfaces and became part of the story of this project. The text carries my meditative notes with the finished products. ”On a different channel”, is what I like to call it, when the universe fosters a silent conversation that I transcribe with media on a surface.
These “notes” were added across pieces without a concern or intention for legibility .
Text was added in pencil crayon, painted in washy liquid acrylic and finally made with paint pens when multi layered surfaces would no longer receive the subtlety of pencil crayon. The narrative eventually reduced to be simply, a motif, and a reminder of the many layers that make up the individual and our individual creative processes.

What’s in a name?

Finding the words to distinguish the sounds in the choir was a process in itself. Naming a series is one thing, that’s a simple descriptor of an intention. Labelling the players in all the subsets was a bit more of an effort that evolved out of lists, conversations and an afternoon or two spent with the thesaurus and the world of similies. After naming came photography and then the file conversions and the inevitable tech hurdles before matting and packaging completed the project. All in a days work, but there were many of those days.

“All good things must come to an end.”

Where some of the action took place…

Beyond the bunkhouse the summer view is always an inspiration. The Village of Dunnottar’s iconic swimming pier out front at Ponemah is shown here. Of course you’ll find it at the end of a rainbow.

Prairie skies are in a constant state of flux at the edge of Lake Winnipeg.

Being present in my Painting Practice…

Seeking presence and striving to be present in the moment are the work of our age. A quick little meditation is a lovely way to begin a painting day, or any day for that matter. If you are new new to this blogpost you might like to check out some of the backstories of art and the making on my podcast “Wisdom at the Crossroads”. Each episode ends with a short meditation designed to help us all to be present, wherever we are. Head to the podcast page or follow the prompt below to find out a little more of my personal rituals.

Final marks

Endings and beginnings…

There was a begining but not an intended end date to this project but for me there appears to be a series of seasons or chapters that have become part of my art practice. This series flowed with the summer so it is fitting that it is complete in time for the WAVE Artists Studio Tour on Septrember Long Weekend where they will be making their public debut.

Listening while I work…

During the process I spent some lovely time lakeside where I had a chance to get quiet and tune in to tune out.

I listened in to the Wonderland Episode of my Podcast. You can listen in below or find “Wisdom at the Crossroads” on your preferred platform. “Wonderland” the painting will be on exhibit at our family cottage during the September ‘23 WAVE Tour.

Experience the Meditation Series…

When the WAVE Interlake Artists Studio Tour rolls I hope you’ll join us in the bunkhouse to experiance the little space where much of the magic happened.

September 2 and 3 2023, 10 am- 6pm.

Have you met my guest?

As a special bonus in 2023, CJ Tennant Jewellery will be joining us in Ponemah for double the colour fun. CJ is bringing her tickle trunk of gemstones for us all to play with. She’ll be set up in the entry of our cottage which she has lovingly renames “The Lobby”. We’ll look forward to seeing you as The WAVE tour rolls.

“WONDERLAND”, 48” x 48” will be joining us in Ponemah during The WAVE. She is the star of the podcast above.

Finally, a thank you..

Thank you, for reading to the end of this blog post. I wish I had a sticker or a gold star for you. If you have questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line or find me on Instagram between posts.

To keep in touch…

Sign up for my newsletter. It’s free, and a reliable way to stay connected. (I’m talking about you Instagram algorithm!) What to expect when you sign up for my news? I like colour and I like words so there will be lots of that. I’m also my own boss. I try to produce a monthly note. Sometimes the studio holds me hostage so my newsletters will be as little as seasonally and occasionally biweekly. There is absolutely no chance of me inundating your inbox.

Next steps…

Where can you go from here? You can go back to the Gallery Page to view available art work on this site or head to The Pulse Gallery Winnipeg to see what paintings of mine they currently have on display.

And until the next time we meet up here or during The WAVE, take good care, be you, and be creative, however that looks for you.

All best, Amanda

The Inaugural ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM with The FAIRMONT HOTEL, WINNIPEG.

Showcasing Manitoba Artists Downtown…

The Artist in Residence program at the Fairmont Hotel, launched July 20th in Winnipeg. I am happy to share at last that I have five large works involved in this Inaugural collaboration between The Pulse Gallery and Fairmont Winnipeg. You can visit my work in the Foyer. I share the stories of process and intention in this blogpost below.

Ian Taylor, General Manager for Fairmont Winnipeg explains the initiative.

”We are at the heart of the City, surrounded by the Arts, culture and business which makes Winnipeg such an amazing place to be. We want to celebrate that rich culture and are excited to welcome Amanda Onchulenko, Charlie Johnston, Cindy Dawson, and Wendy Severson as the First artists to be a part of our Artist-in Residence-Program”.

Accepting a Challenge…

 At the request of Pulse Gallery founder, Lesly Dawyduk, I began a new series of work for this exciting collaboration in the spring of 2023. I love to paint and I love to paint large.

Plan, what plan?

Every artist has a creative signature that determines the choices they make with materials and processes along the way to completing their work in their chosen media. The marks I make with my painterly signature are what lead the way through my compositions. A painting becomes a visual story with punctuation marks made in colour using colour reactions to direct the action. The finished product is entirely dependant on the choices made by its creator. In my case my work begins with a general idea, subject, or intention but I allow the composition to evolve through the process of painting.

Inspiration…

The Natural world on the Prairie provides a diverse and nuanced subject that inspired a starting point for the project I am calling The Fairmont Suite. A starting point is just that, a beginning. A painting, for me, evolves from my initial marks on a surface into a series of layers.

What do you call that?

Semi abstracted landscape is a term readily applied to my work as a painter inspired by the landscape in which I reside. As with most commissions, I undertook two versions of the mandate. The first trio began in the garden with a macro focus. A second group flowed more easily after I felt I had satisfied the request made. The second series leaned more toward the prairie’s expansive nature and it is the second group that will be on display in the foyer of the Winnipeg Fairmont.

The “Fairmont Suite: Poppies, Grace and Giddy “, 48” x 48”, each. Acrylic on Birch, 2023, shown as a diptych. The poppy series are not included in the Fairmont Residency but are available for in person viewing on request.

A tiny studio produces large paintings.

The two versions of the 4’ x 12’ request added to the challenge of a tiny studio space,. With only 8’ of linear painting wall I could accommodate only 2 of the 6 panels at any given time. I spent a couple of months lifting and carrying large, heavy, awkward panels and may have also spent some quality time with my chiropractor once the project was completed.

My intentions…

“My personal process merges the structure of composition with memory, circumstance and intention.”

My aim is never to replicate my inspiration, instead I strive to capture the essence of a moment, to describe with this body of work, the energetic experience of landscape. In deciding on subject I find I am drawn to the cheeky personalities of the Prairie’s perennial inhabitants. I’m also inspired by the fertile abundance of this place, the rich and prosperous earth at the heart of a nation. I am home here, where the horizon levels my gaze and I share my experience of the prairies in loose colour on canvas or board.”

Fairmont Suite: Unsettlers, Acrylic on Canvas 48” x 48'“, 2023

On exhibit, The Fairmont Hotel, Winnipeg, after July 20, 2023.

This series celebrates the diversity and energy of a landscape that to the uninitiated, at first glance, might appear static and uninspiring. 

Artist Statement…

I was asked to add an artist statement for each piece of the series. The image above is the left side of the three grouped images that introduce my version of Manitoba to visitors as they enter the Fairmont Hotel.

“Un- Settlers” is a symbolic diaspora, a parade populated visually with perennial players. The cheeky personalities of this reflective scene are examples of; resilience, strength, courage, grace and fortitude. 

The characters of this visual story are deeply rooted, grounded in fertile soil, yet they dance a complex operatic sonata choreographed seasonally by the elements. 

A little backstory…

When our girls were barely tweens we ventured south of the city with a plant scientist friend and a carload of young girls. My Friend introduced us to the unforgettable immersive experience of mature grasslands in Manitoba’s Tall Grass Prairie. I would be hard pressed to return to the exact location of our memorable adventure without detailed instructions but I do recall it was part of a biodiverse, protected habitat under the stewardship of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. 

“Un-settlers” takes its theatrical cue from the giant quivering blue stem grasses my tall girls were dwarfed by and the perennial cast that supported them. The assortment of vegetation we encountered came in all shapes and sizes.

“If you are not from the Prairies you don’t know the wind”.

I recalled the Children’s book by David Bouchard as we experienced first hand any breath of wind reverberating across this distinctive eco system.

Painting with intention…

With this trio I intended to highlight different aspects of the local landscape. I love a little incidental green space and I find untended urban spaces and side road ditches to be enthralling. Manitoba’s extended daylight hours and rich, rich soil contribute to the diversity of vegetation that flourishes, everywhere. The greens and blues I chose to dominate the foreground in this panel symbolize the greens of youth, growth and diversity. The blues are representative of shadow created in the sub layers of the growing community. They create a subtext and make reference to parts of our province as an inland ocean.

Colour is a big part of my studio practice

FAIRMONT SUITE; LEVELLING UP, Acrylic on Canvas, 48” x 48”, 2023

Artist Statement…

In the game of life the largest payouts are often found along the road less travelled. Summertime saturates our flatlands with an abundance of intoxicating colour that leads us through uncluttered expansive views to the horizon. Colour and composition are the game time winners of this compositional duel. 

A little backstory…

I became acquainted with a Prairie Boy in 1990 and have spent more time driving west along the Trans Canada and Yellow Head Highways than I have across my native Australia. 

“Levelling Up” is ripe with summer’s abundance. It is a reminder of infinite road trips, the playing of eye spy with kids or taking in the rich and intoxicating colour that led us through uncluttered expansive views as we travelled west.

Grandma’s might have been our destination but the colours and patterns of the natural world became my inspiration. Many bodies of work have been inspired by family road trips that took us past midsummers contrasting quadrants of canola and flax under the intensity of deep blue Prairie skies. 

Painting with intention…

Colour and contrast are a big part of my studio practice. I often underpaint with contrasts and encourage the early layers to peak through to the surface of the finished painting. These compositional details tend to add visual energy to the surface and help to lead the viewer through the composition. The windbreaks, expansive canola fields, cobalt skies and curious clouds of this panel infer the abundance of a maturing landscape, a landscape that has been home to Ukrainian immigrants since 1891. The blue and yellow of the Ukrainian Flag comes into play symbolically, as earth and atmosphere, and reflects a personal generational connection to the prairies.

FAIRMONT SUITE: LUMINOSITY, Acrylic on Canvas, 48” x 48”, 2023.

Artist Statement…

“The star quality of an august afternoon in the Keystone Province resonates in the pinking sky of this prairie portrait. Twilight casts a luminous glow across the ripe and abundant expanse, inviting a seasonal pause in a world where our only constant is change.  Lake country is at the heart of many.” 

A little backstory…

Our connection to summer rituals and community experiences takes place along the western shores of Lake Winnipeg at Ponemah, in Manitoba’s Interlake. Sunday night return trips to the city tend to extend into the lengthening days particularly in August when twilight casts a luminous glow across the ripening, colourful expanse. I prefer to be the passenger on the way home. Doing my homework, witnessing the luminous skies, while savouring a pause in the transition between recreation and vocation.

Painting with intention…

I try to paint loosely. When asked about process and how long things take I like to use the analogy of a runner. When a runner first laces up shoes and sets out, the pace is slower and everything feels a little heavy. It takes some time to set a comfortable pace, to get into the groove or flo. And so it is with painting.

Brushstrokes in the under layers of this panel invited loose outlines with liquid acrylic that were applied with a wet flippy brush to suggest weedy, untended growth. The richness of spring greens has faded with summers ripening heat, while the sky is resonate with the glow of twilight reflected through the dust of working fields late in the growing season.

“An Ocean of Earth in Motion”

“Big Pink”, Acrylic on Birch Panel, 48” x 48”, 2023

This painting joins the FAIRMONT SUITE SERIES. Find this big girl at reception in the foyer at the Fairmont Hotel, Winnipeg, greeting visitors

“In life and in Art, our only constant is change.”

