WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS PODCAST.
An Everywhere of Silver is the story of a winter landscape in a summer cottage. It is the story of a journey and adjusted expectations.
This little painting recalls an attempt to take to the road less travelled if only for a little while. It holds the story of a rained out adventure that ended with a gentle reminder and inspiration for a whole new body of work.
The meditation is 11 minutes long in this episode. It begins at 6:22 in the recording.
Taking a break in our own company can be priceless but how often do we afford ourselves that opportunity?
The meditation is a guided journey to an incidental green space in dappled pockets of sunshine. There’s a little elemental magic in getting quiet and being aware of all that is small.
Join me here to engage in a moment of respite, to allow haste to evolve succinctly into ease.
AN EVERYWHERE OF SILVER, 16” x 16’, Acrylic on Panel, 2014
IN this episode I began writing the meditation first so I have inverted my process and paired a small painting titled, “An Everywhere of Silver” from 2014 to share with you.
This little acrylic on Panel lives in the bathroom at the lake so it has met a lot of visitors during its residency. It’s rare that I paint a winter landscape let alone show it in a summer cottage, but I’m going to say this piece is about a landscape in transition and with change our only constant you might enjoy a story about transitions.
If you are not from the prairies you haven’t experienced the excitement of a return to colour when the tail end of winter reveals a new season. And I am not just saying that because I am a painter.
Winter’s white can be diverse and vibrant with pinks and mauves and blues reflected in shade to contrast the luminous glitter of bright sunlight on ice and snow.
Winter lasts a long time where I live so we are always well and truly ready to see less and less snow. This pic was taken during a last blast of winter by our neighbours who were well and truly tired of shovelling this driveway.
There is a spring transition though that we ( or I) eagerly look for most years. Often at that time of year we are driving west to visit family around Easter or spring break and at every turn I am hopeful to see an aqua tinge developing below the softening surface of ice covered slews or water bodies. That hint of aqua is a joy to see. For me it’s an invitation to exhale with the knowledge that winter is almost over and spring is squarely on the horizon.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to encourage myself or anyone else to be hurrying the passage of time, but where I live winter is LONG, very long and we are all relieved when it finally melts away.
Late summer shoreline Lake Winnipeg
As this second season is focusing on presence I want to convey the impact of seasonal change.
“An Everywhere of Silver” is an apt description of that time of year where I live. The title for this little 16” x 16” acrylic on panel came about while I was photographing a body of work with my then Photographer, Rob. Rob Barrow has the most extensive vocabulary and diverse reading list of anyone I know. At the time he must have been reading poetry. Rob moved north of the city which is too far to maintain the practice of copy work for my studio practice, so I am having to manage with my iphone on the side fence in the shade. I really do miss his thoughtful and inspiring wordsmithing.
AN EVERYWHERE OF SILVER is a little painting by my standards. It was part of a series I had begun after spring break in 2014. I was interested inlooking at descriptors of edges, to the boundary where lake Winnipeg met the prairies, to the edges where inland ocean met an inland ocean of earth.
At the time our daughters were actively involved in sports, all of them and as a family we crisscrossed the prairies by car and travelled the country in team groups playing volleyball soccer ringette and hockey.
The little series of smalls was designed to be portable. They began after spring break and a stint at volleyball nationals in the west. I was doing my thing in the passenger seat, active in my role as the drive by shooter gathering photographic inspiration for future use , gathering images i could access at a time when I could slow down and get back to work in a role that didn’t involve driving or juggling literal balls in the air.
I love the energy of the brushstroke. Sometimes i look reflectively at my paintings and think i should add or change something but then i gather my senses and realize each painting is a record of a moment and the decision i made at that point in time should remain.
I love a good road trip and I love my family but sometimes too much of anything can inspire the need for a break, like a solo few days painting plein air.
I had a plan. The plan was to drive north in the Interlake and pause to take in the transition of a new season. As this little journey unfolded the clouds gathered and rain began to fall, the b and b I booked turned out to be anything but what I anticipated and the hotel on the island was a week ahead of its seasonal opening with no room at the inn.
My plans of a leisurely roadside painting foray dissolved into drizzle and a batch of photographs dominated by overcast grey instead of tantalising snippits of deepening aqua in melting ice I had anticipated.
I returned to my dry home after 9 hours in a vehicle with my thoughts and my plans. I came home with the realisation that though my active and energetic family was loud and demanding, they were my family and I was grateful to be back amongst their rambunctious energy, despite what I had thought I needed.
The photographs did become starting points for a series I began later that spring. “An Everywhere of Silver” was my favourite and not a seller, which just goes to show, the universe gave me an opportunity to keep the beginning of this new chapter. The composition is sparse in its use of marks and minimalist in its use of materials, yet is very simply defined that personal journey and the transition I had sought and witnessed in the warming landscape.
THIS WEEK at THE STUDIO…Grandma’s quilting bee experiences were inspirational. I love that though her memory was failing when this picture was taken her hands knew what to do. She spent a lovely afternoon at work on this project in the company of her sons.
Visitors to our WAVE outdoor venue add stitches to The Healing Blanket Project. The project began in 2015 as an Arts and Culture Days event and accompanied studio events until the Pandemic prevented further participation.
An Everywhere of Silver Detail. I have to say I love the simplicity of this little panel, the economy of marks is something I strive for and in this little painting I feel i achieved that elusive goal.
At the studio this week my time has been disrupted by an unusual opportunity. The Healing Blanket found its permanent home overlooking children at play in Winnipeg’s brand new Ronald Macdonald House. When I went to visit on Monday morning I thought we were scouting a landing spot where the project would be installed at a later date. Wednesday was the grand opening which meant I did a weeks worth of work in 16 hours to purchase prepare and add binding and hanging sleeves. It was definitely a worthy marathon .
The Healing Blanket was designed to offer visitors to my studio events an opportunity to add a stitch in lime, with, or in honour of, someone they love or have loved. It became the holder of stories, offered comfort and camaraderie and is truly a remarkable project to be a part of. I’ll be doing an episode on The Healing Blanket in a future episode where i can share all the details and some of the remarkable stories it holds.
The Healing Blanket at its new forever home at Ronald MacDonald House in Winnipeg.
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. on Apple Podcasts. You can listen to the full episode anywhere you get your podcasts.
This week’s meditation begins at 6:22 in the recording. I hope you’ll take a listen…and until next time, stay well.
Amanda