June 2014


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very simple lines

Here is another edition of sketchbook shenanigans for you.

There are some collage pieces that become quite intriguing on their own when they are cut out of their context. They become unrecognizable as they are not part of an object they originally reperesnted. Sometime it is hard to combine them in a composition with other cut-outs. I have been tucking them away to do something with them later. The idea came to me a while back to play around with these collage pieces and explore their potential as a stand-alone piece/shape and extend them with very simple lines in simple compositions. It is a great exercise and a contrast to the concept of abundance and richness that underlies my work on canvas. It might give me some ideas for some canvas work but for now as I said, I am just playing.

By the way, if you remember I told you I was very hesitant about sharing my sketches publicly as they are like private thougths and it makes me feel vulnerable. To my sheer surprise, I got wonderful response for sharing them and an amazing supporter purchased one of the sketches. I was by no way thinking or prepared to sell these, firstly for the above reason and secondly I think of them as rough ideas and exercises and not finished works. It was a great encouragement to keep sharing, to push myself out of my comfort zone and not think too much about presenting what I think is the perfect side of my process.

And to end, I just came across this inspiring article on Brain Pickings on intuition and creative process from Pablo Picasso  on my twitter feed:

To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing.”

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Is it finished?

Here is another update on the status of  the “gentle” work-in-progress that I told you about last week. You see I managed to contain myself and stay soft.

Half an hour ago before I started writing this update, I thought  I had finished the work and I was going to apply the final coat. The thing with me is that I never know when I have finished a piece. I can go on forever being finicky but there is a moment that I  just know  I have to stop. One, for the sake of not messing up the entire work  (which I have done many times by the way) and second, because I don’t know what else to do. It  feels very good when you can step back and confidently say “Done!”. It is rarely like that though. However once I let go and let the piece be, it somehow puts itself together. I know it sounds a bit strange but it’s true. I am facing this dilemma again and I feel that I need to go back into this work. I might. But for now I will keep staring at it on the white wall to see if it asks me anything more. Feel free to let me know what you think.

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first of sketchbook shenanigans

Just thought to start sharing some images from my sketchbook in a casual new series that I will be calling sketchbook shenanigans.

These are sketches, ideas, thoughts, diversions, distractions, plain fooling-around and the state of my mind in no particular order. It makes me very self-concious to share these with you; more so than my “finished” pieces. For those pieces I try to focus my attention on one direction and create continuity  but  my brain is more chaotic than that. Oh well! Now you know. For now take a peek and let’s see how I manage my self-conciousness. I can alway retract.

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excited again about gallery hopping thanks to ArtLocal

I have been hearing about the ArtLocal app  from the time they were having a poll to choose a name for it (I have no idea how I ended up on their email list but glad that I did.) When I first downloaded the app I was not sure if it woudl last long on my iphone but today all the good stuff I was waiting for popped on the screen.

The app is designed to help discovering hottest galleries, exhibitions and artists in the city all in one place. It also allows you to follow your favourite galleries and get updates which is somehow similar to a feature on my most favourite site Artsy (where you can follow favourite artists.) You can search  based on calendar and distance.

This is just great for planning gallery hopping adventures.

I think I would like to see the information about the show and the artist more visibly with a better design than a small pop-up boxed screen. A short description on the gallery would be useful too. I would also love to have a feature where I can save the shows I want to see, or the openings I want to go to or easily add them to my calendar. It might be there and I haven’t discovered it yet. I am sure their team is constantly improving features.

This is a much needed local app. I am quite excited about using it and highly recommend it to gallery hoppers alike.

Well it is going to be a busy weekend as there are tons of awesome galleries in walking distance as well as Luminato in full swing.

Happy gallery hopping!

Image below from Blonder Online by Jillian Kay Ross happening now at Division Gallery 

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“gentle” work-in-progress & aqua nails

It is a sunny cool day at the studio and I have been taking my time musing on aqua, mint, very gentle turquoise, soft neons and pearls. Usually I create depth by using darker underlying tones (here there is still some of it) and work with much richer tones and a high contrast palette. For now I am exploring layering of the soft tones all the way through with less contrast. I am also softening the neons with lots of white and I really like the tints it renders. It still has the shine but much softer.

My mantra these days for the few pieces I have going on is GENTLE!  I keep repeating it loud (my studio buddies can attest to that) in an effort to channel my impulse of doing something loud into softness and gentleness. Let’s see how far I can contain myself. I don’t think too long. As you can see the palette has even infected my nails. But no, I am not going to collage the nails into this. I will post the pictures of the completed piece for you as soon as I finish it.

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auction #2

It’s auction time #2. Artbomb will be auctioning their second chosen piece, urban planning on mercury this coming Monday, June 2nd.  

This collage painting has a bit of classic colour pallete with earthy tones but it turned out to look more like a surreal type landscape.  Imagine  fluid, floating, soft and whimsical urban structures where underground and aboveground seamlessly merge into each other. That’s the type of city I would build in my dreams … maybe it already exist somewhere is outer space.

Get the bidding going!

 

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