PODCAST Season 2, Episode 4 “BLUE GUMS”.
WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS PODCAST.
This story starts out with an intention that turns a blank canvas into a beginning. The episode touches on a compelling pair from the archive that puts personal perspectives into context and helps us to realize there are no wrong answers when it comes to art.
“Blue Gums” are the real star of the show. They evolved through a (challenging for me) less is more philosophy into a refreshingly simple composition and visual legacy.
The meditation begins at 8:36 in the recording. Pause with me this episode for 15 minutes of energetic refreshment. Be reminded, self care is important, and, we all grow when it rains.
BLUE GUMS Acrylic on Panel 40” x 40”, 2022
Thanks for joining in. I appreciate you choosing to spend this time with me to listen in on some of the backstories of studio practice and make connections to your own stories through the example of mine. As an artist my stories are the backstories of inspiration You don’t need to be an artist to listen in but I hope you’ll find the stories interesting.
Starting a painting, any painting for me begins with a mark that changes a canvas or panel from blank to begun. In recent years each surface is first inscribed with or word or intention. It’s not something I preplan. These thoughts are spontaneous terms that somehow connect me to that particular moment. They are the first marks I make on the unprimed surface with white gesso. I try to inscribe the same word on the back so I remember where I started when it’s finished. That term or concept might guide my thoughts as I work through the process and also prove to be something that captures the attention of a client down the road.
In the beginning the canvas gets a free and loose application of tinted gesso. These early marks often lead the way into a composition. The drips are some of my favourite marks. Some of them became the beginnings of the “trees” in “Blue Gums”.
I love the beginning of a painting when there is no attachment to an outcome and the energy of the moment describes the initial layer of the composition. The second coat is done with a mixture of gesso and a colour or two, often quinocridone red light and either a cool counterbalance to that or a warm orange or sunny yellow that keeps everything harmonious.
The painting “Blue gums” began as part of a commission. I usually start with two canvas of the size chosen by the client. In this case they were 4 foot squares and big fun that fits in my car. I may have mentioned before, the first piece is based on what I understand the client would like while the second is what I want to do within broader yet similar parameters without any expectations. The process in this case had an interesting twist which might evolve into another story down the road. For now though it’s enough to know the words Peace and Resonance were the embedded intentions I painted with gesso into these two surfaces to begin, resonance being the panel that evolved into the painting Blue Gums that we are chatting about now.
Recently in real life the sky has been putting on its own resonant show. Fall is a great time to stay up late as you might be lucky and capture a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Aurora Borealis showered her magic across the southern basin of Lake Winnipeg recently. Sadly I slept through it but a neighbour shared this amazing capture. Seriously we can’t make this stuff up.
What resonance rose to the surface of this painting I will never know? What I do know is that investment in a piece of art is a two way commitment. As the creator I bring my process, talents skills and vision to a surface while my audience, the viewer or potential client brings their own perceptions biases and experience to the imagery I present in a finished artwork.
Inspiration is everywhere . I don’t ever begin a composition with an inspiration image in hand that I attempt to replicate . I do take lots of photographs though, like this one from the Vancouver property of a friend. Trees grow ridiculously tall in this environment so I may have been reminiscing about past travels while I developed the Blue Gum composition with long leggy trees.
Years ago I exhibited in a well-known restaurant. I was told a set of regulars had bought a particular diptych. When I went to deliver the piece I was blown away by the compliment this client served me.
“I have seen a lot of art over my lifetime he said, but I have never been compelled to make a purchase” I love that word, compelled.
This couple were university professors who had a standing Saturday lunch date at this particular establishment. They were so cute. As I was installing the diptych my client drew my attention to marks in the background and asked if I had intended to paint a ship there. He and his wife had discussed and could not agree so he wanted to hear the real story from me. This painting began with a prairie theme. We write and paint what we know so the prairie has been a constant for me over the years. The prairie’s vast and expansive nature has often been compared to an inland ocean, or oceans of earth, particularly when blue flax is mature and the wind whips the periwinkle blooms into vast rippling gusts. I had not intended the background marks to be a representational shape but that is what my client clearly saw. I paused before I invoked essentially an Alice Sheridan quote long before I had made her virtual acquaintance,
“Art is not what you see but what you make others see” Every artwork is open to interpretation and in this case I was particularly glad to know my paintings had found such appreciative homes.
