Artists Participating in Art

As much as artists love to create their own work, they also appreciate the work of others; artists visit galleries, learn in workshops led by other artists and can also participate in art created by others.

The latter is just what happened over the summer in the town of Stouffville.

Artists Linda Duvall and Timeanddesire (Denise St. Marie and Timothy Walker) asked members of the Stouffville community to share their feelings about the town in which they lived. Linda Duvall met with 12 local artists, including 8 Studio Tour artists whom she asked to take her to a location of interest or importance to them within Stouffville.  Videotaping their locations, Linda interviewed each, asking about the location itself as well as what each artist worried about living in Stouffville.

The result was a  lot of video tape that Linda edited into a 35 minute segment, and commemorative pillows with an image of each location that she visited. Why pillows? Linda had taken a trip to the local Care and Share Shoppe and been inspired by the commemorative objects for sale in that store.

On Thursday, Studio Tour artists were on hand for the opening of 'Artists and Agents' at The Latcham Gallery. Here, they stand next to their pillows:

(L to R) Allison Bullock, Ray McNeice, Joan Chalmers and Valerie Ashton

(L to R) Valerie Ashton, John Walmsley, and Margaret Grandison
Sandra Cole Burke and Diana Bullock not pictured

On September 28th The Latcham Gallery will host a panel discussion about this show as part of Culture Days in Ontario. Many of the participating artists will be in attendance as well as Linda Duvall and Timeanddesire.

Carin Bacher

Carin Bacher creates totems. She shares the process on how she creates these beautiful works of art that tell a story.

Thank you Carin for your insight into the process

Listen to the wood.....what role with the unique features of this particular piece of wood play in the finished work “The Enchanted Forest” ?

The answers will become more clear as the work progresses.

1] Soon the inhabitants of the pole will begin to take up residence, evolving over time from design to carved form.

Q: Does the totem direct the artist or does the artist direct the totem?

Answers below

2] Who are these inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest? What is their importance?

3] Rough carving begins on The Enchanted Forest, the totem’s inhabitants begin their new life as shape and form are loosely defined. The tools used in rough carving must be extremely sharp to ensure deep, accurate cuts removing large chunks of wood without compromising the integrity of the wood.

Q: What tools are most effective for this stage of carving?

Answers to questions

1] It is a collaboration

2] Green Man: Peering from the foliage, Green Man reminds us that not all of life’s solutions are logical or obvious.
Eclipse: Comprised of Sun, Guardian of the Earth by Day and Moon, Guardian of the Earth by Night.

3]Hatchet and mallet moving to chisel and mallet.

Make sure to stop by Carin's studio #1 on the Tour 

Diana Bullock

Studio Tour artist Diana Bullock shares with us the process of wet mounting a Sumi-e [Japanese ink painting] work. Visit Diana's studio number 15 on the tour. Her mother Grace MacPherson and her daughter Allison Bullock also will be exhibiting work. Three generations of artists all in one place. Visit www.alternativesinart.ca to see more of Diana and Allison's work.

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Painting Sumi-e work requires patience. I can't count the number of times I have gotten to the last stroke in a painting only to ruin it. This is a very unforgiving media, if you make an error you must start over. 

The next step after the painting has dried is to make the painting more stable by adding another layer of paper behind the work. This also improves the colour of the ink. You can dry mount it, which I have never attempted or you can wet mount it.   

There are places that will do it for you but  I prefer to do it myself. After many years I have got a system that works for me. Bear in mind that both of these papers are a little bit heavier than tissue paper. The "rice paper" that I use is strong if you know how to handle it when it is wet but it can easily tear especially when wet!

First you lay the painting upside down on a clean board.

After lightly spraying the painting with water you paste the back of the painting with an acid free rice  paste.

 

 
Placing a slightly larger piece of rice paper on the painting you gently rub the rice paper to the painting using a piece of parchment paper to protect the work from tearing. 

 
 Carefully lifting the work up it is now turned right side up and place on a clean support [some people use their doors, I don't]. The edges are taped down with packing tape [the worst part of this proceedure for me because I am always losing the end of the tape!]

 
You then have to babysit the work until it drys; sometimes the tape will break away and that can cause a ripple. 

My birds are now drying. Once they are very dry I will add my seal and sign them, all ready to be framed.

John Roberts

John Roberts is a very accomplished artist. He works in many different media and in many different styles. He loves to create and he is often seen waling around town with his briefcase of sketchbooks. 

John really loves to draw people and to combine his love of drawing with donating to a worthy cause he has developed a plan. The last Friday and or Saturday afternoon of any month will find John in the Care and Share quilt room with a table set up. For a nominal charge, that he donates to the Mennonite Central Committee, John will create a beautiful portrait for you. You can either sit for John or he will work from a picture. 

Even if you are not interested in having a portrait it is fun to see John's work. 

The Care and Share is part of the Latcham Gallery building 6240 Main Street Stouffville. And make sure to visit John on the 2013 Studio Tour!

 

The Sketchbook Project

Studio Tour artist Allison Bullock recently completed the Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project. With a by-line like 'Creative Interactive Crowd-Sourced Art Projects Since 2006'  the Sketchbook Project sounds interesting, doesn't it? Here's Allison to explain: 
 

I'm not certain when I first became aware of The Sketchbook Project; probably about a year ago, but it wasn't until October 2012 that I decided to sign up.

My sketchbook arrives!

The idea behind this initiative is that there isn’t enough gallery space to allow all artists who would like to show their work the opportunity to do so. Sketchbooks are smaller, more easily stored than large paintings, and much easier to transport. Genius!

As a participant in The Sketchbook Project, I paid $25 to have a sketchbook sent to me and my job was to fill the 32 pages with my art, then send it back to New York to become part of a travelling library of art.

The beginning of a Star Wars collage!

After two weeks of not-very-patient waiting, my sketchbook arrived and I set about filling it. My first task was to decide what medium to use; I usually paint in acrylic or encaustic (wax) neither of which would lend to the nature of a sketchbook. In the 'rules and regulations' sent by the Art House Co-Op, a durable medium that would not cause the pages to stick was recommended.



I decided instead to flex my underused collage muscles. Collage can be beautiful, but like anything in art, it is an acquired skill to know when to stop! Finding balance is difficult and I have often admired those who are able to do so, well. I also decided to use the more traditional graphite pencil as well as pencil crayon, and some really fun art markers that I hadn't had the occasion to use yet.

 As I set about creating art, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly everything came together and as an added bonus, I was pretty happy with the result (artists are notoriously hard on themselves about their own work.)

Have you heard about the bird?

 
The 2013 Sketchbook Project books will actually make a stop in Toronto in the Distillery District. I think I'm most excited to see my sketchbook in this travelling! And the best part is that when the exhibition finishes, my sketchbook will become part of the Brooklyn Art Library in New York.