Art Tips

Doodling Improves Learning

2011-06-13T00:42:35Z

Managers and teachers, don't get pissed off if your employees or students are doodling in meetings or classes! I was sent to an expensive sales training course and my boss found doodling all over the seminar booklet and concluded that I had not listened to a thing the instructor said. He couldn't have been more incorrect. Have you ever created fun, or intricate drawings while talking on the phone or listening to a presentation? Most likely, unless you were completely bored, you were able to listen to what was being said, respond to the person on the phone and draw at the same time. If you were bored, then most likely you were thinking of your next vacation not the drawing. I knew someone who had a note pad beside the phone that was reserved for her phone call doodling. She said she could look back on pages and recall who she was talking to and what effect that phone call had on her energy levels just by examining the doodles.

According to a study published in the scientific journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, doodling can aid a person's memory by expending just enough energy to keep one from daydreaming.

Thus, it acts as a mediator between the spectrum of thinking too much or thinking too little and helps focus on the current situation. The study was done by Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, who reported that doodlers in his experiment recalled 29% more than the average of 5.8 recalled by the control group made of non-doodlers.

Not only this, but I argue that the space in which you occupy also affects the type of doodling you do. The sounds, smells, temperature and light within a room can all affect if you draw light and slow with soft edges or fast moving with hard weighted lines and jagged edges. If in a classroom situation, your doodles could be influenced by your mood or reaction to the particular lesson or to any interactions you see or participate in with other students.

The whole week while in Portland my doodles were very open, colourful and organic. Very much like the city itself and the lessons I was participating in. I believe my doodles helped me to experience the city more fully and deeply than if I would have just sat there and listened. Try it for yourself if you are not already an avid doodler.

Tips on buying artwork for your home

2010-06-23T17:43:53Z

Things to consider when buying Art for your home
Look for artwork that will make a positive contribution to your well-being. Why buy artwork that only does the work of wallpaper? Is art all about colour and form? No, those are the tools used to convey a thought or a feeling. If your emotions are not moved by the art then you are just buying really expensive wallpaper.

The FIRST things to look for when deciding on new art work are:

Does the piece linger in your mind long after you have seen it?
Does the work invoke an emotional and passionate connection for you?
Does the piece offer an opportunity for discovery either about the subject, process or your own personal journey?
Does this piece offer a complexity which will intrigue you beyond a few weeks or potentially for years to come?

Questions 1 & 2 are easier to answer if you take your time to look around. It is often an instant response to a piece. The second two points take a bit more time or help to discover. Here are some other things I ask myself before purchasing or trading:
Who is the artist and how does a particular piece fit within their process and development?
Was the work created with quality materials?
How should my artwork be framed and protected?
Best placement of art; will I be able to find it a suitable spot in my house?

Question 1 is important because knowing about the artist can give you some great insight into the work. By viewing other works by the artist you will gain a greater understanding of the piece you are considering. It can add to that complexity I was referring to earlier.

Question 2 has become more important over the years with contemporary work. All sorts of surfaces and mediums are being used. It is really exciting to see new boundaries being pushed and the materials used are something to consider when purchasing. Sometimes archival is necessary, sometimes it isn't. This all depends on what your priorities are for your artwork.

Questions 3 is something that can hold up many a buyer and an artist. Framing can be expensive and there are so many alternatives. I try to go for the least amount of frame I can get away with while still offering the most amount of protection for the piece. Once in a while an artist might go for something flashy, but in that case, the frame becomes part of the artwork. Over the last year I have been using Sheppard Fine Art Services in Kensington for my framing. Carol and Terra do a great job protecting the pieces.

If you are considering purchasing some artwork you should consider attending a really fun and informative seminar Denise of Panakagos Designs and myself are teaming up to provide. Denise is one of the top designers in the city and has years of experience and happy clients in her portfolio. She has a wealth of knowledge to share on where and how you hang your artwork can change a house. I will be going into more details on the above notes and suggestions. Watch for more details on the seminar - date to be announced shortly.

Reduce stress with spontaneous action

2010-03-17T23:33:39Z

Feeling Stressed and Stretched to Your Limits?

Road rage one minute and later you feel like crying when someone says, "Can you do me a favor?" Cursing people for not getting back to your emails in the same hour as you wrote to them? Feel like you need a really long vacation from the daily grind?

Sure a vacation would help, but you need to learn how to destress and live happily on a day-to-day basis. This is not advice. I am just sharing how I see things on this subject.

Some people think they need to plan better. They are just not organized like other 'successful' people. Really, is one more gadget in your life going to improve things? That reminds me of the food processor I bought to make my life so easy in the kitchen. It has been used twice. Now I spend time thinking about how to get rid of it :-)

You don't need to learn how to stay on track, you need to GET OFF THE TRACK! Clear the decks for some spontaneous time in your daily or at least, weekly life. Pure unplanned, non-results oriented, no expectations - SPONTANEOUS TIME. People go through great lengths to have spontaneous time. Like the couple who took a kayak down the Amazon river to see what would happen. Yes, it took a plan to get there but they had no idea how each day was going to unfold.