When Lesly and Lori of Pulse Gallery first visited my studio ahead of my April “Spring Fling” at the Gallery, they were both drawn to the painting above.

Big Pink is the beginning of a new direction for me and a reminder that change really is a constant. I began the underpainting with black gesso having not used black for more that 20 years in my work. Instead I added compliments together to create darks. This helped me to avoid muddying my colour palette and gave much of my work its signature intensity.

Big Pink is a departure. It features black in the under layers and I am liking the direction these new marks are taking. This painting, for me, was also an invitation; to explore the new, to be reminded to follow the road less travelled where the unexpected can be revealed.

FAIRMONT SUITE: Growth: Wisdom, Acrylic on Birch Panel, 40” x 60”, 2023. This painting greets visitor as they enter the hotel from the parkade and oversees the action of the lounge.

What’s in a name?

In recent years I have begun most works by setting an intention and inscribing that word into the surface of the painting. Wisdom and Inner Resource are the terms I inscribed into a pair of panels as I prepped the surface to paint. The first of this pair sold quickly, while “Growth: Wisdom”, became the last piece to be included in the Fairmont Suite.

The large circular motif in “Growth: Wisdom”, shown above, is a residual mark that was set with that initial intention. This piece is fresh off the paint wall and representative of where my painting practice is currently trending.

“Each season at the studio brings something new and I look forward to seeing where new marks will take me."

Winter skies at Ponemah, Lake Winnipeg.

Twilight inspiration on Manitoba’s Prairie.

Colour on the Prairies…

My favourite colour Golden’s Quinacridone red light has recently been discontinued. The end of my last tube was used in The Fairmont Suite project. The photographs above taken from our Ponemah cottage illustrate quinacridone red light in the winter landscape. Manitoba’s landscape is full of surprises, nuances and saturated colour in every season.

Being present in my Painting Practice…

Creativity and painting in particular, is my avenue to presence. The process quiets me as it draws me in to the action of problem solving in colour. Engaged, painting, time can literally fly by. This following image is of “Big Pink” in progress on the paint wall. I have included it here because it gives a sense of scale and illustrates the physicality required in the process.

“Big Pink” in progress on the paint wall. 48” x 48”, acrylic on birch panel.

Sidenote…

“If not now, when?”… “Why not me ?”

Landscape is inspiration for the painter in me. In 2021 I stepped out of my comfort zone and the result was a podcast sharing my accented voice introducing the backstories of some of my paintings. The aim of each episode is to introduce my work, hoping to help you to connect to your own stories through my examples.

I conclude each episode with a related guided meditation. We can all benefit from find a little peace and quiet, within the busy lives we lead.

Find my podcast, WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS on all listening platforms.

Below I have included a Mindful Mandart Moment inspired by the triptych “Breathing Space” introduced in Episode 11 of the Podcast. This short episode of self care inspires a meditative journey where colour in the landscape is invited to flow. I invite you to listen in, to encourage the vital energy around and within you, to grow”. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you..

Lesly and Lori of The Pulse Gallery and The Fairmont Hotel, Winnipeg for the invitation to be a part of this initiative celebrating local art and our local lands. And finally, Thank you, for reading to the end of this blog post. If you have questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line or find me on Instagram between posts.

To keep in touch…

Sign up for my newsletter using the QR code below or send me message and I’ll add you to the subscribers list. It’s free. I try to do a monthly note but sometimes its seasonal and occasionally biweekly.

Head to The Pulse Gallery Winnipeg here for more info on available works.

xo Amanda

WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS PODCAST.

Get your flow flowing this episode as we take in a transitioning season and journey down a new visual path where colour theory is just a theory.
The meditation that follows at 8:37 in the recording is one of my recent favourites and a great reminder to accept where we are in the present moment.

It adopts the mantra:
“It is, I am, we are…” to remind us our only constant is change. This is an opportunity to join me in a brief 14 minutes of self care . If you have been skipping out on the meditation practice this is one you won’t want to miss.

“GOING WITH THE FLOW” or “THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD” acrylic on Canvas 36’ x 48” , 2022

 I hope all is well where you are and the weather is not wreaking too much havoc. I can tell you when I was considering this episode where I am, in the center of Canada, we were transitioning maybe a little bit too quickly from late summer into fall.

I'm a morning swimmer. I swim at the indoor pool at the Y and on my way home after the very first heavy frost, I could see the soccer field next to the Y blanketed white in the still morning air, and that's never a good sign. Miraculously, it was sunny and clear and there was not a breath of wind. As I drove into my driveway, the neighbor's yellow-leaved boulevard tree was dripping leaves to the ground. A growing mound of leaves was quickly forming into a play-ready pile at its base.

In my 30 years in Canada, I have only witnessed this phenomenon twice. It must have been the exact temperature that signaled this particular species of tree to let go and go with the flow of the transitioning new season. I want to go back to the ideas of release and acceptance in the meditation in a few minutes. But for now, I'd like to introduce you to a painting called both “Flow” and “The Hundred Acre Wood”. Sometimes I can't decide, so this one has two names and her eventual owner can make their own decision about a name.

These are the first layers on the surface. They are a combination of the white gesso that I inscribe my intention with. I then add a colour or two to the base coat so that the base colour shows through to the surface instead of the white of the gesso as the painting progresses. The process is fast and fun.

I didn't paint this painting in the fall, so it wasn't actually intended to be representative of a particular time or place, but its linear nature suggests, depending on your perspective, of course, trees in the process of transformation. And since this new season is already underway and reminding me our only constant is change, it seemed appropriate.

I painted this painting in the first half of 2022. I'd previously been working on a commission that turned into A Celebration of the Poppy, two paintings called “Tina's Garden: A Celebration” and “Celebration Refreshed”. (Read or listen to their story in Season 2 Episode 7)

Though you might think every choice is intentional in a studio practice, sometimes choices are made because there was a blank canvas within arm's reach.

It so happened that this canvas was the same size as the pair I had been working on at 36” by 48”. That was a bonus find in the studio because keeping to the same size and shape can help with the rhythm of my particular creative choices on the paint wall. It literally keeps things flowing.

Hanging a fresh canvas on the paint wall is always fun. I love to paint, as you know, and always have more than one project on the go .

Adding an intention to a surface as I prepare it for painting with gesso is a simple and spontaneous act. In this example the intention is clear, though general. It is quickly absorbed into the very under layers of the substrate. This intention became the general undertone of the later “Sweet Suite Series” of small 11” x 14” panels.

This canvas was inscribed with the intention flow and the simple word, CHI, using the gesso of the initial foundation layer. The word is quickly absorbed in the process of covering the surface to make it less porous and more accepting of the paint. So, I try to add the same word on the back in pencils so I can remember where the painting began when it was complete. I am not always successful at this detail.

Adding the word to the surface is intentional, but it's kind of a random thought that just feels right at that specific moment. There are no lists of inspiring words that I methodically work through. It's more reflexive and a bit more like using an affirmation to start the day. And like an affirmation, it is not carved in stone, but it is a positive sentiment to take notice of or reflect on during the course of the day, or in this case, as I work on that particular painting.

Here is a closer view of the linear marks that began to describe a transitioning forest in the mid ground

 I try to keep myself mindful of the intention as the composition develops by coming back to that initial thought with each subsequent session of painting. While painting this project, I was also mindful the previous pier had featured poppies and hits of red. So, in this new painting, I was intentional in limiting the color palette by omitting reds and focusing more on line than on shape.

Each subject will generally suggest a direction under painting is always a thing for me, regardless of the subject. And in this case, I underpainted in a clear washy lemon that shows through more heavily built up areas and opens up visual space in the background, or what is perceived as a background. The foreground features some orangey pinks that establish a kind of pathway in the foreground. I wanted the subject to be an invitation of sorts, to offer the view with some depth and an opportunity to visually expand the visual space within the composition.

Colour is everywhere in the transitioning landscape. Ours is like clockwork and flows too quickly through my favourite seasons. Beware the poison ivy! It is one of the first plants to signal fall is in the air. The darker red three leaves shown here you should definitely leave be.

As this painting evolved into a dense forest, the lemon yellow kept it from feeling heavy and enclosed while still creating a visual pathway to invite the viewer to engage with the transitioning trees. I can be guilty of flattening my paintings. I like to play with compliments, colors on the opposite side of the color wheel, and sometimes that can invert the use of color our brain typically reads as coming forward and receding into the background. Color theory has some rules that I tend to play with, but not rigidly adhere to.

Painting is a process after all, and we each play where we play. For me, it has never really been within the lines and that is perfectly okay. Tweaking the features of color theory can often be what gives a composition energy. Where two colors meet can be a harmonious balance, or a competitive reaction as the eye tries to balance out the visual weight of a particular color on the surface in comparison to its neighbor.

I’ll admit I am too self conscious to paint in front of anyone or to dive in to a facebook live. For now this is me at work in the early layers

So, are the trees in this painting losing leaves at the end of the season or are they just bursting into color after the winter? I'm not sure, and I'm not sure it really matters. As the viewer, you get to make those choices, and your choices will be dependent on your experience. I love that about art. There are no right answers and everything is open to interpretation, but we connect through our common interests, focus, or experiences.

Story is another opportunity to connect. My experiences in this podcast might be the segue that inspires you to connect with your own stories or experiences. The artist will often leave clues in a painting and that can be intentional or not. Sometimes the story flows with the process. The narrative might be intentional, or it might not even exist. In The Hundred Acre Wood, I used a lot of limey greens, which might suggest new growth in the spring, but I also included fuchsia and deep purples that are more suggestive of an end of season.

Life lived in the details. I have a fascination with compositions within compositions

The marks tend to separate into independent structures when we get up close to them

 I love the fluidity of interpretation and the fact that a simple mark on a surface can take us in so many different directions As the maker, I get to sketch in the potentials with whatever media I'm working with. Then you as the viewer get to complete the narrative from your perspective, and we all win when we connect to something larger than ourselves. I hope you'll check out the images on the blog to make your own determination. I really like the simplicity of this painting. The marks are loose and colorful, and the general subject feels fresh and clear, like the new beginning it was for me on that paint wall at the time.

I love the details. Sometimes it’s hard to describe why a small mark can leave such a large impact. It is those elusive marks I am always seeking.

I called this painting flow in recognition of its original intention, but I also called it The Hundred Acre Wood at a friend's suggestion. Her experience takes her to the playful side of story and illustration, to her connection to bears, and of course, one of the most beloved. I can get a little serious and too involved in my head, so I loved the reminder of the willingness to play, and to be playful.

As a soul or solo practitioner, I am always grateful for my friends and their impressions. It makes me feel like I have colleagues and collegial interactions and suggestions are always welcomed.

Lately I have taken to making story labels on instagram and taking a screen shot to help me keep track of my work. For now it’s working but I am definitely open to discovering a more efficient process.

As of press time for this episode this painting was still available.

Getting ready for the meditation…

Change is our only constant. Change is what we can expect. It is the one thing we can be assured of. Have you ever found yourself leaving an event, packing up at the end of a holiday, or been heading home after a particularly inspiring gathering, and thinking to yourself, I can't wait to get together for a repeat performance next week, next month, next year? The same players might be present, the same landscape might be explored, but each subsequent event or annual retreat will have its own unique set of circumstances, its own stories that become the narrative of new memories.

We might like or hope for the world to stay the same, pine for it to do so even, and hope that it returns to a former status quo, a time before X or Y occurred, before things changed. But in reality, the sun rises and sets, the moon follows in a constant cycle where the only constant is change.

It’s true i am a doer. The meditations are all about trying to BE more. We’ll get to doing more of that in the meditation on the recording but first I wanted to show you my very sophisticated seasonal photography wall. Clearly I need a new photographer :) so I can avoid schlepping paintings to the side yard fence in bright shade.

