Winter Is Coming....

I'm blaming the title of this one on Anita; after all she's the one who got Arlene and me addicted to Game of Thrones :)
I don't know if it's finished; maybe there's something in me that doesn't want to finish it? Anita and I worked together a lot during the last two years, and it was always a delight. But now she's headed out to greener pastures (I need a better metaphor, where she's headed is our frozen north) in pursuit of her professional career...But I'll leave it as is for now,

It's 24"x48", acrylic on canvas.

Bayesian Anita (another update)

Bayesian Anita, Acrylic on Canvas, 40"x60"

OK, I changed the name again. I'm nothing if not flexible :).

Anyway, I had procrastinated over the statement for the work, but finally (after a lot of grief), here it is:

114. (Tractatus Logico-Philisophicus, 4.5): “The general form of propositions is: this is how things are.” – That is the kind of proposition that one repeats to oneself countless times. One thinks that one is tracing the outline of the thing’s nature over and over again, and one is merely tracing round the frame through which we look at it. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations)

[Bayesian inference is a formalization of how we draw from subjective, uncertain, fragmented experience towards a more objective but never completed whole.]

Art is a proposition, both about and to the world; the rest of the Wittgenstein quote is pretty much in tune with what happens when one draws so much from another.

The painting is currently at the Dart Gallery , though not yet on display. But you should pay them a visit anyway, they are just finishing up a great show of street art, and will be hanging a new one soon on dance.

Anita of Bayes (was Anitium)

Anita of Bayes: 

Acrylic on Canvas, 40"x60"

Because it was the biggest canvas I could fit in my car.

Shubie Park, Dartmouth

Time flies! I started this at the end of June, and put it aside for more pressing things (like lazing around...)

Anyway, it was a delightful afternoon out at Shubie, chatting with Menya while we both sketched. What's not included are all the dogs running around. This was in the off leash area, and there's no end of friendly and curious dogs to check us out. 

The painting is acrylic, 24"x24" on birch panel.

1,2,3,...

This painting is now available at my favourite gallery, the Dart:

The painting is 24"x36", acrylic on birch panel.

Art and Abuse

Every now and then some real asshole "guy-with-a-camera" makes the news, wannabe Roman Polanskis I suppose. Anyway, the latest is a celebrity photographer down in New York, Terry Richardson.There's a write-up of him at the New York Times, and I hope anyone considering modeling- especially for the self-described portfolio photographers one finds in the digital media - read it carefully, and for two specific reasons.

The first reason to read it is to become familiar with the sort of abuse that one can encounter in a studio without proper safeguards; the other is the extent to which the art establishment will go to protect the abuser and blame the abused. If you are a model and are reading this I hope it brings home the fact that if you encounter these kinds of situations, you may well be left to hang and dry on your own.

Anitae Noctua

"Eule der Minerva, die erst bei einbrechender Dämmerung ihren Flug beginnt."

"The owl of Minerva begins her flight at the falling of twilight." 

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Acrylic on canvas,48"x24"

Anne Marie at Richard's

Well, I finally decided to bite the bullet re. acrylics; I needed something for studies that would allow me to work as quickly as with pastel, but was more portable. So I bought a bunch, and Saturday morning took them, brushes, and one 20"x30" canvas to Richard's Saturday morning life drawing session to see what would happen. The sessions tend to go along 8 three minute gestural poses followed by a single long pose of 2 1/2 hours. So everything went onto one canvas. Then I took the result home and tarted it up....

  I hope Anne Marie forgives me for this :)

Off the Map

The Halifax Art Map is holding their annual show this month at the Art Sales and Rental Gallery at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The opening reception is Thursday, May 1st, from 6:30-8:30. Lots of fun, and good work to look at! Bring your cheque books :)
The two pieces I'll have in are:
Anita Reading Breugel:

and 

Anita at Rest:

Both are 50x65 cm., Conte and pastel on Fabriano Pastel Paper, framed and quite reasonably priced!

See you there!

3 Anitas....

A few from the last two weeks (I really should get back to posting). Most of the winter I have been working with Anita in pen and ink, reading too much philosophy (more on that later), and trying to learn German. So it feels great to be getting back into working large with pastel.

 All are Conte and Pastel on Fabriano Pastel paper, 50x65 cm.

Anita Reading Breugel

Something different