Friends, this is a short one since my previous Studio Notes took some time to write, and I miss painting. If you haven't read it yet, I write about the elusive meaning of the Feminine through three recurring archetypes in my work: the Femme Fatale, the Witch, and the Cyborg. It was a fun one to arrive at articulating.

Announcement: Open House at 780 Blanshard St.

If you’re around this weekend, come by for the Open House at 780 Blanshard St., downtown Victoria’s iconic Art Deco building. Along with over 80 artists, my studio will be open, and I’ll be happy to chat about my work with you. ❤︎

On Keeping it Interesting

I’m working on a new painting, and I had the impulse to paint the background neon green and went with it. Then I immediately regretted it because there was my edge, and I’d had to meet it.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve plateaued in my technical skills. But maybe it’s that I haven’t been taking risks. I’ve been so focused on learning how to write that I haven’t been as invested in improving my skills as a painter. But with this one, I’m actually excited to push myself again and learn something new in the process. This is what keeps the work interesting.

And I found just the right artist (and book) to help me through this.

Patrick J. Jones’s book had been on my bookshelf for years, but I haven’t been serious about learning from it until now. He’s got mad skills. I especially like how he adapts classical painting techniques like grisaille and glazing to fantasy and sci-fi imagery. There’s so much to learn by studying another artist’s work.

His breakdown of his painting, “Valley of the Serpent”, has been my guide as I problem-solve my way through. I’m using it as a reference for my colour palette.

There’s so much to learn by studying another artist’s work. His Jones’s paintings are so luminous and dynamic, and that’s because he’s a master of contrast, focusing on values over colours. His use of a muted palette is key to the vibrancy of his work. This is something I hope to emulate.

I also want to get better at painting settings. My painting in progress features two cyborgish figures (aliens, perhaps?), guarding a gateway mounted by a pair of sphinxes. Jones keeps his backgrounds loose, which enables the viewer’s imagination to fill in the blanks. It’s also what creates the illusion of depth, directing the eye to what’s in focus. This is a principle of realism I want to be mindful of in this new piece.

Oh, and the inspiration for this ‘mise en scène’ comes from the Lions’ Gate in Ḫattuša, Turkey. I’ll discuss the symbolism in a forthcoming Studio Notes.

Final Notes

What I’m reading: Austin Osman Spare: The Life and Legend of London’s Lost Artist by Phil Baker, an excellent biography that’s stimulating many thoughts on the connection between art, creativity, and magic. I absolutely love Spare’s occult aesthetic, and because of his pioneering use of automatic techniques, he is sometimes regarded as the father of Surrealism. But he was an atypical figure, whose medicine, as George Bernard Shaw once said, was “too strong for the average man”.

What I’m listening to: “Pretender” by Sarah Jaffe on repeat.

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