Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Today's the day to visit De Dutch


I hope you were watching The Morning News on Global TV this morning - the hosts were given pannakoeks from De Dutch and were talking about the Inspiration for the Cure Art Competition, the postcard series, and showed 4 of the winning entries, including Winged Woman With Sturdy Shoes.

As previously mentioned in an earlier blog, today $2 from each pannakoek sold and $5 from each post card series sold will go to the BC/Yukon Breast Cancer Foundation. Bon appetit!

Monday, February 27, 2006

Young Mother With Sturdy Shoes: Advice

Detail
Detail

I have been asked for an interpretation of this work, so here it is:

The figure is a young mother (the tressses of her hair have not yet formed into the birds that represent the experiences of the past and of the future: she is new to motherhood and is entirely focussed on the present). She is constantly (seven birds - every day) being offered well-meaning advice (berries). As she is well-centred, she is able to listen to her inner voice (leaning her head against the spiral curl) and intuitively know which advice to accept (the berries in her arms) and which to discard (those on the ground around her feet).

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Young Mother With Sturdy Shoes: Advice



This is a painting I started in October and set aside until yesterday - worked on it all day and again today until I finished it this evening.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Community Advocate With Sturdy Shoes


Earlier this month I had the opportunity to meet with an advocate from a local non-profit society that supports members of the community in need of financial assistance from the government. I was impressed with her dedication to a job that must surely be an uphill battle in these times of government cut-backs to social programs and welfare funding. Her clients are people often marginalized by society and I was especially touched by the respect and dignity with which she treats them. As a result I was inspired to create Community Advocate With Sturdy Shoes.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Inspiration for the Cure Art Competition - BC/Yukon Breast Cancer Foundation


Woman With Sturdy Shoes was chosen by a panel of judges (including Joe Average and Lynn Collier) as one of ten entries to be made into a limited postcard series to be sold for $15 per set at De Dutch locations on Shrove Tuesday, February 28th, to benefit the BC/Yukon Breast Cancer Foundation. Please mark the 28th on your calendar and consider a meal at De Dutch to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research - $2 from every pannekoek and $5 from every postcard set sold.

The ebay auction for the artwork has been changed to begin at 12 AM February 19th and end on Shrove Tuesday, February 28th - I'll post the ebay link when I receive it on the 19th.

I've reconfigured my blog so that you may add a comment whether you are registered with blogger.com or not; just click on the comment icon at the end of each posting - I look forward to your comments.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a sneak peak at one of my works for an upcoming 2007 solo exhibition entitled After Picasso. Bust of a Woman, After Picasso, After Cranach, #2 (left) is a mixed media work based upon Picasso's 1958 linocut, Bust of a Woman, After Cranach (middle), which was based upon Lucas Cranach the Younger's 16th century oil painting, Portrait of a Woman (bottom).

A linocut produces a reverse image, so as you can see, Picasso's image is a reverse image of the Cranach image. Picasso must have felt unhappy with the large negative space in the Cranach work, so for his version, he added a curtain to activate the space. Clearly a good choice, framing the figure as it does.

It appears that Cranach was most interested in the ornate jewellry and costume the woman was wearing, and Picasso was also interested in this aspect of the portrait, for as you can see, he's embellished the ornamentation on his figure.

My interest is in the considerable weight of the ornamentation and works for my series express the variety of weights today's women bear in everyday life. After Picasso #2 places the figure in a niche (the niche market) and surrounds her with print media extracted from magazine ads - all vowels, representing all words - the weight in this case being the bombardment of advertising aimed at women and depicting what a happy woman looks like: she wears expensive clothes and perfumes, she has happy perfect children, she lives in a fabulous architecturally designed home on the waterfront or near the ski slopes, she drives a luxury car, and her husband buys her diamonds for every conceivable occasion, etc. An impossible reality to attain, but one that we, as women, are encouraged to strive for every time we open a newspaper or magazine, or when we turn on the television. Although this type of advertising is, of course, meant to encourage women to spend money on the advertised products and lifestyles, I believe that it also exacts a subliminal emotional toll. What do you think?

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Winged Mother With Sturdy Shoes #3: Between Laundry and Scrubbing


I finished this work yesterday - it's one I started in September/October as part of my With Sturdy Shoes series. This winged mother is taking a mental pause between the third load of laundry and scrubbing the bathroom ... actually, that pretty well explains when I found time to work on this painting...

Monday, February 06, 2006

Woo-hoo: Strawberry waffles for me!



I have just received word that Winged Woman With Sturdy Shoes will be exhibited at Hycroft University Women's Club in Vancouver at the Inspiration for the Cure launch event next Monday (for this I will receive a gift certificate for De Dutch). At the launch event De Dutch will unveil the 12 works chosen for the limited edition postcard series (these winners will receive a cash Honorarium and the meal each month for a year prize). Attendees will have the opportunity to bid on the works and at the end of the evening, the highest bid for each painting will become the starting bid on the e-Bay auction for the works. The e-Bay auction will be open to bidders from February 14th until the 28th. I am donating 25% of the winning bid to the Breast Cancer Foundation. Feel free to place your bids beginning Valentine's Day!

Friday, February 03, 2006

Winged Mother With Sturdy Shoes #2




This is a painting I started in September for my With Sturdy Shoes series. Yesterday was a successful day in the studio as I finished it and had a brainstorm for a new work. Today I'm off to the studio to complete another painting I began in September for the same series.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Happy Ground Hog's Day!


Today I'm posting a detail image from Winged Woman With Sturdy Shoes so that you may see the tiny brush strokes that make up the fabric of Winged Woman's clothing.

Yesterday I worked towards finishing two other paintings from my With Sturdy Shoes series - my goal is to complete 15-20 paintings for my show at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre in June. Today I'll spend 5-8 hours in my studio completing the paintings I worked on yesterday and, hopefully, I'll begin a new painting tomorrow. Generally I set aside three days per week to spend in the studio (M.W.F.) - on those days I turn up my music (Patsy Cline and K.T. Olsen this week), ignore the telephone, and immerse myself in my work. I missed working on Monday, so I'm working today to make up for it.

You'll know if I was successful in the studio today if you see a new painting posted tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006



Well, what do you know - it worked! I spent 3 hours going out of my mind yesterday unsuccessfully trying to post this image, and had to push my laptop under the bed so that I couldn't even see it as I was so frustrated. Then this morning, first try I was successful - ain't that life!

Winged Woman With Sturdy Shoes is acrylic on canvas (30" x 24"). Like most of my works, this one is loaded with symbolism and below is an interpretation for those of you who are curious about what this image means to me:

This winged woman represents the women of the Earth as guardian angels and nurturers of our planet. The future is represented by the tips of her hair which form seven robins: 7, representing the days of the week, and thereby encompassing every day; and robins, representing the harbingers of Spring - a new beginning - the future; she is solid, strong, well-centred; she wears sturdy shoes to help her stand her ground; she has wings to help herself and those she nurtures to fly; her arms and hands are linked together and are as one - she is able to hold onto all things important to her; her dress is adorned with a growing vine - representing healthy life, self-growth, spiritual growth; the fabric of her dress is woven into a complicated pattern of threads which represent the complex patterns of life that a well-centered woman is able to wear with ease.