Studio re-new

I will take a little break from my painting journals and talk about a project I taken on in the past few months... a studio re-new. I currently have a home based studio, one room dedicated to creating, storing, and imagining possible work. As you can well imagine it is rammed full of paintings, paints, easels, foam core, matte board, frames, etc.

I have had a number of different studios since my graduation from art school, in basements, garages, spare rooms, and even one warehouse space, but my current studio is my best studio by a long way. My studio is the master bedroom of my home, it was chosen because it had the best light, the most space, and an interesting roof line. I also share this studio with Eric Nylen, portrait painter. In the past few months we have under taken a re-vamp of the studio space, by painting the walls, working on a collaborative mural(watch for a posted photo in the weeks to come), and hanging wall paper on the longest wall, yes you heard me... wallpaper! I ordered the paper from the UK, from Cole and Son the pattern is called Malabar (see in photo above). The studio is also filled with a number of items I have picked up on my travels. Whenever I have gone abroad, I have always been on a shoe string budget, so I started getting in the habit of bring home found souvenirs. Some examples of this is shard of broken tile, glass bottles, sea shells, coral, dried pods, and pine cones. I also have a collection of postcards from art galleries and museums I have visited. I started collecting the postcards to remember the places I have been, and because they were cheap and light to carry. All of these little items are mementos that remind me of a past journey, but these objects also describe my personal aesthetic; the colors, forms, and lines that I am drawn to.

I also have a sketchbook that I fill with magazine clippings, mainly from design books that I buy. This is a good practice for a budding artist or anyone thinking of taking on a design or renovation project, to help you discover your personal style.

Welcome to Farrera

I arrived first in Paris in early April of 2008. I will never forgot the wave that washed over me while travelling from the airport on the metro. It was a grey day and graffiti lined the train track. I had my head set on and the lyrics sang out "I have been waiting, I have been waiting for this moment all my life".

Farrera is just on the over the French boarder in the Spanish Pyrenees Mountain range. The village has 25 residents, no store, restaurant, or café and public transport only arrives once a week. To get to Farrera, I first took a five hour bus ride from Barcelona that stopped in a town called Llavorsi at the base of the mountain. I was given instruction to find a small bar and call a taxi to take me up to the art centre. A half hour later a woman and her young daughter rolled up to the bar and in a giant black SUV and asked if I was Lisa, I nodded. Then the pair proceeded to grab my bags and began ascending up the long winding road. I saw a tiny sign that simply said Farrera. The village it's self is pretty and quaint. All the houses are made of stone and it is forbidden to construct with new materials; it was like I had entered an place where time had stopped.

The landscape surrounding Farrera is very simular to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, covered with evergreens and mountain peaks. I found my time in the studio observing the landscape, to be very inspiring. Although the series of work that came from my time on the mountain, is not literal a depiction of the Spanish Pyrenees the colors, lines, and forms of the pieces were informed by this region. Before my stay at the art centre, I often used the personal symbol of a falling leaf in my paintings, after my stay I also have began regularly utilizing falling cherry blossoms in my pieces, as a symbol of inner serenity and peace.

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.

Exhibitions

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know about some upcoming exhibitions that I will be participating in the next few months...

The Alberta Jubilee Auditoria Society presents:
IMAGINE, EXCITE, INSPIRE a group exhibition featuring the paintings, photography and art books of Jessica Gowling, Alana Thorburn-Watt, Alison Philpotts, and Lisa Tornack

The exhibit is located on the second balcony at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium, on display from January 18 through to April 7th, 2010.

I am also pleased to announce that I have a solo show currently on display in Edmonton, at the Kaasa Gallery in Alberta. The show is titled "Ingrávida" and is located on the lower level of the Northern Jubilee Auditorium. This exhibition runs until the end of February, with a closing reception on Friday February 12, 2010.

If you happen to be at the Jubilee in Edmonton or Calgary in the next few months come and check me out!

Stalled in the Studio

There was a period where I began to stagnate in the studio, I had less time to paint and when I did nothing new was pouring out. I didn’t know this before but there is a relationship between your personal and professional life. I had moved around a lot and was feeling unsettled in many ways.

People often asked me where my inspiration came from and up until about three years ago, I didn’t know how to answer them. I was very shy to speak about my work even after all that art school training. For sure, I could speak to technique but inspiration was another thing. In my development as an artist, my work has become not only technically better but also I understand it more and is has become a deeper reflection of me. Lisa Tornack is now in the work.

Fortunately, the winds of change came and I was riding a new wave of creativity, painting fast and furious. My work became more abstract and free, while still firmly rooted in the natural world. How you may ask? During this "stall in the studio", I just painted. I worked a lot and didn’t wait for inspiration to hit, resulting in real breakthroughs in the studio. I am a firm believer; brilliance is found where discipline meets talent. I find many connections between art and life. One thing I know for certain, is the creative process works the best when you stop worrying about the outcome and focus on the process, this also holds true in life.