“Wings of Change”
Mixed media on canvas: acrylics, mica, 22kgold
140cm x 88 cm (55 in x 34.6 in)
SOLD
I am so thrilled with this piece after working on it for 2.5 months – photos can not do it justice (its look changes with every light and angle due to the interference paints). It touches me energetically and aesthetically at a very deep level, and so I’m very happy to introduce you to this finished spirit owl. The name came to me much later in the process than usual. I had been given a sense that it was a “messenger”, but I didn’t feel that this word was part of its name. Then, pondering on the symbolism of owls, I came up with “Winds of Change”, but the next day in class, it became clear that it was going to be “Wings of Change”. The fact that the yin yang symbols look like coins falling out of his wings has nothing to do with that decision – we noticed this interesting synchronicity afterwards.
Summary of Owl Symbolism:
- change, transition (the fiery wings are also suggestive of a phoenix, a powerful symbol of transformation in my life)
- intuition
- wisdom
- seeing beyond masks, delusion
Summary of Painting Process:
I’ve already shared some of the process with you in previous posts, but want to summarize it all here on one page.
Mirrored Image: Using Golden High Flow acrylics, I made paint splatters that I mirrored by folding the canvas in 2. I repeated this process several times.
Overall Colour Theme: Using a small sea sponge, I applied layers of colour so that the whole canvas was covered in paint.
Bringing Out Details: Using both white and purple and a fine paint brush, I spent a couple of days bringing out details that were already there.
Contemplation: Observing it from every angle, I looked for inspiration on what wanted to come to life through it. I decided on an owl and saw it in my mind’s eye emerging from the canvas, from the darkness.
Design: I created half a design free-hand. I did half the body on transparent tracing paper, folding it in half to duplicate it. I then did only the right wing on larger paper. I made myself a Fibonacci Sequence ruler to guide me in this process, re-working some of the pieces I’d done free-hand. It’s surprising how many were already intuitively to measure.
Creating the Mask: I traced the design onto masking paper and cut/numbered all the pieces – a laborious, but worthwhile process in the end, despite what I wrote about before. I’ll look for a masking paper that has a bit more tack next time.
Applying the Mask: I then traced the original design using transfer paper onto the canvas. Once I had all the pieces (which I flattened in a book – make sure to write “Do Not Touch” on the book), I used this traced guide to stick them on the canvas. For the spirals, yin-yang symbols and a few dots, I used masking liquid, applied with a paintbrush..
Creating the Background: Being very careful as the pieces kept lifting, I used a small sea sponge to apply 3-4 layers of uneven colours (blues, magenta, interference blue for the iridescent look). The transparency of the colours I chose also created additional colours (e.g. the blue over the yellow/orange created a green). The final mottled look is exactly what I was going for.
The Reveal: I had so been looking forward to this part – how exciting. I had to use my original design as a reference as many of the pieces were camouflaged by the paint. I was glad I hadn’t cut my nails to remove all the pieces of the mask. Rubbing the masking liquid off the spirals, small dots, and yin-yangs worked, but not as cleanly as with the masking film – plus it resulted in a blister on my thumb.
Yin-Yangs: I used Golden acrylic gold light (fine) paint to accentuate the
yin-yang symbols. This paint contains mica, energizing the piece with love and compassion -both for oneself and others – as we explore the transitional shifts occurring within our selves, our relationships, our lives, and our world. It’s about connecting with Nature in a truly unconditionally loving way.
Touch ups: Some areas in the upper wings ended up too dark – mostly blues – which didn’t stand out from the new background. I then spent about 6 hours adding colour and lightening these areas, but in a subtle way. Can you tell the difference between these two photos?
22k Gold Leafing: In addition to symbolizing the sun, divine love, and prosperity, gold has very powerful
metaphysical properties. It is seen as a symbol of purity, spirituality, and flexibility – helping to allow beauty and happiness to flow into one’s life, boosting vitality, as well as clearing out unwanted or stagnant energy. My teacher Timea Tallian generously brought in some of her 22k gold leafing for me to apply to the eyes, heart chakra, and to the top edges of the wings. Wow! This adds a lot to the painting on many levels.