I sometimes have trouble accepting this. Go figure. I'm a doer. I always have a helping hand at the ready to share with you. My hand is always up to help you solve your problem or raised in the air to answer your question. Surely there must be something we can do. What if we did this or tried that? But despite our best intentions, all of these efforts are futile.

When we can't say or do anything to help or to alter circumstances, what can we do? The only thing we can do is to accept where we are right now. We can, as a wise friend once pointed out to me, simply be. We can be present with and for each other. It is, I am. We are. Right here. Right now.

And that is the only given within the constancy of change.

This is the neighbours tree that literally dripped its leaves gently yet rapidly into a quick and growing pile at its base while i stood mesmerized watching for at least 10 minutes.

It seems we have reached the end of todays backstory. Thanks for tuning in to this episode. I really appreciate you spending some of your valuable time with me. I hope the images are helpful and that you are finding something of your story within mine by listening in to the podcast, or catching up through this blog.

Given that the constant in this world is change I thought it would be nice to spend a little time being present together in the meditation.

Join me on the recording only. Press the arrow in the player at the top of this blog or the button below.

The meditation this episode is 14 minutes of self care. It begins at 8:37 in the recording.

If my work or words inspire you please consider sharing the podcast with a friend or writing a review on Apple Podcasts. You can listen to the full episode on apple or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Thanks for joining me. Hope to see you next Tuesday.

All best,

Amanda

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035

WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS PODCAST.

The backstory this episode leads to Tuross on the South Coast of Australia. Beaches here are so numerous they are numbered not named. Shell picking at T1 is a whale of a time and landscape in painting is a journey through memory.

A little golf action gets going on the aptly named ”Heart attack Hill”, with the killer view. Legend has it the brown snake of the second hole may not be mere legend, while the bounce from the green definitely is.

Coming home at the end of this tale we come home to the action of a loaded brush and a new canvas on the paint wall with no plan or outcome on the horizon.

The meditation begins today at 10:20 in the recording and is the longest of all the season 1 meditations at almost 12 minutes. This is meant to be a quick visit so I hope you won’t m might staying with me for a few extra minutes of downtime.

In the meditation a morning walk meanders from the shade of the Norfolk Forest at Plantation Point, along the sandy arc of “Poppies Beach” in “God’s Country”. It is a place where dolphins play in the morning surf and considerable walks are effortless. Join your guide here in paradise for a dose of comfort and support, knowing, “we are never alone”.

TUROSS, Acrylic on Canvas. Thanks go out to the current owner who as another artist offered me a great compliment in making a purchase. She also kindly took a few snapshots in her home to pass them along to me for this blog today, This episode is further evidence that my record keeping is lacking and that we all get by with a little help from our friends.

Tuross is the name of today’s Painting and also the name of a place. It is the home of my children’s grandparents but not the landscape I grew up in, so it is also a place of discovery, for all of us.

A new environment allows us to experience a sense of place with a new and open perspective. We see the unfamiliar in new ways and are more observant of details in the landscape. As an artist i think that is kind of how I view the world; with curiosity in the foreground I get to explore every place as if it is my first visit.

Tuross is a coastal town on the South Coast of New South Wales in Australia. It has rolling hills, pastureland, oyster farms and barrier beaches so numerous along the coast they are numbered instead of named. Not all of the beaches are safe swimming zones so if you go make sure to “swim between the flags” like a good and well trained Australian. Surfers like Tuross because the area can get a good swell rolling especially in the Christmas (summer) holidays. The riptides that prevent swimmers on all of the areas beaches are appreciated because they offer a timely ride back out to the break. The rip also saves the surfers energy and their paddling arms.

TUROSS Detail T1. The ocean is featured in the top right of this detail.

From Nanny and Poppy’s verandah where we spent time in the hammock and eating breakfasts and afternoon tea outside, we could see the entrance to freshwater Coila Lake where it met T1. T1 is short for Tuross Beach 1. T1 was sometimes interrupted by the Lake entrance at Coila after a big storm or a Christmas king Tide that washed out the sand bar that sealed the freshwater lake from the ocean by sand build up in milder seasons. T1 is miles long and a sand pickers paradise. From Nanny and Poppy’s Verandah, If we were particularly observant we could make out the spout of a whale heading south during whale season.

Tides are important here and make for some fun and natural, not so lazy river action at the Lakes entrance which is the preferred swimming zone.  Water flows sometimes aggressively  into the ocean and can be a lot of fun. Just make sure you have the ability to cross diagonally to the sand before the “lazy river” meets the waves and the open ocean.

Tuross has all the recreational sites common to coastal resort areas including a golf course and bowling club. Both of which find their way into todays backstory. My husband is an avid golfer used to the tempered conditions of Canadian courses prone to heavier water content in their soils and soft and forgiving grasses. Tuross golf course meanders over 9 holes uphill from the second after a gentle downslope from the clubhouse and the tee off at the first hole.

TUROSS Detail Coila Lake. The water featured in this detail is Coila lake as viewed across the bottom of the golf course.

The second hole of Tuross Golf Course has some water features and is said to be home to a big old brown snake, so do be aware. My cousins coached my husband, sharing some of the finer points of Australian golf etiquette. The first and most important is to never reach your hand into a cup to retrieve your ball. Flip it instead with the end of the putter, to avoid any unecessary handling of the black snake who may or may not have moved into the third or fourth hole. As well, spiders, it goes without saying there are a few of them that will also kill you and they too like small cosy spaces like a golf cup on any hole. Conversations like this are a great way to get a round going.

The other lesson my prairie husband and golfer of long courses and wide open spaces learned  was to reign in his impressive and not always directed swing. Coastal golf courses are often prone to wind and Tuross, with its beautiful cooling breezes featured greens that had about as much give as your average dining room table.

Imagine my husbands golf ball bounding from one area of the course to another as the over zealous swing negotiated the hard compacted coastal earth. A pinball like action that was part of the original plan i had for this composition.

I think you get an idea of Tuross the place. Tuross the painting is a version of the view from the top of the 5th or 6th hole that were up the aptly named “heart attack hill”, close to the road that meandered around the courses perimeter and lured tourists into the town centre itself which was a few windy turns down another set of hills. The hills closer to the shops were not as rolling and gentle as I remember one very hot day pushing a stroller up and down some wrong turns some years ago.

Best laid Plans are usually just plans in my painting practice as once I have colour on the canvas the actions of the brush and the beginning marks in the colour story will lead me in the direction the developing composition dictates.

Pink trees are not that unusual in my paradigm. Spring is a favourite season in Canada. Creative licence is real but with this snapshot you can see i am really not making the pink tree thing up.

The view from the top of the golf course at Tuross is a spectacle. It tumbles visually down to the ocean and the lake entrance. Nothing is flat here, including the greens. My attention always paused on the manicured arcs of the greens that felt like little alien landing sites amidst the more rugged and naturalized Australian landscaping style. This spectacular view cascading down towards the ocean is the subject of my painting painted on 22” x 60” stretched canvas. Its an odd size because I bought a couple of canvases from someone who had had them made, and beautifully made by the way, they were solid and straight, but my friend had decided they didn’t want to work with the shape. (Which definitely was a challenging shape to paint on)

TUROSS: In this view of Hector McWilliam’s Norfolk Pine trees that line the headland all over Tuross, we get a sense of scale. Check out the two people taking in the view on the rocks and it becomes clear that these are not your north American pot plant sized Norfolk Pine trees.

TUROSS at Plantation Point is home to dawn remembrance day services. It is also the starting point for our “walking meditation” in this episode. One day we had to step carefully aside when we discovered what looked like a strip of shade or a branch on the ground was actually a red bellied black snake.Eek!

A narrow horizontal  shape can be a bit of a challenge but I am always up for a painting challenge. The natural angles in the landscape that defined the boundary between fresh water of lake and the ocean were an interesting place to start the composition. That view combined with the flat arcs of the greens that drew my eye down the hill from the road felt playful. I began underpainting in a contrasting colour so the bulk of the foreground of what we emotionally consider should be green was warm in nature. My plan was to add layers over the top so that the discrepancy between the contrasting colours used would bounce the eye around the composition as it naturally sought to balance the visual energy of the competing colours.

Remember I am not trying to replicate some point in a landscape but instead to use the features of a landscape as a starting point for an evolving journey in acrylic across a canvas. Think of it as problem solving an equation but in colour instead of numbers. This painting plan as many of mine do backfired as i liked the loose results that evolved in the beginning and my efforts so from there work on the painting became an exercise in restraint… which is hard for me. :)

Our meditation takes us through this meadow at the waters edge. During one long ago visit a very large seal had taken up residence among these basalt rocks. We visited him every morning and on one of those visits the dolphin trio played their surfing games in a much fuller surf backlit in morning light. Beautiful!

Looking to the sand barrier from across the golf course. The linear marks in the top right of this detail show the area that every few years washes out. Fresh waters from Coila Lake then merge with the ocean. The sand bar that leads miles down T1 is a shell pickers paradise and I have containers of sorted shell families that keep me company at the studio from every visit.

Sometimes i get stuck on a composition and leave it to sit for a bit on a secondary wall where i can see it only peripherally while i am working on something else. A large space is helpful for this, and not so available in my current studio which is tiny.

Less can be more in life and in art. Less definitely became more in the journey of both versions of Tuross, the painting.

TUROSS 2. Here is the version that lives in the bathroom. It makes for a lovely backdrop to morning routines and keeps the past present. I love the sketchiness of this painting. It captured the essence of the view with minimal marks. For me that is a win.

The second view I painted that features part of the Tuross golf course I am calling Tuross II right now, given my record keeping deficits. (see above). This painting lives in my bathroom at home which is always a great place for art by the way.  This piece has no official title that I can recall but it also takes me back to a place and time. Locals are known to take a short cut from Coila avenue across the second hole of the golf course, hence the familiarity with the brown snake’s habitat. From there they scoot across the edge of the first hole to cut off a couple of sizeable hills on the way to the beach at T1. This second version of Tuross is actually a third and replaced on canvas an idea i had painted on paper with chalk pastel. I sold that paper version and ran hindsight it really was one of those pieces that i should have kept.

Every artist has stories of “ the one that got away” and I have a few of them. This version of Tuross in the bathroom is small, I’ll measure it tonight, about 12x 30 or 36”, i think that describes referentially the view from the bowling green that lies just uphill from the scampering locals sneaking across the course to the beach without hills. This view takes in more of Coila Lake and suggests the pastural land beyond the lakes edges in a sketchy washy way. I love its simplicity and i love the memory it ignites of grandchildren watching poppy play lawn bowles in his cremes as we took in the temperate breeze while eating our chicken chips and drinking our lemonade. Priceless.

You know I love to view life in the details. This little vignette shows the texture of the second panel with the application of only a couple of layers of acrylic paint. Less can definitely be more. This is the view I see while working at an arms length from a surface. We need to take a few steps back in real life to let the perspective settle and allow for the eye to fill in some of the details.

All this talk of memories has me wanting to book our flights. Its been too long. On the home front here we may not be quite ready for golf and beach walks but the ice is off the lake thanks to the howling winds that blew so hard 8’ tall Bruce the spruce has tipped more than a little off his kilter.

Similarly at the studio a new season is beginning, though thankfully, there are no winds to negotiate indoors. My most recent commissions have gone to their forever homes and i am enjoying the beginning of a retro pair of 36” squares. I am calling them retro not because of subject but the current colour story has a seventies vibe. There are some electric acid colours finding their way into the scheme. Right now i am allowing this pair to evolve on the paint wall just because. While its nice to be asked to paint site specific works with commissions  and i am grateful to my clients whose purchases allow me to continue in studio practice, there is something liberating about the feel of liquid acrylic on the end of my brush, piano tunes in the background and a new painting on the paint wall without any plan or outcome in mind.

It’s time to play.

