Thérèse Neelands

watercolour, ink, acrylic ink on paper, Therese Neelands 2010

I shouldn’t have put this up yet, but I couldn’t wait because I just got my new Epson Artisan printer and it is B-E-A-U-TEE-FUL and I spent all last night setting up. This scanned image came out AMAZING (the resolution is incredible) and came out at a million mg’s so by the time I shrunk it to an internet size,  I lost a good amount of saturation, so this image is looking pretty anaemic. I suppose there’s probably a way of compressing it without losing all that information.

Happy Anniversary card work in progress, watercolour, ink, acrylic ink on paper

There’s a story to this card.

One day I was walking home from the park with Maggie and I came across a couple of snail shells which had been left too high and dry after the rain. I took them home with me, and used them as reference for the two snails above.

Days went by, and Andrew and I started noticing a vomit inducing odour hanging around the hallway. We blamed it on Maggie, who we’ve been house-training, but couldn’t find any evidence.

Days later, the smell got so bad, it seemed to pervade the whole house. Yesterday, I finally realized as I was drawing in my studio, that the foul smell was coming right from in-between my fingers – the snail shell. I sniffed it.

I threw them out the window, incensed the whole house and began my drawing all over again.

The shells above were collected from the cottage, are clean and stink free. They were my colour inspiration for this card.

Happy Anniversary card work in progress, watercolour, ink, acrylic ink on paper

(the card is now finished and needs to be scanned).

My little lapis lazuli peice.

Ultra, “the far side.” Marine, “of the sea.” The colour named for the journey of lapis lazuli, from the far side of the sea to the palette…

People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks

Etymology: Lapis was the Latin word for stone and Lazuli from the Medieval Latin Lazulum coming from the Arabic Lazaward coming from the Persian Lazhward, the name of the place where lapus lazuli was mined.

The best place for mining lapis, is found in limestone in the province of Badakhshan in north eastern Afghanistan, a mining place for over 6,000 years. The ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamian civilizations and later the Greeks and Romans mined there. It has been used to make carvings, mosaics, architecture (in the walls and columns of churches and palaces), and of course, ground to make pigment for tempera paint called “ultramarine” and more rarely, in oil paint. It’s usage in oil paint ended in the 19th century when it became possible to produce a synthetic variety of course more economically viable and what we call “French Ultramarine”.

lapis lazuli with traces of pyrite

Lapis is a rock, not a mineral, and so is a composite of many minerals. More valuable lapis does not contain veins of white calcite or flecks of pyrite, which, if you look closely in my picture above, you can see.

Reading People of the Book has reminded me of my fascination with rocks and minerals and fossils and ancient pigments and their history. In my fourth year at OCAD, I did a lot of reading on it and meant to produce a body of work on it. I became so bogged down by text, I sort of gave up, and ironically made paintings with only the slightest hint of colour – a sort of muddy ground where “Life” has not yet been born, but contains the promise of Life to come, if that makes any sense.

Lapis Lazuli and the Murex

I’m starting a little job this evening, but found I was out of sketchbooks. Sifting through an old one in hopes of finding some clean paper, I found an entry from 2008 that caught my eye:

“Ahh. A space of my own. My hands are covered in indigo and prussian blue. My jeans are covered in yellow ochre and burnt umber. My apron is hard and crusty in places from the dried paint. I have a smudge on my nose from satisfying an itch and my eyes are glazed and tired, but it’s comfortable -  I know this place.

It is an insecure place, where nothing ever stands still. It is a landscape of soaring highs and bottomless lows. If I’m lucky, the lows are familiar enough that I can sit in it and wait for it to pass, for the morning when I can wake up, coffee in hand, anxious and knowing – TODAY IS THE DAY.

What is it that decides to ignite the spark? It is something out of my reach. This whole thing is the ultimate in abandon, in giving up, in a way. Giving up my ego and intention because nothing ends up the way I started or wanted it to be. This may be the aphrodisiac – the surprise and elation at what I’ve done, never knowing what I’m capable of and not, but the most fearsome thing of all – the thing that sticks a cork up the portal to my creativity – is the notion of the possibility that I just might suck at the thing I love the most.”

