Early Spring Energy
Painting in Gardens
The Random Residual paint project serves to arrange the palette remnants in unplanned ways to open the doors to a world of endless possibilities.
Red Fox
Change of Scenery
Usually on a drawing day the massive industrial harbour at Halifax is my destination but on this day it was not. Instead, I headed off to the Minas Basin which is part of the Bay of Fundy.
The morning was idillic. The sights and sounds of trains and cranes were replaced by a slight breeze moving leaves on tree branches and the occasional call from local birds. Not much was stirring as the tide moved out exposing red mud cliffs above the shoreline. A very different spot to draw but none the less exciting to be a part of.
What a difference a few days make when I realized that just last week I had found time to make it to the opposite shore and render a image of Blomidon itself which would be a short drive along the road to the left of this site.
The view from that outing can be seen at Perfect Timing.
Stranger than Fiction
The view from our window on a very cold day in the middle of the just past winter.
Through the night high winds out of the north had blown fine grained snow onto the frozen surface of the lake. I couldn't help but to record the beautiful abstract patterns temporarily on display. By noon they were gone.
Conversation
The Random Residule Project always said that at the end of real painting paint remainders must be used but no brushes could be part of the process.
Along went the work, paring down to fingers and hands. A painted record of conversation engaged with paint more so than ever before.
Magical Garden Scene
Spring is firmly in place. Garden seeds are sprouting and a swallowtail butterfly crossed my path this morning. The air has really changed. Each year bringing new surprises and of course ever changing arrangements. There are some projects that I just keep adding to.
I remember the first painting of the narcissus that was made in our yard. The plants popped up beside the kitchen door and were surprising for two reasons. The first was that the plant survived at all as the whole yard had been dug up the previous summer to allow a new cement foundation to be poured under our house. The second was that I didn't know the name of the plant only that their fortuitous appearance was perfectly timed.
Finding the plant name and searching for a reference led me down a trail into ancient Greek myths. I think the mythical story must surely be a tragedy but to think that the found plant by the door would lead the way through years of painted exploration is even more overwhelming. The painter in me decided early on to leave the myth behind and just work with the form and line and tone delivered by the plant itself.
Blended with the lily of the valley familiar shapes make a magical garden scene.
Painting Clouds
Watching clouds in the sky is something that goes way back in my memory. A start point for day dreaming.
Recording clouds in paintings and drawings also goes back a long way.
About forty years ago on a road trip across Canada at Riding Mountain Park in Manitoba. A very warm humid day cooked up a full on thunder head. I watched the clouds build into a gigantic pyramid of boiling storm. Within minutes the sky broke and the thunder and lightning and rain soaked us all. Dream on.
Perfect Timing
The chance to rollout in the car studio came the other day. A few hours opened up in a very busy week and a walk on the beach was a golden opportunity to sketch on site. Not far from home is a beautiful spot looking across the Minas Basin to Blomidon. We headed there and the timing couldn't have been better. As we arrived the tide was moving out and exposing the shore and bottom of the bay churning the water into a red and green glow shimmering against the ever changing sky.
Sketching Halifax Harbour
Loading and unloading ships, sometimes in a matter of hours, before turning around and heading out to sea allows a short period to sketch the activity along the shore. So Many shapes and forms.
Fundy Magic
While the big studio cleanup continues this mornings effort brought a great surprise.
I will explain, you see the painting above was worked up from a sketch made from the top of Blomidon within the provincial park. The painting below was made from sketches made on Blue Beach. Now, the crazy part once I realized it is the fact that the upper painting looks across the Minas Basin directly at the Blue Beach area while the lower painting looks back across the same Minas Basin directly at Blomidon in the distance. Two sides of the same view painted at opposite seasons of the same year, Spring and Fall. Great hiking any time of the year but be very careful of the tides. They are huge and move very quickly.
Spring Dance
The rush of spring is firmly upon us now. Days are warming and becoming longer as we approach the summer solstice. I have mentioned that each year ferns are one of the first plants to rise up out of the ground. They are drawn up by the heat of the sun and depending on the day the artist making the record may actually be able to detect movement in the plants. The movement over the time of drawing, traces a slow unfurling from a tight coil at the ground into a long graceful frond advancing into the atmosphere. Taking the opportunity to draw and paint the event somehow becomes more important as the woods seem smaller this year.
ipad Drawing
The idea of seeing two things at once is not new but the other day while walking in a garden we found a well fed garter snake laying in the sun. My son pointed out the snake had most likely found and eaten a fish that had washed up on the shore. It really looked that way. The image of the two existing together reminded me of the story The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery in which a snake is drawn after having a meal of an elephant.
Later that evening making a sketch of the event on the ipad came to mind. I was reminded of the sketching tool within note and set about making the sketch. So Maybe I am softening on the idea of sketching on a computer because the program however simple to the eye works very smoothly.
Art Loto
Being able to draw and paint on the harbour and in the woods within a few hours of each other is very exciting because it doesn't happen often. It is kind of like winning an art loto.
Things kicked off Friday morning while picking up around the yard. Birds were calling from the trees and I noticed the ferns that I have worked with for years were popping out of the ground and unfurling towards the sky. I have learned that ferns do move fast so I returned to the studio and grabbed a canvas returning before even the black flies could find me. The ferns have grown over years and now make a very full display on the woods floor. I make a mental note that it will be a project to look at some of the work side by side.
Then early Saturday morning found me along the shore in Dartmouth looking for a site to make a drawing. You just never know what will turn up but the main thing is to show up and draw.
A beautiful spot allowed a view across the harbour to the container pier. As I began drawing a view across the stern of the Irving Acadian a schooner made its way into view moving out of the harbour under sail. The drawing became a contrast of forms in what was an amazing twenty four hours.
Oh, the View
Sun Dog
Over the winter I had the opportunity to sketch many times around Halifax harbour and each occasion presented something different. On this very cold morning just before Christmas the sun was just rising over the clouds that came with our most recent storm. Off in the distance and cast in silhouette a large empty bulk carrier was moving into the harbour. The drawing continued and before long through the mist and ice crystals a sun dog appeared in the sky.
I stopped drawing as the ship passed and made my way up through the city by car and stopped at another drawing site just in time to snap a picture as the ship was escorted under the bridge by harbour tugs.
Note: The actual event occurred so quickly on site that there was only a moment to record position without any colour notes. Working up the sketch in the studio later I mistakenly used a rainbow painting I had made as a reference. It turns out the actual colours of the sundog are exactly reversed. The whole phenomenon makes excellent reading.
Painting Game
O ur friend loves the woods and everything in them so I made a painting that was a game. Hidden in this painting is a deer with antlers. The simple game is to find the deer in the woods.
More Halifax Harbour Painting & Drawing
Jimy clicked a couple of shots while we worked. The piano and furniture seems to add something to the room and we have a hint of a tuxedo and tunes in the near future.
Collecting
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)