Last week at the Studio

My studio is in a building where there is construction and there are two more phases to be completed before it gets quiet in the way that I appreciate.

But no matter, I put my music on and paint ignoring what is going on outside my door. The light that comes in is wonderful and a big reason why I chose this place. For the last four days, there has been a construction strike which means all was quiet around the building site.

 

This past week I concentrated on my two San Giminiano urban landscapes:

Colors and some details are slowly going in.

Travail en cours / Work in progress
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
Oil on canvas 30 X 40

 

Notice how I started to offset the warm tones with more blues and I positioned the trees and some of the greenery. Later, I will add greenery on the other side of the canvas too on some of the terraces and balconies.

The trees are a mix of Ultramarine blue and Cadmium Yellow pale. I don’t buy greens anymore. I always mix a blue and a yellow from my painting’s palette to create the greens.

 

I started painting some of the window’s shutters with a mix of Cerulean blue and Naples yellow.

Limiting the colors will keep harmony in the painting. Notice how the lower corner has been dulled to take the eye away from this area even if it is in the foreground. The deep orange that was painted underneath as a background color keeps the building warm.

 

Travail en cours / Work in progress
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
Oil on canvas 30 X 40

 

For this one, my challenge as I was building the background city, is to keep the colors soft and subdued but still delimit the houses so we can make out the intricacies of the constructions. Most of that area was done with a 10-0 paint brush and I’m mainly working on building architecture at this point.

It becomes a sort of meditation when you are working small details like this and it teaches you patience. At this point , it is long tedious work, like putting a puzzle together.

 

To see the beginning of there paintings and learn about this fascinating town, refer to my previous blogs:
Work in Progress
And Work in Progress (bis)

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Work in Progress (bis)

A second painting started inspired by San Gimiano, Italy- view from one of the towers. It is still untitled – to be followed

Travail en cours / Work in progress
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
Oil on canvas 30 X 40

Like the previous one, this painting is based on pictures I took from the towers surrounding San Giminiano in Italy when we visited a few years ago.

Here are a few more facts about this beautiful town. Its historic center was registered with UNESCO in 1990 on the  World heritage list. Its full name San Giminiano delle belle Torri’ is 56 km south of Florence and used to serve as an important relay point for travellers to and from Rome on the Via Francigena. Some of the towers stood more than 50 meters high.

In San Giminiano, you can find several masterpieces of Italian art, dating back to the 14^th and 15^th centuries.

The town became independent in 1199 and grew around two squares. The towers were built between the 11^th and 13^th Century. The Piazza Duomo, one of the main squares dates back to the 13^th Century. It has an intricate layout and this is where most of the public and private monuments can be found. The Piazza della Cisterna is triangular and has a central well.

It is a beautiful town, still very lively and interesting to visit. Like another one I painted a few years ago, I decided to add colors to the grey buildings to create a dynamic art piece.
 

To view the previous finished painting from 2013 “San Giminiano, revisited” go to my post: Five-Day Art Challenge on Facebook – Day 2

 

To see my other work in progress and learn more about this fascinating town, go to previous post: Work in Progress

 

Site web Suzanne Bélair

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Art Workshops – How to benefit from them

I recently attended an art workshop in Montreal. I don’t attend a lot of workshops anymore, preferring to explore solo in my studio and perfecting my own techniques but every now and then, I try one.

In the case of that particular workshop, we explored image transfers, collage, multiple mediums to give special effects and mix with acrylic paints, stencilling with spray paint and resin application. It was a good blend of mixed media techniques.

I had already tried some of the techniques before, some were new to me and the atmosphere and the group were a lot of fun, the instructor knowledgeable. I am not particularly happy with my piece, especially for the fact that it would be difficult to modify anything at this point after the application of resin which I wanted to try.

My Art workshop experiment

But that’s OK because the point of attending an art workshop is to learn something new, be it a new medium, subject matter or technique. You have to go into a workshop with an open mind and should not be expecting to come out with a finished piece ready to hang on your wall. That is not the point of a workshop.

Often, workshop attendees are afraid of making mistakes, are feeling watched by the others and want to perform. They want to come out with an artwork worth keeping (after all, they paid for it) but this is not what workshops are for! Workshops are meant to take you out of your comfort zone, to let you experiment with the curiosity of a child, without expectations. It is the perfect place to watch what happens with whatever new thing you are trying. It is also the perfect place to learn from the other attendees’ experimentations and to share your discoveries.

The goal is to listen to the instructor, take notes and experiment just for the joy of it. Relax and enjoy the moment without expectations and you’ll really benefit from the workshop. Always walk in with an open mind.

Later on, if you enjoy the results, you can implement what you have learned into your own work or continue pushing what you’ve learned to the next level.  A workshop is a starting point, not an end. It opens up a new door in your artistic mind.

 

 

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Work in Progress

Travail en cours / Work in progress
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
Oil on canvas 30 X 40

Inspired by San Gimiano, Italy- view from one of the towers, started this new painting, still untitled – to be followed

After all these years of painting, I finally got myself a T-square. I must say this is the first time I ever used this instrument and it is the best thing ever to draw and paint a complex urban scenes like this one, full of buildings and eaves trough.

This painting is based on pictures I took from the towers surrounding San Giminiano in Italy when we visited a few years ago.

San Giminiano is a small medieval town in the province of Sienna,Tuscany. The town is walled and known as “the Town of Fine Towers”. The town is famous for its medieval architecture and the preservation of 13 tower houses that date back to the fourteenth century. These numbered 72 originally and were built by rich families to show their wealth and economic power.

It is a beautiful town, still very lively and interesting to visit. Like a previous one I painted a few years ago, I decided to ass colors to the grey buildings to create a dynamic art piece.

 

Site web Suzanne Bélair

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Invitation Art Exhibit

This is an invitation for the wonderful Spring exhibit from the Lakeshore Association of Artists I am part of. This year again, approximately 45 artists will exhibit at the Fritz Farm Community Center, located at 20477 Lakeshore road in Baie d’Urfé H9X 1R3. One third of artwork sales and all raffle tickets sales will be donated to NOVA West Island.

 

NOVA West Island is a charitable healthcare organization that supports the West Island population by providing palliative and oncology care, adult and children bereavement programs, home support and adult day centers. These are provided by a team of registered nurses, health aides, program coordinators and volunteers.

 

The vernissage takes place on Friday April 21^st  from 7PM to 9:30PM and the exhibit continues Saturday 22^nd and Sunday 23^rd  from 10am to 5 pm.

 

Don’t miss this special event ! I will be there on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

 

I also invite you to visit my website at: http://suzannebelair.com and my facebook page: www.facebook.com/SuzanneBelairArtist

 

 

Hope to see you there !

 

Suzanne

Painting of the week: GOLDEN WATCH

Golden Watch
©2017 Suzanne Belair
Acrylic on canvas 30 X 30 in

 

From the corner

Golden warmth is keeping watch

Over the forest and its inhabitants

Have no fear

There is protection

For all that live within

Its boundaries

As long as you submit

To nature’s laws.

 

©2017 Suzanne Belair

 

 

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Painting of the week: INDOMPTABLE / INDOMITABLE

Indomptable
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
Acrylique sur toile 30 X 30 po

Man wants to subdue the forest

To his power, to his needs

Man wants to tame the forest

But the forest is fighting

Each time it resists

After each attack, it regenerates

Indomitable, secret, new

Each time it reveals itself

Despite the assaults

Every time it relives

 

©2017 Suzanne Belair

 

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