23 Minute Meditation

Whenever I go downtown, I make time to drop in for a visit at the AGO, even if it's for less than an hour.

Yesterday, I decided to find an art work I liked in a quiet room and look at it for 25 minutes. Look only at that. I found a piece from Abstract Impressionism.

Interesting experiment. It is amazing what I start to see and notice. I discover more as I look at it.

I see which strokes went over the white paint, which strokes were made over the black paint. What

strokes were made under.

Some of the black seems wet.

I see that not all the white is the same white. Not all the black is the same black. I see a darker black and a lighter black.

I see the width of the brushes.

I thought about the movements, the ballet, the artist's body made while he painted.

The artist's signature is absent. I found out when I researched it later that the work is indeed signed but on the back.

photos of Franz Kline's Cupola, 1958 - 1960, first floor at the AGO, west wing.

dimension: 198.1 x 269.9cm (78 x 106 1/4 inches)

BIG

I have always wanted to be in a giant room with a giant painting.... ALONE. And it happened at the Musee National d'Art Moderne in Orleans, France, this summer.

I mean, when do you go to a museum and NO ONE is in a room?

A rare occurrence.

I was so happy. I was there for half an hour - alone- enjoying this giant art piece, getting lost in it.  It was so big. No one talked. No one walked in front of me. Bellissimo!!

Heaven.

Art work by Simon Hantai, born in Hungary in 1922. Died in Paris in 2008.
Etude, 1969
oil on canvas

Expressive Drawing

I took an intense week of art classes at the AGO this summer - a drawing and mark making class with Claire Greenshaw. I made about 350 drawings. Some took 10 seconds. Some took 45 minutes.

The first day, Claire talked about being free and drawing like children draw.

It reminded me of my own kids. There were always some art supplies ready to use - papers, markers, paints, pencils. They drew with water on the fence and had the sun dry it. They drew on giant pieces of paper. The got their tiny fingers covered in colour and made tiny painted marks on the page.

They were free when they drew. Not much thought about what it was suppose to look like. Just drawing to explore a colour or a movement or a line. It was wonderful to watch.

 Be free.

(Art work hanging outside the Helene Comay Nursery School at the Wychwood Barns, Toronto. Sorry about the glare. The paintings were behind glass.)

Inspired by Quilts

My textile hand work, my quilts, have inspired watercolour painter Gill Cameron . She is known for her Georgian Bay landscapes but wanted to try something new.

She photographed a bunch of my quilts a while ago and painted them on paper, altering some of the colours.

She actually sewed the paper to create the folds. I like the effect it gives.

Gill Cameron was a beginner quilt student of mine about 9 years ago.

Journaling

Every second day I check my lists for my Umbria trip which is fast approaching.  I am very prepared but I just feel better checking that everything is in place.

Yesterday, I decided to add a sketch in my journal from summer 2014. It is the journal I worked on during the summer that I had the idea to do the journaling trip to Umbria. I used it as a sample to show potential travellers what kind of exercises we'd be doing.

I wanted to time my sketch. I want to tell the travellers that a sketch is not a drawing. It should be something done very quickly. (I remember taking a sketching class a few years ago at the Toronto School of Art and the teacher made us sketch the actors in a movie. Do you know how fast they move and change position?? It was impossible.)

So I found a page in the journal that was empty and set off outside. 

I got so into sketching that I forgot to time myself!

I 'snapped out of it' when I got home, after I had added some colour with my water paints.

Oh well. It was nice getting lost in the moment.

Lace Shapes

I have always liked hand crocheted doilies. I have collected a few myself from Italy and a special one from Austria, a gift.

I don't know where to put them because they don't really go with my decor but they are special to me.

I appreciate the time the nameless women took to create each little stitch to make the intricate pattern.

This one was made by my Italian friend, Liana,
from the south of Italy. It was a gift to me last summer.

UPPERCASE magazine issue 26, has a selection of beautiful pictures of different kinds of lace and doilies. They were made popular in the 17th century by a cloth merchant named Doiley.

Hand made by Liana, another gift.

They were use in Victorian times. They were displayed over the backs of couches and chairs to protect the couch from men's oily hair products. They were sometimes placed under cups or pastries . The latter eventually replaced by paper ones.

Tile maker, Jane Sheppard, obviously feels the same as she uses them to imprint her tiles. You can see their influence in her Lace Series.

Photograph of article in House and Garden Magazine (UK)

Guess who else likes doilies this season?

I photographed this purse in a store window in Hong Kong.

I wonder how much Chanel sells it for?

Studio Visit in Umbria

While in Umbria I visited my friend, Virginia Ryan,  in her art studio.

Acrylic paintings by Virginia Ryan fill the studio space.
Exhibit SHIFT, 2013

She is an established multidisciplinary artist. She is also a mother and an author.

She has lived for many years in West Africa and that influence is evident in her art work. Please read on her website "White is a Color" by scrolling 1/5th of the way down.

detail, Les Femmes de Gagne A'la' Rue du Commerce/4
160cm x 180cm
2013
acrylic on canvas

Eight years ago, I saw her multi-entry exhibit at the GCAM (galleria civica d'arte moderna palazzo collicola) in Spoleto. Photography, paintings, collage, sculpture, video and voice.

On this visit, I was particularly interested in her fabric-related work from her SHIFT installation.

fabric dresses as inspiration

She is such a wonderful person full of life and full of great ideas AND a great hostess! I find her inspirational to me as a person and as an artist.

Catalogue cover for SHIFT 

She will be giving us a tour of her studio and a presentation about her work on the Umbria Textile Trip I am organizing for August 2016.

Padova for the Day

A few weeks ago I spent the day in Padova with a friend.

The Venetian symbol seen in many places in Padova

We had a day of ART and inspiration.

Book stores, AltreVoci

The smell of fresh lilacs greeting you was fabulous! It is a wonderful shop.

Art galleries,

Mandala...incompiuto
by Maria Rosa Migliorini
46 pieces of ceramic
85 cm in diametre

a ceramic patchwork

live music in the piazza,

Cant find his name!
He is the famous pianist
that plays in odd places in the world,
like on a gondola in Venice
or the top of a mountain.

architecture,

the back of the Duomo

frescos.

ceiling in the Battistero del Duomo
photo taken from a postcard
as there are no photographs allowed inside. 

We stopped in to admire the work of artist, Gesine Arps.

Le api e i santi dicono la stessa cosa
100 cm x 100 cm

Pittrice
120cm x 120cm

There is something about her paintings that reminded me of the work of Hundertwasser.

She had a very interesting sculpture in the midst of her paintings- all about love and peace.

The sculpture was sewn together.

There were several openings in the body of the bird. One of the openings was filled with special thoughts and wishes. I picked the following.

Un tempo è andato, l'altro non è ancora iniziato, 

ciò che conta è il presente. 

Concentrati e vivilo pienamente.

It means: A time has passed, another has not started yet. The thing that counts is the present. Concentrate on that and live it fully.

It is so fun taking a one-hour train ride and being in a new, wonderful place with a friend.

Painting in Verona

I see this artist every day when I cross the bridge.

I have seen his progress every day. He is a serious painter. He concentrates and turns his head to see the landscape. He is "in the moment" you can tell.

He paints with heavy clothes and a piece that covers his mouth and nose. Is it for the pollution or the cold.

He wears covers on his shoes- for the paint drips? or the cold as he is out all day, 6 hours at least.

He wears gloves and I wonder how he can paint with those on his hands.

People stop and watch him work. They sometimes have a chat together.

I return to Canada this Friday. I think he will be finished by then.

What a nice evolution I witnessed for the past week.