This is the Retro Pair that were on the pair wall while i was writing this reflection. 36” x 36” acrylic on canvas. As yet unnamed but the title might have to have some kinds of a retro vibe inspired by the orange of this colour story. Have a suggestion? Please feel free to reach out.

Well, that’s the end of todays backstory. Thanks for tuning in to this episode. I hope the images are helpful and that you are finding something of your story within mine by listening in to the podcast, or catching up through this blog. If my work or words inspire you please consider sharing the podcast with a friend or writing a review. You can listen to the full episode anywhere you get your podcasts.

This week’s meditation begins at 10:20 in the recording. I hope you’ll take a listen…and until next time, stay well.

Amanda

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WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS PODCAST.

Lessons of inspiration and creativity inspire change on todays episode.
A Change of season might lead to a change of scale But Scaling down in size does not mean we are scaling down the visual impact.

There is a new trio evolving on the paint wall in real time. We learn a triptych is not simply an image spread out across three adjoining surfaces but an opportunity to explore 5 independent compositions

The gifting of art part is not something I recommend but A triptych named “Bloom”f did become a fledgling daughter’s housewarming gift. Bloom was also a lesson in keeping things fresh, of letting go of expectations and walking away from a composition before the bloom is off the rose.
Teamwork is key and this group are currently demonstrating they can hang out and and mix things up, and still look fresh and refreshing in a tired utilitarian space. My own art is on loan in my own home for time being, brightening up one our most under appreciated spaces. Art blooms, indoors year round, though this trio might only be with us for a short season.

Practice is the key word when it comes to MEDITATION in this episode which begins at 8:55 In the recording.
In it I am guided to guide you on a visual journey where we plant ourselves in the present. We are reminded meditation is not a test but an evolving process and that our bloom is radiant perfect and open to the potential that exists around and within us. 

I love how a few minimalist strokes are suggestive of personality purely by the shape they create.

This is a detail of Panel 1 of the triptych “BLOOM” Hopefully this snippet gives you an idea of the loose marks on the surface. Each Panel 18” x 24”, Acrylic on panel, 2020

In this episode a new season inspires change. For me after a long northern winter (some might say relentless this year) I am more than eager to shake off the heaviness of winter coats and boots and get outside in a landscape that is not always conducive to a simple walk around the park.

 At the studio I have been very productive through the long winter. I have been working on a lot of commissions and one of them is a triptych on panel. Each panel is 18” x 24” which is an adjustment from the run of 48” squares and pairs, 4’ x 8’ that have kept me busy for the best part of the last year.

 I find I get physically comfortable working in a particular size or shape so changing it up requires some physical as well as mental adjustments. Going from large squares to much smaller rectangles has been noticeable. This new trio was inspired by “Bear Necessities”, a relatively new piece on canvas, 36’ X 48”, which the client loved but could not fit into her space. I like to remind clients with particular requests that I cannot replicate any image exactly, and I don’t want to but knowing what they like when I start can be helpful.

BLOOM Panrel 1, 18” x 24”, Acrylic on panel, 2021. The gold orange was a new purchase that became the central focus of the colour story in this trio,. I love the way it balances with the pink/choral.

Translating a painting of mine into a triptych doesn’t mean simply spreading the image across three surfaces. A triptych requires each of the individual images to solve an individual compositional puzzle. Together the trio then becomes a separate composition, enhanced by all of the parts presented together. This group so far are a colourful team. Painting them while spring is delayed outside has been a nice contrast to the muted greys of late winter snow and ice underfoot and they have kept me mindful of the potential for spring to eventually arrive.

This triptych might be finished in time to appear in the blog for this episode in which case I will include it, but I can’t make any promises that I won’t over paint it just yet. (sorry just some details available below) :)

Today I would like to introduce you to a same sized triptych also painted on panels 18” x 24” each. They were painted in 2020 and I have just recently hung them up in an often overlooked space but our back door. Painting them was a short journey through process before they embarked on a longer physical journey internationally when our daughter first left home.

 Too much time indoors for me recently highlighted the desire, I called it a need, to refresh indoor spaces at home. This trio now hangs in our back entry way is called “BLOOM”. The name partially describes the suggestion of a garden loosely defined across the surface and also references our hopes for our daughters as she set off on a new academic adventure.

Words are powerful, just like the name of a painting , they connect us to memories, sometimes lessons we have learned through our experiences. This triptych though a gift had spent the best part of this past school year leaning out of the way after our daughter returned from the US to complete her studies in Canada. I have taken it upon myself to refresh an area we had become blind to  and show them off while they are visiting.

BLOOM Panel 2, Acrylic on panel, 18” x 24”, 2021. Without supervision I can’t get the trio together so please bare with me. This panel though painted as the central panel and intended to hang as the middle child, is now hanging on an adjacent wall to the left and right panels. The sisters are .. accommodating a tight space and hanging up and down from each other. .. and I like it.

I have to say, I don’t recommend gifting art, mine or anybody else’s. In this case though I know my first born pretty well and since she had been  at my studio before leaving home and had shown enthusiasm for the trio that was then developing on my paint wall, I knew they would be well received. As a rule I don’t encourage my clients to gift art to anyone but themselves. Art is subjective right, and though you might be a regular client and a big fan, bless you, wanting to support my studio practice with a purchase, someone else unfamiliar with my work might find my use of colour scary and relegate your gift to a back bedroom , the equivalent of the time out chair for a painting, and nobody wants that. I want you to celebrate your art and display it proudly in your personal space.

 If you have listened in before you might remember me telling you how the beginning of a composition is loose and expressive as I allow myself to feel the process and act instinctively without too much attachment to an outcome. These early stages help to get me into the flow of the composition as I strive to cover the substrate in a foundation colour or colours .

In this little triptych the energetic action of the brushstroke is visible in transitions made between what would be the main attraction of subject and  the supportive “foil” characters of foreground and background. In the composition there is no definitive horizon line. There is a definite suggestion of a space but that space is open to suggestion.

This triptych did become  a gift and the trio made their way out of town wedged strategically into the tightly packed carload of possessions. In pandemic lockdown with International borders closed, sending a daughter off with a fresh triptych was the equivalent of me popping into her new space with a bouquet of fresh flowers for the kitchen table. They were designed to remind her this new space would still feel like home and in a pinch the seasonal colour of the natural world might help to add a little sunshine to a heavy academic load.

The timing of the departure probably did me a favour. Having a deadline can be helpful to the over painter within me as I didn’t have time to second guess myself or try to improve them and make them somehow “better” or more literal. Instead I added hardware to the backs and brought them home in time to pack them up with her belongings and send them on their way. This short time frame kept the trio fresh and sketchy, the colours are springy and by springy I mean they are soft and unmuddied. There is a peachy choral colour, it is not pink not orange, that reminded me of her baby gap favourites that make those colours hers in my mind.

BLOOM Panel 3, acrylic on Panel, 18” x 24”, 2022. The gift of art is not recommended. Personal taste is subjective. I know my work is not for everyone and I am ok with that.

In fact, “BLOOM:1/2/3.” seemed like an appropriate title in a lot of ways. Like any parent I wished for her to similarly bloom with no pre determined outcomes to confine her. Instead of giving each panel their own individual title as I normally would, I simply numbered them 1, 2, 3. I am as prone to being lazy as the next person and have been known to skip a couple of steps now and again but in this instance the numbers felt like they defined the trio as a unit while also making a reference to a few simple steps in the process of becoming.

 The trio served their intended purpose during that school year but since then they have been taking up space banished to a random corner for most of this school year so I have reclaimed them, at least temporarily. They have been swept up, literally in a spring cleaning activity that decluttered a winters worth of jumble from the back entry way. It felt good to put this trio into view to remind us all that even though this winter is reluctant to leave there is hope that something will eventually bloom.

.Details from the new triptych on the paint wall

Compositional details , or poppers as we call them at our house, are what drive the viewer’s attention into and through a composition

The new triptych is the same size as BLOOM but the colour story is very different.

It didn’t matter to me that the trio was painted to be hung as a horizontal team. Without the appropriate sized space I simply  stacked them. The composition is strong enough within the group that areas relate to each other no matter which way they are displayed. There is no dedicated lighting and the third panel is even around a corner on an adjacent wall but instead of feeling cluttered and busy the trio actually soften a much used utilitarian spaced and are inspiring a new season to bloom indoors, for now at least.

There are some lessons I have learned from this trio. The first as a painter to keep things fresh and simple and walk away from a composition before I try to “fix” it our clean it up.

Bloom Panel 1 Detail. Life is definitely lived in the details. I find myself drawn to small areas, always.

I love how a few minimalist strokes are suggestive of personality purely by the shape they create.

 A painting, like the garden, is most inviting when left to its own devices. Our children are like a piece of art; precious, inspiring and something we hope will bloom in its own way, in its own time.

 If your children are like mine, they, and their possessions, might head out on a personal journey but home will always call them home… and you can reclaim some of their possessions, at least for a while should you feel so inspired.

On the paint as I was preparing this episode was “Bear Necessities”. Since this episode was published this painting found a new home with newly transplanted clients who were keen to share their space with local art.

Thats the end of todays backstory. Thanks for tuning in to this episode. I hope the images are helpful and that you are finding something of your story within mine by listening in to the podcast, or catching up through this blog.

If my work or words inspire you please consider sharing the podcast with a friend or writing a review. You can listen to the full episode anywhere you get your podcasts. It costs nothing to do so and i would be very appreciative.

This week’s meditation begins at 10:55 in the recording. I hope you’ll take a listen

We are reminded meditation is not a test but an evolving process and that our bloom is radiant perfect and open to the potential that exists around and within us. all best

Should you have any questions or comments please feel free to reach out. I would be happy to connect.

Amanda

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Wisdom at The Crossroads, the Podcast

“Pink at Ponemah” offers an invitation to park yourself on a sandy beach on a shimmery summer day no matter the season. In today’s episode we step into Canadian cottage country to find connection in community. We take a pause, find ourselves pretty in pink and learn a simple way to leave our own marks on the world.

We learn how to celebrate our creative missteps by making a mistake feel intentional and we continue to explore the backstories of my work in art.

The meditation that begins at 10:55 in this episode’s recording will help us to ease into a peaceful moment.

We get into the pink and seek to experience ease when we allow ourselves to dream and are encouraged to come back to ourselves. We invite the light around us to become the light within.

Life is lived in the Details. This one introduces my solution to a creative misstep. When I dropped my painting panel and snapped a Eucalyptus leaf embedded into the gesso, I chose to. celebrate your it. I painted it aqua in an effort to make my accident appear intentional,

Welcome back to the podcast. I want to thank you for sharing your valuable time with me. 

Last week, feeling the need for a bit of a break I picked up the March edition of Health magazine. In it Editor Liz Vaccariello wrote in the Editor’s Note about her own writing process. I totally resonated with her admission when she said, “I think better with a pen in my hand”. I was grateful to know I am not alone in my comfortable ways, even though I might prefer a pencil. It was a reminder of how a few simple words can connect us to each other.

Liz went on to explain, “If we read to know the world, we write to know ourselves``

While considering this podcasting adventure I had wondered how my visual medium as a painter and textile artist would translate as an audio experience, I am working it out and hopefully making connections. Thanks to those who have reached out to tell me how my stories and meditations or reflections have made a difference so far.  Liz’s editorial note seemed to capture the essence of what I am trying to do as she continued.

 “When we share our experiences we invite others to not only feel what we felt but to find themselves in our stories” and that is essentially my hope for you, that you will find something of your story within mine as we continue to explore the backstories of my work in art.

In today’s episode we will meet, “Pink at Ponemah” from the shores of lake Winnipeg, a painting that hangs by my front door at home. It is a small acrylic on panel that welcomes guests indoors. I’m finding it funny as I write about it and only now realise that it’s not until we really explore the reasoning behind the ways we curate our personal spaces that subliminal motives become clear. I am now realising the 2 sentinel trees that are the primary subject matter in the painting, welcome visitors to our local Ponemah Beach.  Hanging where they are, they are facilitating that same action at home. I guess it really is true` life imitates art, imitates life.

