Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Carolyn McDonald, painter

Profile of an Artist

Carolyn McDonald grew up in a small town in the countryside of Jamaica. As a child she loved to paint and draw, and has always delighted in the vibrant colours, varied textures and rhythms of the tropics.
artwork by Carolyn McDonald
She obtained her B.A in Fine Art and teaching certificate in Ontario, Canada. On returning to Jamaica to teach and paint, she had several exhibitions, and was influenced by the rich artistic traditions on the island.

Carolyn then moved back to Canada, making her home in British Columbia where she has continued to teach and paint. Her art is often inspired by her travels and also by the play of light that transforms everyday scenes and landscapes into special and imaginative interpretations.

Her paintings invite the viewer to fill in the stories of special places that may seem familiar and yet hold a sense of mystery. Her work is distinctive for its bold use of colour, simple shapes and movement.

Carolyn has exhibited in B.C, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. She has given workshops on teaching art to children, and with Art Starts, she works as an artist in the schools. She taught art at high school, college level, and in her studio.

Carolyn now lives at Cherry Point with her husband, has retired from teaching, and is able to devote more time to her art.


Artist's Statement:

"There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain"
~ John Lennon and Paul McCartney


artwork by Carolyn McDonaldIt is the feeling I get when I am in a place that makes me want to paint. This emotional response is what starts me on a painting and is what I want to interpret. As a result, I often stray far from the original idea, the painting takes over, colours, shapes and rhythms assert themselves. I love to play, experiment and change things and so my paintings do not always follow the same rules. I allow myself this freedom, and yet in the end certain aspects of my style seem to come through—I don’t really know how.

Places that inspire me have something to do with people—that have gone before or in the present. The connection that people have to the place is something that I want to convey—either with a figure, an object, a house, a road……and, yes I do love roads and paths that will take us to that place.

I do believe that a work of art must be unique - not only or necessarily, decorative, and I work towards that.

Ferris

Creaking groaning
yielding to cry of
desire riding in
buckets suspendedRojan Zét is the resident poet of the Cowichan Valley Arts Café
by structure bearing
echoes and voices
the knock and clang
of machinery below
this girdered silence
this construction of
frames and paint held
by rivets and bolts
rusty with trail of
some spoor unfixed in
time yet referent to
an upward climb with
echoing voices the
knocking and clanging
until distant from
scratched earth this
constructed silence
thrusts toward open
sky the surety of
ground.

Rojan Zét

Monday, August 23, 2010

Canopy Curses, by Manuel Erickson

© 2010 Manuel Erickson

"IF THERE’S ONE THING I HATE about flyin'," grunted the old man, "it’s puttin' that bloody canopy on at the end o’ the day! I mean, well, jus' look at that thing. See how it's put t'gether? The thing's got flaps stickin' out all over the place. Who the sam hill's got time fer such a piece o' junk?"

The old pilot stood about five feet eight inches. Thin-bodied, his face showed every wrinkle when he was angry, as he was now. A dark, greasy, battered baseball cap sat on his head, thick white hair trying to find daylight around its rim. It melded into his white beard, which almost covered the entire face and seemed to flow down his cheeks, stopping at a round point an inch or two below his chin. With his tongue he continuously moistened the bushy, overgrown mustache, which hid his upper lip. He wasn’t bothered by his luxuriant, still black eyebrows that grew both up and down in front of his eyes.

His clothes matched his cap. Here and there a tear showed in a sleeve. His jacket's frayed cuffs and spotted front indicated a lack of laundering since he'd bought it. A casual observer would have said the same about his pants and shoes.

It could be said that this man dressed shabbily; however, he had received many compliments on his flying. "A smooth flier,” said some; “He lands his plane beautifully,” said others. "He keeps it very clean, inside and out." He was often hard on himself, not able to accept compliments easily: he would hang his head and not look a person in the eye.

Suddenly he tore the uncooperative canopy from his plane, rolled it up into a ball, opened the pilot's door and threw it into the back. He slammed the door, the sound echoing off the nearby hangar walls.

Now, that's no way to treat an aeroplane, you mad jackass, a voice said.

The old man jumped back, looked around, his eyes wide with fear.

You apologize to this beautiful aeroplane, said the voice. After all, it just brought you home, safe and sound. You should be grateful.

The old pilot felt himself calming down. "Yer right," he said with an embarrassed softness so no one might hear. His breathing had slowed. A thought occurred to him.

"Y'know what I think?" he mumbled. "This bloody canopy oughta be re-designed. It shoulda been made in three parts, not one. The first part should cover the topa the plane; then the side flaps shoulda been designed so's they can be zippered at both ends, not jus' at the front, right here." As if he were showing someone, he pointed to the front and rear of the windows that the side flaps would cover. "Then there'da been no trouble atall, atall. See?"

That, dear friends, is exactly what happened. The crusty old fool took the canopy to an upholsterer who gladly sewed an extra zipper into each of the side flaps.

The old guy tried it out and, over time, grew to love the canopy.

"Why didn't I thinka that before?" he asked himself, removing his cap and scratching his head. "Can't do withoutcha, now!"

Note: Any resemblance between the "crusty old fool" and the writer is purely coincidental.
-- M.E.



No it is not ;-) L.R.


Courtesy of Manuel Erickson

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Peter Spohn, painter

Profile of a Cowichan Valley Artist

"The paintings of Peter Spohn are works of thoughtful and beautiful design. They show the hand of a skilled draftsman and are finely composed, but mostly they convey a delight in light and a keen interest in place." Rick Cepella (Canadian landscape artist)

artwork by Peter SpohnBorn in Vancouver, Peter Spohn received his formal art education at the Banff Center of Fine Arts and at U.B.C. Later he received a B.F.A. with honours from Haverford College, Pa. and an in 1976 a M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. He spent twelve years studying and teaching art in New York and Pennsylvania where he could be close to the great art museums and fully absorb the tradition of western painting.

