SYNOPSIS: A CELEBRATION OF THE POPPY

The backstory of studio practice in this episode celebrates the random yet divine ways colour connects us to ourselves and to each other.

We chat about the subjective process of commissioning art and the fact that a refreshed painting is one that was once finished, then finished again.
With a hint of whimsy and freedom we are reminded how we interpret art depends on our perspective and what we are ready to see.

The meditation this week Is a guided self care pause and definitely one for the books. It celebrates the power of intention and encourages us to act instead of react.

Believe me your airport experience will not be the same with this oasis creating technique in your meditative suitcase.
The meditation in this episode is a little longer at 12 minutes., but you deserve it. It’s a very effective chakra cleanse and one of my favourites. Find it at 10:20 in the recording.

“TINA’S GARDEN; A CELEBRATION'‘, Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 48”, 2022.

Before I begin today I want to express my gratitude…

I have always appreciated my clientele. In more than 20 years of studio practice you are the reason I have been able to continue to do what I love to do. You know who you are. Whether you started as a friend who became a client or a client who became a friend I want you to know I appreciate you. I appreciate the connections we have made through colour and I am grateful you are part of my community.

It really is the people we choose to be part of our lives that make it what it turns out to be. My life is better because of my friends and I am grateful for all of them

This 36” x 48” canvas began with the word “CONFIDENCE” inscribed with gesso into the raw canvas surface. This snapshot shows the first two layers that got the composition off and running. First I added colour to the surface in loose confident strokes, then began to draw my thoughts in paint with very liquid acrylic paint.

I had one friend, and client, comment on my work recently after I had asked if she had any questions for this podcast. She has seen many bodies of work develop over the years and had noticed different “bodies of work” featured periods where different colours dominated the paintings. Picasso had a blue period? Maybe I have had blue, and a red and a yellow period?

I appreciated her observation. Sometimes it takes a fresh perspective for us to realise what we don’t know and to bring our own process into focus.

We had also been chatting about the chakras and wondered together if I had subconsciously been doing personal work while at work within my painting practice. Now I don’t know the answer to that question but the patterns were apparent so I definitely have some thoughts to ponder in reflection.

Inspiration is everywhere. Some of it comes from simple walks in the neighbourhood. This pic was part of a group i took walking along Bishop Grandin Greenaway this past summer. This is one of a group of images that will join images for visual reference in the future.

How about you, has a friend ever brought something into focus for you in your world? I bet you are nodding your head. Thank goodness for our friends hey, I hope your friends are as awesome as mine. My friend’s favourite paintings over the years have often been those featuring Poppies. The poppy has been a recurring subject in my semi abstracted work with landscape. I use them as a vehicle for colour and have found many others have a personal or cultural association to them as well. I guess you could say the poppy as a subject became my bread and butter as a painter. You know, like a ceramic artist who becomes known for their tea pots or bowls or mugs, I am often associated with the poppy and the use of clear and vibrant colour in my work.

Poppies are definitely inspiring and I am sure their cheeky personalities will continue to inspire me.

Pausing to reflect on where this or any painting is going is a process. Changing the scale, or altering the perspective are strategies i use to see where the painting is in the process and where i might take it, or it me.

I love for instance, the way the poppy’s delicate paper flower forms react to the wind and choreograph new visual pathways with every breath or gust. I’m inspired by their strength and fortitude knowing they survive such a diverse range of conditions, in such a variety of landscapes and yet still manage to thrive year after year. There is probably a lesson for us all in their example.

I also have an attachment to particular shades of red. I love for instance, a good shoe tanned to a warm oxblood. I also appreciate the resonance of quinachridone red light which I use in the underlayers of a lot of my work, and, though painting with colour quiets my soul, I am strangely attracted to the screaming nature of particular shades of red. Pyrole red for example which now comes in three “golden” variations is one of my favourites that becomes like an exclamation mark in the visual vocabulary I use in paintiong.

Those lovely reds seek attention like noise in an airport where the din of regular announcements, gate calls, and music compete with rolling hand luggage clattering along pathways in commuting herds.

This snapshot was included as context. Indoors at my studio the paint wall was blooming with colourful works in acrylic. The subject was hypothetical as this was more the end of winter vibe that was taking place beyond my studio window.

I was in an airport as I thought about this episode so the meditation that follows a little later evolved into an effort to find an oasis of calm in the crush of commuter activity. The process developed intentionally while it also addressed a personal need I had at the time to shut out some of the major airport stress we are getting reacquainted with as the world reopens. So maybe my friend was correct in her hypothesis that the elements of a painting become the parts of my accented language that like water finding its level, is the healing journey I travel?

