Wow, January has been a busy month to say the least. I had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time and well taking down a display case of work from the youth I have been teaching, the library asked if I would like to show my work in their gallery room for the monthof January…it worked out great! It is a big, bright lovely room in the Ajax Public Library withenough wall space to fit 30 decent sized paintings. A friend (Sue) and myself spent a snowy day loading, unloading, unwrapping, hanging, levelling, tagging, etc. a great looking show! I was able to include my daughter and a few students in the show AND we get to have a day long closing reception including doing demos of silk painting, batik, and free motion embroidery on painted cotton…the very next day I had to do it all over again with the help of my daughter and a friend from school who needed community hours. So we installed a 30 pc. show at Ontario Shores called Transformation & Change and Next Generation…and the opening reception is on January 16th, 2010 from 1:30-3:00 pm. We had a lot more space than we did when the show was in Clarington Town Hall, so we were able to add a few more pieces that did not fit into the other show. I sold a painting while setting up – so that was a good sign. We have had an article published in the paper about the show, and an art magazine for PRAC is also doing a write up about us when the show moves to Ajax on March 22nd, 2010 into the McLean Community Centre until April 26th. I do not think that show installation is my favourite part of the art business, but getting all of those paintings out of my house all at the same time is making my husband and oldest daughter VERY happy…even if it is only for a month. I would love to move the batiks somewhere else in February to, just to keep them out of the house for a while…it would even be better if they moved permanently into other people’s houses ;0) Anyway…it is all part of being an artist, and our excitement builds as we get much positive feedback and encouragement from others. I will tell you how the receptions and shows went soon!
First solo (actually duo) Show – the dynamic Durham duo…
Well, I was asked earlier last year to be in a show with my daughter through Visual Arts Clarington, and told that the show would be at the Clarington Town Hall in Bowmanville. I later found out we had to hang our own show, which is a new experience for me…I knew I needed a friend to help because I have been suffering from vertigo for a while now, and could not reach up very successfully to hang things without causing “bed spins” so to speak. Well Leon came to the rescue (I am so glad he is tall and strong) because I don’t think I could have successfully done it without him. We were able to get 28 paintings up on the two walls where you enter into the Town Hall and the two receptionists were very pleased with their view for the next few months. We had passersby all day oohing and ahhhing and gasps of breath as they walked by and one of the receptionists said she has never seen a show like this one and that it seems to be seriously grabbing people’s attention and they are instantly stopping to look. I still have to drop off the list for the show, and the write up about it, as well as perhaps a guestbook for people to sign, but I am excited about the response we were getting. Extremely good feedback for hours is good for an artist’s soul ;0) every so often…a few people saw the extra pieces we could not get into the show and jokingly asked if they could continue the show on in their offices and hang those in there…so if anyone is interested and curious, go to the Clarington Town offices which is also attached to the new Bowmanville LIbrary and check it out – make sure you sign the guestbook! The show is called “Transformation & Change” and “Next Generation” and the artists are Sheri Gundry and Taylor Gundry – and it runs from October – December 31st, 2009. Another bit of exciting news is that The Conference Place Art Gallery has asked us to move the show to their gallery when it is done at this location, so we will be moving it in January to The Conference Place Art Gallery (Ontario Shores) in Whitby for it’s next stop!
Fabulous quote that sums it all up!
Pondering creativity, change, and the Industrial Age…
Creativity…is it as unique and unusual as we think, or have we removed it over time and through the industrial age? I was pondering what creativity might look like, and is it really true that only some are meant to be artists? The thought dawned on me that artistic and creative expression can look many different ways, and likely we are all creative, since we were created in the image of our Creator. Therefore we must each have the desire and capacity to be creative. You guys have to follow my train of thought here as I get this out…
So if you think of simpler times, agricultural family life and communities, an example in today might be Mennonite communities, everyone is using their hands in the course of their days to be creative. You have men building things (buildings, toys, tools etc.), you have women making clothes, quilting, making soft dolls, cooking for family, and greater community cooking where they are canning foods…children are taught very young to do these things too. The work of art then is not a painting or a sculpture that is only to be admired from a distance, but rather things that are kept close and used daily, touched, felt, consumed and purposeful. Not that artwork is not purposeful, especially in recording history, but these other possible creative expressions are just a part of life, practical, useful, celebrated, and enjoyed by all, but not necessarily every going to be experienced by a greater body of people.
Have you ever watched a skilled bread-maker knead and pound the dough, and then braid it together, wash it with egg or milk and bake it until it comes out perfect and golden brown? The smell of fresh baked bread rushes into your nostrils, and brings you to the kitchen, salivating for some fresh butter to melt on the warm bread…it is truly an art. I am a terrible pie maker. I learned that very young, I might not be a total failure, as with proper instruction, I might be able to learn to do it, but there is a skill that some have to make the most incredible crusts and pies you have ever seen or tasted. I used to stop on a little country road on my way home from work to get pies from this tiny little stop where the woman made crusts like shortbread, all filled with pure ingredients from the farm garden…they were worth every penny.
