Art by AM

New Year's Resolutions

2012-02-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, I did make some, despite what everyone said. I enjoy making a yearly resolution or three (or ten) and then seeing at the end of the year what I managed to accomplish. I don't ever beat myself up about missing out on some of them, though, as I know I set myself far too much to do in a year!

My artistic goal was somewhat simple this year -- produce one artistic piece per month. So far, I have managed to paint the nutcracker (see previous post) and am working on another project via the art class I am teaching on Monday evenings.

The class is called "Picasso's Playgroup for Adults" and mimics my daytime Picasso's Playgroup (designed for 2-4 year olds and their caregivers) by offering a variety of art activities each week. It is a chance for adults to get out and play without the pressure of creating masterpieces. So far, we've splashed around a lot of food colouring and paint, done a faux stained glass picture on paper, used an Itajime dyeing technique on paper and made some wonderful placemats. A larger project, started just last week, is batik and I am basically one step ahead of everybody else! Rather than go for the traditional batik, which asks for dye baths and a variety of safety equipment and chemicals, I decided to try painted batik, using fabric paints, which all clean up with water and soap. The wax we are using is soy wax, which is biodegradable and washes out in hot water. I like to iron out as much as I can first, so as not to send too much down the drain (even though it is not supposed to clog the pipes, according to everything I've read). After that, I can wash out the little bit of residual wax in hot soapy water. The advantage to this method is that ironing out the wax also serves to heat-set the paints!

Here is the piece I batiked last week -- it is still a work in progress and is asking to be stitched into, once I've shown this stage to my students, who saw it as a wax-encrusted piece of "something" last Monday night:

Back again

2012-02-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you are having fun, resting, relaxing and catching up on projects! I spent the Fall working on a doll for a friend and a quilt for a daughter, both of which were fun, time-consuming and allowed me to take a good break from the demands of school, not to mention the self-imposed expectations of "getting on with it", now that I'm done with school (whatever "it" might be).

At Christmas, I was given a lovely nutcracker to paint by my son (who made it himself from blocks of wood), and that took most of January to do, as I was by then teaching classes again at the Gallery and putting in more hours in preparation for a turnover of employees. The painting went well, though, and was a nice break from the routine of work and chores. The nutcracker will be on display at home until after next Christmas, when it can be stored away with all the rest of our Christmas decorations:

Now that I have had my break, though, it is time to figure out the definition of "it" and "get on with it"!

School's Out for Summer and Whistler Arts Council Fundraiser!

2011-08-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Actually, school's out for good -- for now. I've completed my Master's Degree and managed a GPA higher than my undergrad degree (by 0.01 units, but who's counting?). My husband says I should go for my PhD, but I'll have to save a bit of money before I undertake that particular adventure. Besides, I want some time to do some art!

It was a busy early summer as I prepared for the final push of school and I took a desperately needed week off at the end of July, once the comprehensive exam was over. Now it seems like I am playing "catch up" with all the art projects I've put on hold for the last three years. Being older and wiser than when I went into school in 2008 (and knowing that I cannot possibly do everything that I have on my list -- at least not this year), I decided to make a schedule with a generous amount of room for each project, rather than plan too much and stress out.

The first project was a brand new one, though, as the deadline for submission is coming up soon. The Whistler Arts Council is holding a fundraiser on September 11. It is their 2nd Annual Art Workshops on the Lake fundraiser, which focuses on a raffle of original works of art by emerging and professional artists. I participated last year with a mixed media acrylic painting. This year, I've quilted an 8" x 8" piece and stretched it over the stretcher bars, effectively "painting" with fabric and fiber. Take a look at the picture below and buy yourself a ticket for a chance of winning it or another piece of original art on evening of the event.

Hmmm -- it is a winter theme. I wonder if that has anything to do with the chilly weather we've been having in the last few weeks?

Clay board explorations

2011-03-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung and things have been busy. I did find time in the last few months to attend a weekly drawing class with Cat Sivertsen at Two Rivers Gallery. In the final two weeks of class, we explored the uses of clay board, pouring colors on and scratching into the board. I have been hooked! I really enjoy the way the colors layer over one another -- it provides an incredible sense of depth to the picture.

Now I just need to experiment with making my own clay board. Found a recipe online and will dive into that next week. Hopefully it works, as it will make things much more economical!

Oh, yes, and I've been teaching a drawing class as well, in addition to going to school. Like I said -- busy! Only 4 more months of school!

Time marches on

2011-01-01T12:24:00.001-08:00

and another year has arrived. Happy 2011! The editorial cartoon yesterday had a picture of an artist in front of a blank canvas with the caption: "There is nothing so promising or intimidating as a clean canvas." How true that is!!!

With the start of the new year come the New Year's Resolutions. Looking at what I had planned for last year, I discovered I only fulfilled 2 of the 5 I had set for myself. That could have been disappointing, but I realized that I accomplished many, many other things I had not foreseen (see previous posts). And I had forgotten how busy the Masters program would keep me, so it is amazing I managed what I did. Nevertheless, I made some more resolutions for this year, and am looking forward to working on them over the next twelve months!

