I took a class called the Figure in Contemporary Art at VISA during the fall term. Leah McInnes was the instructor and I enjoyed it very much. I started this painting at the very end of the class, based on photos I took in Zihautenejo ten years ago. It's definitely a departure from all the non-objective pattern heavy paintings I've been dong for the last ten years or so. La Playa is 30" x 40" acrylic on canvas
I recently took a one day workshop at Vancouver Island Scool of Art on the theme of Mapping and Art. It was so energizing to meet in a (big) room with four other people and the instructor Marina DiMaio for some in-person learning. I decided to try working on wood panel for a change, bought a few small ones and have been happily exploring
ever since. I like this one best of the three I've done so far....it is very personal and uses photos (as gel transfers) from my childhood and maps from where I grew up, in Idaho.
New research suggests that abstract art has qualities that can literally change our mindsets and prompt us to let the minutia of day-to-day life fall away. I found an article on this study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (US) by Daphna Shohamy of Columbia University, discussed in the online site Inverse.
"This means that art has an effect on our general cognitive state, that goes beyond how much we enjoy it, to change the way we perceive events and make decisions.," Shohamy says. She says that abstract art shifts our cognitive state away from concrete details and towards abstract ideas. It forces us to explore within ourselves, which can be rewarding.
For more detail on how this study was done and an elaboration of the ideas, check out the Inverse article.
During this crazy time of enforced isolation I decided to try a meditation on colour. It took about three weeks (of the first month of isolation) painting 2-4 hours per day, most spent subtly adjusting colours. It is 30 x 36" acrylic on canvas. It's the first new painting I've done in a while, having spent last winter mostly doing small linoprints.
A photo of three sections of my five part Harmonic Suite, at Saturna Cafe in November 2018
My recent painting "Washi Quilt for Ella" has been included in the Victoria Arts Council's show called TEQNIK at their new improved gallery space on Store Street.
Six of my Harmonics will be hanging in the Saanich Centennial Library until July 8. This is the branch at Pearkes Arena complex near Tillicum Mall in Victoria.
Here are a couple photos of my paintings from the Arabesque, Energia and Harmonics series in the Leon Frazer offices in Toronto. They are there until September 2018.
