Something Significant

A time came when I decided I needed do something significant, in order to focus on my studio practice and develop my work. In the spring of 2007, I began researching international artist residencies. Artist residencies are located worldwide and offer artists from a variety of disciplines, a space to work and concentrate on their practice. I decided that if I wanted to pursue a painting career and I needed to take a big step. The artist residency offers residents studio time away from the distractions of regular life, often in an inspired location. I had three must haves on my wish list, I was looking to go abroad, work on my Spanish, and find residency that was located outside of a city. I did a lot of research in the months to follow and nothing seemed to fit the bill. After a break in the summer, I did yet another search on line and found "the place". I came across an art centre high atop the Spanish Pyrenees, in the tiny village of Farrera. The Centre d’art I Natura, was a ideal, as all the residents had projects rooted in the nature. I applied that week and I was accepted for a residency commencing in the spring of 2008. This was a very exciting time for me. The opportunity to participate in a residency was something I always wanted to do. I planned on spending two months in Farrera and travelling for another four. Looking back, the decision to quit my job and make this move was the best thing I could have ever done for myself; the journey proved to be one of the most rewarding, productive, and challenging experiences of my life.

"I Hope it Lasts"

“I Hope it Lasts” is tiny painting 4X6”, mixed medium on board. I created this piece by coating the board with oil paint, letting it dry and then sanding the surface and the edges to create irregularity and texture in the background. Using colored pencil crayons, I then pulled text from my journals and wrote across the board. The floral forms in the foreground were cut from a larger oil painting on canvas. I was about to throw away an old painting, but liked a few of the forms on the lower corner, so I cut them out from the painting and glued them to the smaller piece. The title of the piece refers to the contentment I was feeling after a long blue period and within the painting the words I feel happy, “I Hope It Lasts”.

New Directions

After riding a high in a studio, things began to slow down and I was seeking new direction. I was complaining to a friend(my substitute mailman in fact) about the state of my art and my life and he suggested writing “to work that sh%*t out!” So I began journaling, in an effort to sort out what I wanted from my life, both personally and professionally. I did this for myself, but eventually the journaling began creeping its way into my work. On large pieces of paper, I started writing with different colored pencil crayons, phrases from my journals. I decided I didn’t want anyone to be able to read it, I then tore the papers into long strips and pieced them around the organic forms of my paintings, a type of collage. The fragmented words swirled around the organic forms, giving the viewer a glimpse into my private journals.

Technically this was problematic; it was difficult to adhere the paper to an oil coated board. I used all sorts of adhesives and eventually settled on rubber cement. After experimenting with this process for a number of months, it dawned on me to use the paper as support. I started a series of paintings on paper and board. During this time of exploration, the text also grew in size and become more statements than story. Some of my favourite pieces from this series include “Wanted it”, “I Hope it Lasts”, and “Soft Skin”. Pictured above is "Wanted it", completed in 2008.