Wat Pho, Bangkok

One of many extraordinary places to visit in Bangkok.

Cambodia

These young Cambodian monks were happy to give us a tour of the temple grounds where they work with orphans and people with HIV. Might their eager friendliness have had something to do with my two beautiful young travelling companions? One of them asked me what I was doing about finding husbands for my daughters and told me he would be a "normal person" in just 6 months.

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Angkor Thom, where "Laura Croft: Tomb Raider" was filmed, has been left in its natural state with nature reclaiming manmade monuments. These trees grow their roots above ground and during the rainy season they soak up all the water they need to survive the following year.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

This was a magical, spiritual place - I haven't the words to describe the wonder of this UNESCO world heritage site consisting of more than 100 stone temples built between 802 and 1220 AD. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal.

Life is a beach

Two weeks ago, early morning on the way to the beautiful island of Ko Tao.

Sigh ...

Message from the beautiful island of Koh Tao

Hello from Koh Tao! This is a tiny island off the east coast of Thailand - a haven for scuba divers as it offers some of the best diving in the world. The atmosphere here is very serene and peaceful as divers here from all over the world are seriously into their sport and can't dive with hang-overs. Yesterday Taryn and I went snorkelling and Ali went scuba diving. The water is crystal clear - amazing visibily - a large variety of exotic fish and coral. The water is very salty so buoyancy is a no-brainer - you wave a hand once every couple of minutes to keep your head above water. Every cove around the island looks like paradise with a white sand beach and cabins on stilts nestled into rock formations. I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful place. Sawatdee ka.

Hello from Bangkok

I've been in BKK for several days now and am thoroughly enjoying every moment of the adventure. The streets are full of people, the traffic is unbelievably clogged, roads are filled with dirt and grime until it rains and then they flood. Sounds a bit grim, but I'm loving the hustle and bustle and all the sights ... and all the food! I'm bringing back lots of glass and stone beads and am looking forward to incorporating them into jewellery designs this summer. Ta-ta for now.

The Bride

This is my last art post for a month, as I'm leaving for Thailand in 15 minutes. It's also my Illustration Friday post for the theme SNAP:

In a SNAP, Sandy made the decision to keep walking right past the groom and minister standing before her on the beach. She felt light and free as she ran towards her new future and all the possibilities within it.

Villages of the South of France

Languedoc Village #6, acrylic on cut wood panel, 17" x 15".

This petite work is from the Villages of the South of France series. A number of works from the series were acrylic on cut wood panel - this is the smallest. The cut wood works are hung slightly away from the wall to create an interesting shadow behind them, as seen in this photo of the work as it hung on the gallery wall at the Firehall Centre for the Arts during the month of February.

With Sturdy Shoes: She Pays It Forward

This work is the last painting (to date) of my With Sturdy Shoes series. I finished it just last week in time to submit it and 2 other works as entries into the 6th annual artSpacific juried exhibition. I was very pleased to receive a letter from the show Chair today confirming that all three works have been accepted into this mid-April to early May exhibition, billed as "an impressive coming together of artists from many communities in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island."

The other two works are Three Women, After Picasso, and Child Holding a Dove, After Picasso (see previous posts).

Announcement: I have opened my Etsy store - please check it out by clicking on one of the images or on my name in the sidebar to the right.

Three Women

Here's the Picasso-inspired painting I've been working on for several weeks - as you can see, I've added quite a few details and finishing touches since my last post on this work (scroll down a few posts). I've finished it just in time to enter it into a local juried show - cross your fingers for me.

Illustration Friday - HIDE

With her biggest secret behind her and nothing else to hide, Jane felt remarkably light and free.

This is my submission for IF, and I do believe I have covered (or uncovered) more than one definition of the theme word here.

This wee 8"x 10" acrylic on canvas painting is based upon a figure in Picasso's 1920 oil and charcoal on wood piece, 'By the Sea'.

Communicating with Picasso

This is the work currently stationed on my easel - three quarters finished. Thank goodness it snowed heavily last night: I'm supposed to be hanging this and the other works in the series today, but I have a few days reprieve thanks to the downy layer sent from heaven. I'm thoroughly enjoying working on this Picasso influenced series, reinterpreting the great man's works in my own style ... well, actually, in this particular work my style is greatly overshadowed by the overwhelming power of his style, making my painting more of a pastiche than a reinterpretation. This is a 30"x 24" acrylic on canvas, echoing Picasso's 6'8"x 68 1/2" oil on canvas monumental work entitled Three Women at the Fountain (Spring). The original is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is from Picasso's neo classical period during which he painted large, heavy-looking figures in timeless, classical poses. These three women are gathered at the spring to collect water and to COMMUNICATE with one another, and as COMMUNICATE is Illustration Friday's current theme, this my submission.