Stretching the Canvas: This canvas had been folded for the mirroring process and rolled for storage several times in the last few months. Placing it on a clean white bedsheet, I sprayed it with water and cut a tiny bit into the edges of the canvas (every few centimeters) to help it relax for a few hours before the stretching process. I used an amethyst in the water and then layed a big quartz crystal on it during its resting time – adding to the piece. I’ve always used rituals as part of my creative process. This piece has received smudging, chanting, clearing with Tibetan bells, prayers, etc. over the past almost 3 months. I believe these ceremonies to be important elements of my praxis.
Timea then stayed with me 2.5 hours after class on Friday to teach me how to stretch it on the stretchers I’d bought that morning (we didn’t do so during class to avoid distractions and to spare my classmates from the noise). This is really a 2-person job! First, you create the frame – line everything up flat on the floor and put the parts together lightly. Next, use a square edge to make sure every corner is 90 degrees and keep turning the frame around tapping in and tapping out until everything is perfect. Make sure to use a block or some other protector between the frame and hammer not to make grooves in the frame.
Then, line the frame on the canvas, checking to make sure that it’s exactly where you want it to be. In my case, we had to make sure my mostly symmetrical design was exactly centered, leaving the same amount of space to the side of each wing. I also had to make sure the halo / sun and the tail had enough space.
After that, start stapling using a staple gun. Start at the center of each side first, stretching (either with hands or a stretching tool), making sure that the staples are aligned with each other. Then do one to the right and one to the left, both on the horizontal and vertical so that it’s evenly stretched. We sprayed it lightly a couple more times to help – it then shrinks as it’s drying. It’s recommended to put staples at a slight angle and not in a straight line to avoid stress on the canvas and risk of tearing. Timea is an art restoration expert and so she recommended we even add bits of cardboard under these staples in case I sell this painting to someone overseas or bring it home – necessitating that the canvas be removed from the frame to be rolled up for shipping. I wouldn’t want to tear the canvas while removing the staples. If it’s sold to someone locally, I’ll use a hammer to push the staples further in and the cardboard will then act as a buffer to protect the wall.
The Final Touches: At 8:30pm on Friday, after wiring it at the back and hanging it, I stood there admiring and grinning – so grateful for Timea’s help and for having been a part of this co-creative process with God/ The Universe/ Great Spirit (Use whichever you’re comfortable with – I’m comfortable with all of them). As I said, I am thrilled with this piece – on so many levels. It’s very much in the style of my previous work, but with many little improvements in both the logistics of the creative process and results. Basically, I learned a lot and this owl spirit will continue to teach – both myself and others. This week, I signed it and brought in my good camera to photograph it. Its iridescent nature makes it very tricky to photograph indeed!
More Finishing Touches: Signing /Varnishing:
On Monday morning, I signed it and took it outside to varnish (fumes are too toxic to spray inside). You should have seen me with my hat and scarf on my face and extra layers to protect my skin (should have done a selfie). I would hold my breath in, spray, and run to the other side of the courtyard to breathe. I put on a few light layers – this protects from scratches and UV rays. It was amazing to be with it in full sunshine like that.
I hope you’ve enjoyed following along in its journey into being. If you feel called to bring this painting into your home or business (or that of someone you love), please
contact me.
“Wings of Change”
Mixed media on canvas: acrylics, mica, 22kgold
140cm x 88 cm (55 in x 34.6 in)
SOLD
Painting in Progress: Co-Creative Bliss
/in Paintings, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsWith all my other paintings on the go at The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art, I hadn’t had time to touch this one since before Christmas (see previous post from last trimester). This week, however, I spent most of my time not only working with the Hand of God, but on the Hand of God 🙂 as well as on the spiraling energy between our hands. These spirals meet in the center in a hint of a triskele (celtic triple spiral), symbol of progress, cycles, spirit-mind-body, spirituality, intuition, expansion, and so much more. I also added the underpainting for the sigil on my right arm – one that I had developed last trimester.
This painting is a visual representation of co-creative energy. The energy flows not only from the Hand of God to the human being’s, but also between those of this spiritual being having a human experience back up to God. Indeed, it’s about God experiencing life through us and us through God (and all being One). It’s also about being a channel for that Love here on earth – using our gifts for the good of all. That’s what creating art means to me.
