Hi, Here are a few of my paintings and poems. I have been thinking about doing a website for a couple of years now, but kept putting it off because I thought it would be a bit too difficult to do. I decided to go ahead and do my best anyway. I will add more images as time goes on. At the moment I'm doing a painting of a burned out grain silo, from a photograph I took of one, just down the road from me. I take photos of the painting every day, so I can catalog the process. This is step one:
and step two:
It takes at least 3 or more layers of paint for it to look good. Sometimes I do a lot more, because I change my mind part way through.
The text reads: "but love will fade away, away, it that's all dreaming does". I experimented with doing some of it in Lettraset, which is tricky to apply to the uneven surface of a painted canvas. (Not shown in this photo). The larger text I print from the computer and trace onto the surface, then hand paint it. It's slow, but I like it. The next photo will show the grey wall behind the text altered to go around the word "if" better. Sometimes I can do a painting in 3 days, sometimes it takes 3 weeks. I have one painting of a peach, which you would think would be a relatively simple painting, but I've done multiple layers, and I still don't like it.
I'm interested in the process of making art as well as the finished project. I watch every program on TV I can about the artistic process. There's a good one on now, on PBS, called Craft in America. I am always inspired by seeing work that's better than I can do. I watched a show on an American photographer named Vivian Maier, which I liked. Talk about obsession. Last night there was one about a Toronto photographer named Barbara Cole. She does fantastic photographs of people underwater. Truly amazing.
Right, I'm off to make another chair cushion for the dining room. I have to change the fabric since I painted the room blue. I did one yesterday, and that was enough sewing for me for one day. 5 more to go. Stay tuned for more images of the burned silo. Thanks for listening.
Layer 3. There's going to be a bit of thrashing around here, I can tell. Some parts I like, some parts I don't. I just keep repainting areas until I like them, then move on to the next area. I find it hard to paint the same way from one day to the next sometimes.
Layer 4. I simplified the middle bit and added a second layer to the dark side. The top still needs more work. Sometimes I only work for half an hour or so, so not much gets done.
May 9th. I started out late last night to just paint one small section, and finished at 2 a.m. The problem with painting is it's addictive. If I like the way things are working out, then I just keep going.
I added more grey paint to the rock walls.
This is a close up of the added grey...no, still not right. The black structure is actually an old burned bed frame, and some metal piled up together. The yellow and blue are just for fun.
This is more like it. Up 'til 2 a.m. working on it, but now I'm happy.
Layer 2, turning up the volume a little.
The left side, not finished, but it's a start. Up 'til 3 a.m. Wrote 'til 4, finally went to bed.
Added a small flame and some smoke to the top of the silo.
The walls, and the added flame. Still not finished, but it's slowly morphing into something I like.
Up 'til 3 working on the bottom left side, and the sky. The bottom left is still too busy, so I'll have to simplify it some more. I like the sky.
Did some more work on the sky, not finished yet. I don't like the white wave thing at the bottom left. It's getting there though.
Close up. The spiral is a tornado, seen from above, or below. I've always been afraid of them, since The Wizard of Oz movie.
I think this is probably finished. I have signed the back, so that means I'm pretty sure I'm done.
On second thought, the left side still needed some work. Still not sure if it's finished or not.
O.k. Maybe this is it. I bridged the two rock walls at the bottom and added a few small details. I'll have to sit and look at it for a while to spot any areas that don't look right.
This is the original photo I was working from.