Negative Space With Crows, With Apologies and Thanks to Mordecai Richler

I recently attempted to read "Solomon Gursky Was Here," a novel by Mordecai Richler. I've read and enjoyed a few books by Richler, but I thought this one was nothing but nonsensical babble - I mean, really bad, dull and verbose in the extreme. This review sums it up.

I feel compelled to finish a book once I've started it, but in recent years I've decided there are far too many good books out there for me to waste time plodding through bad ones. As for this book, I didn't want to pass it along to another unsuspecting reader, and my life-long love of books wouldn't allow me to throw it into the trash, so I decided to recycle it in my own special way. Feeling like a bit of a devil, I began tearing pages out of the book - and I must admit the more I tore, the more I enjoyed it!

I've done some painting over collage elements before and felt pleased with the effect, so I used a mixture of water and acrylic medium to adhere bits from the torn pages onto a wooden cradle panel and began painting. I've created four works so far incorporating pages from the book and have several other Richler-collage substrates awaiting. Best of all, I sold one of these works just a few days after I'd finished it and two others are hanging in the Watershed Art Gallery!

Painter's Remorse

Three Women at the Spring, Picasso, 1921 (MoMA, New York)

Several years ago I was inspired by this painting and created my own version, incorporating the colour palette and symbolic elements I often employ in my works:

Three Women at the Spring, After Picasso, 2007 (now lost, Delta, BC)

Here it is on my easel, close to being finished (alas, I cannot find a photo of the finished work).

The painting hung on the wall in my dining room for many years. One impulsive morning, when I was overflowing with inspiration and had no suitable substrate at hand, I took it down, removed it from the frame, and painted over it. Never regretted it or gave it another thought until this morning when I was surfing through blogs and discovered this post by Felicia Marshall.

Her lovely painting started stirrings of regret in my wee brain. I worked on my painting for months and it turned out not too badly, in fact, members of my household were more than a little annoyed with my impulsiveness and claimed it was a favourite. Okay, okay - lesson learned. In future I shall attempt to be less impulsive and more circumspect. In fact, perhaps I shall paint over the paint-over and go for a reinterpretation ...

Winged Woman as Vessel

There's nothing like a swiftly approaching deadline to push me back into the studio. I've had this work sitting, half-finished, on my easel for months. Finished it just now and will deliver it to North Delta's Firehall Gallery tomorrow; show opens Friday.

Back in the studio again

I've been in the studio all day working on a new Woman as Vessel piece - stay tuned ...

The Emerald Isle

My youngest daughter and I returned last week from a fabulous two weeks in Ireland. What fun we had and what delightful sights we saw!

One of the finest examples of a Celtic cross, Monasterboice.

Monasterboice

Over a garden wall.

Cliffs of Moher, 214m high at the highest point and range for 8 kilometres over the Atlantic Ocean on the western seaboard of County Clare.

Dunluce Castle, North Antrim Coast.

The Giants Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, North Antrim Coast.