February 2024
February is Heart Month so I find myself addressing my lifetime LOVE of Art:
A working artist since officially retiring years ago, it is a daily passion searching for inspiration, being intentional and diligent. I can be rather proud of myself for having slipped creative work in between mundane domestic chores and obligations, somehow, over the years.
I’m on an internal quest in solitude some days, or the day includes an outdoor discovery, but whenever an idea touches me it appears often by accident. The capture is by a prepared mind, the chance being powerful but when least expected. Hopefully, it’s not an epiphany or synchronicity when I’m on the road driving?! C. J. Jung dubbed synchronicity, "loosely defined as a fortuitous intermeshing of events."
Creativity crops up everywhere!
I find myself squinting at light and shadow on shapes, how we see colour, visualizing painting, sculpting, and carving. I’m also surrounded by talented artists which is not unlike constantly sampling the smorgasbord of ideas… a daily keeping or casting away.
I made a goal in 2017 of adding something new each year so in keeping with that, a fellow carver, Mal MacPhail, and myself collaborated in 2023 and entered “To Gather Together” at 'The ACT' Gallery in Maple Ridge with three fantasy houses. He carved and I burned and colourized; a very satisfying project that is continuing.
Often, I’m addressing and embracing environmentalism/conservation: themes of the present human condition. I’m distilling ideas constantly, unable to keep up with a multitude of responses to global news.
It’s the art that brings these ideas to light, it illuminates and sheds light on our lingering darkness. And so I carve: new projects encompassing climate change, as there’s no avoiding it. Plans are to enter the “Artists for Conservation” exhibit this year at Van Dusen Gardens if accepted, and an attempt to be in “On the Edge” with Federation of Canadian Artists once again, as well as “Harmony Arts Festival” in West Vancouver.
Art? You must do it.
Below are a few candids from the busy 2023 holiday season.
(click to enlarge or scroll right)
Thanks for following along, and watch for more updates this year!
Photo courtesy: @romainthiery