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 .

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

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SPOTIFY:

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