New Things

Untitled October 2010 

Untitled Acrylic November 2010

Flag Tree

Oh wait i lied, my camera phone seems to take okay pics at least for internet quality. 

This is a drawing called Flag Tree. I used to do drawings like these incessantly when I was a teenager, but I allowed myself to be convinced somewhere along the line that they weren't 'fine art'. so now that i only really care about making art that is sincere, i thought id have a go at drawing again. 


The form of this drawing - of a tree on a hill in some way encapsulating or birthing a human form has been repeated in countless sketches and paintings of mine in a different ways. I could ascribe all kinds of meanings to this form and its significance in my life but I would prefer to leave it open for discussion. 


Hope you enjoy. 


Thanks


Lisa

camera down

You may have noticed that I have not posted anything lately. It is not because I haven't been working but that my camera has died. It gave its last whimper of an attempt to photograph a drawing I did almost a month ago. 

It had a long life and will be missed. 

A new camera is not in the budget at the moment but hoping i'll be able to rely on the charity of friends every now and then. :) 

Lis

Repeated Pattern

This is a pattern that I am putting together for my living room. Mauri has made a set of acoustic baffles for his studio and I am going to put a painted stencil pattern on their linen fronts. This is a first go at it so I guess there will be some more work to do on it. I think that I will make a scaled size to make a stencil. I'll print it and cut it out of some plexi.

Will keep post as things develop. 

Lisa 

Bliss

This painting has been on my easel for the past month. It started out with something I saw/felt in yoga class while in a balance posture. So the first layer was based on that feeling. Over the next few weeks I put a couple other layers on, but by then the original feeling had faded and for a while there I really hated it. The real epiphany moment came last week while I was working on it. There was a moment where I had no idea what I was doing with it anymore and I decided to say to hell with it and just have fun. After that over the next couple hours something emerged and the original impetus came through.

I like this one alot and I hope you enjoy is as well.

Also, this is a necklace I made for my mom that is a combination of wooden beads and pearls. I like the contrast of natural materials.

Lisa

Rant 1

I want to rain down all over this city so that my contours might fit its streets and valleys; so my pores might absorb unheard whispers of opportunity and good intention. I want to run through the black tunnels of the subway trains with torn and blistered feet so my blood might bring some shade of humanity to those screeching metallic halls. Sometimes I think this place is a husk – devoid of the passion I crave. Other times I see the chaos that that passion brings and I understand why this world shies away from those hungry fingers.

Regardless of the sense, the logic and the ease of living under these metal arches, sometimes I miss brightness and colour. I miss the fecund humid air, and the shaded bamboo arches of my past.

uncoiled

The past month has been jam packed with events that have taken away from my making of things. BUT these weeks have also offered tonnes of inspiration, love and friendship. Above are some pictures of necklaces I have made in the past couple weeks. The first is called Uncoiled because it reminds me of a snake. The second is called Aqua. It's something my Mum asked me to make for her. The last is called Primadonna. It's something I made for myself for my birthday coming up. 


There's also a painting on my easel. Right now it looks like tye-dye. I don't really know where it's going at the moment but in the coming weeks I'll keep you posted. 


I am going to a gallery opening at the ROM on Thursday which should be really inspirational. The curator said she liked my work alot but unfortunately, I did not have anything at the sizes they were looking for. Which points to the fact that I need to start working larger... 


More to come! 


Thanks for reading. 


L.

Dream

Fresh off the press I finished this painting this morning. It's been on the easel for about 2 weeks. It's to do with alot of things. My working title is Dream of City, Dream of Love. 

Hope you enjoy it. 

Lisa 

Pearls and Ribbons

My latest project has been making pieces of jewelry for the brides in my life. I'm trying out pearls for the first time. Of course I don't really want to say too much about them until i actually GIVE them their pieces, so working shots will have to do for now. I am truly a novice at jewelry making, but I love it. It's all in the hands and it totally gets me out of my head. 

The satisfaction one gets from their art I suppose is totally relative to the way you approach the whole thing. When I think too much about what I want to do with my paintings for example, quite often they stagnate. There's a moment that comes sometimes when I'm walking past my canvas in the living room when I am overcome by silence. Only then does it make sense to paint. More often I chitter chatter in my head about where it's going and how it might turn out in the end. 

When I'm honest with myself, I'd have to say that the end result of the painting isn't really where it's at for me. It's that silence and that rush as you feel something coming out of your hands, translated into wet pigment on a canvas. It's all about the process. Sometimes the end result is frustrating because it makes a destination out of something that is infinite. 

I have a canvas up as well right now. It's a bit more textured than I've tried before, inspired by Judith's mom Philomena Meffe and her recent exhibition. Right now my canvas is purple with some streaks of white and red. Will keep you posted as it evolves.  

Beginnings & Continuations

O open this day with the conch's moan, Omeros, 
as you did in my boyhood, when I was a noun 
gently exhaled from the palate of the sunrise. 
A lizard on the sea-wall darted its question 
at the waking sea, as a net of golden moss 
brightened the reef, which the sails of their far canoes 
avoided. Only in you, across centuries 
of the sea's parchment atlas, can I catch the noise 
of the surf lines wandering like the shambling fleece 
of the lighthouse's flock...'

Derek Walcott, Omeros

It's hot out. This has been the first week in Toronto where it's safe to say that without fear that the utterance will bring on an unforeseen frost. My patio door is open, a soft breeze moves the curtain and my small faux antique looking fan is swishing away between myself at the dining table and my easel at the other corner of the living-room. 


I'm still unsure what the audience is of this blog. Is it friends? family? interested artists? random strangers? noone at all? I'm not sure. Either way I suppose, the purpose of this blog is to take my work out of my living room and into the world. 


In addition I am making a new rule for myself: I will not be showing any old work. Only new work. I need the freshness of constant creation instead of the hauntings of my past works, emotions and images. So however small, my aim is to each week update this blog with the things I have managed to make. 


The painting featured here I completed about a week ago. I'm still iffy on the name. It relates strongly to something I experience during yoga sometimes. These day's I'm going to a new studio in my new neighbourhood called Kula. 


Thank you for giving a tiny part of your day to my meanderings. 


L.