I loved the sketchy nature if this solo poppy that bloomed in the background.of “:Tina’s Garden Celebration”

Staying with the poppy theme this episode I thought I’d share a little backstory about a recent painting with the poppy as subject. Earlier this year I was approached by a couple who were familiar with my work and had decided they wanted to commission a painting for their home. We auditioned sizes and configurations and they decided on a 36” x 48” horizontal canvas. As per my usual process I primed 2 canvases of the same size and got to work on the first.

A commission can be a challenge as I strive to be true to where I am in my personal process while also being cognizant of my client’s requests. None of us can read the visual cues that occur inside the mind’s eye of another, however hard we try, though wouldn’t life be a curious game if we could……

Because painting is so subjective I suggest that those looking to purchase art do so for themselves only. Please don’t ever buy art for somebody else and never make a purchase because you feel the artist has gone to all this trouble on your account. Believe me when I say nobody wants their work to be relegated to a back room or closet because you felt obligated to make a purchase or gifted art to someone else because you loved it and hoped they would to. Believe me it doesn’t often work like that.

The process of commissioning art.

When discussing a potential piece and giving instructions for the parameters of a commission there are some who trust in my process and experience and leave me with a “go have some fun, we love what you do” approach. And. there are others who offer more explicit instructions that can occasionally be extensive.

I love the details . sometimes its hard to describe why a mark like the pink stripe in what reads as part of the petal here inspires me. It just does and i work around it to keep it in the composition.

I love the challenge of painting whatever the subject so whatever end of the spectrum my clients fall into I try to be clear. I will definitely have fun and enjoy the challenge but I will not offer any guarantees that my vision will match there’s and for that same reason I also insist there are no obligations on either side of the equation. If after 2 shots I can’t create what you envision then now is just not the right time for us to work together.

Often the problem at the end of the process becomes a complicated choice of which painting to buy? Do they choose the piece that more closely addresses their original criteria, the first version or do they choose the second composition I painted with less of an attachment to an outcome? On more than 1 occasion my clients have gone home with both.

In this case my clients loved both pieces for different reasons and after much deliberation adopted the second version. A hint of whimsy and freedom had been the deciding factor that connected this couple to the painting and to a significant event in their lives.

I love the way the universe works and how our individual perceptions connect and converge in such seemingly random yet divine ways.

Detail of “Tina’s Garden Celebration”.
As a composition gets closer to being finished each mark has a larger impact on the surface. Nothing happens in isolation.

Painting 1 has a lovely new home while painting 2 moved temporarily on to the side wall at the studio. My new studio you might recall me saying is tiny so I had a lot of opportunities to see this piece in my peripheral vision as I worked on another series on the paint wall. Eventually I gave in to the “there’s just one more thing” that led to a few more things before I photographed the painting again and added a “refreshed” to the title. The word “Refreshed” is my code for this was once finished then I finished it again. How to decide when a painting is finished might be a story for another day? We’ll have to wait and see. The week this episode aired coincidentally was the week “Celebration: Refreshed” also moved in with her new family.

This is the other half of this commissioned equation. I made a revision, which means after it was finished, i finished it again.

Looking through my archive to realised I had created an earlier painting that was full of action and felt like a “celebration”. So the addition of the refreshed is definitely necessary. I can be guilty of overpainting even though I am often striving for simplicity. The best laid plans are sometimes just a plan and we have to accept their evolution through process. In life as in art some things build in louder and louder layers, much like the sound scape I found in that airport. Other paintings might offer a visual pause or a personal respite, It just depends on our perspective and what we are ready to see.

Looking through my archive I realized I had previously named this busy painting “Celebration”. It has since been made into one of my MANDART pillow designs. These are available seasonally at pop up events or own request.

The colour red is traditionally associated with the poppy though not all poppies are red. The colour red is also associates with our Root Chakra, the energy centre that exists at the base of the spine. The root chakra connects us to the earth, to our physical bodies and helps to ground us in the present. I do have a tendency to be a deep thinker so maybe I have been using colour and red in particular to connect me to the earth, to ground myself in my physical world or to satisfy a need within myself? Anything is possible right?

“Why is your backpack so heavy?” my husband asks when i occasionally pass him “Bertha” when we travel. On a recent trip i developed the meditation that you’ll find in todays episode. This is the cherry quartz heart i happened to have with me on my journey.
Cherry Quartz can help us to feel energized, to reestablish our equilibrium, encourage, vigour, and enthusiasm …perfect to have in an airport :)

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.

The meditation this episode is 12.minutes but I guarantee you will feel refreshed after taking a self care pause with me. It begins at 10:20 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

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