One really cool thing is that I’ve learned about a new painting tool – 3D glasses! Probably for the same reason that this painting is hard to photograph, it is super cool to look at it through these glasses. They work alright with other paintings in the studio, but with this one – wow! The hands are floating a good 3 inches in front of the blue background – like if I’d painted the background, put a 3 inch deep panel of glass and painted the hands and energy spirals in front of it. One advantage has been to make any sloppy brushstrokes highly obvious, no matter the highly textured background (allowing me to fix them up before the oil paints dry). One disadvantage, though, is that if I wear them too long, I start doubting everything around me (the paper cutter told me something was straight, but the lines on the cutter and the paper looked quite crooked to me). I’ve never tried drugs (a rare thing in the visionary art world), but I wonder if this is part of what it’s like.
This painting is still a work in progress. I hope to have it finished before the end of the trimester next week. With a bit of co-creative energy, I believe it can be done 🙂
New Painting: “Wings of Change”
/in Paintings, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsMixed media on canvas: acrylics, mica, 22kgold
140cm x 88 cm (55 in x 34.6 in)
SOLD
I am so thrilled with this piece after working on it for 2.5 months – photos can not do it justice (its look changes with every light and angle due to the interference paints). It touches me energetically and aesthetically at a very deep level, and so I’m very happy to introduce you to this finished spirit owl. The name came to me much later in the process than usual. I had been given a sense that it was a “messenger”, but I didn’t feel that this word was part of its name. Then, pondering on the symbolism of owls, I came up with “Winds of Change”, but the next day in class, it became clear that it was going to be “Wings of Change”. The fact that the yin yang symbols look like coins falling out of his wings has nothing to do with that decision – we noticed this interesting synchronicity afterwards.
Summary of Owl Symbolism:
Summary of Painting Process:
I’ve already shared some of the process with you in previous posts, but want to summarize it all here on one page.
Mirrored Image: Using Golden High Flow acrylics, I made paint splatters that I mirrored by folding the canvas in 2. I repeated this process several times.
Overall Colour Theme: Using a small sea sponge, I applied layers of colour so that the whole canvas was covered in paint.
Bringing Out Details: Using both white and purple and a fine paint brush, I spent a couple of days bringing out details that were already there.
Contemplation: Observing it from every angle, I looked for inspiration on what wanted to come to life through it. I decided on an owl and saw it in my mind’s eye emerging from the canvas, from the darkness.
Applying the Mask: I then traced the original design using transfer paper onto the canvas. Once I had all the pieces (which I flattened in a book – make sure to write “Do Not Touch” on the book), I used this traced guide to stick them on the canvas. For the spirals, yin-yang symbols and a few dots, I used masking liquid, applied with a paintbrush..
Creating the Background: Being very careful as the pieces kept lifting, I used a small sea sponge to apply 3-4 layers of uneven colours (blues, magenta, interference blue for the iridescent look). The transparency of the colours I chose also created additional colours (e.g. the blue over the yellow/orange created a green). The final mottled look is exactly what I was going for.
The Reveal: I had so been looking forward to this part – how exciting. I had to use my original design as a reference as many of the pieces were camouflaged by the paint. I was glad I hadn’t cut my nails to remove all the pieces of the mask. Rubbing the masking liquid off the spirals, small dots, and yin-yangs worked, but not as cleanly as with the masking film – plus it resulted in a blister on my thumb.
Yin-Yangs: I used Golden acrylic gold light (fine) paint to accentuate the yin-yang symbols. This paint contains mica, energizing the piece with love and compassion -both for oneself and others – as we explore the transitional shifts occurring within our selves, our relationships, our lives, and our world. It’s about connecting with Nature in a truly unconditionally loving way.
22k Gold Leafing: In addition to symbolizing the sun, divine love, and prosperity, gold has very powerful metaphysical properties. It is seen as a symbol of purity, spirituality, and flexibility – helping to allow beauty and happiness to flow into one’s life, boosting vitality, as well as clearing out unwanted or stagnant energy. My teacher Timea Tallian generously brought in some of her 22k gold leafing for me to apply to the eyes, heart chakra, and to the top edges of the wings. Wow! This adds a lot to the painting on many levels.