Whistler Street Banners

2010-12-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

They're up and I have pictures (thanks, Mom!). In addition to all the other fun things I was doing this summer, I answered the Call for Submissions to design the Winter 2010/2011 street banners for Whistler. These banners will hang along the village streets for the next two winters, being replaced in the summer by seasonally appropriate banners and then coming down for good sometime in Spring of 2012. This series is called "Whistler's Winter Animals":

Whistler Arts Council fundraiser

2010-08-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

An artist I know in Whistler contacted me to see if I'd be interested in participating in a fundraiser for the Whistler Arts Council. The assignment? Produce a piece of art on an 8" x 8" stretched canvas. Since classes are over for now, and my studio has been put back together after having a ceiling installed (among other things), I said, "Sure!" Two Rivers Gallery in PG has a celebratory art exhibit on right now in honour of its 10th anniversary and all the artworks were completed in a 10" x 10" format. I was inspired by the piece submitted by Margaretha Bootsma, which uses a photo embedded into an acrylic painting. I tried my hand at that technique, using a "Whistler twist", and am quite pleased with the result.

I understand the fundraiser is on the 12th or 13th of September. Feel free to contact the Whistler Arts Council directly for more information: info@artswhistler.com.

Emergence

2010-07-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

When times are tough, we try to protect ourselves as best we can. Sometimes we climb inside a virtual jar and close the lid, waiting for the storm to pass. Sometimes, we construct walls around ourselves -- walls to shelter behind while life's vagaries take their course. When a person is able to emerge from behind the walls and need not rely on them any more, life seems more pleasurable, less stressful.

Another doll finished

2010-07-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

In my little break between classes, I managed to put the finishing touches on another doll that I had started a while ago. I've fallen in love with her, but she was made for someone else and will be leaving me soon.

Another course finished

2010-06-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

The latest course, Curriculum Theory and Art Education, is over. There was lots of information to absorb in this course, many readings to cover and many stories to listen to. In the end, in a simplified form, the concept that resonated the most with me was that "The truth about stories is that that's all we are" (Thomas King, Massey Lectures, 2003). By combining that concept with the concept of personal world views (frames of reference) and metissage (the weaving of different oral, written and visual media to bring forth new understanding), I created a blanket of some of my life stories that reflect my world views and braided the strips of the blanket with quotes and lessons from the course. Altogether, with images and objects woven into the blanket, Mystory embodies what we learned in the class on a level that is personal to me, but understandable and applicable to many. After all, we wear our stories like blankets, as they provide familiarity and comfort in many cases. Once in a while, we even invite other people to share the warmth and weave their stories with ours, making for a richer, more multidimensional comforter.

Drawing Retreat

2010-05-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful time this weekend at a drawing retreat: 4 hours on Saturday and 3 hours on Sunday. Although it wasn't nearly long enough for my liking, it was long enough to add more tools to my artistic toolbox of techniques! Held at Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, and facilitated by Cat Siversten, the retreat offered the participants a chance to loosen up with their drawings, try new media and ideas and to have fun in the process.

And it was all about the process. We drew, and drew, and drew, with barely a pause between drawings. We drew with clay. We drew with ink. We drew with wax. We used our fingers, a feather quill, a chinese brush, our entire hands. We moved with the music, did collaborative pieces and learned to "let go" and just let the drawings happen.

Although these are not all of the drawings, they are the ones I enjoy showing the most (and the ones that were dry enough to bring home to photograph). The others were more about the process of making them, rather than the end product.

Clay and ink gesture drawings:

This was a collaborative piece with one of the other workshop participants:

Rose:

Recyclart

2010-04-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday morning, before the Gallery opens to the public, staff has an "art" meeting, where we have a chance to play and learn. Last week, we made "masks" out of recycled materials, in the fashion of the KEAG artists (http://www.inhabitots.com/2009/11/17/adorn-big-kids-rooms-with-keags-colorful-recycled-bottle-masks). It was great fun, and we made some really interesting masks. I've posted mine here for you to see:

Can you guess all the items I recycled to make this wonderful face?

Conversations with dolls

2010-03-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I took my dolls to class this weekend and received more comments and responses, which I turned into conversations with my dolls. Let's see if I can upload them....

They’re all over me – second conversation

Hello!

I don’t want to engage with you
Don’t want to deal with your problems
Too much to deal with.

Misinterpreted and exhausted

Not my responsibility
– Get your life together
But don’t count on me to help you.

I just want to disappear for a while
Let it wash over me
And surface later.

Just do it –
No one is going to be able to do it for you.

Forced loneliness
Became what I was called
Wanting to be accepted.

Defeated by the labels imposed on you.

The thinker has been thunked
Way too tired to think any more
Embodying all negative labels.

Turn the other cheek!

Struggling…
Protective right arm shielding from emotions within and without
Left hand offering some protection and perhaps a little respite.

I’d say to this one:

Believe in yourself
Stand up and shake these [labels] off
Your hair is still vibrant
Blue-green symbolizes the ability to heal.

Depending on your point of view – 2nd conversation

Who is this?
How might I inform myself of this person?
Full-figured, she embodies it all
Negative and positive connotations
Which is “correct”?
What each sees, she becomes.
Something different to each person she meets.

Can’t see you clearly…
You know what?
You piss me off!
You are so letting others control you.

But that is the message!
Until we learn that,
The social labels will continue to fence/cage/imprison us.
The lens makes a difference.

I dance around her to see her.

Centered in the amphitheatre of life

Spinning self-pity pedestal!

There is nothing rational about the labels others put on us

Stand up!

There she sits,
holding out her hand in expectation and offering.

Sticks and Stones, Second Conversation

Nice to see you

You are my favourite.
You hold your head up high;
You are the writer and the erasure;
You are whole.

Who am I?

