Blog break

The Christmas season is nearly over... just two more gatherings with friends. By January my hubby and I will have hosted four and attended five social functions. That's nine wonderful events, but I'm an introvert and they've emptied my energy cup. To compound this energy situation, I'm changing my sleeping habits. It's only been two days, but it's not pretty. Not. at. all. My hubby is a saint. So, in the spirit of the season, I'm taking my first break since I started this blog more than three years ago. I'll be back by January 6, if not sooner. 

Happy 2014!

Studio Series: Chortitza oak tree drawing

Chortitza oak tree drawing, first draft © Karen Thiessen, 2013

Above is an initial drawing of the Chortitza oak tree that I have written about before. It is based on a 70 year old logo for a long defunct Canadian Mennonite book club, Echo=Verlag, and I'm excited about pushing the drawing in new directions.

Merry Christmas!

I wish you all a blessed Christmas.

Studio Series: Leaves of significance project

Mulberry & birch leaves © Karen Thiessen, 2013

Drawing keeps me calm. As I drew these leaves, I listened to Malcolm Gladwell's latest offering: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants on CD. I am visual and kinaesthetic, which means that once I lay my hands on the dead tree version (an actual book), I'll reread it. I could really relate to the part about misfits. If you decide to listen to the audio version, Gladwell reads it himself and this is one time when an author narrating his own book is a good thing. His voice is easy on the ears and his vocal variety (a Toastmaster term) is perfect.

I really need to get back to the studio to draw, stitch, or collage. These activities keep me calm and focussed, and I'm embarrassed to say that I have been so engrossed in meeting deadlines and finishing old projects that I forgot that Christmas is imminent, so I'm trying not to hyperventilate. Yikes!

Above are drawings from my leaves of significance project. I have no idea where this project is going, but I'm enjoying the ride.

Judy Major-Girardin: Pond Echoes

Judy Major-Girardin Dormant; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Judy Major-Girardin's exhibition Pond Echoes at the Burlington Art Centre is so gorgeous that words do not do this show justice. It must be seen slowly and more than once. 

Major-Girardin, a professor of fine art at McMaster University, hails from southern Ontario, a flat landscape of farmers' fields, marshlands, forest, and a narrow sandy tip jutting into Lake Erie. As a student, she worked seven summers at Point Pelee National Park, and this experience would make an indelible mark on her career as a painter and printmaker. 

Pond Echoes is an exhibition of prints and paintings of pond life on paper, canvas, and textiles. Although I have included images of her work on paper and canvas, it was the textiles that blew me away. As a textile artist, I am biased.

At first glance Dormant drew me in with the stitched appliqué (see image below), but as I spent time with it, I was mesmerized by the fluid line work and the layers of colour and images. 

Judy Major-Girardin Dormant; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Dormant: dremel-engraving, relief, stencil, sewing and acrylic

Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

At the opening I spent most of my time with Exchange. I couldn't get enough of the line work, layers, and expressive stitching. Remember my textile bias. 

Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

The stitching is sensitive, raw, and intuitive and supports the layered print-making.

Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Exchange: fabric panel with dremel-engraving, silkscreen, appliqué and sewing

Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Reflection is monumental and this is the best image that I could capture, given its size. From a distance, the piece feels like a loose, colourful Toile de Jouy and has the sense of an idyllic landscape, one where Bambi would graze.

Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Once again, the raw stitching and appliqué drew me in.

Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

A recorded frog chorus accompanies Reflection.

Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Reflection 2013 layered fabric with silkscreen, dremel-engraving, appliqué, sewing, and recorded frog chorus

Judy Major-Girardin Frog Chorus; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Frog Chorus, a lithograph with gesso and watercolour, has a collaged sensibility. Its distinct quadrants and layered imagery suggest turmoil in the pond ecosystem. Something is amiss.

Judy Major-Girardin Restoration; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Restoration is a modular piece which consists of eight canvas panels in two groups of four. The fine engraved lines are worth spending time with and they contrast nicely with the thick periwinkle blue painted lines which link the two sections of four.

Judy Major-Girardin Restoration; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013

Restoration: dremel-engraving and oil on canvas

Pond Echoes: November 23, 2013 to January 26, 2014 in the Lee-Chin Family Gallery at the Burlington Art Centre.

Studio Series: UFOs & personal projects

Snowfall; Photo © Karen Thiessen 2013

An emerging artist recently asked me about personal projects, as in, did I make them. At the time I was hot-and-heavy in meeting multiple deadlines, so my answer was: "Not often." Today I would answer that question in the affirmative. Right now I find myself in the rare position of having a sliver of time until my next deadline, and I'm using it to play with old UnFinished Objects, a.k.a. UFOs, that are not directly related to my present studio practice. On Monday I spent about eight hours collaging a dollhouse and the top for an end table cobbled together from a footstool, a wooden Coke crate and a piece of plywood. I started the dollhouse about ten years ago and when it's finished it's going to be a light, and if I keep up my momentum, it could be ready for some electrical work by Friday. The end table could be done later today.

The dollhouse and end table projects are personal. They're for fun. But now I realize that personal projects feed my studio practice and give me fresh ideas. They also serve to give my brain a rest from my main work and allow new images and ideas to percolate. We've had more snow than usual and this is a perfect time to be hunkered in the studio making things... after a few hours of shovelling. I love the coziness that cold snowy weather invites.

Studio Series: Post office grille

Post office grille; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2013

A lifetime ago I photographed this window grille with an SLR and black-and-white film, processed the film and then developed the picture in a dark room. Times have changed. The SLR is tucked away and a digital camera and computer has taken its place. After I took the photograph, the post office was converted into a court house and the grilles were removed. When I was a textiles student at Sheridan, I screen-printed this image onto fabrics and then made quilts with those fabrics. Now I've returned to this image and am playing with it in Photoshop and am generating collage papers with the grille pattern that I tone with walnut ink that I made. Although pixels have replaced the SLR and dark room, the hand still has a direct role in making art with this image.