Stretching the Canvas: This canvas had been folded for the mirroring process and rolled for storage several times in the last few months. Placing it on a clean white bedsheet, I sprayed it with water and cut a tiny bit into the edges of the canvas (every few centimeters) to help it relax for a few hours before the stretching process. I used an amethyst in the water and then layed a big quartz crystal on it during its resting time – adding to the piece. I’ve always used rituals as part of my creative process. This piece has received smudging, chanting, clearing with Tibetan bells, prayers, etc. over the past almost 3 months. I believe these ceremonies to be important elements of my praxis.
Timea then stayed with me 2.5 hours after class on Friday to teach me how to stretch it on the stretchers I’d bought that morning (we didn’t do so during class to avoid distractions and to spare my classmates from the noise). This is really a 2-person job! First, you create the frame – line everything up flat on the floor and put the parts together lightly. Next, use a square edge to make sure every corner is 90 degrees and keep turning the frame around tapping in and tapping out until everything is perfect. Make sure to use a block or some other protector between the frame and hammer not to make grooves in the frame.
Then, line the frame on the canvas, checking to make sure that it’s exactly where you want it to be. In my case, we had to make sure my mostly symmetrical design was exactly centered, leaving the same amount of space to the side of each wing. I also had to make sure the halo / sun and the tail had enough space.
The Final Touches: At 8:30pm on Friday, after wiring it at the back and hanging it, I stood there admiring and grinning – so grateful for Timea’s help and for having been a part of this co-creative process with God/ The Universe/ Great Spirit (Use whichever you’re comfortable with – I’m comfortable with all of them). As I said, I am thrilled with this piece – on so many levels. It’s very much in the style of my previous work, but with many little improvements in both the logistics of the creative process and results. Basically, I learned a lot and this owl spirit will continue to teach – both myself and others. This week, I signed it and brought in my good camera to photograph it. Its iridescent nature makes it very tricky to photograph indeed!
More Finishing Touches: Signing /Varnishing:
On Monday morning, I signed it and took it outside to varnish (fumes are too toxic to spray inside). You should have seen me with my hat and scarf on my face and extra layers to protect my skin (should have done a selfie). I would hold my breath in, spray, and run to the other side of the courtyard to breathe. I put on a few light layers – this protects from scratches and UV rays. It was amazing to be with it in full sunshine like that.
I hope you’ve enjoyed following along in its journey into being. If you feel called to bring this painting into your home or business (or that of someone you love), please contact me.
“Wings of Change”
Mixed media on canvas: acrylics, mica, 22kgold
140cm x 88 cm (55 in x 34.6 in)
SOLD
Class Field Trip to Klagenfurt – Fuchs’ Apolalyspe Chapel
/in My Travels, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsIf you remember from earlier posts, Professor Ernst Fuchs is the mentor and teacher of several of my teachers. Three of them, including Laurence Caruana (our director), Kuba Ambrose, and Amanda Sage worked with him at the chapel. Unfortunately, Laurence wasn’t feeling well on Saturday, and so he stayed home with his son while his wife Florence (our administrator) came with us. This was great as she had never seen the chapel, despite having heard so much about it for years.
The train ride there:
Lunch:
We arrived in Klagenfurt at 12:21pm and couldn’t find a place to eat fresh trout from the lake (we were off season and the locals didn’t seem to know about this specialty). We ended up at Sukothai restaurant at 22 Domgasse. Wow! My panang curried chicken was soooooo good and I had been soooo hungry, choosing not to eat on the train.
We had a 2pm appointment in front of St. Egid church, so we rushed there after lunch – my snapping the occasional picture only to have to rush to catch up to the group.
The chapel is usually only open for tours at 11:30am, 3 days a week. When organizing the trip, Florence had asked for us to have access to the chapel for 3 hours, but once there, we found out that we would only be given 1 hour. We also found out that we weren’t allowed photos without written consent by Ernst Fuchs – something that would have been easy to arrange if we had known. Florence tried to change the caretaker’s mind, but to no avail. Luckily, I was able to persuade him to allow 1 group shot inside the chapel – so bringing my heavy tripod was not a waste after all. If you want to experience the chapel, however, you can read about it in this article and even better, take a 360 degree tour in this panorama gallery – just click on the directional arrows top left to walk around the chapel.