 This little gem is only 12” x 30” and was painted on a cradled board back in 2005. 

Ponemah is part of the smallest municipality in Manitoba . The Village of Dunnottar sits on the western edge of Lake Winnipeg’s South basin. An inland ocean on the Canadian Prairies.

We didn’t call Ponemah, in the smallest municipality in Manitoba, our summer home until several years after this piece was painted but even then I think I was beginning to understand the Canadian connection to place. Canadians are an endearingly outdoorsy bunch who embrace where they are whatever the weather. Sometimes we push ourselves to get active in spite of it. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent where water bodies abound. Lake Winnipeg is the sixth largest lake in Can, sailors, water enthusiasts and cottagers who reside and play along its extensive perimeter. 

We were initially guests here, at the invitation of friends who had invited our family to share a weekend at the cottage which had been their families’ weekend experience since the 50’s. As broad as the types of recreational properties that exist in Canada there are an equal number of endearing terms to match. This family calls their place the cottage while others are known to reference their summer homes as the camp, the cabin, the lake or the beach, to name just a few.  Everyone it seems takes ownership by prefacing the title with the word “our” or “my”. That is, our cottage, our cabin, my lake, our beach.

At the bottom of their street on the lakeshore at Ponemah stand a pair of weathered Willows that act like sentinels inviting the community to play on its sandy shore. It’s a beach well known to cottagers in the area, a once well-kept secret. In recent years the neighbourhood is welcoming new and unfamiliar faces to our little cottage neighbourhood on picnics and day trips. We are an easy commute from the city and have been garnering added attention since Pokémon planted some virtual characters on òur` point. Bridal parties have discovered our unique swimming piers make a spectacular backdrop to their wedding pictures with vast and expansive prairie skies as a backdrop. Social media too is sharing the seasonal magic of this quaint little beach community.

The lake for me is a magnet. Water is my elemental home.  I swim weekdays year round at the YMCA. When it is minus 40 with a wind chill, getting dressed to drive and get into the Y takes some effort. Our winters may be brutal but our summers are glorious and being by water body in July and august for even just a weekend day trip is the goal of so many of us. As an ex pat Australian who grew up by an ocean, Lake Winnipeg`s shallow wide basin is prone to variable weather and rolling storms that acts as a surrogate ocean for my family. There are of course no salt crusted eyelashes to squint through after a swim and no swell to surf unless there is a crazy storm, but in the middle of a continent I am so totally grateful to be able to look out at that ever changeable horizon and feel at home. When we did purchase what my now neighbour squared described as `Mr Pool`s Cottage, a long neglected log cabin we have smothered in love and major efforts to salvage its quaint stature while bringing its interesting building practices up to code. My husband said to me as we walked along the lake shore on a breezy afternoon that season, “We just breathe better here don`t we”, and I agree. We feel the stress dissolving as we leave the city and by the time we arrive we have already relaxed into that beach hair don’t care state of mind.

The swimming piers are a feature of our little cottage community. They are affectionately called stick docks and are built and dismantled each season. The neighbours celebrate with morning coffees and afternoon “tea” when the pier is finally ready for our gatherings and we declare it to officially be summer.

The little painting we are chatting about  I named ``Pink at Ponemah` because it has a delicate softness about it that puts me in mind of a peaceful summer day, you know those days when you have been outdoors and the sun has blushed, not burnt your skin with that healthy glow. Use sunscreen people but when you do get a chance go out and enjoy that feeling of relaxation that reminds us we are lucky to be such a small part of an expansive nation. 

“PINK at PONEMAH”, Acrylic on Panel, 12” x 30”, 2006

The sentinel trees that feature in the painting are the beginning of two rows of plantings that shade the back edge of the beach in the summer and take the brunt of the wind when it blows. You would have to imagine the shorter row extending to the right beyond the paintings composition to the point and a longer row leading you left parallel to the sandy beach walk along the shore in the opposite direction. `Sand is an invitation to walk here. Every walk is different. Most inspire me to pause to collect lucky stones with intrinsic holes perfect for summer pendants or beach glass weathered smooth by the action of water and ice. One year a beachgoer left messages written in sharpie on smooth and warm summer stones. I collected one that exclaims, `You Rock! I love that. It keeps vigil on the kitchen table year round to inspire all of our guests. What a lovely sentiment to find. I would urge you to make someone’s day next time you find yourself with a smooth stone and a pen in your hand. Write some small affirmation and leave it behind to be found later in the day.

The prairie that flattens out to the west is its own inland ocean…of canola, flax or wheat.

The magic of hoar frost on a breathless early winter morning at Ponemah

The seasonal differences are distinct in this part of the world

In the painting there is more white than I usually incorporate but if flows with the idea of a whispy breeze and sets the scene for a bathing suit bleached with wear or a picnic blanket faded and softened with use. Embedded in the surface are some saved eucalyptus leaves brought in as bookmarks in a novel or clipped from a florists arrangement. Australiana, I am an advocate for it all. On the back of the painting I discovered I had inscribed, `Give me a home amongst the gum trees” which may have been an original intention for this piece and possibly also a reference to the iconic swimming flags on patrolled Australian beaches that are placed a similar distance apart. Remembering we bring to our work our own unique experiences. And though I have lived in Canada since 1991, our beginnings are always our beginnings and mine are clearly evident in my work.

 Unusually in this composition I used some gold and silver leaf. I had some; I was playing with it as an addition and liked the subtle reference to reflections on water that felt so familiar to a part within me. Adding it made reference to the flash of silver we might see underwater or the glare or reflections on the water’s surface that keep our dark sunglasses in place as we tan. I love the metallic addition to the composition that flashes differently depending on the angle of approach and the time of day. The trees I have spoken of are a mere suggestion themselves cast as they are with a few loose marks that describe a breeze.  

Leaves embedded in the gesso feature in this little painting on panel. They connect the beachscapes that are part of my psyche.

Tree detail fro “Pink at Ponemah”. I love the little fleck of gold and silver leaf. They flash in different ways depending on the angle of approach to the painting

 In the painting there is a distinction between areas where sand meets water, meets sky, but it is a suggestion and open to interpretation.  Art and the making have taught me many things over the years. This little gem is no different. In fact as I was screwing in hangers on the back I remember I actually dropped the panel and wouldn’t you know it one of those sacred remnants of Australian, a perfect gum leaf embedded into the surface cracked clearly in half and left a weird gap where a lovely leaf form had been. Ouch that one hurt. The moment may have inspired an uncomplimentary word or two to escape. I don’t remember, it was in 2005, but knowing me I would not be surprised if it did. 

So, what to do? Never one to disguise a flaw I do recall dipping my brush into a lovely aqua tube and filling the void with a startling contrast to that blushing pink I have already told you about. It was a perfect solution and a reminder, when we are presented with lemons, we should totally make lemonade.

This little piece was a great lesson in life and in art that I try always to remember. And that is, what we think as a wrong turn can actually turn into something to celebrate. It also reminds me year round that though the seasonal winds will blow and bring snow into my front door at times, there is always the promise that the sun will shine and soon I will be migrating back to our little beach with the hummingbirds and eagles to feel that blush of pink on my winter weary skin once again. 

Gold Leaf detail “Pink at Ponemah”, 2006

My thanks extend to you today for tuning in to this episode. I hope the images are helpful and that you are finding something of your story within mine by listening in to the podcast, or catching up through this blog.

It’s all FREE content that I very happy to share with you. If my work or words inspire you please consider sharing the podcast with a friend or writing a review. You can listen to the full episode anywhere you get your podcasts.

This week’s meditation begins at 10:55 in the recording. I hope you are able to make time for a little self care.

please feel free to leave your questions or comments on the website or find me on instagram @mandartcanada. I would love to hear from you

Until next time, stay well,

all best

Amanda

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035

Tom Thomson’s iconic Jack Pine image is reversed in this painting as a nod to the idea that Down under means upside down

Ode to Tom Detail 1

Collecting visual data for this composition included some home grown eucalyptus leaves

I love the personality of this bundle of gum leaves. Their shapes helped to contain the action of the various elements within the composition.

This week on the Podcast we take a walk down Memory Lane where I introduce you to a mixed media painting on paper from the earliest days of my studio practice. We chat about my tendency to paint like a printmaker, about gathering visual ideas and why I included some of the images that I did. North meets South as we meet at the imaginary place where universal flatlands become coastal and inland oceans and nocturnal auras and painterly signatures merge in colour and process.



Opposite my “Painted Ladies” in our dining room lives an “Ode to Tom”. This was one of my very early works in mixed media, an acrylic and chalk pastel on water colour paper, with eucalyptus leaves, 22 1/2” x 30”

Tom is a ladies man and “the Painted Ladies” opposite enjoy the view. Together they act as foils reflecting aspects of the past and the present to each other. Painted in 2001 this piece was an image that grew as a collage would by compiling a group of thoughts graphically into a single image.

At that time in my life, with some time to myself to contemplate creatively, I began looking for thematic starts by asking myself what I wanted to paint. Is there a purpose? Does there need to be? Why or why not? The advice one would give to a writer, to “write what you know” was just as applicable to me as a painter then and so that is where I began.

I was in my first ever shared studio in The Exchange district in downtown Winnipeg where my tight little shared space within a space snuggly accommodated the full sheet of paper and that was about it.

 The thought of “paint what you know” got me to thinking about where I was and where I was from and what were some of the common elements these very different landscapes shared. I called it “Ode to Tom” because I made a reference to Tom Thomson’s iconic Jack pine. This was an image I associated with Canada because a poster of it had hung in a classroom in my small town on the south coast of Australia. I can’t recall what grade I was in, possibly grade 3 or 4, but I do remember admiring this image often on hot weekday afternoons when we all wanted a swim but the school day lingered on. Like everyone around me I felt the desire to seek the relief of water but in the meantime my thoughts waded through wedges of sunlight shining to illuminate chalk dust floating in the humid air.

I must have been young and extremely literal as I had assumed at the time that Tom Thomson’s image must be what Canada looked like. The label beneath the image clearly stated “Canadian Art”. It should be noted at the time there was no disclaimer stating this was only a brief window in the summer and my younger self accepted it on face value.

 I grew up in the Wollongong region on the south coast of Australia which includes the shores of Lake Illawarra. The ocean was always close by. How’s that for some tongue twisting names? Here I loved to explore the edges where ocean and earth met: on sandy beaches or in rocky tidal pools and so it was a simple extension for some part of my younger self to have connected emotionally with that wind sculpted tree at the edge of a body of water. 

Then I had no plans to become Canadian or even to visit by way of Paris to live full time on the Canadian prairies, ironically on Australia Day in 1991.  31 years later I am still here. As a newcomer to Canada there were things to learn; like driving on the wrong side of the road not to mention language and communication despite the fact that my first language was English. As any expat can appreciate, the vowels specifically can be an issue. 

My sense of humour was sadly lost on literal Canadians but many did think it funny to ask about silly assumptions like was it true the water went the wrong way down the drain in the Southern Hemisphere? Naturally I agreed. “Of course it does”, and “we all have kangaroos as pets instead of dogs” I would add for good measure.

I grew up in the Wollongong Region. Wollongong is the indigenous name that translates to, “between the mountains and the Sea”. Navigation was simplified with the hills to the west and the beach in the east. This image of Wollongong Harbour is credited to Rise Photography.

In collecting visual ideas for my composition using a suggestion of Tom Thomson’s jack pine in the composition seemed like a natural fit. Reversing the jack pine mimicked the topsy turvy nature of moving hemispheres and living “ upside down” or back to front .

The prairie was a surprise to me when I first experienced it but it definitely grows on you and it gradually shares its seasonal expanses. What might look and feel lifeless and extraordinarily flat at first sight is subtle as it draws us in to share in its inspirational personality that unfurls in seasonal chapters. In the early days I found it a challenge to get my bearings in this very flat landscape where roads and sky reached for days and the visual cues within it changed with the seasons.