It doesn’t matter who you are
You are stuck with labels from the time you take your first breath
Enmeshed
Integrated
Acculturated.
Appearance/
Possessions
So very much tied to our gender.
Do not fret, as you get to decide
Which, if any, you respond to.

Detached… tattoos upon tattoos.

Can I trust you?
You don’t let me in
Difficult to read
Too difficult to figure out your words
And when I do, they make me nervous.
Why is it so difficult to get a handle on you?

But… but…but…

Youth/student
receiving strong support:
The ability to erase/rewrite your labels is hopeful.

Free!

Making dolls

2010-03-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, another semester is almost finished, and I have spent the past few weeks making dolls for my research project. Yup, dolls. It all started during a classroom discussion on the way we label people. It was a very animated discussion, looking at the pros and cons of labelling, when a classmate said, very upset, that the labels were falling so thick and fast that he/she could not pick them off fast enough. Wow, what a moment!

I started to think more about our labelling tendencies, and whether or not people could subscribe to the children's verse of "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me". As I looked around and listened to people (in real life, on the radio, in the newspapers), I realized that so many, many people are affected by their labels. How does that happen? Do they not realize that they can choose for themselves what labels to wear?

There were so many angles to view this tendency of being overwhelmed by one's label, but I finally settled on three: someone overwhelmed by labels; someone able to control what labels she wears; and someone demonstrating that the labels seen on a person (or by a person) depend very much on the observer's point of view. After my three dolls were made, I showed them to a few groups of adults and was given valuable feedback from all of them. The dolls were catalysts for discussions that shed new light on labels and gave me new lines of inquiry to follow. I'll be making some more dolls in the future on the topic of labels and identity or self-perception and hope to show them to more people. How will different groups of people respond and what new discussions will ensue from viewing my dolls?

They're all Over Me!

Sticks and Stones

Depending on Your Point of View

Turtles

2010-02-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

After two months of work, it has finally been finished. This is my son's new quilt, done in time for his birthday!

Exhibition Opening

2010-02-16T21:19:00.001-08:00

It's official, and my name is on the list :-)

Details

2010-02-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

"Back so soon?" you ask. Yup! I thought you might like to see the details of "reDefining herSelf". Can't wait for Feb. 18!!!!

If I didn't mention it before, this piece is constructed out of cotton thread sewn (by machine) onto unbleached cotton and is stretched over a triple-primed wooden panel. For anyone who is interested in purchasing it, drop me a line at info@amlawrie.com. I haven't had time to post the picture onto my website yet (www.amlawrie.com), but will get there eventually.

My next/current project is a turtle quilt for my son's birthday, which is coming up soon. Can't wait for the weekend with uninterrupted sewing time! The top of the quilt is finished -- I just need to construct the back (from his favourite old T-shirts).

"Sometime" blogger

2010-02-02T21:43:00.001-08:00

A friend and I were talking on the phone tonight, discussing our lives and what we've been up to. She apparently is a regular visitor to this site and expressed her disappointment that I haven't been keeping up with my blog entries. She wondered what art I had been making and what's been happening in my classes. I guess I am not good at being a regular blogger (at least not at this point -- too busy "doing" to post).

I successfully completed the Embodiment course and am on to the course covering Drama and curriculum -- more specifically, we are looking at and learning about "performative inquiry". It has been an interesting course so far and very thought-provoking. I see more artwork arising from it. I have already completed one "art doll" on the subject of the labels we wear during our lives (more along the line of identity of Self, which is what the last piece concentrated on). There are a few more doll ideas bubbling around in my head, ready to be made into something tangible.

In the meantime, I leave you with a photo of last semester's art piece, reDefining herSelf, which has been accepted into the group exhibition "Drawn" at Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George. Opening night is on February 18, and the exhibit will run until the end of April.
The piece is a sewn drawing (48" x 27"), stretched over a wooden frame. All the figures are from grahpite or charcoal drawings I have made in the past few years.

October already!

2009-10-23T08:13:00.001-07:00

Time flies when you're having fun -- and I am!

The M.Ed program started in September and has been keeping me pretty busy since then. Although we meet only once every few weeks, there is much to do between the official class sessions. The first course is entitled "Embodiment and Curriculum Inquiry" and seeks to bring an awareness of how the body intersects with every aspect of our lives. In the paraphrased words of one paper, our bodies are the first contact we have with the world around us, so knowing how our bodies interact and respond with that world will make us more aware of what we are experiencing (and thus better able to learn). As teachers, knowing the process involved (by using it on ourselves) we will be able to use the process on students to help them learn in a more all-encompassing way.

With activities designed to increase the awareness of our senses (touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight) we have been dancing, going on walks through the woods, eating good food, listening to music and more. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Add to this, though, the need to all of this while totally aware and mindful of what you are doing, and then be able to express what you have experienced, either verbally, visually, or both.

Solitude is another important aspect of embodiment, for it is through the moments of solitude that we can finally begin to process what we hav experienced and relate it to other events in our lives, triggering memories and thoughts that can lead to artistic inspiration.

Reading is a big part of the studies -- both assigned readings and self-directed readings. My brain is full to overflowing with new ideas, and I have already started to translate some of them into a final project. Work is progressing steadily on an altered book which has allowed me to organize some of those thoughts and ideas into a readily avaialable format that is easier to absorb than a written paper. Once I have finished sorting the current batch of thoughts onto those colorful pages, I plan to work on a bigger visual piece that relates to Identity. My hope is to have that piece combine the ideas generated by all my reading, the knowledge I have gained in the past few weeks of figure drawing (in my "free" time I have been attending figure drawing sessions), and fabric art -- a media that keeps calling out to me. Once complete, I will post the results...

