Hooray Hooray it's the 8th of May, studio work has begun today!

Drawing has been something I have promised myself time and time again to integrate into my process as a routine. Why not start now?

Following through with my ideas of natural, delicate yet bold, contour, negative, space, repetition, simplicity and nature.
I am obviously a little stiff, this was a 45-minute study...but I am not going to expect the world of myself right away. I plan on doing a few of these today.
They are pastel, ink, and gesso on coloured paper.
It will take me a few days to start taking it a part.
I have to build it first.
I am sure I am not alone in being terrified to start work after a longer than usual repose. I am always afraid I forgot everything, so as soon as I remember I put it all down.
This is when it is important to remember the old stand by;
K I S S
Keep it simple stupid.

Tags: flowers , painting , art

These are more studies from today.
I'll keep going until I find something I think I am looking for.
They make more sense the more I do.
It's like a brainstorm.
At the moment it is more about how the colour of the paper dictates the palette.
I strive, at this time, to only achieve harmony and loose brush/line work.
The rest will come on it's own, the more I work.

This is from this morning, the last post.

Then my boyfriend surprised me with a fresh bouquet, I think he realized that in the mood I am in I would have drawn/painted all the dead flowers just to explore "death" some more.....lol......like I think we have had enough of that for now.
So thank you Robert! It's all about being back into "life" again.


I normally don't work sitting, but all the stress lately has pinched a little something in my back. Exercise will fix that.

A first attempt to 'take it apart' a bit....
.... sigh....
Feel like I have got a long way to go!
But the inevitable progress is always gratifying.
But I am getting bolder; I even could not resist using acrylic on the paper...lol.
(Next time I should gesso the paper)


Tags: flowers , painting , art

Hi, my name is Valerie and my photo skills suck!
Anyhow, this is a large format.... sink or swim is how I feel now.
Enough of this delicate paper stuff; I have too much in me.... I need to let it out.
So the measurements are 96 inches by 40.
I bought enough material to do another triptych...a different idea. I figured I would warm up with this, as I will be working outside in a few days.
I have no idea what to think right now. It just felt good to walk into a painting this large. There is no escape for the mind or body.......
It's thick so I’ll let it dry before I go back in.

So this morning I scraped up what coffee grains I had left in my large echoing jar of no-name caffeine , and finished (for now) my blossoms.
I warmed up the branches, as the softness I had originally rendered was competing for distance with the background. I don't think I compromised the mood, rather i hope I made the concept more legible.

I was not so much looking to take this one apart, as that would be too much to ask of myself right now, but to translate my concept of new growth.
New flowers and trees and anything young in nature seem to be more saturated in values. Things become muddled with age, a characteristic I seek comfort in..... but not the idea for this puppy. I wanted this to be the rebirth.
Again, it is what it is. I will know in a week or two if it is worth keeping. But I had to do it. Objectivity aside.

SO this is me, flirting with expressionist realism. Using mostly large house painting brushes and acrylic paint.
I prefer flirting with abstraction, looking for the main impression and manipulating everything to compliment that concept.
Blah blah blah………my ideas will take shape as I go along.


Small steps……. I gessoed out the uglier parts of some older paintings.
It was built, now I took it apart to find within the painting it's natural and intuitive spirit.
I do prefer when I have the confidence to build and take apart all in one sitting, but I am not there yet. Perhaps this afternoon.
These are 24x24; the one on the right is stronger (in my opinion) than the one on the left. To thick, I have to wait.
I feel like I am always waiting for paint to dry. That is when eBay shopping gets dangerous....lol....

perhaps ecouraging a pose...lol.



