This episode begins and ends with friendship and gratitude. Art and life evolve when we release our expectations and trust in the round about ways the world works.
What is meant to be is always meant to be.
The meditation in this episode is 10 minutes long. Find it at 9:18 in the recording only
This meditation was truly about presence, about getting out of my own way and the need to take editorial control over what I share. In it you’ll find a simple invitation to join me on a late summer beach walk, to go with the flow of what the universe offers.

Unusually I recorded this one live. I hope you’ll listen in for the self care break.

“THE KELLY GANG: RESONANCE II”, Acrylic on Panel, 48’’ x 48” , 2021

With the pandemic getting closer and closer to being in our rear view mirrors our family have plans to visit overseas cousins and grandparents after a very long absence. Making travel plans has put me in mind of the connections I have made to others, those we inherit and others we are drawn to as our journeys unfold. My creative practice and especially colour have led me to cross paths with many: friends who have become clients and clients who have become friends.

I thought it might be nice to share a story about one of these connections that is a funny illustration of the convoluted route our common paths can sometimes travel. I have a pair of clients who have purchased multiple paintings over the past number of years. We actually first met this couple on a beach in Huatulco, Mexico. I know, right? I’m an ex pat Australian, a painter and a Canadian who meets clients while on holiday in Mexico. Forest Gump was right. “Life is like a box of chocolates, and we never know what we are going to get.

These are the first layers on the surface. They are a combination of the white gesso that I inscribe my intention with. I then add a colour or two to the base coat so that the base colour can show through to the surface instead of the white of the gesso as the painting progresses. The process is fast and fun.

Where do you meet new clients?

We had arrived in Huatulco for a winter break with friends and set off to discover the beach on our first day in paradise. It was a lovely morning. We walked the sandy arc of sand down from a row of Palapas at the back of the beach where some early risers had already set up camp for the day. It was beautiful, clear sunny and breezy with no snow, no boots or coats and temperatures on the positive side of 30 degrees. When we returned to our spot after brunch I opened my book to read and my bookmark fell onto the sand and blew down to where another couple were sitting. I had made bookmarks from details of some of my paintings the previous year and paired them with phrases I had written in my meditative practice when I first began to explore the process. The bookmarks acted like an elongated business card and had been popular with book clubs and as stocking stuffers the previous Christmas. Most people picked the image they liked and received the quote on the back that they required. It’s funny how that works.

The composition takes it cues from original intentions as well as the direction and emphasis of marks made in the under layers. Its all about building and often without scaffolding

The business card comes in many forms. Make an impression with yours.

Anyhow my now client picked up the bookmark then in the sand and walked over to us in disbelief. We both laughed when we realised how small a world we live in. It turned out this fellow Canadian traveller had received one of my bookmarks from a neighbour on my street who was part of her Winnipeg book club. She had intended to call me she had said but apparently the universe thought she was dawdling in reaching out and so brought us together in its own way. This couple became friends during our week in paradise and later made a purchase of art to add to their world class ceramics collection and large assortment of original Canadian paintings. I felt privileged to be included in their collection. Now several paintings later with barely wall space to support another purchase my client had introduced my work to old friends of hers who were moving to the city and wanted some local colour to flavour their new chapter and their new home.

Huatulco, Mexico’s best kept secreted my favourite winter get away.

I loved her enthusiasm. I want all my clients to be as enthusiastic. It can be contagious and is the reason I have been able to maintain a studio practice for more than 20 years. Memories of her word of mouth recommendation can also revive my own enthusiasm on days when self-doubt comes knocking on the studio door.

These two paintings developed side by side not as a diptych but as cousins on the paint wall. Relatable but not tied at the hip for a lifetime.

The friends of my clients had a space that looked out onto a little forest on public property behind their shallow back yard. They also had a thing for fall colours so that intention along with the size was established as a direction for this pair of paintings. The colour story on one panel featured some warm pinky corals and reds that I found interesting. These colours led the composition down an earthier and warmer path than the painting that turned into “Blue Gums”. Side note if you haven’t seen my work in person before colour is an identifying trait. There can be a lot going on and the colours can be, well intense. This painting was no exception. It grew to be busy, textured and colourful and translated the feeling and energy of autumn.