Child Holding a Dove

This work is the smallest I've painted in many years - just 10"x8", but the scale seems to suit the subject matter nicely. This work was inspired by Picasso's oil painting of the same name, painted in 1901 when he was just 20 years old. I was attracted to the work by the little girl's pose, as she gently holds the dove with both hands and her chin and the way the awkward hunch of her shoulder shows how hard she's focused on trying to be gentle.

I ain't no Picasso

My husband made a comment this morning that gave me a good hard laugh - he was looking at my blog and said his favourite work from this series was a work I hadn't completed yet and he urged me not to complete it in my usual style because it was an especially excellent piece as is. It was the top image on my February 16th post: not my work at all, but rather the original Picasso work. OK, so my work doesn't measure up to Picasso's (not that I would ever imagine in my wildest dreams that it would!) At least I may take some comfort in knowing that nobody else's does either.

Third of Three

Here it is - the last of the three portrait works after Picasso. This figure is older than the young woman of the first painting, and the mother of the second. She's heavier, her jaw line sags a bit, she has a line under her outward facing eye. She's past the youthful age of caring only for herself, and motherhood where her life is complicated by raising children. Now her interest lies in the community she lives in and the global community.

Illustration Friday - GRAVITY

The mother in Pocket Baby Dream is defying GRAVITY in her dream as she soars above daily life with her child safely tucked into her pocket.

second of three

Here's the second of the 3-painting suite.

After "Villages" = After Picasso

Now that Villages of the South of France is hanging in the gallery, I'm preparing for my next show - "After Picasso". I've already finished a few works for this show (see earlier posts), and now I'm working on a 3-painting suite based on Picasso's 1957 oil painting, "Portrait of Jacqueline". Picasso painted hundreds of portraits of Jaqueline Roque, whom he married in 1961.

Now, before you say, "hey, you can't copy another artist's work!" I'd like to point out that rather than copying Picasso's works I am reinterpreting them in my own style. Picasso himself reinterpreted hundreds of paintings by such artists as Delacroix, Manet, Velazquez, van Gogh, and Matisse, only to name a few, so I am quite comfortable borrowing a page from his book (both literally and figuratively).

As you can see I have borrowed Picasso's composition and dark/light contrast, and even that weirdly positioned hand, and incorporated my usual colour palette, symbology, and painting style.

Stay tuned for the second painting of the suite...

tsk-tsk Jaqui

Thank you Boaz for the article you wrote, the photos you took, and for being very patient when Jaqui tried to get in on every photo op.

I'm a Cover Girl At Last!

Well, Cover Woman of a Certain Age ...

Ecluse et Village

This work depicts one of the many stops we made on our journey along the Midi Canal: the penichette (houseboat) in an ecluse (loch) in front of a walled village. Local wines, homemade marmalades and pates were often advertised upon a wine barrel outside the door of a tiny room that long ago was probably a tool shed in the centuries-old loch keepers' houses. The cypress tree is a symbol of welcome and they often lined parts of the canal and the streets leading to villages - here I've painted 7 cypresses to represent the friendly villagers we encountered who, with patience and good humour, tried to understand our attempts to communicate with them in French each day.

A few works from my February show - Villages of the South of France

These three paintings each measure approximately 12" x 12".

Languedoc Village

These are cut wood panel paintings - painted on wood and cut out along the villages' outer boundaries; they are hung out from the wall a bit so as to create a shadow behind them.


Each village contains 7 structures, representing the 7 days of the week and therefore every day (and the everyday); as noted on our journey along the Midi Canal, the central structure in each village is a church.

Of special note to me was the fact that even in the smallest villages we visited, the churches were adorned with elaborate stained glass windows that must have cost villagers and the church dearly when they were built hundreds of years ago (the clocks, of course, were later additions).

Les Petite Villages

Here are some images of works hanging in the gallery for the month of February.

This set of three tiny cut wood panel paintings are entitled Petite Village #1, #2, & #3.

Petite Village #3 is composed of 4 different layers of wood panel .

I'm back from the edge

Well, the Villages of the South of France is hanging in the gallery - all twenty-some-odd works. I'm finally able to relax from the chaotic ambience of my studio and household - I worked into the wee hours of the morning for most of January and thank goodness my charming husband enjoys cooking ... I somewhat shamefully admit I've managed to prepare only two dinners in the last month. The opening reception had a delightfully large turnout and last week I was visited in my studio by a reporter/photographer from the local paper; hopefully there will be a couple of photos and a line or two about my art practice in an upcoming Sunday edition. I will revisit the gallery this week and take photos for a future posting. In the meantime - thank you to my family (my magnificent mom deftly wielded a paintbrush for two coats of primer on my numerously-angled wooden canvases!) to my friends (ever supportive) and to all of you Illustration Friday bloggers for your encouraging words of support.

