July 27, 2014
Quote courtesy of William Butler Yeats, referring to the literary criticism that he did to earn extra money.
I am absolutely and totally 100% ambivalent about this piece. My intention was to have some fun. Not sure if I accomplished that or anything else. But it is what it is. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
July 20, 2014
no, not the Brendan Fraser movie. just a little encaustic experiment from a workshop a few years ago.
July 8, 2014
Having moved my painting materials and set up a new space to work in, I kind of liked the look of some of my supplies on the work bench. So here they are… and then seeing how badly the jar of stand oil went, I made a second attempt – a little better, but still off. Perhaps I will take another shot at it down the road.
July 2, 2014
To commemorate Canada Day I stayed up late working on this bit of paint on canvas. Visited the Art Gallery of Alberta as they had free admission for the holiday and felt creatively inspired seeing the exhibition commemorating 90 years of the Art Gallery’s existence in Edmonton. I was feeling patriotic and proud to see such amazing works of Canadian artists on display.
As I’m on vacation from work I figured I had better take advantage of the opportunity and paint as much as I can. I’ve been feeling too comfortable (read: bored) with the monochromatic pears on squares, so although I was intimidated by this image, I decided that risk equals return and although I may fail big, I had better step outside my comfort zone and try something new. Here’s my lovely little curly bamboo stalk. I brought this little guy home from his surrogate home at Ikea pretty much two years ago – although it feels like yesterday. He’s been diligently growing new leaves and continuing his spiral journey towards the sky (aka the ceiling of our office/studio/bonus room – but let’s not rain on his parade just yet…). I’m not sure if the yellow leaves are normal or a sign that I’m a negligent caretaker… If my memory serves me, I believe I have watered him at least once since he came home…
June 30, 2014
Continuing on with my monochomatic pears on squares I decided to avoid the use of black and instead create my shadows with the addition of the complement of the colour of the day. I’m not thrilled with the resulting colour. And I’m getting a little tired of pears.
June 22, 2014
Sitting at my computer tired – mindlessly going through OneNote pages from 2011, blindly transferring them to Evernote. I committed to painting tonight, but I’m very tired and not looking forward to it. I procrastinate. It’s 10 pm and the house is asleep. I wash my face hoping it will make me alert. I begin. It doesn’t exactly flow, but I sip my red wine and engage in my painting ritual. I’m no longer sleepy.
June 15, 2014
June 8, 2014
Thought I’d try to do a little series of pears. Because I really like (am obsessed with) pears and I thought it would be interesting to play with one colour plus black and white of the same subject over and over. My intention is to complete at least ten of these. But I have a fairly short attention span, so I’m not making any promises. Here are the first two.
June 1, 12014
susanne semchuk 