The Painting 101 Series, 2019

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