To the Lake:
My classmates were keen on my suggestion to go hang out at lake Woerthersee. Most took the bus there while Martin and I walked the 4.5 km trail along the canal past lots of locals enjoying the summer weather.
I could imagine spending a few days here exploring the town and natural areas – especially their many hiking trails and boat ride around the 20 km lake. My soul needs water – finding the lake, even if just the tip of it, was top on my priority list. For a couple of hours, therefore, we parked on a dock and basked in the sunshine until it set – which coincided with a sudden drop in temperature.
Train Ride Home:
We then headed back to town by bus, found stuff to eat and got on the 7:39pm train. I did participate in a 21-questions animal game and an “exquisite corpse” drawing game (involves folding a paper in 3 and having 3 different people draw the head/torso/legs without looking at the other parts). Having been up since 4:30am, however, I slept most of the trip home while others mostly socialized. I got home at midnight on the dot.
Overall, it was a great trip – a wonderful opportunity to get out of the city, to discover another corner of Austria, and to learn more about the lineage of visionary artists who have brought the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art to life.
P.S I have written other posts on Ernst Fuchs as we visited Fuchs’ Rosary Paintings last week, attended his birthday party last month, and spent several hours visiting his villa/museum in October. He is not in the greatest health, and so we don’t see him in our classroom very often, but he recently made recommendations on my “self-portrait” painting that were very helpful.
Art as the Teacher/Mirror – Masks
/in Paintings, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsArt has often been my teacher, providing many opportunities to reflect on life. The last few days have given me rich fodder for looking inward as I spent over 24 hours working on masking my large colourful canvas with hundreds of little sticky pieces in preparation for the emergence of the owl spirit that has called me to assist it into Being. (I have already shared a bit of the process on this Fantastic Creature in my posts “Tidbits” and “Another Great Week at School“) . Indeed, I’ve learned as much about the technical aspects of masking as I have about the symbolism of the experience and authentic living.
We’ve all learned to wear masks to protect ourselves from being rejected and to try and manage what others think of us. Unfortunately, when we only present ourselves with our masks on, there is no way others can see who we truly are and therefore accept who we truly are. The result is that we can never feel unconditional love as we remain unknown by those around us: we don’t allow the seen-> accepted -> loved potential that can only exist when we tell/show the truth. I was thinking about this on my way home from school as I compared the masking film I was working with and the masks we wear:
I haven’t finished the process – stay tuned to see what other philosophical insights it may lead me to… Can you tell? I spend a lot of time in my head 🙂
Technical lessons:
For the fellow artists out there, here are a few tips if you’re going to use low-tack masking film, popular with airbrush artists. I used Artcoe Frisk Film – matte. It was recommended to me as a way to create nice crisp lines for my owl spirit.
I am grateful for the exercise – I’m not sure I would approach this project the same way again, but I’m learning and that’s what exploration is all about.
The repetitive nature of this manual task did have a bonus – I needed something to keep my Left Brain engaged so that my Right Brain could get into the flow of creation all the while keeping me out of all the discussions happening around me in class. To do this, I listened to a lot of uplifting educational podcasts in those 24 hours – some from my Art Empowers Me e-course, from the free Product Publicity Virtual Summit (March 3-14), and my friend Jo-Anne Guimond’s inspiring podcast about her Gratitude Project on www.debozarko.com. My interview on that site will air March 20 – mark your calendars. Keeping my left brain engaged like that actually helps me step out of my own way so that I can connect with my art in a deeper way – sounds strange, but it’s true. During more creative (vs. repetitive manual tasks like today), I find kirtan music (Sanskrit meditation chanting) better.
Vienna City Hike #6 – Zugberg-Maurer Wald
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and TourismThe sun is definitely shining down on us here in Vienna. It may not have been out all day, but it wasn’t forecasted at all, so we were very lucky yet again.
Although we missed the Wotruba Church, we did find the Star Garden, a planetarium that can be used by day or by night. It would have been even more interesting if we had understood it better.
Enjoy the photos. A lot of them were created in-camera (with some of the colours saturated after the fact), like this one.
