“Art is a line around your thoughts.” – Gustav Klimt

October 25, 2015 | ssemchuk

A little quick painting to go with last week’s efforts.

Climber 2, Oct 24, 2015, Mixed Media on Masonite, 10″ X 8″

“She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.” – Rainbow Rowell

October 11, 2015 | ssemchuk

October 11, 2015

“She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.” – Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park

I came across this quote a while ago, not realizing it was from Eleanor & Park. I may have to read the book now so I can understand what it means to look like art. And to complement the quote is a piece of art that makes me feel nothing. But I’m going to call it done. Perhaps I’ll like it more when it’s covering a book.

“Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

October 4, 2015 | ssemchuk

October 4, 2015

From Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic:

“Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred.

What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all.

We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits.

We are terrified, and we are brave.

Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege.

Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us.”

as quoted on Brain Pickings.

I’m still working on this – and it needs a lot of help yet. I’m painting on primed canvas taped to masonite at the moment. I’ll use it to cover a hand-bound book when it’s finished. Based on this image from Cezanne.

“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” ― Vincent van Gogh

September 13, 2015 | ssemchuk

September 13, 2015

Van Gogh Lemons, Sep 12, 2015, Oil on Canvas, 10″ X 10″

Another round of lemons. Not really happy with these, but here they are. My inspiration for this one is here. And how about one more Van Gogh quote (my personal favourite):

“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
― Vincent van Gogh

“Artists who approach perfection do not have many ideas.” -Odilon Redon

September 7, 2015September 13, 2015 | ssemchuk

Sep 7, 2015

Odilon Redon Lemon, Sep 6, 2015, Oil on Canvas, 10″ X 10″

Round two of ‘lemons painted by other people and now painted by me’. This one is courtesy of Odilon Redon – not someone that makes me think “still life” – but I was really taken by this image of his and was inspired to recreate it as my own. Too bad I completely failed to capture the sort of similarity of style I was looking for. On the bright side, at least I don’t have to worry about the negative impact of approaching perfection.

“We live in a rainbow of chaos.” -Paul Cézanne

August 30, 2015September 13, 2015 | ssemchuk

August 30, 2015

After my recent frustration with lemons I’ve decided to spend some time checking out how others have painted lemons. Here’s my version of one of Cézanne’s.

Cézanne Lemon, Aug 29, 2015, Oil on Canvas, 10″ X 10″

And here’s my inspiration:

I love the way his fruit is practically outlined – I may have to play with that more. In my various Cézanne searches, I came across this quote:

“Style is not created through servile imitation of the masters; it proceeds from the artist’s own particular way of feeling and expressing himself.” – Paul Cézanne

Perhaps M. Cézanne would consider my painting based on his work pointless and I kind of like the irony. Makes me want to continue my ‘Lemons after Masters’ project.

“Art is the triumph over chaos.” – John Cheever

August 23, 2015 | ssemchuk

August 23, 2015

Still Life, Aug 23, 2015, Oil on Canvas, 40″ X 30″

Finally finished this painting! At least I think it’s finished. I’m not thrilled with the lemons, but I’m pretty tired of them, so if they need revisiting, it will be down the road a little when I figure out how to fix them.

Just for fun, I made a gif of the process of the painting. It didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped – the colours in the individual photos were far brighter – but it does inspire me to consider doing time lapse or something similar of the next larger painting that I do.