Embracing Technology
In my September 2012 post on my “In the Studio” page, I bemoaned my boredom with photography as a source for my paintings. Well since then things have changed quite a bit. While photography has limitations, I am once again finding it very freeing, in different ways from working from life. The paintings that “just happen” very quickly are ones that I sometimes prize; but there are also the larger works that emerge slowly, and are an accumulation of “hits” and “misses” that are moves toward the final goal of an image that registers for me something that I hope to call Painting.
The layering of glazes can subtly alter the surface and create nuances of painterly depth that a “premier coup” painting might not. Each approach is just different, neither better nor worse than the other.
There’s also what technology can bring to the process–I’m fairly sure if Velaszquez or Vermeer were here today they would most likely be taking advantage of today’s photography post-production software in conjunction with their painting.
Along with working from reproductions of reality printed on paper or found on my computer screen, I also have been really benefiting from some life drawing and painting in the past while. It’s feeling good to do it all–– it just makes the work richer and I think more informed.
Today we needn’t be And/Or but can easily say yes to Both.
Cutting out the tongue
Oil on canvas over panel
48″ x 76″
2010-2012
“Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue.” – Pierre Matisse
An artist in Vancouver whose work I greatly admire is Pierre Coupey. His painting language is unabashedly romantic and direct without being too easy. Founding editor of The Capilano Review and co-founder of The Georgia Straight, Pierre has been a writer, printmaker, and painter since the early 1960’s.
His work was recently exhibited in a five-person show on abstraction, The Point Is: Pierre Coupey/Landon Mackenzie/Martin Pearce/Bernadette Phan/Bryan Ryley, curated by Liz Wylie at the Kelowna Art Gallery. His next solo show at Gallery Jones, Field Work, takes place in Spring 2013. Co-curated by Darrin Morrison and Astrid Heyerdahl, the West Vancouver Museum and the Art Gallery at the Evergreen Cultural Centre are mounting a major survey show, Cutting Out the Tongue: Selected Work 1976-2012.
West Vancouver Museum
March 6 – April 27, 2013
Opening Reception
March 5, 7-9pm
Art Gallery at Evergreen
March 16 – April 27, 2013
Opening Reception
March 17, 4-6pm
Field Work
Gallery Jones
Vancouver
April 3-April 27, 2013
Opening Reception
April 4, 6-8pm
Slow Muse
36 x 36 inches
Mixed media on wood panel
Blogger friend and slow painter Deborah Barlow has announced her upcoming solo exhibition at Woodbury Museum of Art, in Orem, Utah. Her dense, multi-layered works suggest to me many possible worlds of surfaces, high-angle views of unnamed places, and the secret life of atoms.
About her work, Deborah writes:
I am most interested by what is not obvious to the eye or the mind. Evidence suggests that every entity has a physical footprint, its own atmospheric field. That holds for physical objects as well as ideas. Looking for the hidden side of things is what compels me most.
Working in this way, painting becomes a record of how to search, listen and respond multi-dimensionally. The complexity of the final piece is a complexity of perceiving, synthesizing, and navigating a limitless world.
Opening reception: Tuesday, March 12, 5-8pm
Anonymous Drawings: Call for Submissions
Anonyme Zeichner/Anonymous Drawings has announced a Call for Submissions for a travelling international group show of drawings in Berlin, Leipzig and Einhoven. There is no artist fee, and if the work gets sold, the artist is paid 100 Euros.
The exhibition concept was founded in 2006 by the artist Anke Becker in Berlin, Germany. Since then, more than 5000 artists from all over the world have taken part in the project. More than 10 shows of Anonymous Drawings took place in Berlin and abroad up until today.
Since 2006 the Anonymous Drawings Archive came into being: There are more than 900 drawings in the Archive. Each of these works have previously been shown at one of the regular exhibitions. The works saved in the archive are mostly artists’ donations supporting the project. The ARCHIVE can also be shown as a travelling exhibition nationally and internationally. The archive grows with every new call for participation.
Anonyme Zeichner uses Crowdsourcing to fund this cool-sounding project.
Click on the link to apply!
A Passion for Design
In the 1990’s, when I was a dance videographer, I first knew Ainslie Cyopik as a sought-after dancer in Vancouver. A number of years later, I witnessed her retirement from professional dance and her beginnings as she started a small business designing dancewear.
Her success has been phenomenal, and her optimism and passion for what she does is a bit contagious when you meet her. The driving force behind AinslieWear, she has bridged the gap from professional dancer to professional designer. Having spent 15 years dancing with companies such the National Ballet of Canada and Ballet British Columbia, she often found the dancewear available didn’t quite fit right or meet the needs of long rehearsal days. Instead of “just making do”, she created a line of dancewear for herself with all the qualities she was looking for. Over the years, her reputation grew as a designer of dancewear clothing that not only looked great on, but was also made with a personal understanding of a dancer’s needs.
