Tuesday 10 January 2012

LOOKING BACK AS I MOVE FORWARD

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  

It's my hope that all of you are sailing smoothly into 2012 and that the skies are clear and the wind is up and the water is just turbulent enough to give you a thrill as you head into each new day.  Stay buoyant, stay alert and take the challenge of whatever comes your way!

LAKE NIPPISING
Now that Christmas is behind me (it was a great day and the dinner was at our house), the New Year celebrations are over (we spent the evening at my sisters) I've now found some time to sit down and think about the past a bit.

STONY LAKE SKY
During the past week I've spent quite a number of hours cleaning up the files/photos/etc. in my computer, on my desk and in my studio.  The idea is to get some semblance of order so that I can download items in my  computer I'm not currently using into my auxiliary hard drive and re-orginize my other stuff into smaller files/piles.  It's always a time consuming thing to do and it's quite shocking the amount of files that collect that have no real use at all...other than taking up valuable space in your computer or on surfaces throughout the house.  We are all pack rats to some degree and while I try to be consistent and thoughtful about how I organize my files and what I save I've managed to hold onto a lot of superfluous 'stuff'!  Can't tell you how many items I've sent to the Trash (the cyber one and the real garbage in the garage)...but it's considerable and the act of purging feels great!!!!

While going through my files I was also able to recollect/reminisce about things that have gone on over the past three years and if I'm like most of you it's a considerable amount.  Life is all about ups and downs, ins and outs, good things and bad things, etc., etc. but when we get right down to it and try to analyze the past it's pretty easy to come up with a lot more positive things than negative things...at least that's the way I see it!

Some of the events I was able to look back on were simple but memorable.  A sunset view through the beautiful pine trees of Stony Lake. Photos of our late and always dear American Cocker Spaniel, Angel, (who gave us so many years of loyalty and joy) in the snow...how she loved a day of cross-country sking on a sunny crisp Ontario day.     Rachel, the little Coton de Tulear that we brought home one snowy January day, who quickly won our hearts and showed us how much she liked snow...and also how  she loves the water.  Her antics will continue to delight us each day as she continues to grow into a 'little big dog'!   An impromptu golf trip David and I took down through the Carolinas and then on down to Florida to stay with his brother. 

SNOW ANGEL - SHE WAS THE BEST!
WATER BABY RACHEL - SHE'S A PRETTY SPECIAL GIRL

A NATURAL HAZARD on one of the three beautiful golf courses at SEA TRAILS RESORT in NORTH CAROLINA

SQUIRREL/RACOON????  THESE COMICAL CRITTERS skitter up close just as you're about to PUTT!

THERE'S NOTHING MORE MEZMERIZING THAN BEAUTIFUL DUNES - OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C.

A GORGEOUS SUNSET at OCEAN ISLE, N. C.
Long views, water or land,  always move me...and even though I'm not a professional photographer I somehow manage to capture some of my favourite scenes at their most beautiful.  My photographs serve me well when I am considering a new composition for a painting or a piece of sculpture but more than anything they trigger memories of generally good times that I've experienced in wonderful places. None of the places I've been have been particularly exotic; however, they give me enough eye candy to keep the artist in me happy and satisfied.  Sometimes the most ordinary scene can have the most impact on me...and leave an imprint on my mind that I can always bring to the forefront when I need it.   

I'm always combing through my old photos or clippings from magazines or newspapers that I have collected over the years...to find just the perfect thing to inspire me to paint or sculpt.  The fun of working with a selection of photos and juxtaposition bits from one or the other to create an interesting composition is a lot of fun for me and in fact is as thrilling as doing the actual carving or painting.

When I look through the plethora of photographs, miscellaneous items from magazines and newspapers, paintings, sculptures and written words by others that I have collected over the years it's amazing to see a pattern to the things that I like to look at and then try to recreate through my own art mediums...painting in oil, sculpting in stone and writing.  Most of us do this and from it we learn and grow at our own pace by using those things as a guide to help our imagination.  At least that's the way I use these things.  On the most part most everything I 'save' has some kind of relationship to how the image or words affect me at that particular time.  How it affects me emotionally!   Is there a message to be sent out for everyone to hear/see?  Is there 'a cause' that I feel strongly about and want to make it more effective through my art?  Does it warm my heart/spirit?  Does it make me sad/happy/concerned?  Does it give me peace?  Does it make you think beyond just the painting, sculpture or writing?  Is it somewhere I like to be and want to make a permanent image of it that reflects how I really see it?  Is there a moodiness to it that I want to project to the viewer?  Is there a question lurking somewhere in the composition that leads the viewer to use his/her imagination to complete the story?

I look at the photos then choose the ones I want to re-create using my own means of portraying a mood or a message.  My paintings and sculpture help me do that and I genuinely get pleasure from working up a composition based on what I have collected in my files or on my computer.  The photos I've included in this bog are ones that illustrate all that I have explained above.  




COUSINS
THE BATHER
BLUESKY DRAGONFLIES
FLORIDA JAMMERS 
OSPREY and GOSLINGS
BEST FRIENDS
HAPPY CAT

OTONOBEE RIVER CATTAILS

FOXY

STORMY SKY over HAYBALES



MOODY BLUES
SUN TURTLES
AUSTRALIAN MADONNA
KATIE with ATTITUDE
HARBINGER OF SPRING on the OTONOBEE RIVER
Most compositions have come to me with happy thoughts, good memories and/or thoughtful recognition about what should be and what might be.  I hope you enjoy looking at these works and quite possibly if you feel at all creative it will spur you on to recognize in your own collection of files and photos the potential to work up a composition that will set a mood for the viewer or at the very least give them food for thought or some interesting eye candy.   If we look closely enough we don't have to go very far afield to find something interesting that we feel emotionally connected to that we can re-create through our art.   Children at play, animals we love, our own gardens, places we've been, expressions on a baby's face, causes we believe in and want to make a statement about...and so on...there is something in all of us that MOVES us.  So if you're a painter, PAINT; a sculptor, SCULPT or a writer, WRITE!   Get INSPIRED and then put your heart into your art (no matter what your medium) and create something that makes you feel good, or that sends a message about something you feel strongly about.  DO IT FOR YOURSELF, NURTURE YOUR CREATIVE SPIRIT...AND ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

We're into a NEW YEAR and it's going to be a GOOD ONE...at least that's the way I see it!!!!!  

If you're going through the cobwebs that are clinging to the files of the past year or two, the way I have been doing this week, take a serious look at everything and reminisce a bit about all the good, bad and ugly things that have happened.  Then, PITCH OUT THE NEGATIVE and HANG ONTO THE POSITIVE by setting up a new file called 'KEEPERS for INSPIRATION' (or something like that) to be used as ideas and positive direction for new works of art as you progress into 2012.  

MAY YOU HAVE GOOD HEALTH, POSITIVE CREATIVE INCENTIVE and MUCH HAPPINESS FOR 2012
CHEERS, 
ANGELA


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