 I remember thinking of Chicken Little and the sky falling. Those skies were large and expansive. Without the mountains I grew up with on the coast, between the mountains and the sea, what could possibly be holding that broad sky up? Directions were a much simpler proposition when the beach was east and the mountains were clearly visible to the west. 

My very first visit to lake country in Canada was to Shoal Lake in Lake of the Woods at the western edge of Ontario not far from the Manitoba border and very close to the centre of Canada.

 This felt like the quintessential Canadian landscape I had daydreamed of in that long ago classroom. Moonlight reflected beautifully here on deep cold water as we sipped gin and tonics in the screen porch and listened to loons calling to each other in the dark. Our dinners spent under an inky night sky filled with stars and the glowing northern lights with friends are still memorable. 

 This part of the country etched itself firmly into my memory and I painted this nighttime lake magic in the background of “An ode to Tom”. I balanced the flow of ocean and earth by describing their merger as waves of golden wheat in the foreground since wheat is an annual crop that grows on the flatlands of both continents.

I got to know Tom a little better in the process as I took a closer look at his brief body of work, a lot of it painted in the elements on summer painting excursions as sketchy, expressive references to a landscape at the heart of the national psyche.

Paper was my choice of media for those early paintings which buckled and warped with my inattention to preparations for wet media. Resourceful as ever I ended up developing a complex system to flatten the finished pages. My friend and picture framer, whose work elevated mine, was very helpful but it quickly became clear that I wasn’t going to be framing every piece I created on paper. Who can afford to? It wasn’t long before canvas became the less fragile, more substantial ground and the logical next step in my painting practice.

Shoal lake on the western edge of the Canadian Shield was much further west than the landscape Tom Thomson explored on painting trips around Georgian Bay and Northern Ontario's lake country, but both areas shared geological similarities. The lake has many stories to share but we’ll save some for another day. You’ll find I love the lake and it has been the focus of a lot of art and experience over my 20 plus years engaged in studio practice.

“ODE TO TOM”, Acrylic, Chalk Pastel, Eucalyptus Leaves on Watercolour paper, 22 1/2” x 30”, 2002. Apologies for the poor quality of this image. The painting lives behind glass and I was reluctant to tamper with my framer’s fine craftsmanship. Reflections are due to poor lighting and my poor photographic skills.

Imagine the colours to be much clearer and without reflections to interrupt the surface. there you go, you get the idea. :)

I was doing some Re training when I painted these early works on paper, resisting blending colour down to earthy neutrals as had been my early habit. The choice of chalk pastels forced me to use one colour at a time like the printmaker I had been in art school when even then I couldn’t decide on one course of action and had double majored in both painting and printmaking. 

 Duality was a thing even then but I wasn’t fully aware the concept would become such a feature in my life going forward. 

I bought pastels in kits, in batches in fact in any brand I could find as I explored what felt right. Some went on like butter while others flaked off unexpectedly and the occasional one had a gravelly bit that caught the paper like a finger nail on a chalk board that sent my teeth into that awful and undeniable skunk face, you know like biting into tinfoil with a filling.

 The marks I see in “Ode to Tom” in hindsight show the markings as varied as the pastels that made them. There are hints of haste and lines made quickly. Was I trying to do a few more things before I had to leave to pick up kids from pre school or was I imagining Tom Thomson painting plain air roughing in the structure of his subject in loose red unstructured shapes to begin before the weather turned? We both allowed and encouraged these residual marks to speak up on the surface and I always enjoy the visual zing they provide that encourages the eyes movement through a composition. 

“Ode to Tom”, like most of my work shared lessons with me too. It taught me to enjoy materials, to know that there was more available if I needed some so go ahead and dive in and feel free to play. I discovered there is no wrong answer when we talk about creativity that my voice though accented is equally valid.

 I also learned that when your free and expressive nature gets so involved in the making that you inadvertently tear the deckled edge of the paper, to be resourceful and repair it, it is not the end of the world. Life is precious, full of bumps and bruises and wear and tear, but we learn through doing and when we find ourselves going off course we can just redirect and carry on.

As I moved across continents I brought with me a collection of gum leaves and a few of these beauties were literally embedded into the paper surface with gesso. Together they frame the action and act as a counter balance to the Jack Pine image. Those gum leaves are a literal piece of Australiana I have rescued from the yards of friends and family to join in on my lifetime odyssey. 

I don’t know if it is because I am an artist that I immerse myself in landscape in thought and action every day? Or if it is just who I am? I remember walking in Manhattan with my daughter who was freshly graduated from environmental design in architecture. The trip was a grad gift and a chance to take in the sights together. We were both bedraggling as my family would say, stopping to pause and check out ancient details in this densely populated urban environment that 1000’s of people pass each day and would probably not notice. “Mum”, she said, as she realized we were both distracted by details, “we see things differently don’t we”. So maybe it’s hereditary and there is no need for a Question or statement to justify why I see the world the way I do, it just is what it is.

 I wonder how you experience landscape.  What do you see and perceive in your world? 

In our reflection today we explore an imaginary experience of landscape together. Find the recording at 10.55 in the podcast recording. Season 1 Episode 5 “Ode to Tom”

I hope you will join me for a restorative moment inspired by memories of connection: to place, and to the wisdom of our younger selves.

Apple URL for the Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/widsom-at-the-crossroads/id1609992256

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5AbmRHQor17IeJJivYaYJf

Everything takes time and sometimes inspiration waits longer than we intend

Painted Ladies were inspired by this celebratory bouquet

I should maybe have called the painting “Patient Ladies”

Welcome to WISDOM at the CROSSROADS, The PODCAST Season 1, Episode 3, “PAINTED LADIES”, 2019.

The desire for me as a Painter and a Textile artist, to do things a little differently began when I moved out of Winnipeg’s Historic Exchange District after 20 years in the same studio building. I occupied 3 different spaces at 318 McDermot, the last of which was Studio 311. It was here in this space the “Painted Ladies evolved after very patiently waiting for me to catch up with the backlog of inspiration I had collected. By the time I got around to painting them in acrylic, the inspiration had devolved into a bundle of brittle twigs. That’s where creative licence came into play.

Before we get into the podcast notes, …As I was prepping to begin this episode I was juggling the endings of a couple of large canvases I am working on. I am fighting a deadline and wanting to be painting more but as life would have it I am juggling too many other things to closet myself away from reality for as long as I would like to play at solving the vibrant problems I have waiting for me on the wall. I have mentioned I often have multiple pieces on the go and this is because a painting, like preparations for a good meal, can sometimes need some marinating.  Often I will hang an almost finished piece, if space allows, on a wall in the studio so I can see the work indirectly in the comings and goings of my routine.

Today I arrived with a clear intention I had planned for the foreground.

 My current project is quite far along in the process. At this point in a painting each mark has a larger impact on the composition so I try to tread carefully to avoid my over painting tendencies. Today I didn’t have as much time as I had hoped for but the time I did have was engaging and inspiring and ended with a signature which to me is kind of like an exclamation mark that states. Yes. This baby is finished. 

I paused yet still painted and walked away content. It was a good d at the office.

“Painted Ladies, 30” x 30”, Acrylic on Canvas, 2019

“Painted Ladies” is a Still Life: a loose and sketchy suggestion of a once beautiful bouquet that graced the then newly re opened Adelaide McDermott Gallery in Winnipeg. The gallery was on the main floor of the building I rented studio space in from 2001-2019 in Winnipeg’s Historic Exchange District. The Exchange was the centre of Canada’s Grain industry in the late 19th and early 20th,  centuries that became a national historic site in 1997. For those unfamiliar with the city, The Exchange District was the original financial and business hub of the downtown, home to warehouses built at the turn of the century that accommodated the exponential growth of a city known then as the gateway to the west and the Chicago of the north. It harbors a unique collection of early modern warehouse architecture, hip tech start-ups, art galleries, restaurants and more recently, loft style apartments. The area is regularly used as a period movie set. 

In fact, Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck were my neighbours during the filming of “The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford”, which debuted at the Venice film festival way back in 2007. The funeral scene among others I remember being filmed around and alongside the studio building. I watched the action unfold with other tenants from the roof as all the street side windows along McDermot had been blacked out for the shoot. It was inspiring to see the bustling vibe of the area morph over a few short weeks into a time stamped set where all electrical references to the 20th century were removed overnight just before our streets, the set, closed down for public use and the paved sidewalks became a sawdust covered boardwalk in the old west for filming to begin. 

The whole neighbourhood was involved. The building kitty corner to ours was extra central and at the sound of horn, from my window on Adelaide, I could see whole communities of period dressed actors spill out onto the pavement for their scene. Brad Pitt’s trailer was set up in our loading dock and the stables for all the livestock took over our parking lot across the street, so, yes, I can legitimately say, “Brad Pitt has parked his horse on my space. Movie making in the city might be a theme for another episode, for now I want to get back to those “Painted Ladies” who also had their beginnings in the Exchange district, the subject though, reaches much further south than Chicago.

 After the official opening of the gallery the beautiful flower arrangement purchased for the occasion which featured some Australians: eucalyptus and a central clutch of King Proteas, made their way to my studio for inspiration.  As an expat Australian I have a habit of rescuing Australiana when I come across it. In fact I have a stellar collection of linen tea towels from the goodwill store on Princess, which were a once upon a souvenir featuring all kinds of Australian flora and fauna. My intention with the flowers was first to rescue them so I could paint the arrangement but of course I had so many balls in the air as I usually do that I didn’t get to it until the bloom was well and truly off the rose.

 I did enjoy the view of the shapes though as they dried into a brittle silhouette against my windows light. Someone without an emotional attachment to the subject might have discounted the flowers as a bunch of dead sticks and looked elsewhere for inspiration. Eventually I took out a 30” x 30” canvas and loosely sketched the forms in paint. I’m a Painter. I like to paint and even when I draw I like to sketch in loose liquid paint with a flexible long flippy brush. ”Drawing”, for me even if it is done in paint offers a change of pace from the rhythm of my favoured square bristled brushes. I think most artists have specific tools they are drawn to and those choices become part of the distinctive painterly signature each individual has.

The “PAINTED LADIES” are 30” x 30” acrylic on canvas. A still life that reminded me that inspiration can wait but the creative process is not something that can be put off indefinitely.

The stars of the dormant bouquet were what I grew up calling king proteas because the same Native flowers had grown vigorously in a sandy oasis of a garden bed ,alongside the extended driveway in front of the garage at my childhood home. It was a hot spot and these shrubs loved the heat. The flowers bloomed vigorously alongside the driveway where they were witness to the frequent handball tournaments between the neighbourhood kids and the competitive nature of my pseudo brothers keeping score. This still life is representative of a time and place and I kept it because it resonates as a connection to both my Canadian home and my Australian beginnings, breaching a gap between my past and the present. She was also one of the last pieces I painted in my old studio before I finally moved out of the Exchange after almost 20 years in the same building. These painted ladies became my souvenir.

 The painting is a new addition to my home’s collection. This is partly a space issue as our walls are pretty saturated. Maybe it was a combination of timing and subject that brought her home. I had thought about entering the piece into a competition so she hung on the walls of my last hoorah at the old space but despite inquiries I did not offer her for sale.

 If you are an artist you can probably understand getting into a groove with your work, but I think anyone can relate to the idea of getting proficient at something and relaxing into a process. My process evolves through seasonal chapters, meaning each physical break away from the rhythm of the studio generally results in some variation or change in the subsequent work. Sometimes nuances I only see in hindsight, and I have to admit, this process of storytelling through my archive is really bringing some elements and tendencies into focus. (Thank you Dona and Cindy for your insight)

 For many years my studio life slotted in around the school year and the hectic sporting schedules of our girls. In fact I might still be conditioned to keep that structure as I find I am wearing out energetically at about 10 to 3 in the afternoon which is when I would have packed up for afternoon pickups. Coming back to the studio after a break or a holiday means it takes a bit of time and effort to return to flow.

