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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Enviroart par Suzanne Bélair

 

 

 

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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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Enviroart par Suzanne Bélair

 

 

 

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Out of my comfort zone 2

This week, I am living a second adventure outside of my comfort zone. I am taking a workshop with Pat Dews, an award winning American artist that started off as a realistic watercolour painter and is now an abstract and mixed techniques painter.

I signed up after taking a previous workshop exploring Abstraction in May, which I enjoyed so much and thought this would bring my art forward.

I meant to share my thoughts every night when I got home but found myself too tired and drained by the time I sat down at the end of the day. Let me tell you the experience is novel and quite tiring. Fun, yes, but speed of execution, noise and lack of space were difficult to deal with the first 2 days, not to mention working on paper which I never really did before.

So here is what I learned so far. I summarized each day with one main idea I felt needed to be integrated completely to move forward. I heard these main ideas before, we’ve probably all read about them, but now, they were demonstrated to us in quite an enlightening manner.

Here is my take on the workshop so far and what I learned:

Day 1- On the first day I learned that I have to look at the world in terms of SHAPES, first an foremost, Small, Medium and Large shapes. You need the 3 kinds in your painting.

Day 2- On the second day, I learned that “It is only a piece of paper” (or a canvas), it’s not the end of the world! I knew that already but it finally sank in. Don’t worry, relax and enjoy the ride and if you hate the result, don’t lose sleep over it, cover it up tomorrow. We were told to make a failed painting on purpose, to put anything any which way on a piece of paper or a canvas, so that we could rescue it later, to get rid of fear, you know, that fear of failing.

Day 3- Today, I learned that you can go beyond a failed painting and make it good if you keep working at it, especially with acrylics. Cover it up, change the focal point, make up shapes, don’t get discouraged and go with it. Invent, create, do anything and think composition. The possibilities are endless! A lot is about attitude. Don’t worry so much about it, don’t give up !

Here are a few tips:

1- One of the most important thing is SCALE – make sure not everything is the same size and that your shapes are not too big or to small for the size of paper or canvas you are working on.

2- In abstract, you must show depth by overlapping your shapes, so overlap what you want to come forward, decide what you want to come forward.

3- Texture adds a lot to a larger shape: add grids, use wax paper, newspaper, saran wrap, texture, texture, texture your larger shapes unless you want it to be an absolute quiet space.

4- Make the eye travel through your painting by using leading elements. One dot can add a lot

5- Use a picture for inspiration if you want, but look for shapes, not details.

The “Failed painting” concept:

A very interesting few days indeed ! Here is a work in progress I started with putting yellows and reds any which way and that I had used to protect my table while painting a previous smaller piece, in order to create a “failed painting”.

Second stage on my failed painting, trying bland colors to put over the yellows and oranges. You can use white chalk to plan the next stage.

Stage 3 of the failed painting, I gessoed over most everything, sprayed and textured, it’s starting to take shape and I really love the patterns over the mauve-blue on the left side. How do I keep this while creating harmony?

Step 4 of the failed painting. It is starting to look better and better, more variation of shapes, more contrasts but not finished yet . It is no longer a failed painting !

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Getting out of our comfort zone

During the last week of May, I took an Abstract workshop with Jadis, an artist from France (http://www.jadis.weonea.com/). The group was fantastic to be with and extremely talented. We had a great week ! Here are two artworks I produced during this week.

 

The first evening, I came back so excited and energized!  Ready to paint all night to finish my painting, my head filled with ideas! But, we need to rest at one point don’t we…

Fall
@2015 Suzanne Bélair
Acrylic on canvas 36 X 36

 

Jadis works with acrylics so I had to get new supplies since I don’t usually paint in acrylics and had none of the brand she wanted us to use.

I learned a few things about abstract art, first that we can split it in three categories according to her, even if most literature will divide it in two.

1) Geometric – often considered the easiest form

2) Lyrical – where gesture and colour mixes prevail

3) Pared down – considered the most difficult, where we try to convey an emotion with nothing or a minimum of elements on the canvas

In general we consider that representational art tells a story while abstract art wants to convey an emotion. However, representational art also transmits a lot of emotion while telling its story and it all depends on the artist’s rendition and how he/she can transmit it to the viewer with colors, contrasts and atmosphere.

The second day was a bit more difficult, The beginning of the second painting introduced problems I could not foresee but with positivism and the will to plough ahead, I was able to bring it close to finish by the end of the third day.

Accélération urbaine
©2015 Suzanne Bélair
Acrylic on canvas 36 X 36

I found that when you work with acrylics and abstract art, the speed of execution is dazzlingly quick compared to oil painting and my usual work process, even if everything is thought out and each colour is applied judiciously and in a thoughtful manner. I found this surprising.

I was very excited but still had a few misgivings when I registered. After all, I am a representational artist and it is what speaks to me most and is, for me, the ultimate challenge. But pushed by the need to get out of my comfort zone and to give myself the means to learn more about abstract art, to construct a painting based not solely on an object that can be observed, a landscape, a body, but on colour harmony, technique and emotion taught me a lot.

It was a fantastic week, everyone was interesting, captivating and ready to share, from the very first day. Challenges were numerous. What pleasure we had in working together and what a beautiful opportunity to recharge my creative batteries!
Getting out of our comfort zone is very rewarding and I believe I have added a new dimension to my art. I am curious to see where this will all lead.

 

À suivre…

 

http://www.suzannebelair.com

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