Land Fibre Paintings / “en plein air”
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It Started in Italy - Mementos from the Land, Under Paint.
The paintings just below this paragraph are from a workshop and a sojourn in Tuscany, Italy, June 2017 offered by 'Walk the Arts'. I did not have my usual materials with me, such as string and threads, but I did have the materials from the landscape itself (material mementos) and its impressions on me. Because the materials are new, the artwork took on a different kind of style and a new type of expression for me. My thought process is a kind of taking all the surrounding images in and intuitively lay the land-fibres into a position that describes where I am in the landscape, the colours in situ, and the feelings that are invoked from it all. I have no idea how the painting will turn out when I sit down to paint.
Most of these canvases include raw cotton which I found at La Fratta in Sinalunga, Tuscany, Italy, but some of them also contain leaves, flower pedals and even cob webs. The last image below shows the raw cotton - which was serendipitous, since it is the base material for string, roping and cloth. Each painting is approximately 11 inches by 11 inches. They are all framed. 'Walk the Arts' has done a Blog Post on my process and you can see it here.
Earthly Materials Under the Paint in Ontario, Canada
I am starting a series of paintings in the style and manner of the ones I painted in Tuscany, Italy in June the summer of 2017. This first painting below shows the definite tonal change from those paintings. I do believe that the sky of Tuscany reflect the landscape tones, and the colour tones of Ontario reflect the colours of the ground and the surrounding lakes. To me this is a very exciting revelation. I have used materials found in the land where ever I sat down to paint. Some of the paintings were so thick with material that I had to let some of it dry before I finished the painting.
Below-Abstract Fibre-Paintings on Board - Views of our Yard.
Cut Flower Fibre-Paintings on Masonite
One day during a blustery winter day when I usually finish up stitching on my fibre paintings or varnishing them, I decided to paint with the fibre of the flowers my husband had brought home to me. They were starting to wilt in the vase and I thought instead of composting them, I could use them in the same manner as the outdoor fibrous materials when the weather is warm, so the images below depict the flowers in the same manner as my "en plein air" fibre paintings. Like my "en plein air" they take on the metaphors of the place they are in..... a really different kind of 'still life' painting. Again- my personal memento.
Abstract Landscape Fibre-Paintings on Un-stretched Canvas
Abstract Landscape Fibre-Paintings on Canvased Board
These artworks were apart of the “Land and See” exhibit for the 2021 Garage Gallery Benmiller Season. Of the 6 panel boxes below, the first one was painted outside the fenced area of the beach while it was being repaired from the winter thaw. But as it turned out, those same fences were then used to keep people from entering the beach because of the covid restrictions. The remainder of the 5 panel boxes below were completed intuitively in the studio with the materials from the above raked debris and detritus on the beach road near Cove Beach, Goderich ON.
Objects of Nature on Stretched Canvas (some stitched)
The two paintings below from a series of four paintings on handmade canvas board done under the same Cedars on the Maitland River Edge.
Please click on the artwork for a description or click on the white dot if you are on your mobile. Please contact me if you would like to buy an artwork, shipping is an extra charge.