Italy – The Last (or Next) Piece of the Puzzle
/in My TravelsWell it seems that the intuitive I had an informal chat with one day in St. John’s was right. So were, in a sense, the countless folks who, for six month before I left for Vienna, kept asking me about my trip to Venice. It’s amazing how many people mix those two cities up. I kept saying “I’m going to Austria, not Italy … not that I know of”. In the end, however, I’ll have been to both countries during this year of overseas art education – even if my plans don’t actually include Venice. Instead, they now include the sacred pilgrimage destination of Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis of Assisi. When I was a child, I used to read lots of stories about the lives of saints and deeply resonated with St. Francis’s legendary skills as an animal communicator. I still don’t resonate with his vow of poverty, however – simple living and loving, yes, but I’m really not meant to be a starving artist.
So – what brings me there? I’m going to a 7-day retreat in late May with one of the artists I introduced as one of myinspirations in an earlier post – Rassouli.
Rassouli’s workshop is being organized through The Academy of Art, Creativity and Consciousness near Assisi – intriguing indeed! The retreat itself is described as “an alchemical exploration of architecture, painting, photography, yoga, song, dance, music, and fun to fully live and breathe your creative heart” – a perfect continuation of this year’s theme.
Saturday Morning’s Dream:
I wrote this part immediately upon waking – I have many of my own interpretations of the elements of this dream, but won’t get into all of them. The final message is what counts.
I just woke up from a dream. I had been saving seats at a movie theater for my parents and sister. While I was waiting for them to return, some of my Asian ESL students came to sit next to me – we laughed, shared stories, and I tried on this elaborate multi-layered transparent white shirt that one had bought on her travels. At first I thought I should have bought something like that while I was there, but then thought – the material isn’t comfortable, it’s too much trouble to wash, and I have other financial priorities anyway. When my family returned, I excused myself. I grabbed my pile of Newfoundland & Labrador calendars that I had brought back from Canada for my Czech friends (which feature one of my photos and which, in reality, I’ll finally get to give to them this month) and started running down the grassy hill to where I knew I could find wrapping paper. We were now outdoors (you know how dreams work) and I was soon running with wild abandon, past the stage where the rock/movie star winked at me as I ran by. I was picking up speed and let out a “woooo hooo” (if you know me – I’m a bit overcautious at times and this running downhill with wild abandon isn’t something I would do – I’m not a thrill seeker when it comes to sports, etc. – but running like that felt great.) When I got to the bottom, I had to avoid running into people and I finally came to a halt at the storefronts where I sat down with my back leaning on the wall . It was dark (being a movie theater, you know) and I was approached by a man with a big dog. In my mind it was a security guard/police and I was concerned I had done something wrong. The dog, however, was more like an Afghan, but partially shaven in the back with large tattooed symbols on his flanks. I didn’t take a good look at them – wish I had. The man leaned in and said something. I couldn’t make it out and couldn’t see him clearly in the dark. I had him repeat it 3-4 times. I said “if what you’re saying is important, please say it again louder – I can’t hear you and I’m about to go in there (the closed store to get wrapping paper. In my mind, I was now one of the event organizers and had access to the closed store). I wanted to make sure it was OK to go in. Then I heard him: “What you’re going to see/say/express/experience? about St. Francis (or Assisi – can’t remember which) will make a difference”. He wasn’t a police, but a messenger or guardian of a different sort. I woke up knowing my decision was a good one.
P.S. I just read that “genetic testing has placed the Afghan Hound breed among those with the least genetic divergence from the wolf on some markers” – one of the most ancient breeds. The wolf is an important part of the legend around Saint Francis of Assisi – I like those connections. I wonder what those signs on its’ flanks were…
Saint Francis Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Movies about Saint Francis of Assisi:
Believe it or not, I have time to watch movies, even with 40 hours/week in school, ~10-15 hours of blogging and photo editing/week, playing tourist, hiking, and ~ 15hrs/week+ of online learning/homework on the business of art before school. This is where being an introvert with very little social life here in Vienna benefits me… In fact, movies are about the only thing I have energy for after I get home from school at 7pm and make dinner, before my bedtime at around 9pm. I have no problem waking up at 5am and being productive, but don’t ask for my brain to be too active after 6pm. It rarely happens.
So guess what my latest movie theme on YouTube has been – you guessed it: Saint Francis of Assisi. If you’re interested, there are several free movies on his life online: Flowers of St. Francis (1950) – Italian but you can turn on English captions; Francis of Assisi (1961); and Clare and Francis (1987).