"Eurotium", 2005, oil on canvas, copyright Catherine Beaudette

It hasn’t stopped snowing for 3 days now, so it’s a little strange that I would be googling “Newfoundland Retreats”.

Discovering Helen Gregory (last post)  reminded me of how much I wanted to go to Newfoundland and paint. I first got the idea in 2007, when one of my thesis teachers, Catherine Beaudette, talked about staying in Newfoundland in a little 100 year old historic fishing house, and painting all alone, collecting things on the beach, visiting natural history museums etc. I was enthralled and TOTALLY wanted to do it and thought it the most romantic thing in the world.

This morning, (2 1/2 years later) I’d been googling Newfoundland retreats, and came across this right away:

http://www.newfoundlandretreats.org/duntara.html

Imagine my surprise when I saw the contact. I had no idea she owns the place and rents it out – to artists. My heart is thrumping.

The first time I saw Catherine’s paintings at OCAD, my heart dropped kerplunk to my knees. If I could paint, I thought, that is exactly what it would look like (while glancing with approval at her well-worn blundstone boots).

Here are some of Catherine’s paintings. I’m not sure what she’s up to now, but I believe she is still  Associate Professor at OCAD. Maybe I’ll know soon enough, when I contact her to escape to that little fishing hut in Newfoundland.

"Amoena", 2005, oil on canvas, copyright Catherine Beaudette

"Laccaria", 2006, oil on canvas, copyright Catherine Beaudette

Helen Gregory's Blue Tanagers courtesy of the artist and the Rooms

I discovered Helen Gregory in the National Post on Thursday and I haven’t stopped thinking of her since. She has a show in Newfoundland (where she’s from) at the Rooms called Unrequited Death: Helen Gregory and it is curated by award-winning novelist Lisa Moore.

Helen has a fascination with collecting things (be still my heart). What she collects is organic detritus – bird’s nests, eggs, skeleton’s, dead flowers, rocks, and the like. What is dead and repulsive, is at the same time, exuisite.

Apart from the image above, Helen uses lush Victorian designs as back drops for her still lifes. Think natural history, William Morris, Darwin, Victorian museums and Dutch Still Lifes (be still my heart, again.)

Aside from looking at her own collection, she was able to study the collections from natural history museums – at the Rooms in St. John’s, the Redpath Museum in Montreal, and the Canadian Museum of Nature near Ottawa.

You can find a really great video of Helen’s process on You Tube. I’ve already watched it about 20 times. The exhibition continues until May 16.

You can read the Q & A in the National Post here. I think this is a condensed version. And P.S. Leah Sandals who wrote the article has a pretty cool blog.

Cappucino by Ella's Uncle, where the proprietress bakes delicious things right in front of you, and makes delicious designs on the surface of your cup of joe. Book by new fav. author Nino Ricci

Yesterday morning I woke up early in preparation. To plan my day for The Word on the Street Festival, I pour over the schedule on their website. Steph calls me at 10:00AM to advise on what not to miss etc. Margaret Atwood at 3:00. Nino Ricci at 1:30, Anthony De Sa, and so on. ) I rely on Steph for book advice. You can ask her about any random author, and without missing a beat, she’ll tell you every book he’s written, where you can get it on sale, and any random minutiae about his life).

Barnacle Love, Anthony De Sa

I caught Anthony De Sa at 12:15 (winner 2009 Giller for Barnacle Love) and totally fell in love. (he wears Blundstones and swears by his Mac). I haven’t read Barnacle Love yet, but when it first came out, immediately wanted to covet it because of the gorgeous cover. (I can totally judge a book by its cover, by the way). Definitely my next read.

The Origin of Species, Nino Ricci

I heard Nino Ricci read from his latest book The Origin of Species (Govener General Literary Awards) for the second time. I first heard him when Steph and I went to this Literary Author Reading Book Bonanza at Hart House last spring. Ricci is smart. And has big black eyebrows that frame his face, which I also like. Hearing him speak, I knew his book would be a good influence for my painting, and I picked up a beautiful copy on my way home at a second hand book store (She Said Boom, on College St.) for $10.00. I am now half way through and can’t stop. I even woke up at 6:30AM on my day off and tucked myself in for a good few hours of reading while the wind and the rain howled outside. Mmmm. (Along with peppermint ginger tea, I’m getting a cold).