 I am often asked how long it took to paint “that” piece.  I could respond with an estimate of 25 years, since everything we do brings us to where we are right now, but generally getting back into the saddle after a period away means the effort in the beginning is greater and the results are tighter,. Tighter for me refers to the work feeling  more constrained and depending on your perspective, everything is subjective right, less successful according to my personal painting paradigm.

Once I am in the groove, let’s use the analogy of a marathon runner whose training is prescriptive. When you first start out, there is some pain as your body works out the kinks in your style and technique, by mid-season the muscle memory is more relaxed and the output is too. As a painter that means the work gets progressively looser and freer as I get back on my painting horse and if I have a deadline or am nearing the end of a painting season I get into a flow state and magic can happen. 

 “Painted Ladies” came about during one of those relaxed and comfortable flow periods so the action was quick and fluid and the composition is strong but appears effortless. Muscle memory can account for part of that ease in the final image. Sitting at the dining room table, across from the painting and evaluating her with a critical eye I see her as a blend of presence and memory. There is a distinct structure, the composition in hindsight is showing me a broad square visually (loosely) divided as a peace sign. Colour balances compliments as is my habit but the primary colours are present but variations are more subtle. Yellows are a combination of: lemon, acid green, cream, beige and yellow oxide. Blues feature cobalt blue, emerald green, pale aqua and mint, while the red range is more fuchsia, light pink and quinacridone red light, one of my faves used sparingly carries heavier impact.

 There is balance between the intense rich colours of one quadrant in contrast with the subtle creamy highlights of another. There is movement and action in this still life and a whispy arc drawn in that wet flippy brush in white gesso, washed with mint that simply describes the transparency of the globular glass bowl in which those dried sticks sit.

 I am glad I kept this bouquet which felt a bit like a parting gift as I closed up shop downtown and moved into a new chapter. One of the lessons I learned might be that not everything is for sale and it is perfectly ok to keep personal things personal. I am the queen of overpainting because sometimes I am just so darn attached to the actions of liquid acrylic at the end of my brush that I want to keep going even when a composition is flashing a red stop light that is screaming at me to slow down and come back with fresh eyes. When time becomes a constraint like when a deadline looms for a show or on a rare occasion like this when I was moving, walking away from a piece while it is still loose and fresh naturally comes about as I stop overthinking and get out of my own way. Less can definitely be more. 

“Painted Ladies” became a gift to me. It was a reminder to commemorate both endings and beginnings, to take a pause and to accept where we are, as well as where we have been, before we head off to where we are going.

The colour is more subtle in real life but the gestural essence is the same regardless if the colours are distorted by variations in our computers settings .

Describing glass with a wet flppy brush

Here is the link to go back to the podcast to take in the meditation if you haven’t already. It can be found at 11:11 in the recording of this episode.

Wisdom at the Crossroads, The Podcast is also available wherever you listen to your podcasts. I appreciate you tuning in and joining me as this new journey begins. I will look forward to connecting with you again soon as we journey through the backstories of my artistic practice in the search for presence.

Until then, may you be more, be present and do a little less.

Amanda

Apple URL for the Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/widsom-at-the-crossroads/id1609992256

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5AbmRHQor17IeJJivYaYJf

SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vfUjwApDxZ5ScqohexDe3?si=cgi3nlaVT3ywCqdBTOLbbg

Cleaning my brushes is a thing for me, wasting paint is not. So this is what happened…

Life is definitely lived in the details. Check out this sky feature in the “Prairie Girl”.

You never know what little piece of magic will turn up in the foreground.

Welcome to WISDOM at the CROSSROADS, The PODCAST! I can hardly believe I am typing that. This project has been a while in the works. The desire to do things a little differently began when I moved out of Winnipeg’s Historic Exchange District after 20 years in the same studio building.

At the time of moving into smaller space closer to home I didn’t really know what that would look like. Add in a pandemic and the loss of two long ago friends well before their time and I kind of felt ,a little bit of “If not now when?” and “Why not me?” So here we are and I am ready to launch myself right out of my comfort zone and into the deep end that is this new podcasting venture.

Thanks for joining me on this podcasting journey. I am looking forward to inviting you into my studio space to share in the backstories of inspiration and process that have resulted in my work in art.

After more than 20 years of studio practice I have created a lot of art. Most pieces find their forever home but over the years I have amassed a collection of artwork that spans my career to date and it is these works that we live with that I would like to begin the storytelling. 

There is a wide variety, there are pieces on paper, on canvas and on panel, and art quilts that have travelled further on exhibition than I have … which is saying something, considering I am an expat Australian and the commute to my original home starts at 12000kms. 

The pieces I have kept are all different yet they do share one common denominator and that is the fact that they have taught me a lesson or modelled something in particular that, I feel, is worth remembering.

Living with them reminds me of a time in my personal or family history and mostly they are pieces I have forbidden my husband from selling off the dining room wall. It was a thing there for a while in the early days.

When we have something in our personal interior landscape for a long time, those pieces can make us feel at home and grounded. It’s only when things change, when we rearrange them, move, or as we are, in recent years during this pandemic, spending more and more time at home that we tend to notice our environment more 

Our personal effects can be a comfort but at the same time the familiarity they offer means they can easily blend into the background to be unremarkable. 

The places and spaces we inhabit and are inspired by can be like that collection of paintings on the walls at home. The more familiar they are the less we see them.

Cathy Heller likes to say, “energy flows where attention goes”. Through our interactions I want to help you to see and experience the familiar, to explore and find inspiration in your personal circumstances wherever that might be to come back home to yourself 

I want our interactions to be about finding and seeking presence and I’ll use the process I am most familiar with to do that

I might be painting on larger surfaces with more confidence in the present but colour remains the focus of my choices in paint. “Blue Gums” in progress.

Creativity has always been my road to presence so that’s where I would like to start. For those not familiar with my work it is generally colourful, semi abstracted and though it might be inspired by a particular place, I have no desire to replicate the real world. I prefer inference and reference and an emotional connection to an experience. 

The act of painting takes me to the zone, that place where time stands still and the worries of my world fall away. It is a place where I am fully present in the moment and a place I would like to introduce you to , to share in the stories my paintings tell. 

The painting I want to chat about in this episode  started out inspired by a collection of photographs I took one day on the trip home from the girls’ gym class when the sun was shining on the incidental green space along the side of the road. It was wild and woolly and fully in bloom. This painting has taught me several lessons including a new reminder I am in need of learning and that is ..to keep better records of my work 

I am embarrassed to tell you that I don’t have a professional photograph of this piece, nor a name written on the back of the stretcher, which has been my habit for many years now. 

I am going to rename her “Prairie girl” after the once small prairie girls whose daily activities inspired her beginnings. At home she hangs in what we affectionately have come to refer to as the Starbucks corner. 

I don’t know about you but at our house during covid we have found different uses for the different areas in our house. The dining room has become a multipurpose design studio, a zoom room, an office and a bistro for when the take out boxes are traded for a tablecloth and dimmable lighting. 

The living room is my daughters’ office, preferred by the cat in the afternoon and also the yoga barre. But since I am inviting you into my space and suggesting you get yourself a cup of tea or coffee, something stronger if you prefer,… there is no judgement here.  Let’s imagine we are settling into the Starbucks corner in the lovely morning sun

“PRAIRIE GIRL”, with her eagle taking flight in the background and her fairy magic occupying the foreground.

The painting, newly renamed “Prairie Girl”, is a semi abstracted landscape, 30” square, painted in acrylic on canvas in 2001! That was in the very early days of having a studio when I shared space and barely had time to get there during the course of any week. 

Those were the days when the needs of our then very young children were my focus and my creative practice slotted in anywhere I could squeeze it in. The rhythm of the weekly schedule showed me snippets of inspiration but I did not have the luxury to take a day or an afternoon to seek and be inspired so I took any opportunity as it arose. These moments had to be found as they could so easily have blended into the background of familiarity.

In 2001 our daughters were 6 and 4 year olds and gymnastics was a weekly activity. The facility we attended was a bit of a hike from home, along a secondary road yet still within the city limits.

 I don’t want to say I am a distracted driver, but I am very observant, I am curious and I am always very aware of my environment. 

Each week the roadside foliage along the way, some might say weeds, but that’s a judgement and remember, there is no room for  judgement here… with each passing week the foliage scrambled more and more energetically as the weather warmed into summer and the roadside bloomed. 

I love a little incidental landscape, you know, those un curated spaces along the side of the road, in infill lots, along railway lines, in suburbia, or anywhere really where the weeds and grasses are allowed to compete and freely blossom. 

In the image “Prairie girl”, you can see the suggestion of the prairie landscape stepping into the background and the roadside weeds scrambling in the foreground. 

For me this painting will always be a direct reference to that one sunny day after gymnastics class when I pulled off to the gravel shoulder in my bottle green minivan. I handed my girls a snack and juice box to consume in the backseat while I quickly snapped a dozen or so pics on my elf camera before hopping back into the van and heading home.

 I am dating myself but this was before digital cameras and iphones, nothing was instantaneous and printing the film was a delayed and intentional act. My studio at that time was a shared squeeze but was a space that was exclusively mine while I was there in the odd hours I could make it and it was a place to be creative.

 There, I was not worried someone would eat the chalk pastels or hurt themselves with toxic or sharp implements and I could relax and immerse myself in colour, in the process of interpreting the world around me.

I worked on paper initially and quickly developed the habit of painting on multiple projects simultaneously. I can’t even remember what I was working on as the main focus at the time but I do recall I had this 30” x 30” canvas that kind of became the canvas I ended my day with. ( meaning I used it to clean my brushes and use up any excess paint at the end of my time there. 

The foreground evolved into a reference to that overzealous stretch of wildflowers on the roadside. It is quite colourful as marks were dependant on what had survived the day in my paint pallet. It’s a little repetitive and just like the weedy blooms I was recalling, it too found its own rhythm 

This happened without much conscious thought and the piece evolving from a vague premise without any preliminary thoughts or sketches. My primary goal was to use up the paint and not be late for pick up.  I was immersed in the process with zero expectation and I guess effectively I was getting out of my own way. This incidental green space first encountered in those trips to gymnastic class, had bloomed through the struggle and competition for resources untended just as my painting had began. 

This “Prairie Girl” reminds me to be present, to be observant and to be aware but possibly the most important lesson I learned happened in the top part of the composition, in the sky. When I did take a pause to evaluate what was happening in the canvas I didn’t feel the sky was  working so with one of those critical self-statements I remember telling myself emphatically.. “Mand, this looks like absolute crap!” So I proceeded to paint out the sky with white gesso , effectively overpainting with the intention to erase what I had done and start again. 

As luck would have it the paint oozed in great globs across the surface as well as my desk and since it was almost time to leave I gathered a spoon or something to coral the liquid mess back into a container.

 As I brushed and dabbed at it some of the purple paint from below the surface began to blend with the white and as each spoonful of salvaged paint stretched across the painting to reach its salvaged container, long strings of liquid paint drizzled across the surface

Exasperated and literally up to my elbows in wet paint I paused to take in the sky that had bloomed into a pending prairie storm. And if you look closely there is the suggestion of a giant eagle taking flight. “Prairie Girl” lives in the Starbucks corner of our living room. She has a beautiful handcrafted bloodwood frame crafted by my talented friend and picture framer. In it her presence reminds me of my own “Prairie girl” It reminds me to take those detour adventures when i can and to allow events to unfold. Sometimes what happens will follow the course we have planned while at other times a new path will be forged and that path just might take us to somewhere new and unexpected.

Years later while I was doing some experiments with dye sublimating imagery onto fabric I used this same painting as a source image. It meant really enlarging parts of the composition. When I received the prints back, details from the foreground had blossomed into a clear elemental image, a lovely fairy hidden in plain sight. She became yet another reminder to be present, to be aware and observant in our daily travels because we just might find some hidden magic along the way.