Carrying on her love for the art of dance and a true passion for the grace of its practitioners, Ainslie started a business focusing on her design and development of dancewear on a full-time basis in 1997. Today, AinslieWear bodysuits, known for their exceptional quality and fabulous fit, are worn by leading dancers and students alike, from Paris to Tokyo.
At left is Ainslie photographed in her first costume she made for herself at ballet school in her late teens. “I used two gorgeous dusty mauve shades of fabric and it flowed so well when I danced. I even kept a little piece of the fabric.”
More about Ainslie’s wonderful designs are on her website.
LOOSEN UP! Painting Workshop
January 2013
Are you a realist painter, and looking for ways to create more flow and movement in your work? Join me in my studio for six fun and challenging studio sessions amongst like-minded fellow artists.
If you have been painting alone, the group dynamic of a class creates a sense of camaraderie through an exchange of ideas. Warm-up exercises at the beginning of each day will give you new tools with which to understand how to move the paint around more freely. Students can bring projects already in process or start new ones in the class. The instructor will cover issues such as paint handling, palette and composition choices as well as historical and contemporary painting references. Oil and acrylic painters welcome (no turpentine, please).
The class size is small (maximum six students) so it’s an intimate and friendly setting.
Private consultations also available; please email Val for more information.
Dates: 6 Saturday mornings
January 19-February 23, 2013
Time: 10am-1pm
Location:
322b-1000 Parker Street,
East Vancouver, BC
Fee: *$50/session, $275 for 6
To register: val@valnelson.ca
Testimonial: “Val’s enthusiasm, sense of humour and gentle critiques kept me going as I worked tentatively through a frustrating time. For me “loosening up” meant working in the moment, rather than thinking ahead to a finished piece. I felt myself breaking through to a new way of working, both intellectually and technically, and I feel like my mind is finally connecting with my paintbrush!“
– Camille Sleeman, Visual Artist
*Please note that participants are encouraged to sign up for at least 4 sessions for group continuity.
Looking to the Past and Future
Dear friends,
Happy Holidays!
I am writing to thank you all for your friendship and support over the years. It means so much to me to have so many great people in my life–I couldn’t continue this challenging yet so rewarding adventure (also known as Life and Art) without you all.
2012 was exciting and varied in so many ways, and looking back I am thinking about all the things that I have been so fortunate to experience. One of them is teaching, meeting with and helping wonderful artists develop their abilities in their own unique voice.
I am continuing to teach out of my Vancouver studio on Saturdays in 2013 (see below), and the occasional workshop in various places in BC. The other thing I love to do (besides painting, of course) is travel. This summer I was fortunate to attend my first solo exhibition at Galerie de Bellefeuille in Montreal in June, visit dear friends briefly, then hop over to Europe for a two-week stay in Berlin. There I had a wonderful experience exploring the many fascinating layers of this vibrant city, making new friends, and looking at the great art of the past and a good cross-section of contemporary art in Berlin’s many museums.
I capped off my trip with a short visit to an artist friend in Milan, then a week in Tuscany, where I was invited to co-teach at Studio Borgo. I recommend this wonderful workshop where you can brush up on your technical skills in Tom Ruggio’s lovely classical atelier and take little day-trips to do plein air drawing and painting. Tom is very personable and knows the area and art history very well. If you want to go back to the basics and really strength your drawing and painting skills, Tom is an excellent teacher and has chosen a breathtaking setting. For more information: http://studioborgoart.com/. Please say hello to Tom for me if you are corresponding with him.
The past year I was also invited to teach at Vancouver Island School of Art, a wonderful contemporary art institution in Victoria, and the Vancouver Art Guild, both places at which I felt very welcome and have been asked to return soon.
Upcoming WORKSHOPS
In 2013, I am teaching my Loosen Up! workshop again on Saturday mornings, January 19-February 23, 10am-1pm, at my studio at #322b-1000 Parker Street in east Vancouver near Venables and Clark streets. The class is for artists who want to move away from tight renderring to a more painterly way of handling their materials. This is a 6-session class, with a supportive group exchange and warm-up exercises to get people thinking about ways to approach their work differently. I encourage participants to sign up to at least 4 sessions if they can, for better continuity within the group. Sessions are $50 each, or all six for $275. Please let me know if you would like to attend a workshop.
Other activities coming up in 2013:
Loose Brushwork with Oil Paint Demo, January 12, 2013 at Granville Island Opus Art Supplies Store, Vancouver
Painting Jumpstart Workshop, South Delta Artist Guild May 10, 11, and 12, 2013
Toronto Exhibition 2013 If you are in Toronto in May, I hope you can join me at Bau-Xi Gallery, opening May 18 and running through June 1.
with warm thoughts, and good wishes for a Merry Christmas!
Val
Looking to the Past and Future
Dear friends,
Happy Holidays!