So what if that is the kind of creativity that many have, creativeness expressed through love and joy and shared with those around, but temporary.
Have you ever seen someone make hand-made, well-crafted furniture out of wood? I find watching them very interesting. There are so many skills involved, and so much problem solving and creativity. Then there is the finishing, with wood so smooth, it feels like satin to the touch…I remember an old Singer sewing machine lid my grandma had on her machine, and it was all intricately carved with detailed designs of swirls and flowers…it was amazing, and likely all hand done. As fine a piece of art as a painting in my opinion.
So what if the industrial age and mass production removed the creative expression for many which might have been the outlet they needed to keep them sane? What happens if that unexpressed creativity becomes an internal frustration that many don’t even recognize is there? I think for many people, being able to navigate life well would not be so hard with a creative outlet. Sort of like preventative maintenance.
I remember going to a camp on a farm as a child for a few weeks in the summer, and I remember that many of the children knew how to carve or whittle things out of wood with their jackknife. I began to learn, but was not there long enough to learn well how to do it.
All of this creativity is also relational and often shared and experienced in community of some sort – either family, or larger community.
Anyway, just some ponderings…
Perspectives Art Show and Opening of The Conference Place Art Gallery
Great Event opening last Saturday at The Conference Place at Whitby Mental Health! Great facility, great connection to bring art into a healing atmosphere. The speaker David Aurandt that opened the event is a wonderful speaker and advocate of the Arts, I have heard him twice and think he is great! Taylor has 1 piece in the exhibition that will be there until July unless it sells called Atmosphereic Substance 2, and I sold a piece there on Saturday called Hidden! WooHoo…sales are good. David talked a lot about artists negotiating life through their artwork where the whole world sees it, but we are like others who are trying to navigate their lives too. Awesome. Look forward to more events at The Conference Place!
The Solitary Nature of Artists
I have been reflecting on my own life, and close friends that are artists or at the very least, highly creative. It seems to me that there is an underlying solitary nature that is integral, and part of the heart of an artist. There is a separateness, perhaps that of observation, but also the ability to appreciate and almost become part of your surroundings, whether that be a location, in a natural surrounding, or even amongst people on a busy street. It is a respect that you are different than they are, you are each something unique, yet there is a sameness that ties you together in relationship that you cannot break.
I think the sensitivity of artists forces them to separate and to reflect. The barrage of information perhaps overwhelming when you naturally like to observe, dissect, analyze, understand what you see. I think if I did not pull back, I would not be able to cope because there is just too much information.
However, there is also an appreciation that accepts things the way they are an sees beauty in all things. That beauty may be a sense or feeling, or it might be a certain line or the way light reflects, or it could be the story that you see in the eyes of the one you are keenly observing. Appreciating the life that has been led, appreciating what has brought them to that place.
Like a changing garden, seasons and years bring growth, hibernation, pruning, blossoming, division, new growth, mutation, possibility, harshness, death, overwork, over pruning, overgrowth, weeds, unprotected tender shoots never reaching potential, old things needing to be cut down, disease, pestilence, water, dehydration…a constantly changing barrage of days that bring both good and bad, growth and death. Still, that garden continues to live in most instances, but I guess even then it has been with the help of a caring gardener helping it along.
The job of the artist in every situation is the recording of those things, both inward and out that are observed, reflected on, expressed, not forgotten, not hidden, but in a vulnerable place, often bared for the world to see, somewhat like a mirror, reflecting back little pieces of each of us so that we too reflect, pause, appreciate, remember…feel.
Great Quote by Henri Nouwen
You are a Christian only so long as you constantly pose critical questions to the society you live in — so long as you stay unsatisfied with the status quo and keep saying that a new world is yet to come. —
Considering The Lilies Still
Rhythmic curls of white
Stained with pink
Rest upon simple green stems.
Shaped like brides dress;
Organza scallops
Rest at the top of the vase.
Tight, stiff buds stretch
Their heads over
The mature blooms
As if to see something
In the distance.
The ceremony soon
Shall come to a close,
As all relax and play their part.
Buds loosened, all flower heads bloomed
And finishing in final glory.
Enjoyed and spectacular
Yet only for a time.
Considering the Lilies II
The last of them are
beginning to open.
Vibrant colours have
begun to fade.
Stiff and alert stems
are beginning to bend,
blooms are unfurling
and beginning to relax.
The brightness of the glory
is done,
but the tired and lovely
blooms somehow settle
into a gentle softness
and prettiness
that wasn’t there before.
I have been Considering the Lilies
Well, I was inspired by some lilies my husband bought me, there were the most incredible colour – a vibrant orange and I wanted to paint them, but didn’t get to them before they dropped…so I sent my husband out on a mission one night…I said “can you bring me home some lilies, a flat screen tv, and some ice cream…” It worked! He came home with all three and only had about 15 min. to find a tv (I guess he was wanting a new tv) but the lilies were not the same colour as the last ones…so I painted lilies for a week, but am still waiting as is my primed canvas for a batch the same colour as the first ones that inspired me. It felt good to do some watercolours, it has been a while.