Spontaneity doesn't take an Amazon River trip - but it does require an element of the 'unknown'. I will talk more about this in the upcoming B&B ezines. (marketing guru told me not to call them 'newsletters').

Point Zero Painting is one of my places where spontaneous expression happens. Don't be fooled by the dark images, I have a lot of fun.

SIGN-UP FOR THE POINT ZERO PAINTING WORKSHOP!

Wood Burning Projects

2010-02-14T17:06:05Z

Applying the Resin

2009-05-05T04:01:20Z

Lay out all the paintings to wear resin.
Place paper underneath each peice.
Make sure there is no debris on the paintings and the paintings are dry.
Make sure you have enough resin to completely cover each painting with a good thick layer.
Have a heat gun near by for the bubbles.
Wear gloves and have some paint stir sticks around.

This is me in my messy studio. Applying resin is a lot of work. To complete 3 paintings it takes me about 2.5 hours to layout the resin, spread it evenly and make sure all the bubbles are blown out.

The resin brings the paint back out of the wood and provides great protection to all the mixed media in the artwork.

Big City Living Artwork Creation

2009-04-27T01:25:58Z

1. Shaganappi Hill in Spring

2. Scottsman Hill and the Stampede Grounds

These two paintings are created on 20" x 36" birch canvases.

Each drawing was done on site, the ink and painting was completed in my studio.

The sketch takes me a one to three hours on site.

A complicated scene can flow quickly and a simple scene can sometimes require more adjustments, but I don't really know until I start drawing.

Next step is done in the studio with a caligraphy pen and ink. I go over the pencil marks making minor adjustments as I go along.

After the ink is dry I start with the first layer of acrylic inks.

This paint is applied in a spontaneous fashion using water to disperse the colours.

I layout colour as to tone and composition rather than to paint the particular images.

This is what the first layer of paint looks like on my other painting: Scottsman Hill and Stampede Grounds.

I decided to make the stampede grounds lively and colourful to represent the many different events that happen on this site. It is unfortunate that the rest of the time it is a grey ashphalt frontier.

This is how it looks after a few more layers of paint.

Each layer getting more and more detailed.

The acrylic inks are transparent and how each layer affects the next application is an important consideration for my work.

This layer includes some collage of the buildings that are being torn down and a few of the residents.

Here are some photos of the homes being torn down and a resident who agreed to have his photo taken for my project. In fact I took a few photos of residents and they were quiet happy that someone was paying attention to their lovely little patch of land in Calgary.

The Scottsman hill painting required me to take a picture of someone wearing a Calgary Flames jersey.

I went to the Saddledome and decided to search around the area - some jersey clad people were bound to show up. Here is the wife of the equipment manager! She is a good sport.

Here are some close-ups of the Scottsman Hill and Stampede Grounds painting.

Collage - gluing photos into paintings

2008-03-16T04:13:09Z

There are many experts out there on the act of collaging and they may have a different way of doing things than me, but I am going to share my techniques anyway.

I like adding photography to paintings to express a certain 'vintage' feel. A moment captured in time that is then incorporated into my work. This is not the same as just wanting to add a flavour of realism. It is more about wanting the impact and message that can only be said with a photo. When this is desired I make sure to use images that either I have taken myself or I have physically collected on site of what is being painted. Most of the time, it is photos that I have taken and printed off on my home printer.

This is a close-up of "Kiosks line the sidewalk of New York City China Town". Or something like that - I can't remember the full stories that make up each of my painting titles. Stories often change every time you tell them, so that's ok.

Back to the subject - this is a close up of some collage. I combined the use of Chinatown newspaper collected on site along with a photo I took of people walking on the streets while in Chinatown. The combination of the two help give the painting more depth. The photo and collected memorabilia from site help to tell the story and give the viewer more to examine.

It is important to layer collage with the painting and drawing. The photos or other collaged pieces should not stick out like a black beetle in white rice. Feathering, painting over edges, extending the lines in photos with drawing, overlaping collaged elements and overall compositional placement, are all techniques that should be used to incorporate collage into paintings.

I only use collage with water based painting mediums becuase of the gels and other glues available in acrylic lines. I have not figured out a way to incoporate collage with oil based paints. Maybe someone out there has some tips on this practice for us. I will stick to waterbased to play it safe. Golden Acrylic Gel medium in 'gloss' is the strongest of all fixatives. It will glue on all types of objects with varying surfaces and if applied without too much excess, it will dry clear. Dry gel is flexible within reason, but make sure your painting does not get too cold or the gel will crack when moved.

When I am just gluing on newspaper or regular weight papers I use Modpodge, a cheap colloge glue from craft stores. It glues extremely well and does not add weight, texture or bubbling in the papers. You can get this glue on top of the image and it won't seal the fibres, allowing paint to be applied. When you use gel, the fibers on top of the image are often sealed and it is then difficult to layer paint on top. Deside which medium to use depending on your desired result.

