Monday 24 October 2011

``The Mystery of the Unknown``

At the end of August, I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery to see the Surrealist Exhibit and truly enjoyed it.  I took a guided tour and the guide was absolutly fantastic.
I really got inspired by the size and the power of standing in front of a large painting. I then felt the urge to start on a large canvas myself. 



A few days later, everything felt right and I was ready to launch myself into a large canvas painting. I took the canvas (10ft x 5ft) that I had bought over a year ago and installed it on the studio wall. The process started. Contrary to my usual work, I felt like painting very muted colours with a minimalist style, possiblybecause I just finished two months of a relaxed summer schedule, that is not being constrained by the constant need to meet the daily schedule of the family routine.


When I was doing it, I felt taken over by the painting due to the size and I was in it. During the whole process, the painting was taking me where I had to go. I really enjoyed it and didn't think of the size anymore.
The inspirational trigger for this painting came from the long trip with my family around the Pacific a few years ago. We went to Easter Island and I was truly impressed with the site and moved by the fascinating story of the island`s people. Something touched me deeply there. For the painting I believe the muted colours  evoke the calmness, serenity and the mystery that reign on the most remote island in the world.

The title came the day after I complete it while I was taking my morning shower. I entitled it  ``The Mystery of the Unknown``. This title describes how I felt on Easter Island -  mysterious, peaceful, resting and isolated in the middle the Earth`s largest ocean.




Painting on a large scale was amazing to me I was taken by the painting and felt if I was there again, on mysterious Easter Island....away from the buzzing life.. This painting has alreay been accepted for a showing at a theater near us in North Vancouver.....please stay posted and you will see where and when.....

I hope you feel the peacefulness that I wanted to evoke!

Today the 24th of October

Therese and I rented a U-Haul and went to pick-up our large paintings!








Painting on a large scale is one thing, and the logistics that goes with it is another thing....
Chris Taylor is a wonderful man and extremely knowlegable about streching canvases. Definitely worth going to him if you need this kind of job done. Because of the size of my canvas, he advised me to mount it on a foldable stretcher. What a great idea!
Chris works very meticulously and precisely, doing a very good job.
Now my 10ft x 5ft canvas is 5ft x 5ft folded, much easier to transport and to store.
Here are some pictures of the process of folding it at his work place, 1000 Parker Street  in Vancouver.
















Here is the stretched painting!
It's not easy to see the subtlety of the colours!


This painting needs a very large wall!

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Life goes fast.... and so does my brain......

About a year ago I took a course with an artist called Steven Aimone. It was 5 day very intense workshop in Nanaimo with 20 very dedicated ladies. One thing I learned with Steven, was to work fast, from your feeling and very spontanoulsy. We had very precise instructions. One excercise was to use different mediums like charcoal, pencils and only white and black paint.



36x48

Here is the painting I did during the course. 

I always wanted to do more of those paintings. Here are some others that I just did in the same idea  using crayons, charcoal etc...and paint.



30x36




30x30




16x20


Hope you enjoy them!




Tuesday 11 October 2011

Getting closer to the Kunst art show in Soleure...

Here is the prospectus for the show!
Good luck finding me....


There is over 5000 pieces of art and around 80 artists all originally from Switzerland but not all living there.