The EEEEK!!! Factor

I was recently asked by a friend if I finish one painting completely before starting another - I told him that is exactly what I do; and normally that is true ... however, as the February 1st opening date of my show is fast approaching, and between now and then I'll be out of town for 8 days (EEEEK!!!) I have revised my modus operandi and have set up several painting stations around the house. Aside from painting in my studio, I now have works on the go in the living room, kitchen, front entrance, and TV room and the household is in chaotic turmoil - my ever supportive husband does the cooking, dust bunnies are piling up in every corner, I am severely sleep deprived, and I haven't gone anywhere for the last 10 days that required me to step out of my slippers and paint splattered shirt. I could go on with this blabbering, but I've got work to do! Wish me luck and continued energy.

On the easel today

This is another work in progress for my upcoming show. I'm using acrylic paint on wood panel - I love the way texture from the grain in the wood reveals itself in the painting, even after 2-3 coats of Gesso and multiple layers of paint. The blobby shapes in the foreground will become an 'ecluse' (loch keeper's station) and a boat in a loch.

Illustration Friday - BUZZ

I didn't think I'd submit to Illustration Friday this week because I'm too "buzz"y painting canvases for my upcoming Villages of the South of France show, however, when my husband peeked in my studio and saw the underpainting of this work on my easel he asked me if I was painting a beehive. I realized this particular village is shaped like a bee skep, and as I continued working on it I thought a small village like this would be a-buzz with activity and gossip. So here it is, 95% finished, my contribution to Illustration Friday. PS - for a nanosecond I thought of adding a bee to the sunflower but decided that would be far to corny for words.

Another work in progress

acrylic paint on wood panel

From the Midi Canal/South of France series

The first finished painting of 2007

From the Midi Canal/South of France series

Back to the easel

Now that all the Christmas chocolates in the house have been eaten, I'm re-focusing my attention to preparations for my upcoming show: Villages of the South of France. The paintings in this series are not necessarily portraits of the villages I visited a few months ago, but rather are impressions of the church-centred scenes I saw over my glasses of wonderful local wines as we travelled the Midi Canal. Here's a mid-progress shot of a 23 3/4" x 17 3/4" x 3" exhibition canvas.

Peace - Illustration Friday

Winged Woman With Sturdy Shoes - this is my submission for Illustration Friday's peace theme.

Good-bye Winged Woman With Sturdy Shoes

The good news is that I sold this work yesterday; the sad news is that I shall miss it very much as it's one of my favourites and enjoyed a prominent spot in my studio - it greeted and inspired me every time I entered the room; better news is that I am filled with inspiration to immediately set paint brush to canvas and fill that now vacant wall space.

Illustration Friday - HELP

Here's a painting I did earlier this year and it's my entry for Illustration Friday's Theme - "HELP". This work is entitled Community Advocate With Sturdy Shoes. The community advocate works to HELP those in the community who need assistance in caring for themselves and their families - those who may not be able to navigate their own way through the often complicated twists and turns of governmental bureaucracy. This advocate stands firmly centred in her sturdy shoes, embracing her clients; the rainbow of colours illustrates the diverse backgrounds, cultures, ethnic groups, philosophies, and mental and physical abilities of those in need; the advocate's hair is spiky like a porcupine = she's on the defensive for her clients in these days of government cutbacks to social programs; the fence is taller than the figure = she feels hemmed in by the daunting challenges she faces; on her apron above the housetops there is a little bit of blue sky = hope. The clients and the houses are in series of 7 = the days of the week and therefore everyday. Let's celebrate those who are proactive in helping those within our own communities and the global community who need a little HELP to get by.

Limited Edition Prints Now Available

Limited edition prints of these paintings are now available in a variety of sizes on-line through Art for All of Us: http://artforallofus.com/roden.php

A portion of all sales goes to charity - when you purchase a print you choose from Art For Us All's list of charities (my charity of choice from the list is Habitat for Humanity).

Update

I've been busy preparing for Christmas and working on finishing up jewellery orders, so I have nothing new in the way of completed artwork to show you. I am working on paintings on wood for my South of France/Midi Canal show in February.

Village

Here's another recently completed 11.5" x 11.5" painting from the South of France series.

A new series of paintings

I spent most of September travelling along the Midi Canal in the south of France and as a result I've begun a series of paintings of the villages, churches, cathedrals, and castles from memories and photographs I took along the way. A church was the outstanding central structure in every village and town we visited. As you can see, my characteristic use of symbolism appears in this example (Montpellier, acrylic on canvas, 11 1/2" x 11 1/2"): 7 houses (including the house of God) represent the 7 days of the week, and therefore everyday; the houses of the community lean against each other for support, although their philosophical outlooks may differ (the various angles of doorways, windows, and rooftops).

Illustration Friday?

I haven't actually posted this to Illustration Friday... this week's theme is "clear"... which rhymes with "deer" ... but I think that's a bit of a stretch, don't you? I started this petite 12" x 24" work yesterday and finished it today.

Illustration Friday

This is an image from earlier this year - With Sturdy Shoes: Tippy-Toe Prayer - it's my contribution to Illustration Friday's latest theme: Smoke