Margaret Atwood was brilliant, as usual. Sprightly, energetic, hilarious, impish, and ridiculous in her giant, red sketchers. Elenor Wachtel from CBCs Writer’s In Company was the host, and the whole thing went cross-Canada with Halifax and Vancouver connected on screens flanking the stage. She read a short excerpt from her latest novel The Year In The Flood (not a sequel or prequel to Oryx and Crake, but a simultaneous one, experienced from a girl’s perspective, as opposed to Jimmy’s.) I must admit, I got a little bit emotional when she trotted on stage – her dedication to a writing life, the arts, and politics makes me overwhelmed with gratitude. Atwood has been, for many, many years, my most favourite author and person.

The View From Out Here was a panel discussion between Dionne Brand, Camilla Gibb, Nino Ricci (sigh!) and Jane Urquhart. Urquhart was totally on fire and kept interrupting everyone, but since what she had to say was pretty intelligent, I didn’t mind, although Ricci looked a little irked at one point.

I arrived home pretty exhausted and overwhelmed and inspired. And also a little delirious from not having eaten all day.

Work in Progress

Above is a work in progress, an experiment. I’m sketching some things, sticking them under my projector, blowing things up, scaling things down, and sort of collaging as I go along. I like the process which is freeing in that I never know what’s going to happen next, but restrictive in that I’m staying within specific perimeters which gives me a lot less to worry about.

P.S. Seems I can’t create a link in a caption for an image, so check out Ella’s Uncle on Dundas St.

Mr. P. Physh, detail

For a few weeks now, I’ve been working on a painting of my puffer fish that I sketched awhile ago. Since I started my new job at the gallery, I’ve been toiling away at it on my weekends, however, it’s been giving me an enormous amount of difficulty and has been no fun at all.

Today, I decided to stop being so finicky about the whole thing, and started to play. I forgot about trying to make the fish a fish, and instead concentrated on the feel of the paint and the oil, and on capturing the truly ridiculous portrait of Mr. P. Physh who now floats in a sea of fleshy pink. This makes him more monstrous and hilarious than ever.

Finally, I like where it’s going.

More updates on this soon.

I just came back from the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. First impression – not a lot of painting, or else paintings I didn’t think all that impressive except for a select few. I found this wierd, since I know there are quite a few really good painters in Toronto! I wonder what happened.

Here are a couple that I liked…

Kelly Grace www.kellective.com www.kellygraceart.blogspot.com

Kelly Grace, "Road Trip" mixed media 18 x 30 in.

Kelly Grace "Chocolate Milk" mixed media 15 x 20 in.

Kelly Grace "Prinsengracht" acrylic on board

Also, I like some of Elizabeth Lennie’s work, however, I wasn’t able to grab any photos . I particularly like her summer paintings. Her newer works are better. You can check her out at www.elizabethlennie.com

Cori Lee Marvin www.marvindale.ca These are the sweetest watercolours I have ever seen, and beautifully framed. They remind me a bit of Wallace Edwards’ work although I think her rendering is even better. There is one in particular that I desperately want, called “Frog Covets Cupcake”, where the cutest little tree frog with the most ridiculous grin on his face, leers over the most deliciously painted cupcake you’ve ever seen.

Cori Lee Marvin "Landing of the Spacepod" watercolours 7 x 7 2009

Cori Lee Marvin "Crow Admires Crow" watercolour 8 x 8 2009

Braden Labonte www.bradenlabonte.com I thought some of these were interesting…paintings on mylar. For certain, I noticed there were a lot of representational paintings, detailed and finicky.

Braden Labonte "Michelle" 18 x 18 in. acrylic, ink, guache on mylar 2008

Braden Labonte "Shauna" acrylic, ink, guache on mylar 2008

Brian Harvey www.brianharvey.ca I liked these. They were so simple and clean.

Brian Harvey "Orange Vinyl Chair" oil on panel 40 x 30 in.

Brian Harvey "Dundas and Howard Park" oil on canvas 24 x 36 in. 2007

P.S. I also want to mention that there were an awful lot of paintings and photographs covered in resin. I don’t really get them. There doesn’t seem to be a point to this, really, except that people love plastic, shiny things?