Musings on Art and Creativity

The last few years have been hard for a lot of us, and because of this, I truly believe art is not a luxury, but an existential necessity. It can take our breath away, allowing us to see the world in a new way. Georgia O’Keeffe’s series of giant flowers were about the value of taking the time to see:   Still — in a way — nobody sees a flower — really — it is so small — we haven’t time — and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.  ~ Georgia O’Keeffe    Much in the way a painting [...]

The quiet still and colorful days of Autumn are slowly giving way to winter. The cold has returned, and the peak of the leaves is past. The studio tour is over, and was a success. I look forward to more time painting in the studio again.   This is one of the small paintings I did for the tour - a fun study of animal personalities. The mood of this seemingly shy, but friendly cow feels like Autumn to me. There used to be fields full of cattle by the side of road nearby. The farmer has since sold most of the herd, and [...]

Getting stalked by a seagull when having a snack at the lake or the beach is a common experience. You know their sharp eyes are on that hot dish of french fries you just picked up. I remember this one (above) was after my roasted peanuts. I had been sitting on the shale beach at Craigleith Provincial Park several years ago and they circled me like a cat, never getting too close. Eventually, I put a peanut on the rock, and they’d dash in a grab it, running off to the periphery, never too far away, and never eyes off me [...]

The view out my bedroom window is of a cluster of pines. The sun rises over them bathing them in gradual light, first over the mountain, then over the roof of my house. Needles go from blue green in shadow, to bright green gold when the sun crosses that threshold. Trunks glow as if made of precious metals. The darkness recedes, and the mysteries of the deep shadow of boughs is gone for another day.    All summer I’ve been watching the path of the light. I wanted to catch that transition from shadow, however, I have not quite been up to prepping [...]

Do I tell you a story? Or do I just let the painting tell it? [...]

  I have been struggling with my hands since late last year, hence the long intervals between communications. They haven’t been working like they are supposed to. I had not been able to paint at all for several months, and most days any activity was, and sometimes still is, short lived. The painting in this post was the first since November ’22. I can feel it is different from previous work.   If there is one thing I have learned through this experience, is that an artist’s style is less in the head and more in the hands. Their shape, motion, flexibility all have [...]