Playing with Fabric Paints

2009-08-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer heat seems to be over (for now), and it is actually pleasant to be outside. To celebrate, I pulled out the new Setacolor fabric paints I purchased a few months ago and splashed them around, using the ideas in the newest Quilting Arts magazine (www.quiltingartsllc.com -- August/September 2009) and Mickey Lawler's Skydyes book for inspiration. The girls and I made many, many colorful medallions yesterday, which will be further embellished with fabric pastels and quilting when the weather turns cool. Today, I tried out my colors and techniques on larger pieces that will be cut up to use in quilts at a later date. Now my white cotton fabric is all used up (but not the paint). Since we will soon be off on holidays for a few weeks, further experimentation will have to wait!

Tony Onley Artist's Project

2009-07-26T17:18:00.001-07:00

Well, I am back from Wells, and must say, I had a pretty good time. My stay was only 4 days long, which meant 2 1/2 days of painting. The rest of the time was taken up with viewing other artists' past work (what an amazing range of talents and interests) and critiquing each other's work done during the workshop. The mentors this year were John Hall and Harold Klunder -- both very supportive and full of ideas and suggestions when things weren't going quite the way I had planned. I would recommend this event for anybody wanting to "get away and paint" without the distractions of computer, telephone, and home life. Be sure to bring lots of mosquito repellant, though! I came away from the workshop with three paintings (well, two and a half, but I finished my third yesterday) and lots of ideas. You can view the completed paintings on http://www.amlawrie.com/paintings.html.

Back to school in the fall

2009-07-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

Well, word has come in. Simon Fraser University is offering a community-based masters program in Prince George over the next two years and has admitted me into the program. Running on alternate weekends over the next two years, it will allow me to get a Masters of Education degree in Arts Education without having to leave Prince George. I am looking forward to the challenge of the Masters program, and to seeing some of last year's instructors as fellow students!

Whistler Art Workshops

2009-07-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back from a very busy week in Whistler. On June 28 and 29, I attended a color theory workshop facilitated by Chili Thom, a Whistler artist. He had some wonderful insights for using color to create harmony in your color palette and depth in your paintings. I have yet to actually put everything I learned there into practice, but I look forward to using his theories in my work. I started one piece, using his actualy painting style, but am not sure if I will move forward with it as it is, or paint over top of what I have with a looser style. I do like his paintings, though, and recommend you check out his website: http://www.chilithom.com/.

A quick trip to Vancouver on the Monday took me to see the Dutch Masters at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and then it was back to Whistler for a second workshop on Tuesday. This workshop was a 4-day affair facilitated by award winning watercolor artist Jean Pederson (http://www.jeanpederson.com/) . The theme for this workshop was to layer different types of watermedia to achieve exciting results in your paintings. I really enjoyed watching her demonstrate her techniques and was most impressed by her ability to paint watercolors on a vertical painting surface without the colors running every which way! The workshop was fast-paced, with a new technique offered up every hour or so. There was plenty of studio time to put theory into practice, and I came away with the beginnings of several pieces, two of which I have subsequently finished at home this week. Although the techniques I used were learned at this workshop, the style of my pieces is definitely not Jean's! I am looking forward to creating more layered pieces and mixing my watermedia: watercolors, gouache, acrylics, watercolor crayons, acrylic inks, watercolor pencils....

Updraft
mixed media and collage on paper
14" x 11"

Next week I am off to Wells for 4 days of unstructured playtime with my paints :-) When I get back, I might have time to update my website with all my new artwork!

New Website

2009-06-15T16:35:00.001-07:00

Well, I've finally taken the plunge and designed a new website for displaying my artwork. Since this was to be more of a commercial website, I eliminated many of the pieces of art that I had on my old site. In time, some of them may reappear -- perhaps on a page devoted to older work, to act as an online portfolio.

The new site address is: www.amlawrie.com.

Arts Fest, Part 2

2009-05-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I am excited! My drawing "Body Image -- She Thought Food Was the Enemy" was deemed to be one of the top ten pieces at Arts Fest 2009 in Williams Lake. The drawing will become part of a touring exhibit that will visit several towns in the northern Interior region for the next 6 months. In addition, I will be attending the Tony Onley Artists' Project in July (http://www.imarts.com/artschool/83/toni+onley+artists+project), courtesy of Island Mountain Arts (http://www.imarts.com/). I'm looking forward to it!!!!

Arts Fest 2009

2009-05-08T21:09:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a busy few weeks since school let out. I submitted a few pieces to two different exhibitions and received word from one (Arts Fest 2009) that my submitted pieces have been accepted. I'm now keeping my fingers crossed for the second exhibition!

Arts Fest 2009 is an "exhibition and art practices symposium" for new and emerging artists, coordinated by the Central Interior Regional Arts Council (http://cirac.ca/Default.aspx). I submitted my walking painting, now titled "Who Has the Time?", and my drawing "Body Image -- She Thought Food was the Enemy". The event runs on the weekend of my convocation, so I will be unable to attend the opening and seminars, but my pieces will hang at Thompson River University (Williams Lake campus) until June 19. If anybody is passing through that area, you might want to stop and take a look.