Almost anything can be collaged into paintings - this is just one small area and technique - more are to come. sign-up for an RSS feed to catch it all. Post your comments if you dare.

Paulo Coelho - writer

2008-02-18T01:30:40Z

I am reading a book called, 'the Zahir' by Paulo Coelho who also wrote the Alchemist. I am in love with both books. In one passage of the Zahir, Coelho shares his experience of writing. He talks of the struggle to get the right words out and the reworking of each book before it is shared with the public. Coelho says that he just writes what wants to be written and what island in the ocean he will reach is not known when the journey begins. "And it is a constant source of surprise to me to discover that other people were also in search of that very island and that they find it in my book. " He talks about people telling others and the word spreading and through this, a solitary action of writing becomes a "bridge, a boat, a means by which souls can travel and communicate."

The next line is an important one. He talks about when his work becomes actualized for him and I share this view about my paintings. "From then on, I am no longer the man lost in the storm: I find myself through my readers, i understand what I wrote when I see that others understand it too, but never before."

When people come into my gallery and talk to me about my work or make a comment on this website, "...and then I understand that my soul is not alone." We are all looking for a little soul connection - artist just seek (connection) out more often and with more ferocity.

Journaling and keeping a sketchbook

2008-02-03T17:08:01Z

The act of journaling and keeping a sketchbook is vital to the growth of an artist, but also helpful to anyone who is working to break though barriers in their job or in life.

A journal and a sketchbook are related but different. A journal is a record of thoughts in written form and its primary job is to organize the vast amount of thoughts, ideas, plans, objectives and requirements we have in life.

A sketchbook includes writing, drawing, clipping and pasting and all other sorts of experimentation. A sketchbook is for random ideas and nothing in the sketchbook has to make sense or look 'pretty'. When you enter things into a sketchbook you plant a seed. A seed that may one day grow into a flower, a tree or a forest. Just planting the seed of thought is a catalyst to forward movement.

One easy way to begin the sketchbook journey is to cut and paste in pictures that motivate thought. Start with one project that intrigues you. This project could be anything from a designer couch to green car development to a landscape painting. Write down what you like about this project. From that point, start to sketch out ways you could expand or change this project. Next thing you know your mind is working on its own ideas and the sketches, colour references, sculpture plans, etc. start to flow. Go until you no longer have any further thoughts on this subject to record. You may never work with these ideas or they may surface again 5 years later. All that matters is the seed of thought was planted.

Make sure you consistently and regularly plant new ideas. Do not concern yourself with what their outcomes will be. Simple acts strung together result in great things.

Steps to getting Creative

2008-01-21T02:59:05Z

Over the holidays I was painting, drawing and thinking a lot. I have been painting and creating like never before and I really was just in 'operation' mode. To create new, challenging and truly authentic work an artist needs to turn inward with their gaze from there, channelling out. An artist becomes a vessel from the subconscious to the canvas, the paper, the clay - or whichever your means of expression.

Channeling is much like reaching 'flow' - for you sports buffs out there. I did study something about sports and leisure in University and here is a quote from an interesting guy:

According to psychologist and best-selling author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, (pronounced 'cheeks sent me high') such people are most likely experiencing 'flow,' a state of deep focus that occurs when people engage in challenging tasks that demand intense concentration and commitment. Flow occurs when a person's skill level is perfectly balanced to the challenge level of a task that has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.

Almost any activity can produce flow if these elements are present, says Csikszentmihalyi, and making them a constant part of your life can enhance your work, personal relationships and leisure time.

Maybe this scientific equation makes you feel better, but it isn't entirely accurate. It is more like CHANNELLING. There is a time when your mind talks to the divine and this conversation cannot be put into words or even conscious thought; it can only be expressed through action and the production of something authentic and true.

So how does one achieve the experience of CHANELLING? I don't know what will with work for you, but I can describe what works for me. It is actually very simple. Here it is in point form.

   1. I make sure to have alone time where I will not be disturbed for at least 5 hours.
   2. I am fully prepared and know what I want to accomplish during this time - with room for change.
   3. I forget about all expectations.
   4. I stop thinking. This comes with practice. It feels as if you truly don’t care about anything.
   5. Then I get to work on a step-by-step basis.
   6. This means I decide to do a painting and I simply proceed with each step as it comes up.
   7. I pick a project or a subject with which, I have a lot of previous experience.
   8. I have all my supplies ready and at hand.
   9. I am relaxed, hydrated and fed. I do not consume any alcohol or drugs.
10. I am dressed comfortably and suitably for the medium I am working in.
11. I do what comes natural and I don't second-guess any of my actions.
12. I listen to some great music.
13. I just enjoy being alive and doing what I love to do, regardless of what comes tomorrow.

When I do all these things then I can get into a space that is all mine.   A space that allows me to get creative and produce my art. When all things align and I have the time to CHANEL then I create work I am happy with. All other creations pale in comparison.

Try it for yourself. It works every time.