THIS WEEK at THE STUDIO I have been working on the business side of my studio practice. Not everyday at my office is about working with materials. Sometimes we need to focus on the ever inclining tech learning curve.
I do love the details that come out of my work and thought I would show you a couple. When we take parts of an image out of context we find all kids of appealing details and tangents to focus on. This is where my gaze rests while i am at work on any painting. Up close and personal.
“Blue Boys” similarly brought my experience with materials and process into focus for my client whose unique perspective and personal circumstances completed her own visual equation.
I had begun the composition with thoughts of a bend in the riverbank at our neighbourhood park. I have walked that route thousands of times and always appreciate the way the late afternoon light illuminates a particular curve in the river. Sometimes familiar images resonate for us and references to these personal markers find their way into our thoughts and our work which for me is my paintings.
I don’t ever begin with a plan to replicate an actual landscape, but I did hold a desire to design an image that invited the viewer into it and tried to allow space in the composition that offered a sense of depth and expansion. When the arc of a similar curve appeared in the underpainting of “Blue Gums” I worked to preserve it as I allowed the composition to progress.
Here’s a behind the scenes pic. The side yard fence in the shade makes for a handy spot to photograph 4 foot panels. Thankfully I have understanding neighbours. who “Understand” I am an artist. This process is strictly a seasonal endeavour reserved for warmer weather only. Mid winter the snow bank in the side yard would be at least half way up this fence.
To the “BLUE GUMS” composition I added some simple leggy vertical lines that suggested elongated tree trunks. Loose painterly drawing marks made with a wet flippy brush described boundaries between subject and foreground. I tried to keep it simple and to resist my overpainting tendencies. I was kind of pleased when I showed the initial client the two painting starts. It turned out they thought this painting so far to be too blue for their liking and they preferred the developing composition of ‘Peace”. Their favour gave me an opportunity to put this canvas aside to focus on the other option. By taking a pause from this composition it allowed me to come back to it at a later date with a new perspective, to realise I loved its simplicity
Everything happens for a reason right. Things evolve as they are meant to in life as well as in art. The client who now owns “Blue Gums” saw the painting at various stages of its development so I was keen to know what had resonated with her that inspired the decision to eventually adopt the painting for herself….
Without a photographer handy in my new studio building I am having to wear all the hats at “my office”. This was a recent attempt at photographing available work to post on instagram with me in it. I have successfully dodged having my picture taken in the past. The “solo selfie” offers a lot of opportunities to veto the results and press delete. How long do you think it too me to get this snapshot? Note Blue Gums in the background.
My client paused and reflected for a moment, “It’s that feeling of fresh she said that inspired her. The “Blue Gums” carry within their leggy structure a sense of relief or refreshment after a storm. She said it feels like looking through a window after the storm. There’s a freshness that happens , where clarity returns and what might have felt worn or heavy by circumstance is punctuated. Her words made me think of a river stone on high ground warmed by the sun juxtaposed with a similar stone immersed in water where the colours and the details are amplified and more pronounced.
As I painted and moved through my process I wasn’t thinking who would like it, I was focused on evolving a visual composition to a resonate resolution. Don’t get me wrong I want you to love your art whether you buy it from me or someone else and I am not offended when my work is not for you. But I am excited when a particular work resonates for my clients.
I delivered the Blue Gums to my client as it was too big to fit into her car. The delivery date was strangely delayed but as it turned out the painting arrived at exactly the right time on a date that coincided with a really significant event in her life. So now not only does my client live with a piece that visually resonates for her, that painting is now also a visual reminder of that pivotal moment in her personal history.
I find it is definitely true. We grow when it rains. If we look back at moments that have brought with them a positive impact I am certain your growth, like mine, has come after the rain.
A last “BLUE GUM’S” detail, because I couldn’t resist. Looking closely inevitably reveals elementals which are always a fun surprise.
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. The meditation this episode is a little longer at 15 minutes but I guarantee you will feel refreshed after taking a self care pause with me.
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.
This week’s meditation begins at 8:36 in the recording. I hope you’ll take a listen…and enjoy a little self care with me. Until next time, stay well.
Amanda