“Raven Act” is acrylic on canvas, 30″ x 36″.  The price is $1550 and 100% of the proceeds are going to the CV Community Arts Council (which in the face of drastic cuts to the arts desparately needs support).  It will be on display at Musicfest (July 9-11) in the merchandise tent, along with prints and cards.

Anyway, Alewitz mentioned how he gets frustrated watching fine art painters wasting so much time in trial and error , figuring things out as they go along (remember, as a sign painter, time is money!).  I think that’s fine because painting is also a process.  However, I did see in a book on Chagall, a couple times where there was a small drawing done in the exact colour and design as a larger work.  And this is Chagall, a highly creative painter.  To me it looks like he pre-planned his painting…saving time otherwise spent in trial and error when he started in larger format.

Some practical knowledge is so obvious to someone trained in the trade of sign painting, but a fine art painter may have to figure out these things for themselves.  I am going to experiment with getting my drawings more figured out before moving to larger canvas to see what happens.  If I don’t like it, I can always paint over!

Unlock the mysteries of colour in this informative and creative workshop. During the weekend you will discover the basics about colour while gaining practice at mixing the colours you desire. Also, you will explore the emotional impacts of colour, look at examples of artists who have used it as a powerful means of expression and find out how to successfully use colour to create dynamic works of your own. At the end you will have completed four of your own individual colour compositions. This weekend, you will primarily be using acrylics on paper, but the information will transfer well to other media. No experience is required, all experience is welcomed.

I lead us to a secluded spot by the river and we sat on a dry blanket and ate our muffins. My son seemed ready to participate in sketching, which was great (and pretty cute), and it gave me a chance to draw too. We drew for about 10 minutes (attention span of my 4 year old). I got instantly involved in drawing this fallen, dragon-like log in the river. In that short time span, the focus on an external point redirected my thoughts and calmed my mind. I am aware of drawing’s affect on me, but was still amazed at how much happier I felt after – like everything shifted back into perspective. My son too seemed extra happy.

It was a reminder also that drawing (for any amount of time) awards us a chance to engage the right hemisphere of the brain, the creative side, which is like tapping into a river of all good things.

Quote: Peter London, “The artistic process…is a powerful practice by which we can work toward the achievement of desired states of mind and work.”

Creating is about being able to keep myself open so that I will easily be able to respond to what is around me. In this case, I want to think of myself as a well manured and groomed garden bed, so that if seeds are planted, they will easily grow.

Creativity is about living in a way that makes my heart feel full. The more I am full (of love, inspiration, etc…) the less I have cravings and the more I am content with “what is”. It seems if you don’t open your mind and become “fertile ground”, you will never experience abundance.

Life’s journey may be a neverending quest to keep ourselves open-minded; fertile and consequently, free.

This past June I participated in a mini-art retreat (led by David Alexander) in Powell River. During the weekend we spent much of our time painting or drawing on a pebbly beach bordering a stunning lake guarded by distant pointy snowcapped peaks. Upon our first arrival to the lake (Powell Lake) what quickly caught my eye was a tall white streak standing on the grey shoreline. I quickly walked over to it, staking my artistic territory for the morning. As I drew nearer I was able to label this strange feature as a giant white foxglove, thriving on what looked like nothing but rocks, nowhere near any other significant plant-life. When I sat down, it towered above me, its white bells illuminated by the morning light, a stark contrast to the dark blue sky.

I thought, “How can I capture the beauty of this flower made more beautiful by its surroundings? Should I even try? Why mess with something so perfect?” As I drew and painted (not liking anything I did), I started to feel inferior to the flower. I began to think more; “Maybe I’m just using this flower to make myself look good – as if it was I who thought of creating such a beautiful combination of flower and landscape.” I was just copying the brilliant random choices nature already made. Big deal.

Nature is neverending in its variety and solutions: nature doesn’t copy us because nature is creative! In return, we are not necessarily being creative if we simply copy nature. However, imitating nature opens our minds to what nature and creativity are about. I drew, painted and photographed the foxglove thinking I could make some interesting pictures of it, but in the end don’t know if I did, or will. Instead, I’m sure some aspect of the flower: the reaching to the sky like a beanstalk, the white, luminescent bell shapes, the succession of open to unopened; will be digested and reformed into some element in a future painting. In the end, the lesson I understood from the white bells growing out of the rocks, is that perhaps creativity is about making something stunning, beautiful or simply unique out of seemingly nothing.