Here is the link to go back to the podcast to take in the meditation if you haven’t already. Wisdom at the Crossroads, The Podcast is also available wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks for tuning in and joining me as this new journey begins. I will look forward to connecting with you again soon as we journey through the backstories of my artistic practice in the search for presence.

Until then, may you be more, be present and do a little less.

Amanda

Apple URL for the Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/widsom-at-the-crossroads/id1609992256

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5AbmRHQor17IeJJivYaYJf

SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vfUjwApDxZ5ScqohexDe3?si=cgi3nlaVT3ywCqdBTOLbbg

From left to right: #39 “Birch Church”, #48 “Dancers”, #63 “Flaxen”, #87 “Hustle”, and #73 “ Transition.”

Adelaide McDermot Gallery reopened in the spring in downtown Winnipeg. It is a lovely refreshed space on the ground floor of the building that has housed my studio(s) since 2001. I am very glad to be exhibiting here at 318 McDermot Avenue in the Exchange District over the First Friday weekend in December.


•Friday, December 6th, 5-9pm

Continuing through the weekend:
•Saturday, December 7th, 12-5pm
•Sunday, December 8th, 12-5pm

BACK TO WORK AT PLAY

September is a time of new beginnings. It is when Canadian schools return to programming after the luxury of our extended prairie summers. September is about new class schedules, renewed focus and a return to routine.

Working as an artist is like working in any job. Getting back to work after a break requires some motivation and a little easing in before we get back to optimum productivity.


My studio is a sanctuary and I am always happy to go back to work there, in fact I will be there all weekend if given the opportunity. There is no shortage of inspiration yet, sometimes the challenge lies in how best to apply that inspiration.

The fall season this year was no different. As my family resumed new schedules at work and school I too needed to refocus. The Painting 101 Series began as a means to refocus my creativity, to reacquaint with the feel of liquid acrylic on my brush. The project began slowly but soon blossomed into a solid goal after the summer break.

WHY:

Both craving and resisting routine, the goal was to give myself a challenge that helped to reset my creative rhythms for the new season.
I began where I am on the prairie and liked the idea of giving a vertical emphasis to what is traditionally considered a horizontal subject. I divided full sheets of water colour paper into 11” x 6” sections. By painting small I resolved to play without my inner critic and the fun began.

HOW:

When painting on larger canvas I hang panels in groups on my wall and work standing. Smalls did not fit that format so along with physical adjustments and a reorganized space, the process forced me to reevaluate how I use designated areas within my studio space. It was an additional challenge for a creature of habit like myself.

The discipline of this studio project helped to reestablish my creative process and soothed the loss I felt with summer routines now in the rear view mirror.

WHAT:

Liquid acrylic paint on my brush and the challenge of composition energized me enough to cut more paper and set myself the official Painting 101 Series challenge.

A self imposed deadline can be useful for the sole practitioner. My studio is a lovely oasis, but also a work space. “Boss lady”, my studio alter ego, did a great job of shielding my studio time from well intentioned distraction, and visitors, and inspired me on both weekdays and weekends to accomplish this goal.

SUBJECT:

Themes developed as I arrived at the studio and dug through my long collected stash of photographic inspiration. Using a visual cue can be a useful starting point, it helps to establish a beginning, a jumping off point from which the composition can bloom.

I use visual stimuli as a suggestion only and allow the process of physically painting to evolve through any composition.

What felt right on any given day varied. The garden, the poppy, the lake, fall colour and summer snapshots all bloomed freely as source material inspired a beginning but did not dictate an outcome.

PROCESS:

There was no plan, no order and not even consistency on any given day beyond the colours waiting on my palette. I wanted to feel the joy of wet acrylic on my brush, to paint loosely, to review the familiar and enjoy my work without expectation.

Completed pieces assembled in loose rows on my floor and on more than one occasion piqued the interest of Sarah Anne Johnson’s fur friends, Kitty and Lola, who stopped in, sniffed them out delicately, and went on their way to their own office next door.

FURTHER PROCESSES:

Water colour paper warped and curled under the loose application of wet media and meant the pieces required flattening in batches under some of the art world’s heavyweights at the studio.

Some pieces even hid in their drying stacks of books and caused me to overshoot my goal.

With a little help from my friends I worked through labelling, photography, ( Rob Barrow), and matting ( Tim of Chicken Coop Productions) This work is now complete and these 101 pieces of original art will be on sale for $101 plus taxes at my upcoming show.

When I published my book, “Wisdom at the Crossroads”, one of my first customers described it as being “weightier than its small stature”. This body of work similarly is small, energetic and colourful but visually they deliver a punch above their weight class. Mounted on archival matt board they are ready for gifting or framing and are perfect for first time collectors.

I am pleased to be exhibiting the entire completed challenge during The Exchange District’s FIRST FRIDAY in DECEMBER weekend 2019, along with some recent works on canvas and the Healing Blanket Project.

With December comes the holiday season, a sacred time of celebration and connection.
While the Painting 101 Series will provide visitors with colourful inspiration, the holiday season can be tough for those experiencing difficult times.

THE HEALING BLANKET:

Imagined as a receptacle for the physical, creative marks of those who ordinarily would not have that opportunity, this community based project is an ongoing initiative that will be available for visitors to work on during my show.

Come join us and add a stitch in time, with, or in honour of, someone you love or have loved.

To date, The Healing Blanket has been the recipient of many encouraging, beautiful, inspiring and sometimes heartbreaking stories.

My hope is for it to remind visitors that no matter what difficult circumstances prevail in their lives, particularly over the holidays, we can be reminded, we are not alone in our struggles.

My family has added stitches in honour of the youngest branch of our family tree, my niece, Edyn Tani, who is our littlest angel.

She inspires us still and in her honour a portion of all weekend sales will be assigned to a memorial fund for our angel Edy.

I am grateful for all the connections I have made through my art and look forward to seeing friends old and new over the weekend. We hope you will join us and be inspired by the colour of my world.
Friends and family all welcome.

"Be more. Do less." ATO

Sometimes a piece begins with some colour blocked areas.

I paint with a printmakers mindset and one colour at a time on my brush.

I always paint the edges of my canvases so the image does not always require a frame.

I am grateful to be a full time practicing artist, to be able to engage in creative explorations that can very often dissolve time. No day is the same. I have flexibility in my day; I am my own boss, even though my boss can sometimes be a very hard task master.

I believe creativity is as much about routine as it is about talent. Nobody just gets up in the morning and creates a masterpiece. There is preliminary work involved and this work is fueled by passion. I have had a studio since 2001, I am at the studio every weekday and have trained myself to work around the school day. My children are in university now but my body clock still kicks in for a change of focus at ten to three.  

In my work I aim to challenge myself to uncover a little of the unexpected as I strive to resolve any given composition and this is where play comes into my working philosophy. Creating anything is like training for a marathon; the hard yards make the end result look easy. Enjoying the journey as our process evolves is the key. Just as no day is the same, similarly not every studio day produces stellar results and I have to give myself permission to accept my failures as sometimes a mistake can lead me in a new and exciting direction.

As Artists we each have a predisposition to a particular palette, mine favors clear colours; “brilliant blue” by Liquitex and Golden’s “pyrrole red” among them.

 In the beginning however, I was a blender. Everything blended down to shades of burnt umber, raw sienna and red and yellow ochre. With the addition of black and white I created shades and tints. This palette was useful for my earliest photorealistic beginnings. I have learned however, to see colour as a mechanism  to define the same changes in value.

In Art School I double majored in painting and printmaking. For printmaking we learned to think in layers of solid colour. While I loved printmaking, the toxic oil based inks involved in the process did not agree with me so while I discontinued the practice I did salvage some conceptual approaches from the discipline that I use to this day as a painter. To simulate the layering in painting I began to under-paint in acrylics and overdraw in chalk pastel, thus holding one colour at a time in my hand. Together these ideas developed into my present work which is primarily in acrylic. Acrylic is a forgiving medium. It is quick to dry and could always adjust to my need for flexibility regardless of whether I had a few minutes, an hour or a whole day to work.

I am a creature of habit and like many artists I am drawn to particular tools. I like a flat square bristle brush in it various sizes for larger areas and a thin flippy brush for drawing in paint.

Any drawing is done in paint with very wet paint and a soft thin floppy brush.

Composition is definitely a focus of all of my work. Composition is about relationships, how one area of an artwork relates to another. I like to think of my compositions as “Communities of Colour”, where colours pair up, form groups and compete with, react to and/or assist each other.

The aim of which is to move the viewers eye around the surface from one compositional point of departure to another. 

I employ some basic compositional devices in my practice which I find important but not an exacting science: The golden mean for example is a system of defining proportions that I casually refer to as an estimation or guideline when thinking about a work in its beginning stages, as a piece is developing, and through to its completion. My more recent work has more of an intuitive feel with less formal planning but still these compositional guides come into play as a composition evolves.

For simplicity sake I often employ the rule of thirds where these horizontal and vertical (imaginary) divisions provide the basic structure of an image. These “rules” are used as a reference point during the evolution of an image. 

Energy can sometimes be exaggerated in a painting by tweaking or distorting these guidelines. Being “a little off” can be a good thing.

A diagonal path from one compositional point of departure to another can also help the “energizing” process. 

Working in layers the underpainting stage is the most fun. It is free of intention and so carries no expectation for an intended outcome. This is usually done in complimentary colours. As the composition evolves the residue of marks applied during the layering process can become a powerful tool in moving the viewer’s eye around the surface. 

Sometimes I like the under-painting so much the work never progresses beyond that point. .And of course sometimes it is abandoned to become something else on another day. Turning an abandoned piece on its head on my paint wall has been known to inspire some interesting changes.

My paint wall is equipped with studs that allow me to hang and remove multiple panels easily. Painting a diptych or triptych offers the added challenge of multiple compositions which also adds to the problem solving fun.

That fine, “flippy” brush comes into play to transfer my thoughts to a panel or canvas, my theory being, if I am working in paint, I should work only in paint from the outset. More recently the drawing aspect of my painting practice has come into play as a composition progresses to accentuate or clarify something.

Colour and its relationships will always be a part of my work regardless of media. When equal amounts of colours opposite on the colour wheel, or complimentary colours, are placed together the eye is content. The eye reads the proportions as balanced. When the same colours are used in disproportionate amounts their reaction reads like a vibration as the eye attempts to adapt by visually balancing the two. I like to refer to this as a “Popper”. In my compositions there are some places where the viewer’s eye can rest and others where the eye is pushed around. A “Popper “is definitely a pushy little devise I love to play with. 

The end product is an evolution through layers of process.

The absence of black is another characteristic of my work. I make a dark shade by adding compliments together. I find this version of a dark keeps the work active and vibrant. I also wash my brush frequently to keep my colours clear and prevent them from greying down.
Landscape has informed a lot of choices over the years. I am inspired wherever I am and search out potential subjects without realizing I am actually doing it.

I was known as the drive by shooter for many years by my family as I sat in the passenger seat on our frequent cross country road trips to sporting events with our athletic children. These reference images usually gathered in groups, were used to inspire a starting point for a piece or series. There was never the intention to recreate what I had photographed but to collage the essence of this with the curve of that as a project developed. 

Lately I have abandoned visual notes altogether and trust my painterly instincts to work intuitively. As my practice has grown and evolved my brushwork has gotten looser. I feel like I am off my game when my panels are tight but this is usually reflective of having had a break from routine that requires some more diligent practice to get the creative juices flowing again.

My studio remains my sanctuary and though my artistic practice includes textiles and more and more writing, I will always be a painter at heart, constantly expecting the unexpected, mindful of negative space and always at play at work in my studio.

“Colour quiets me, colour lets me sing. It is my language in all its affectations of nuance, of syntax of pronunciation. My voice is most clear in colour”.