http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/tokyo-university-research-food-waste-turned-construction-materials/ Who are we kidding here? This is really cool! Using a technology that already existed in the lumber industry to recycle our composting into building materials!!! As an artist and maker space teacher, I would love to get my hands on this stuff and let my students' fertile imaginations run wild with it!
A Day at the Beach – Solving an overworked Sky
The burnt umber outlines really helped me see a new direction for the sky. I wanted the figure to stand as the main focus of the composition, so I needed a muted background to go against the skin. I was not happy with the b blues I had on it previously and felt strongly that … Continue reading A Day at the Beach – Solving an overworked Sky
A Day at the Beach – Laying in some colours
It feels like much longer than a week since I added colours to the initial layers as seen in the previous posting. I had started with bolder colours and felt that would be where it was meant to go, but it really wasn't. I started in on adding textures and movement in the sky behind … Continue reading A Day at the Beach – Laying in some colours
Ephemeral Rock Art – On Lake St-Louis
My amazing daughter wanted to spend a special day with me for Father's Day, starting with treating me to lunch for the first time. We went for fish & chips at The Old Orchard pub in Pointe-Claire village. She proposed we walk around the area, as it's on the waterfront and has some nice places … Continue reading Ephemeral Rock Art – On Lake St-Louis
A Day At The Beach – First layers of paint
It is amazingly satisfying to pile on paint with a pallet knife... simultaneously obliterating the texture of the underpainting and creating a whole new surface texture. I also feel like the paint is more alive when it's very thick. I want to continue painting and adding colours, wet on wet, and see the messy magic … Continue reading A Day At The Beach – First layers of paint
Starting something new – A Day at the Beach
For starters, this is an overpainted canvas, gessoed with recycled grey house paint... And I've been staring at it for weeks!!! My research has been on David Park, Richard Deibenkorn, and Fernando Botero. Not sure why Botero became a focus, but his work has been showing up on so many of my works, that I … Continue reading Starting something new – A Day at the Beach
Eye-to-eye, Side-by-side: A question of completeness
I struggle with admitting that a painting is spontaneous. I am worried people will see less value in it when I do. This has more to do with my evaluation of the works I make. I get into a great inner-discussion to remind myself of how long I've stared at the blank canvas, researched and … Continue reading Eye-to-eye, Side-by-side: A question of completeness
The Bathers – Complete – Sorry for the delay
I've been a little preoccupied with report cards and year-end curricula for my first graders, as well as my daughter's high school graduation... add to that life keeps me busy with many other things. So, I haven't taken the time to try and escape the painter's block I felt. I moved the painting around the … Continue reading The Bathers – Complete – Sorry for the delay
Abstract Flower Bouquet – a spontaneous Mother’s Day Gift for Grade One students
I had just inherited my grade one class from their much loved teacher who was retiring a mere few days before Mother's Day. She was winding things down and didn't plan anything for Mother's Day. No problem, I'm an art teacher after all! I had already given the idea of doing Matisse style cut-out still … Continue reading Abstract Flower Bouquet – a spontaneous Mother’s Day Gift for Grade One students
Removing labels — The acts of un-defining art
This paper started with an intention to find the departure points between the Fluxus movement and the Neo-expressionism movement that followed it. What I found instead was an interconnecting array of art styles with a similar set of ideologies that all combine to form a bridge between Modernism and post-modernism. The underlying ideology is often … Continue reading Removing labels — The acts of un-defining art
The New Renaissance Mindset 