Both paintings I painted for this project shared a connection to a wooded theme and began at the same time on the painting wall. These paintings were the same shape and size and featured exaggeratedly leggy tree forms but that’s where the similarities ended. I allowed “Blue Gums” to bloom first. I loved the simplicity of this painting and tried to be disciplined in trying to maintain that simplicity. When I showed the progress I was making on the pair to the commissioning client, I was kind of relieved they thought this painting to be too blue for their tastes so I put it aside and focused on the broader colour story of the second panel.

“THE KELLY GANG” upside down. The painting process is a process. Any composition becomes a visual equation to be solved. Solving it can sometimes turn a painting on its head. A change of perspective is helpful in getting the left brain out of the way so the right brain can work its magic.

Having multiple projects on the go, beyond being fun, allows me to rest one or other composition when something gets a little complex or I need a bit more time to percolate my thoughts. I don’t always know what next steps to take and I don’t always stop to pause. Sometimes not doing anything more is the right answer but I don’t always listen to that thought either. For that reason it’s good to have a blank panel in the wings in case I need to pause and to paint. Putting a painting out of sight like I did with Blue Gums can prevent me from diving in to my over painting tendencies.

Taking a screen shot and reducing a developing composition in colour to its tonal values is another game I often play on the road to resolution

When I felt the second square was close to being complete I invited my new commissioning clients to the studio to gauge their reactions. I’d added a third composition to the mix, well, just because I love to paint and happened to have two panels needing to rest. When a composition is close to being finished every mark has a bigger impact so if I am in the zone I need a new surface to play with and luckily there was a canvas waiting for my attention.

When it came time for the big reveal…

My current studio is tiny so I had set up the two options in a well-lit area of my studio building. It turned out the new clients loved the big, warm square, as well as the third option I had added into the mix. Amazingly when we returned to the studio another painting piqued their interest so we added a third painting into the mix to audition in their space. Not every car can accommodate artwork this size so I packaged up all three options and delivered them for a trial.

I love the details. Sometimes it’s hard to describe why a small mark can leave such a large impact. It is those elusive marks I am always seeking.

When you know you know and the clients soon ruled out the rectangular option. They opted to spend a weekend contemplating the other two paintings. I like to be clear there is no obligation to take any of the options as its important to me that a purchase is made because it resonates on a personal level and not because of any perceived obligation. It turned out the spontaneous choice to include a totally different piece with a poppy theme had been the right one. This was the painting that had spoken to them over the weekend and though very different from what they thought they had wanted it looked great in their space and they both loved it.

This little detail might make for a lovely Mandart Pillow down the road?

The universe works in mysterious ways so I should not have been surprised to get a call from my original client the following day asking me which painting her friends had chosen. I love that enthusiasm and smiled knowing they had been dinner guests over the weekend while the decision making process was in full swing. When I told her which painting their had adopted she replied with a relieved “Oh Thank Goodness” followed by “I need it”, which also made me laugh.

In case you were wondering where all the recording magic happens I thought I might be really REAL for you and show you an example of a recording session. In this instance i was at the cottage where I had fortified myself with soft sound absorbing materials; quilts, foam mattresses and pillows and more quilts draped over a quilt rack in the acoustically sound bathroom. That’s my laptop on my knee and my iPhone was taking the picture. Sophisticated? Nope. Resourceful? Yes.

I was appreciative of the compliment but also aware of the extent of her creative collection so really thought she was joking around. When I later returned to my original client’s home with the 4 foot panel in the back of my car I saw she had rehung her collection and reserved a living room wall for this new addition. It was like this painting had been made for her space and I was reminded once more that the universe always has a plan. It may not have been the one that was expecting ted but it had brought fresh new colour into both households with enthusiasm and I was grateful for all of them.

This is the view to the south along Ponemah Beach on the shores of Lake Winnipeg where i walked and recorded the meditation for this episode. It was a lovely day for a stroll that afforded a true moment of presence.

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.

Join me on the recording only for the meditation which today is a little walk along our local summertime beach. Listening in is as simple as pressing the arrow in the player at the top of this blog to go to the episode on my website or press the button below to head to the episode on apple podcasts.

The meditation this episode is 10 minutes of self care. It begins at 9:18 in the recording.

LISTEN HERE

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Thanks for joining me. Hope to see you next Tuesday.

All best,

Amanda

Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035