This morning I went to the market and bought some flowers for my hanging garden (city life).
Relic my mostly black tuxedo cat (with bouts of amnesia) was my model today.
I know some of the things I am doing seem elementary, but it is the little things that tie every thing together.
After successfully ruining about four paintings yesterday (not posted...lol) I decided that I needed to focus on monochromatic compositions.
So Relic was my way of exploring gesture, line and value as he napped in the sunshine.
They are 7x10 studies on paper with India ink, and charcoal.
Their duration was for as long as Relic would hold the pose. For those of you who know cats......often not that long.(20secs to a minute or so)
The light is changing as the evening takes shape, so I might go out and do some of my flowers.











Tags: cat , portrait

Thursday May 11th (in Montreal anyhow)
I am starting today's post with a bit of a rant......sorry....;)
It happens more often than not.

This morning I went to deliver of some paintings to my Agent in preparation for a new Gallery in a western Canadian city.
It has been my first normal start to my day since before my grandmother’s funeral. I cleaned up, wore a nice dress, and drove calmly with my sunroof open and listening to the sounds of Montreal, the city.
Upon arrival, I unload my little civic in the loading area.

On my way out some guy came right in my face and asked me if it was necessary that my Fucking door have to touch his brand new Fucking car...as I am sitting down in the drivers seat. (The colourful words are his, not mine...lol)
Our cars were not touching, but most likely they were too close for comfort due to his LBMS (Little Big Man Syndrome) Aside from that, he proceeded to call me a Stupid Fucking Bitch in a voice louder than a LOUD voice.
He said he didn't Fucken know why I had to Fucken ruin everybody's day and to get the Fuck out of there.
After a series of apologies from my shocked and hurt self, I told him that I wasn't going to drive away until he stopped yelling at me.

I have never in my adult life been treated like this, even when I was in in boot camp, no one ever called me a stupid bitch, and with all the other adjectives.
I called my agent immediately and asked her if she know who he was. Turns out to be some publicity agent for some stars.

This got me thinking.
What am I doing?
I seek Beauty and Understanding in the Universe.
I need to feel human, and evolve.
My art is a platform for me to explore my Self and the World.
To make it Better some how.
For what? To listen to little Cock-Suckers like that?
He looked my age.... I am thirty. That made me sadder...my generation.
I left the house feeling Content and Pretty.
I came back feeling Ugly and Violated some how.
SO then I painted this.
30x36 acrylic



and some close ups...



After I finished this, I realized that the energy I put into my art is no different from that in the world.
We are all molecules bouncing around, and off each other.
Like the Atmosphere around the Pansies, it touches and becomes a part of them.
Yet you can tell the Air from Flower, the Flower from the Dirt, and the Dirt from the Leaf.
We all share the same space, look at the Pansies; they fascinate me because they Huddle together proudly.
Strength in numbers seems to be necessary for their very existance and survival.
We need to be around each other, good or bad.
It's all energy.
Everything is energy.

Tags: flowers , painting , art , energy

Today I drove from Montreal back to Ottawa....again.
I was supposed to say here in Ottawa for a few weeks, but with our sick friend...and an empty tank..I needed to recharge to provide strength - at least for my family.

I came with about 100 liters of paint, and lots of canvas that I see not being nearly enough.
I am about to kick it into high gear.
I start tomorrow.
When I do this, I sometimes average four a day.
This is the fun part.
Like any athlete or musician, I had to warm up.
What is the goal for the Thirty Day Artist? Forty paintings?
peanuts........lol.

When I arrived in Ottawa this was in the paper.
The Ottawa Citizen, May 12th 2006

My gallery here in Ottawa seems to be promoting a show for me that started today.......lol......I didn't even know.
That is the good thing about being prolific, it opens up many possibilities.

Sorry no art today, plus it's my dad's 60th.
I’ll think of you when I drink really good wine.
Bonne soir,
Valerie

Sorry folks, I just had my second death in the family in the past two weeks this morning.
I have to take care of other things.
can't deal with this now.
thanks, and good bye.
Valerie

Valerie has dropped out of 30dayartist due to overwhelming personal events. We offer her our condolences, and wish her the best in her artistic endevours.