Series piece

2009-04-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Our final major assignment for the Drawing was what our instructor named a "Series Piece". Rather than draw a series of pictures, each relating to the next, we were instructed to draw just one picture that contained 4 separate pictures within it. This was definitely a challenging piece, as each "mini-drawing" needed to be stylistically distinct from the other three pieces, and yet all four pieces had to work together cohesively to make the larger piece of art. It took a while, but I think I finally got it. It is titled "Five Minutes in January" and is approximately 29" x 21". For those five minutes in January of 2009, I was overwhelmed by the site of thousands of Bohemian waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) flying in an enormous loop in the sky and demolishing all the Elderberries on the neighborhood trees. It was truly a magnificent sight!

First, the entire piece:

And then the four individual pieces:

Figure Drawing

2009-04-20T19:58:00.001-07:00

Our last figure drawing session for the year. If I want to do any more, I'll have to sign up for the figure drawing sessions at Two Rivers Gallery.

Digital portfolio

2009-04-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

We had our next-to-last class in Digital art today. It was time to finish the last project and create a digital portfolio of our works. Unfortunately, the last project is an animation that needs to be converted to another format before I can post it here, but I can post my portfolio:

Walking

2009-04-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

And to the final piece for our painting class...

The topic for this painting was "The Walk". We were asked to think about what walking meant to us and to portray it on canvas in some fashion. Well, I had loads of ideas, but finally settled on walking in the city from a child's point of view: all the enormous grownups rushing around in their business suits, too intent on their destination to stop and enjoy the little things in life. In this instance, the "little things" are the flowers, which are actually much larger than the ones I saw on side of the road in Quesnel, but a child would see those as the most important items on a walk, wouldn't he?

Who Has the Time?

Acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas 18 x 24"

Figure painting

2009-04-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 weeks, we have spent part of each painting class, painting the nude figure. This woman was lovely and curvy, and made for some good painting. The model's pose and expression were those of a strong, capable woman, proud of who she is and how she looks. I had the words from an old Helen Reddy song stuck in my mind the entire time I was painting her (as you can tell from title of the piece).

I am Woman

Acrylic on canvas board, 18 x 24"

Jellies

2009-04-02T13:52:00.001-07:00

Now that it is hung somewhere where I can get a decent photo of it, I can finally show you my jellies. This was done for my painting class, but we were encouraged to "think outside the box" and get creative. I decided to "paint" with fabric, and created a quilted wallhanging. The other challenge was to use the same image 25 times in our piece of art. Being somewhat masochistic, I decided to do a group of 3 jellyfish as my image (see my digital jellies for an explanation of where I saw the critters). In the end, I repeated the image more than 25 times, so there are over 75 individual jellyfish in this wallhanging. Since we also had to create the image using 25 different techniques, I have a variety of jellies -- stamped, felted, painted, drawn, inked, stencilled, quilted, thread-painted, crocheted (with wire), and more. It was an all-consuming project, but well-worth the effort. The final piece is approximately 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall.

Do Not Erase

2009-03-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 4, will be the opening of the student exhibition, "Do Not Erase", at Two Rivers Gallery http://tworiversartgallery.com/ in Prince George, from 1pm to 3pm. The work of the Fine Arts students from the College of New Caledonia will be on display in the Galleria for the month of April. If you are in the neighborhood, I would encourage you to visit the gallery at some time during the month, to see the work of the artists from the Fine Arts Certificate program! Artwork will range from pencil and charcoal drawings to acrylic paintings, fabric art and other three-dimensional art. Yours truly has four pieces displayed there.

Women in Art

2009-03-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

At our Art History class on Thursday night, our instructor showed us a really fascinating YouTube video which portrays 500 years of portraits of women. It is well worth watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

Looking Ahead

2009-03-27T09:38:00.001-07:00

Well, the semester (and the school year) are almost at an end. There will be some more assignments to post in the next few weeks, as the final projects are completed.

In the meantime, I am looking past the 22nd of April, and starting to plan what comes next. I am thinking of taking the next step in website development and creating a website for posting artwork that is for sale. My plan is to have a website without the pop-up ads that my free website currently has! The only issue at the moment is to come up with a domain name. I had hoped to use my blog name (artbyam) as a domain name, but Amanda-Marie in Denver, Colorado, seems to have beaten me to it. Her website address is artbyam.com. I suppose I could use the .ca version, but people might get lost in Denver when looking for me online. Another alternative that is not yet taken, and yet is very simple, would be amlawrie.com or .ca. Hmmm. What to do....

Digital Self Portrait

2009-03-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

The latest project in Digital Art was to create an expressive self portrait from a photo. Using Adobe Photoshop, we had to separate the photo into the 4 color channels (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), and replicate what we saw in these channels onto 4 separate pieces of paper (well, OK, we traced what we saw -- but using expressive lines and scribbles). After scanning the resulting images into the computer, we recombined them to create one image -- a portrait of ourselves. With a bit of Photoshop magic, the background came together (still don't know quite exactly what I did!), and voila:

I have to say that I really do like this self portrait. I rushed right out and found a mat and frame to fit it, too! And to think I made it all with words! Only the blue shadows on the face are actually scribbles; the red, yellow and black are words.

Digital Jellyfish

2009-03-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

The next project was to use Adobe Photoshop to color a drawing we had made. Since I was working on a big jellyfish wallhanging (pictures coming soon), I decided to keep with the theme and make some digital jellyfish as well. I had seen this trio at the Vancouver Aquarium, and was entranced by the way they glowed orange against a blue background. They spent their days, rising in the water currents and slowly sinking to the bottom of the tank before lifting off again in the stream of bubbles. It was very relaxing to watch them, and I snapped lots of photos (useful reference pieces, if I do say so myself).