OK – it’s almost time for me to meet my classmates for a hike – glad I had time to share the good news. May love, peace, joy, health, wealth, happiness, and freedom bless your days and your nights.
Field Trip to See the Rosary Paintings by Ernst Fuchs
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and Tourism, Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsNext weekend, our class is taking a 4-hour train ride to Klagenfurt to see the Apocalypse Chapel painted by Professor Ernst Fuchs and his assistants, including our director Laurence Caruana. Today’s field trip, however, was much shorter. We went to the parish church of Hetzendorf in Vienna to see his Three Mysteries of the Sacred Rosary Paintings
There’s quite the story behind these paintings – their slashing by a psychopath (as described on the site) to winning a prize at the Sao Paulo Biennale (South America). In addition to what you can read on the website, we learned from Laurence this morning in a presentation that these paintings were very controversial and that Fuchs received a lot of criticism because of them, including from the clergy. He had won a competition to paint these after he had returned from his time in Israel and had decided to devote himself to religious art and to building bridges between the Jews and Christians (being a Christian of Jewish heritage – read more about his life on his website – I still say it would make an amazing movie). Some of the symbols in these paintings reflect these efforts and are no doubt part of what caused such a storm. There were many other reasons too – but I’m no expert on the matter and can’t recall all the details of this morning’s talk. I’m not sure how different they are now than from before they were restored, but they were certainly more impressive in person than in our morning slideshow. Hopefully these photos give you a good idea anyway. I really like the use of gold on paintings – those of you who know my work know that…
On the Way:
Busy Week at School
/in Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsWe’ve had a busy week since I last wrote about my time at the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art.
Thursday evening last week, after class, we were treated to a special public lecture by our guest teacher Benedetto Fellin. The event was to celebrate his own teacher, the famous artist Rudolph Hausner, who would have been 100 this year. He presented along with Ulrich Gansert, one of Hausner’s assistant teachers at the time and Timea translated for those of us whose German isn’t quite there yet.
We’ve been fortunate to spend quite a bit of time this past week with both Benedetto and Timea, who have continued to teach us about light and shadow, this time using drapery as our main subject – one of Benedetto’s specialties!
We started by drawing a drapery still life with white and black chalk on coloured paper … not as easy as it seems. I am still struggling with making things look dimensional and unified. The more I practice, the better I get. Funny how that happens…
photo by Florence
I spent several hours staring at the photo of our set-up and a photocopy of Benedetto’s painting while working at my easel. On the first day, I didn’t think it would ever look real. I tend to go too fast and too bold at first, using more expressionist brushstrokes (as Benedetto calls them – I’ve also heard them referred to as sloppy – a term I may have originally volunteered). I really have a hard time seeing how things all link together with light and shadow – shades of white and watered down black. Truly, I think I may be visually impaired in this way. I didn’t give up though. In the end, with patience and lots of coaching, I’m quite thrilled with the results.
We then painted the horizon in colour before painting a figure in white in a way that would make it appear transparent – a ghostly figure. The way to do this is to only paint the highlights. I used a photo reference I found on the Internet and did mine free-hand. What I learned is that rubbing paint once it’s almost dry doesn’t make it look more subtle… it only scrubs some of it off, revealing the texture of the canvas and taking away all of the subtle strokes I had and leaving the bold highlights. Oh well … 🙂
The next step was to apply thin local oil glazes on top of the underpainting using a transparent paste and a new medium made in part with sunflower seed oil. Et voilà! From far it looks even more realistic. I tell ya, that’s progress!
I spent a lot of time this past week just standing behind Benedetto, watching him paint – a very good way to learn (at least I keep praying that I’ll learn by osmosis each time I observe our teachers or classmates at work).
Because of tight timing, I’m not sure I’ll get to create my original Poetic Landscape composition that I had planned. I may do something like it in Bali instead since I’m supposed to bring a design for the week I’ll be spending in Philip Rubinov’s “Eye of the Spirit” reatreat. I really want to get working on all the other projects we’ve got on the go right now, so I can finish those in the three weeks we’ve got left. Some students, however, took photos of various drapery set-ups for their poetic landscape project – rather entertaining…
Fantastic Creature Project:
One of these unfinished projects is my Fantastic Creature. I spent 6 hours on it today, but am not much ahead. I’ve created quite a puzzle and a lot of work for myself – an experiment that was suggested to me and that I’m happy to try out. Instead of simply painting freehand on my large canvas, I traced my design on transparent paper, then on sticky masking paper and mirrored that. I then spent hours cutting up and numbering all the bits. I’ll eventually stick them all on and paint the whole thing dark. When I remove the sticky bits, the colourful parts should show up with nice crisp edges.
