Saturday 21 December 2013

The Colour of Water

Floating

(Yes, this is a fall picture, and it's not fall here anymore.)

Since the most recent mental logjam was removed, I've been thinking a lot about some of the art-related things I've been doing recently. At the simplest level, I'd been wondering where they fit in to what I've done in the past and where I think they might be leading me in the future.

Except there's so much more to them than that: it's one thing to try something new or revisit an old practice, but some of the emotions they have been provoking have been, well, not what I expected. That being said, it's meant that what I've been thinking about doing in the next while has shifted from being painted in just the six primary colours to millions of them.

Still night

The trigger for the bulk of this was a lovely class I took that was offered by the Esker Foundation with Brenda Draney, who was one of the artists featured in the Esker's most recent show: ostensibly, it was a watercolour session to explore memory, and I thought I was ready to deal with some of the ones I've been confronted with in the last few years.

Phalenopsis

Well, I guess that depends on how one defines ready. We were supposed to bring a photograph to work from: I brought my netbook and had chosen one of the pictures I had taken of where we had scattered the wee mannie. It's been years (plural) since I had hauled out my watercolour set, we were restricted to the small dobs of five colours squeezed onto our palettes, and I was very creaky (to be kind) with my technique.

Warm me up

The results -- and no, there will not be a picture here on the blog -- are pretty awful, by my standards: by the end of the afternoon, I completed three pieces, moving away from the rest of the class into the gallery for the last two. I planted myself in front of Wally Dion's I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know: everything that shines ain't always going to be gold, which was my favourite piece in the show.

Coincidentally, one of the other evenings I had the opportunity to be part of was a lecture by David Mach, who was taken to the same show by Dick Averns, who wrote this wonderful account of David's discovery of the same piece. Loved seeing David's work, hearing his talk, and being invited to come along for a drink or two after, where I was able to chat more extensively with him. He does the most brilliant stuff that keeps turning over and over and over in my mind.

Tomorrow would have been our twelfth anniversary, and I'm heading up to the mountains to spend some quiet time without electronics for a well-deserved break.

Arch

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Having an "ah-ha!" moment



As opposed to having an "a-ha" moment....

There are a few reasons why I've been missing-in-action here on the blog, although not, thankfully, in my handwritten journal: the last three weeks or so, I've been laid low with a really nasty cold that developed complications, as well as the reappearance of a chronic problem I thought was mostly beat, and something new I've added to my list of health issues.

Abandoned

But before my health turned down a side track, I found myself confronted, and then preoccupied (as is my way), with a frustrating emotional conundrum. I was unsure of know how to deal with it, but had the awful, horrible, gut-wrenching feeling that someone in my past reminded me of the person in the present, and that I needed to figure out who it was to trigger the memory of how I resolved the issue then so I could move on now.

Colour study

Well, I finally did that today, which shows the power of being able to get out and have some exercise as well: another vital element in my life that has been in short supply lately, with our blizzards and windchills of -40 (Fahrenheit and Celcius). As part -- and maybe most -- of me suspected, the answer had been staring me in the face for awhile: all I had to do was name the beast.

Time to cover up

Realizing this won't eliminate the pain of losing a relationship that might otherwise have some real potential in my future, but I'm hoping it means that the hurt won't immobilize me the way it has.

Sigh

There's another emotional issue I'm still trying to deal with that's been weighing on my mind as well, and I'm hoping that having some time alone and away from Calgary over Christmas is going to help sort that issue too.

I haven't been shooting many pictures lately either, but I feel the urge to do more of it. And soon.

Transient

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