Digital Art a la Chan-Schatz

2009-03-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

We've had a productive semester in digital art, learning lots about Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, making animations, scanning images, and more. Our first project involved using Illustrator to make "modules" that could be placed on different backgrounds. Our "modules" were to be images you could find under a microscope -- drawn by hand, scanned into the computer, and then re-drawn using vectors in Illustrator. The backgrounds were made separately (also with Illustrator). We then combined modules and backgrounds -- first in our own combinations, and then having people around the school make up new combinations, similar to what Chan Schatz do with their artwork (see the newspaper article about one of their pieces of art: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/arts/design/05shee.html?ex=1299214800&en=f9023dc8f4bdfff1&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss).

My module was based off of a larval crab:

Monotypes and "Found" Images

2009-03-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

This project was a fun one -- create random shapes in colors and then "find" images within them which can be brought out with paint, pencils, ink , etc. We first created Monotypes, which involved pouring/spattering/brushing watercolor paint onto a plexiglass sheet, and then laying a piece of rice paper over the sheet and "printing" the paint onto the paper. This created wonderful blobs of color and special effects, depending on how the paper soaked up the paint. Once the paint was dry, we had to look at the blobs and random spatterings and "find" images which could be developed further. I've finished the two "realistic" pieces, and thought I'd post them here. The monotype for the turtle was made on a piece of sketchbook paper, rather than rice paper, and the patterns of the paint that were created when the paper was pulled off of the plexiglass reminded me of the underwater reefs I saw when scuba diving many years ago. My son has claimed this one to add to his turtle collection!

Terrapin (9" x 11.5")

"Toward the Light" is a bit different for me, as it can have all sorts of spiritual meanings, depending on the viewer. That being said, I often see faces and figures in random patterns (spackled ceilings, bark on trees, etc.). The swirls and patterns of paint on this monotype, combined with the bright yellow cloud-like shape in the upper left-hand corner, suggested an ethereal scene for these figures.

"Toward the Light" (11.5" x 9")

Now I need to peruse my other monotypes and develop two of them into abstract pieces. I think finding people and animals is easier!!!

Body Image

2009-03-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

New drawing from our Drawing class. The theme was "relationships". We had to pick a relationship, explore it, and draw it in black and white (with minimal use of color). The title of my piece is "Body Image -- She Thought Food was the Enemy". It examines different body image ideals, and takes a good look at the headlines we in our western society are bombarded with on a daily basis. For a person with eating disorders, what or who is the real enemy? Is it food? Or is it societal pressures and expectations?

Art History

2009-01-30T16:52:00.000-08:00

In Art History, our final project once again can include the option of an art project to accompany a 4-5 page research paper. Being somewhat proactive, I received permission to begin my project over Christmas, and managed to finish off the last details yesterday (yes, both project and paper are DONE!). I just need to mount and frame the artwork.

For my project, I researched the molas of the Kuna Indians of Panama, and created a mola panel of my own that is a blend of Canadian imagery and Kuna techniques. I call it "Northern Dance".

The panel is 22" x 16", and, except for the background fabric piecing, is sewn entirely by hand. I enjoyed the process, but am really glad I started over Christmas! It took a while to complete. Mind you, it was very relaxing, and allowed for much thought and contemplation, especially as the snowflakes whirled and danced around our house.

The Gateway Project - A Study in Texture

2009-01-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

The first painting project required the use of a gate, and was supposed to depict a scene that "referenced" a landscape. In other words, it could be a real landscape, an imagined landscape, or a total abstract that reminded us of a landscape. I landed somewhere between the second and third option, creating a landscape from my head and playing with textures and techniques so much that it is no longer a realistic landscape. On the other hand, it is still recognizable as being something from planet Earth, so is not really a pure abstract, either. All the paintings created in class had to have a gate somewhere in the picture. We were also encouraged to put symbols and meaning into our paintings, something I am not too proficient at (so there are no conscious symbols or meanings put in). I leave the interpretation up to you!

Mark making

2009-01-30T16:38:00.000-08:00

The new semester is well underway, and the assignments are starting to pile up. For the initial major assignment in our drawing class, we first experimented with making different types of marks (eg. hatch marks, smudges, stamps, etc) with different media. To complete the first assignment, we were directed to make frottages (rubbings) of different textures, and then use our new-found mark-making techniques to enhance the frottages and make a good composition. We made two large pictures (20" x 28"), and get to choose one to hand in as our assignment. We were encouraged to use a variety of media, but could only use black, white, and grey for our color scheme. I'm kind of partial to the fuzzy bike brakes picture, myself...

Last items from the Fall semester

2009-01-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and I was too busy to post the final pictures from my First Nations Art and Design class. With the new semester up and running, and the assignments coming at us at a fast and furious pace, I thought I'd better finish posting last semester's work before starting on this semester's work! Our last module in First Nations Art and Design was basket weaving (yes, I actually managed to take a "Basket Weaving 101 course" in my post-secondary education). We wove two baskets. The first one was a straight-forward cedar bark basket, measuring roughly 5"x5"x4":

The second basket (also woven from cedar bark) was much smaller, as seen in the lower picture. It is a called a potlach basket -- given as gifts at potlaches.