Peter returned to Vancouver in 1985 where he was married and had children. For twelve years he taught children at the Sunrise Waldorf School in Duncan, B.C. In 2003 he retired from teaching to return to painting fulltime. He now lives and paints in British Columbia, the U.S.A. and Mexico.

Peter's work is held in private and corporate collections locally and internationally. He has exhibited in commercial and public galleries and had many open studio and home shows. Currently most of his work is purchased directly from his home gallery, Sacred Mountain Studio in Duncan, B.C.

To contact Peter or make an appointment to visit his studio call (250) 746-4130.

You may visit his website: sacredmountainstudio.ca

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Scar, a poem by Rojan Zét

A sharp knife, my strong hand, your name cut
into a tree on this land marks that moment,Rojan Zét is the resident poet of the Cowichan Valley Arts Café
all those years, one moment in time, when my
heart was yours and I thought you were mine.
Seven years later our bridges are burned, this
tree has grown bigger and when I returned put
my hand out to figure those letters I carved
but this bark still growing had covered your
name and nothing is showing not even a letter,
the trail of a line, but I knowing better feel
a knot in my gut and my bark that now covers
the scar from your cut.

Rojan Zét

Vancouver Island Totems


Dzonoqua, Wild Woman of the Woods
Painting with light by Ron Greenaway
Carving by Oscar Matilpi
© City of Duncan

Friday, August 20, 2010

Clipped Wings, by Susan Christensen

I'm gunna be Superman.
I can fly!

I gots to be King of the Castle
'Cause I’m the best!

They'll choose me for Captain, Mom.
They just will, you'll see!

I plan to be a Doctor, Sir.
I'm already saving my money.

They made me Supervisor, yesterday.
That's a start, I guess.

I've got a new computer game.
I get so into it, I even dream about it.


by Susan Christensen

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Formation, a poem by Rojan Zét

Summer milkweed fluffs
lift off - the sharp tearing
wrench, delicious pain -Rojan Zét is the resident poet of the Cowichan Valley Arts Café
dandelion puffs afloat on
a breeze merciless in its
wooing... or does the flower
just give up, persuaded to
yield, and release the seed
to rise, to separate, leaving
a stem stark against the sunshine
drying slowly into Winter's
outstretched claws?

Rojan Zét

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Friday, August 6, 2010

Vancouver Island Ravens

During a totem pole tour with a group of visitors in the streets of downtown Duncan, the "City of Totems", a curious thing happened.
The Raven is known as the trickster
I was talking to them about a totem pole that had a Thunderbird above a Killer Whale. This Killer Whale, though, was special. When it was carved, this Killer Whale's fins were made in the shape of a Raven's head.

The Raven is known to the carver of this pole as the "trickster" and the "transformer". In this case the carver had created a "Raven-finned Killer Whale". The kind of Killer Whale that might come alongside your boat and give it a good nudge or splash you, just for fun, to play a trick on you.

Just as I was explaining this to my tour group, a young First Nations woman, who I did not know and had not noticed walking by, quietly stepped up behind me and gave me a quick squeeze at the waist... she laughed and said out loud "Just like this!".

Now, this both startled and amused me and my tourist friends. And with a smile, she turned and kept on walking down the street.

What a mischievous thing to do!


And when I stop to think about it, she did have raven-coloured hair......

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Brian Clark, multimedia

Profile of an Artist

A self-taught sculptor who realizes work inspired by nature in stone, wood, and metal, as well as traditional drawing and painting media. He now works at his art in Mill Bay, on Vancouver Island, BC.
Brian Clark
Owners of his work include HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, kd lang, David Suzuki, and many individual and international collectors.

The earliest involvements with art began as a child while growing up in the northern community of Ft. McMurray, Alberta. A lack of community workshops or training facilities resulted in many self-creative activities such as making toys, creating games, taking care of pets and playing with friends helped develop a sense of accomplishment in self-expression. Depictions of many childhood events were captured using pencils and crayons as a medium; this was a beginning for forming the basics to express visual and emotional perceptions into an art form.
artwork by Brian Clark

School provided more sophisticated tools and materials in the form of drafting and basic art, which helped transform rough and unpatterned works into structured and geometrical sequences that balanced and stabilized the raw creative energies. Many forms of graphic posters and sketches were created in high school, highlighting concentric and exacting patterns graphically illustrating social activities.

music by Brian Clark
Music by Brian Clark

Turn up your speakers
and click on MP3 button
and then click "Play",
close window when finished.

Don't Blame Me -
That's Alright -
Empty Bottle -
No Soul -
Try -
Two Shots -
Reil -
This helped seed the development of a "personalized signature and style" that is apparent in all the artworks today. An ongoing interest in astronomy inspired many oil, pastel and acrylic paintings during the late 1960's and early 1970's. These interpretations of the mysteries of unexplored deep space strengthened mental perceptions of three-dimensional imaging from any focal direction.

In 1982, the need to attempt sculpture arose after failing to express a sense of wholeness and movement in some still life paintings. Constructing homemade chisels and aided by library books for guidance, four low relief pinewood panels were completed with considerable success. Soon larger and figurative works in wood followed, depicting native cultural objects and implements. A mentor gave tools and materials and criticism to begin in soapstone carving in late 1982. A respect for the indigenous peoples artworks and crafts instilled the sense of simpleness and quality into each new work.

Visit Brian Clark's website at: www.brianclarkartist.com