I am writing to thank you all for your friendship and support over the years. It means so much to me to have so many great people in my life–I couldn’t continue this challenging yet so rewarding adventure (also known as Life and Art) without you all.
2012 was exciting and varied in so many ways, and looking back I am thinking about all the things that I have been so fortunate to experience. One of them is teaching, meeting with and helping wonderful artists develop their abilities in their own unique voice.
I am continuing to teach out of my Vancouver studio on Saturdays in 2013 (see below), and the occasional workshop in various places in BC. The other thing I love to do (besides painting, of course) is travel. This summer I was fortunate to attend my first solo exhibition at Galerie de Bellefeuille in Montreal in June, visit dear friends briefly, then hop over to Europe for a two-week stay in Berlin. There I had a wonderful experience exploring the many fascinating layers of this vibrant city, making new friends, and looking at the great art of the past and a good cross-section of contemporary art in Berlin’s many museums.
I capped off my trip with a short visit to an artist friend in Milan, then a week in Tuscany, where I was invited to co-teach at Studio Borgo. I recommend this wonderful workshop where you can brush up on your technical skills in Tom Ruggio’s lovely classical atelier and take little day-trips to do plein air drawing and painting. Tom is very personable and knows the area and art history very well. If you want to go back to the basics and really strength your drawing and painting skills, Tom is an excellent teacher and has chosen a breathtaking setting. For more information: http://studioborgoart.com/. Please say hello to Tom for me if you are corresponding with him.
The past year I was also invited to teach at Vancouver Island School of Art, a wonderful contemporary art institution in Victoria, and the Vancouver Art Guild, both places at which I felt very welcome and have been asked to return soon.
Upcoming WORKSHOPS
In 2013, I am teaching my Loosen Up! workshop again on Saturday mornings, January 19-February 23, 10am-1pm, at my studio at #322b-1000 Parker Street in east Vancouver near Venables and Clark streets. The class is for artists who want to move away from tight renderring to a more painterly way of handling their materials. This is a 6-session class, with a supportive group exchange and warm-up exercises to get people thinking about ways to approach their work differently. I encourage participants to sign up to at least 4 sessions if they can, for better continuity within the group. Sessions are $50 each, or all six for $275. Please let me know if you would like to attend a workshop.
Other activities coming up in 2013:
Loose Brushwork with Oil Paint Demo, January 12, 2013 at Granville Island Opus Art Supplies Store, Vancouver
Painting Jumpstart Workshop, South Delta Artist Guild May 10, 11, and 12, 2013
Toronto Exhibition 2013 If you are in Toronto in May, I hope you can join me at Bau-Xi Gallery, opening May 18 and running through June 1.
with warm thoughts, and good wishes for a Merry Christmas!
Val
Doing What You Love
Below is an excerpt posted from the delightful newsletter I receive each Sunday from Brainpickings Weekly:
“There is an ugliness in being paid for work one does not like,” Anaïs Nin wrote in her diary in 1941. Indeed, finding a sense of purpose and doing what makes the heart sing is one of the greatest human aspirations – and yet too many people remain caught in the hamster wheel of unfulfilling work. In 1949, career counselor William J. Reilly penned How To Avoid Work (UK; public library) – a short guide to finding your purpose and doing what you love. Despite the occasional vintage self-helpism of the tone, the book is remarkable for many reasons – written at the dawn of the American corporate era and the golden age of the housewife, it not only encouraged people of all ages to pursue their passions over conventional, safe occupations, but it also spoke to both men and women with equal regard.
Reilly begins by exploring the mythologies of work and play, something Lewis Hyde has written of beautifully, with an uncomfortable but wonderfully apt metaphor:
Most [people] have the ridiculous notion that anything they do which produces an income is work – and that anything they do outside ‘working’ hours is play. There is no logic to that. … Your life is too short and too valuable to fritter away in work. If you don’t get out now, you may end up like the frog that is placed in a pot of fresh water on the stove. As the temperature is gradually increased, the frog feels restless and uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough to jump out. Without being aware that a chance is taking place, be is gradually lulled into unconsciousness.
Much the same thing happens when you take a person and put him in a job which he does not like. He gets irritable in his groove. His duties soon become a monotonous routine that slowly dulls his senses. As I walk into offices, through factories and stores, I often find myself looking into the expressionless faces of people going through mechanical motions. They are people whose minds are stunned and slowly dying.
To illustrate the idea that “life really begins when you have discovered that you can do anything you want,” Reilly quotes Amelia Earhart, a woman of strong and refreshing liberal for their time opinions:
I flew the Atlantic because I wanted to. If that be what they call ‘a woman’s reason,’ make the most of it. It isn’t, I think, a reason to be apologized for by man or woman. … Whether you are flying the Atlantic or selling sausages or building a skyscraper or driving a truck, your greatest power comes from the fact that you want tremendously to do that very thing, and do it well.