Drawn Collage

2008-12-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Last drawing assignment for the semester -- and it ended up being as time-consuming as the Dreamscape! The theme was texture, and for this we needed to create a collage -- and then draw it. I've posted both the collage and the drawing below. Media used: pencil, india ink, gouache, and 'Golden' Absorbent Ground for watermedia.
First the real one:

Then the drawing I did:

Dreamscape

2008-11-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

One of the last major assignments for the Drawing class (for this semester) was to create a "Dreamscape" -- something you might find in your dreams. Everything was to be drawn as realistically as possible, but organized in such a way that it could not possibly be a real scene. In addition, there were certain elements that had to be included. We could choose 3 possible things from a list of 15, and they had to be in the composition. My choices were: door, train, and animal. This assignment was to be done in a variety of media, with no more than 1/3 of the picture in color. I used pencil, inck, charcoal, conte, and Prismacolor pencils, as well as image transfer from photocopies (the clock face and the wood grain).

Historical Painting

2008-11-26T15:14:00.001-08:00

I finally finished my historical painting: a copy of Lawren Harris's Autumn, Algoma. It was challenging, to say the least, and I definitely did not obtain the same degree of richness of color that Harris has in his painting. That being said, I did learn quite a bit about applying the paint, the use of contrasting colors and values and how to correct my mistakes in a hurry! For the link to the actual painting by Lawren Harris, check out one of my earlier posts.

The Answer is 42

2008-11-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

Well, the end of the semester is drawing near -- how quickly time flies! One of the final projects for color theory is to do a large self portrait -- 18" x 24" or larger. My paper was 18x24, so I think I qualify. The portrait could be realistic or metaphorical, but color was the key element. It took me a while to come up with a composition, but finally settled on the one shown below. After all, there were only a few months left to paint my portrait in the theme of the answer to the ultimate question of the life, the universe, and everything...

Artist's statement

2008-11-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

Also a part of the "Making a Living as an Artist" course is the requirement to create an artist's statement. This statement can (and will) change over time, or with the particular gallery submission. Here is my current statement:

I take a multifaceted approach to my art by exploring the world around me in a variety of media, including watercolor, graphite, fiber arts and acrylic. Since my creative processes are energized when I feel a personal connection with by subject, my artwork usually portrays people I know or places I have been.

As I find the interplay of light and color to be especially exciting, I incorporate both of these conditions in my paintings. Watercolor is presently my favorite medium, as the transparency of the paint allows for some extremely luminous effects on the paper. I may strive for realism in my artwork, or move to a somewhat more abstract or illustrative style, depending on the subject chosen and the mood. I hope, through my works, to portray how I feel about the scene in front of me; to show it as I saw it, touched it, smelled it, while simultaneously giving the viewers a chance to relive their own similar experiences.

This was a challenging task, as most artists write their statements about a single body of work, or a single piece of art. Since I am currently "all over the place" with what I do (in my eyes), I had to come up with a statement that encompassed all my styles all at once. As I look over the artwork posted here and on my website (http://ca.geocities.com/whistlermama/index.html) I wonder if the statement really encompasses what I do. Ah, well, it can change at a later date...

PS. I'll be updating my website soon -- we need to post artwork online for class, and I promised to update the website to fulfill the requirements for that part of the course. I need a free afternoon to do that, though :-)

Flux submission

2008-11-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

The Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George has invited artists to submit up to 6 pieces of artwork for their February exhibit entitled "Flux". I used the idea from the first pop composition in the color theory class, and enlarged it onto an 18" x 24" canvas. The painting was finished yesterday. The paperwork and forms were filled out today and will be dropped off tomorrow. The deadline for submission is Friday. Whew!
January 9, 2009 -- as an added note, I was not accepted for this exhibition, sigh. Ah, well, the process of making the submission was valuable in its own right. Receiving rejection letters is part of the process, too!

First Nations Drum

2008-11-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

Another item completed for the First Nations Art and Design course: a drum. This was an exciting project, and somewhat nerve-wracking when it came time to paint the design, as mistakes are not easily removed! I am pleased with the overall result:

Portfolio assignment

2008-11-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

One of the classes we are taking is entitled "Making a Living as an Artist". It is a professional practices course, and covers topics of relevance to artists, including curriculum vitae, artist's statements, documenting your artwork, etc. As a final assignment for this class, we have been asked to assemble a portfolio of artwork, with the accompanying paperwork. To make the assignment more interesting, we were also asked to create an imaginative portfolio cover, rather than present the package in a simple twin-pocket portfolio. The sky was the limit for this creative cover, but time was also a limiting factor for me. I settled on something creative, but not too time consuming, as you can see.

Created from plastic artists' palettes glued to a three ring binder, it also has a zippered closure around the outside to contain any loose items I might choose to include.

Series of self portraits

2008-10-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

The big thing to do in art school is your own self portrait. The advantages are many-fold: you don't have to pay a fee for a model, you are always available, and you don't talk back or get personally offended when you don't turn out on paper looking like yourself. We've done three more self portraits, in two of our classes. I think one of the portraits comes closest to looking like me. I also have a great rendition of a Harry Potter look-alike, and a portrait that looks very much like a fellow that used to work in the kitchen at Delish! Can you guess which is which?

Graphite and ink on paper

Watercolor on paper

Graphite and Prismacolor pencils on paper

The face drawn as a series of flat planes

Pop composition - Nature vs. Technology

2008-10-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

In our color theory class, we are assigned "Pop compositions" occassionally. These are small (8x10") paintings that utilize the color theory we have learned in previous weeks, and allow us to stretch our wings in assigning colors to different themes.

This particular composition had 4 criteria:

Choose a color that represents technology.

Choose a color that represents nature.

Prepare a field (background or foreground) that will set up the mood of the piece.

Make sure that the piece contains one primary, one secondary and one complementary color.