Live Figure Painting:
This week, Laurence also gave us a presentation / demonstration on live figure painting (instead of live figure drawing). I had fun the whole 2 hours of trying it out – something I don’t usually experience when I work with pencils.
It’s been quite warm here this week, and I enjoyed the sunshine at lunchtime a couple of days. Even just sitting at the foot of the monument across the street for a few minutes is a nice treat after inhaling turpentine and other fumes all morning.
Wednesday morning, I walked around Vienna’s 5th district for a couple of hours before class because the art store wasn’t open at 8am as I had understood it would be from their website. No worries. Instead, I explored a new neighbourhood, found some of the natural supplements I needed to ward off dengue fever and Bali Belly during my trip in April, walked about the Nacht Markt, went into one of those tiny tobacco shops to get another 10 Euros put on my phone (yup, 10 Euros/ $15 a month for all the calls, Internet, and texting I need) and approached school from a different direction – always fun. I then returned to the art store in the evening to buy supplies and to try out an affordable Mexican restaurant my classmate had talked about. I enjoyed my in-city 3.5-hour hike that day. There’s always so much to see.
Congratulations if you made it this far – it was a long one….
Vienna City Hike #5 – Bisamberg
/in My Travels, Vienna - Life and TourismI’m sure I could say more, but since a picture is worth 1,000 words ….
(click on 1st image if you want to then use your arrow key to view all at full screen)
Self-Portrait Still In Progress
/in Vienna Academy of Visionary ArtsI finally got to put some solid time into my “self-portrait” this week. If you’re new to my blog, I’ve been working on this since this September/October (see concept explanation half way down a previous post). This week’s progress feels great and I’m learning a lot along the way.
The Female Figure (Amore, Tree Goddess, Me, etc.):
This was fun! I finally got to empower my tree woman with 3 of the sigils I’ve designed since October for this painting and my life. I had originally thought of making them in colour, but instead, I did them in white and then glazed over them in Indian yellow, the same colour as the tree. Now, I feel they look like jewels emanating from within the tree. I may still add a bit of colour in the branches, but I like the fact that from far, you can’t see them at all on the figure. This was the first time I really got to use the chipmunk tail hair brush that I bought from Timea (originally from India – sorry, chipmunk 🙁 ). It’s a little curved on the ends and so makes fine spiral work much easier. The fact that the Plaka couldn’t stick to the previous coats of oil paint was a bit of a pain, but its beady effect is quite nice in places – happy accidents.
The Angel (Amore, Guardian Angel, etc):
step towards making him more iridescent like
the bird I saw in the Natural History Museum. Because I didn’t feel like mixing a fresh batch of egg tempera to add another layer of whites, I decided to use Plaka, a commercial casein paint. Never again. I had a lot of trouble with it as one layer would remove the one beneath, creating the impression of a hole in the angel’s thigh, so Lawrence had to come in and help out. He had the same problem, baffling him. This painting seem to be good at doing that 🙂 . I hear a lot of artists don’t like the Plaka though. I had much better luck with the tubed casein that we also had in class.
After adding the whites, I went in with various coloured oil paint and worked on my blending skills. I still have a ways to go, but it’s coming along. The whites I had put on are just the foundation – glazing didn’t provide enough impact, so I’m just painting over it. Today I worked a lot on the body – especially the highlights on the legs. I can’t count, however, the number of times I reshaped his face and changed his hairdo. At one point, I just rubbed it off with a bit of turpentine-based medium and started over. Here’s where working with oils has an advantage over acrylics. I could go back and forth all day in between other projects and the paint was still wet and workable.
I look forward to working on this one some more, but I’d best wait until it dries to go in it again… that hair got pretty muddy because I wanted to add all the colours in there at once. Live and learn. This painting, just like me and my life, is a work in progress and an unfinished space of exploration and expression.