I’m back from my artist residency/retreat/workshop, the Toni Onley Artist’s Project. Wow. It was really tough for me for several reasons:
- fairly new at artmaking (about 2 years of drawing/painting)
- new medium (about a month since switching to oil)
- first timer at a workshop/residency program of its kind (not knowing what to expect)
- not having a game plan prior to arrival
The fact that I already knew Wells was a godsend, actually, so having support from my mother, and several friends, to keep me going was really good for my soul – coming home to a good meal cooked by either Karen or my mother, or being able to cook up something at home. Having my cats with me at Mom’s was good. When I needed a break, being able to go to Carol’s store for an ice cream – all good.
This is not to say that my co-participants didn’t help. Far from it, they were great, and a good rapport between all of us was good too. So may diverse talents, mediums, and subject matters – it’s so good to see each and every one’s works, all so distinct. Some of them well on their way, some of them doing it for five or more years, it’s just – wow. Caroline and her Basquiat-like works, “Monet of the Mountains” Rob Jenkins and his wonderful pastels, just to name a few. Bonnie Scott’s watercolours, Maureen’s palette knife works, which I totally love. Rick’s mountaintop summits, Sarah’s landscapes – I like her crows, and her writings on the blackboards. Louise’s Okanagan scenes. Claire’s interesting canvas on canvas techniques. These are just a few examples.
The mentors, of course. David T. Alexander and Peter Von Tiesenhausen. David is a painter of abstract landscapes, and Peter is a installation artist, mostly in sculpture, using earth as his medium, although he does paint as well. As mentors, I think I had more difficulty connecting with David, but it could be because I didn’t know what to expect from this kind of program, and therefore could not find a way to get what I need from him, because I don’t know what he can offer. Peter, surprisingly, I got more out of, perhaps because he was easier to talk to? However, I learned a lot from both mentors.
David asked “why” a lot. “Why this? Why did you change it? Why did you do that? Why?” – and I do believe there is a reason for that. Maybe not to his intentions, but what it has taught me to is alway ask why. For example, rather than just rushing into trying to paint run-down buildings or ruins, I should always ask myself, why do I want to paint this? Perhaps that was his gift to me – to always ask why. Because to ask why is to think about what I’m going to paint, and how I can make it better or different. Rather than blindly grab some peppers and paint them, ask myself, why do I want to paint these peppers. Is it the shape? Is it the colours? And so on.
Peter was more practical. He offered sound advice about drawing, and about painting. I said I wanted to get over being stingy with my paints, be more freer about painting. He went and got some acrylic paints – white and black, and squeeze out big big blobs, and got a big brush and a small board (9 x 12 ish), and said, paint a still life but don’t stop until you used all these paints. That was fun. I need to do the same with my oil paints – squeeze out big blobs and just don’t stop until I use it all up.
I did go up with 3 large canvasses, with the intention of painting all three of them. And I did achieve them, even if I’m not finished with a couple of them, they are all covered with paint. And gained one more as well.
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- Still Life with Peppers
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- A loose still life
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- Riverside Reflection
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- WIP – Ruins
I did learn some things:
- I prefer to paint on panels than canvas (smooth!)
- some people don’t like representational paintings (tough!)
- Use smaller panels – easier to travel with and you can bring more than just 3.
- Have a clear vision before going to a workshop like this (no artist block allowed!)
- Knowing what direction I want to go in (representational artwork)
And very sound advice from a couple of my colleagues -
Just keep painting!!!