Since this one was done in class on the spur of the moment, I grabbed at the simplest imagery I could (we have changed that method, now, as some of us more linear thinkers need time to assign colors to themes such as "spirituality" and "the human condition"). I am actually quite pleased at the abstract painting that resulted (I'm not usually an abstract painter):

In this painting, I took the stance of technology being "bad" when compared to nature. Nature is yellow, being overshadowed by technology (blue). The background field is red, a color for danger and warning. My contrasting color is the orange in the sun. Altogether, the resulting image, for me, shows global warming, skyscrapers, pine beetle kill, and smokestacks from big cities.

Interestingly enough, all of the class took the same position, with technology as the bad force. I wonder how the paintings would have turned out, had we taken the opposite stance and viewed technology as something good: medical breakthroughs, life-enhancing technology such as water pumps, etc.

Violin Still Life, again

2008-10-02T19:04:00.001-07:00

Well, the results are in and there is room for improvement. I guess that's why I'm in school, eh? Here is the newest version, incorporating the instructor's suggestions. I'll take it back in next week and see if she feels if the results are effective. Can't change the mark, but I can still learn from the piece!

Here is my original "finished" version, for comparison.

Owl and Moon on Wood

2008-10-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

In my First Nations art class, Peter George, a local artist, has been showing us the basic forms and shapes for First Nations paintings, along with information about the First Nations culture as it relates to art (i.e. myths, legends, beliefs). It has been an interesting few weeks, and we finally had the chance to put all we've learned into practice by designing our own BC animal, using the traditional designs and motifs.

My choice was an owl, accompanied by the moon. Peter says he'd be able to sell that type of work for $900, so I feel pretty pleased. Unfortunately, I cannot sell it, but can definitely enjoy hanging it on my wall without the big outlay...

Sketchbook development - autumn gourds

2008-09-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

In our drawing class, in addition to keeping up with the many assignments we are given, we are also expected to doodle and draw in our sketchbooks on a daily basis. With the demands of all the classes, I've not been able to do a daily drawing, but do grab the opportunity when time permits. Here is this morning's half-hour of "free" time:

Quilted journal cover

2008-09-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Another challenge for the color theory course was to create a cover for the color journal we are keeping for the duration of the semester. It was to be a cover that reflected who we are. I took the idea of the primary color portrait (earlier post) and transformed it into a quilted journal cover:

I think it adequately displays the idea of me and color, don't you?

Analagous color painting

2008-09-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

We're going through different color exercises in our color theory class, and the latest painting was to be a historical painting done in monochromatic or analagous colors. I chose the analagous color route (2 or three colors next to each other on the color wheel), using Lawren Harris's painting Autumn, Algoma 1920. My colors were various shades of orange with a bit of red and yellow thrown in. His original is done with violet blue for the background trees and a variety of oranges and reds for the maple up the front. You can view it at this website: http://records.viu.ca/~mcneil/gal070.htm

We'll be producing our historical paintings two more times in the color theory course, so stay tuned for variations on this theme.

Continuous line drawing

2008-09-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it is the end of September, and I have a bit of time to post some more of my September works of art. The first is a continuous line drawing of a carrot from our garden. The challenge: to make an interesting drawing (subject and background) using only one line. In other words, do the drawing without lifting the pencil from the paper. We had to do three of these drawings. This one was my favorite.

Violin Still LIfe -- final edition?

2008-09-20T13:31:00.001-07:00

Well, I had a chance to go at it again today, and think I may have reached a stopping spot. Time to put the picture to the side and let it percolate for a bit, so as not to overwork it. I had planned to spend a few hours each day from now till Thursday to finish -- nice surprise to find I am that close to being done!

More still life in Black and white

2008-09-17T14:58:00.004-07:00

Ha! I found time to photo the next step, before I add more to it tomorrow:

Still Life in Black and White

2008-09-17T14:58:00.003-07:00

In the drawing class, our first major assignment is to complete a large drawing of a still life in graphite. The first challenge was to set up the still life. I kept changing my mind and rearranging things. Once I was satisfied with what was there, I was instructed to color my paper all grey!

After the desired level of grey-ness was reached, I used a kneadable eraser to "lift out" the highlights, and then started in to draw the rest of the picture. It will take a while to finish, from the looks of things, but I am pleased with the progress so far. From beginning to end, we are aiming for a 20 hour picture, but I have a feeling it will take me a tad longer. So as not to leave you in suspense, I will post progress reports.

Here are the first two images:

I am actually a little further along, but am running out of time to take a picture today. Perhaps the next image will be the final product?

Still life in Primary Colors

2008-09-17T14:58:00.002-07:00

The color theory course will be running us through various excercises in the use of color. The first one (after the obligatory color wheel), was to do a self portrait, using only 3 colors. The color scheme choices were red/yellow/blue or orange/purple/green. I opted for the first choice, so as to save on the mixing time (the only other color I have in a tube is purple -- we're supposed to mix all of our own colors, even black).

After finishing my portrait, I took a good long look, and was reminded of Andy Warhol's wild use of colors.

School has started!

2008-09-17T14:58:00.001-07:00

A new school year has started, and my classes at the College of New Caledonia are going well. Things are challenging, but manageable, so far. I am taking 5 classes this fall:

Drawing
Art History
Color Theory
Making a Living as an Artist
First Nations Art and Design.

I know people have been curious about what I've been doing, so I will try to post my assignments occassionally, as I have time (that will be the biggest challenge). Stay tuned for new pictures....