Old Home Week

Staying at my mother's house, I find it interesting to be confronted with testaments to my ongoing development as an artist as I wander from room to room.


When I was at art school, most of my paintings were about 48 x 36 inches. I only painted in oils, which were furnished by the school. I loved the rich smell and creamy texture of the paints when I mixed them with Damar varnish and turpentine.



I find, though, that my oil paintings looked like they were done with acrylics. They had a certain flatness to them. We weren't taught any techniques; just thrown in to muck about until we found our own style. A list of suggested colours was provided, and the proportions for mixing the medium to add to the paint. We were also shown how to build stretchers and stretch the canvas properly.



My motifs were largely to do with nature but were more decorative than organic. I was greatly influenced by Persian paintings (hard to tell from these examples, perhaps).

So these are a sample of my art school work. Blasts from the past. At least they don't make me cringe when I see them!

Words to Live By

I made my pilgrimmage to my own Mecca, Opus Framing and Art Supplies store. Even though I live 4,000 miles away on the other coast from here, I order my art supplies from Opus. But seeing as I'm here, I stopped by to pick up a few tubes of acrylics. This was the sign they had posted on their outside notice board. (Mr. Dress-up was a Canadian children's program TV host that my little sister and then my own daughter used to watch as tots). I think it's pretty good advice.

Postcard: Whey-ah-Wichen

(handmade cloth art doll, approx. 10" tall)


"Whey-ah-Wichen" (Facing the Wind) is the name given to the park near my parents' house. Its forest and beach provide a place of solace, refuge, and joy to me on each of my visits "home." I created this spirit doll, or talisman, the year my father died. It's free-form,entirely hand-stitched, and uses objects mostly found in the park or on the beach there. The body is made from a man's handkerchief that had been lying on the grass in the rain and the sun for several days. The hair is a tuft of dog hair that I found billowing along the trail. Sticks, shells, stones, dried moss were all gathered there. The beads, paints and threads were part of the "arsenal" I'd brought with me, knowing I'd have the urge to create something, somehow, during my 5-month stay. When the figure was finished, I still felt something was missing, but I knew it would eventually come to me. Sure enough, on a visit to a native art gallery, I picked up the last free postcard advertising an event in the park, "Whey-ah-Wichen" in bold print across the front. I cut out the name and stitched it to her body.


With this talisman, I was able to bring the spirit of the park, and my memories of that time, back with me when I returned to my east coast home.




Here are some pictures of my beloved park. If you'd like to see more, head over to my Decollete blog.