How To Ruin A Spring (or Save It).

 Good morning from the waterfront.  It has been a super sunny, almost warm whole week of spring here in Bergen. Before I made the trip down here again from Geilo (our winter home), I checked the forecast for Bergen and it looked "ok" for a couple of days and then not so great for the weekend. Whatever, I thought to myself. I'd be in my studio anyway, so, if it turned ugly, I wouldn't really care. The opposite has been the case though. EVERY SINGLE DAY has been a joy to wake up to. It elevates my energy from the first second. Even though it is a shame to spend those precious hours inside for 5-6 hours, I made sure I got a good walk in on my way to the studio. The signs of spring are so welcome right now. Snow drop flowers and crocus, birds singing, green sprouts of "something" springing up everywhere. I live in such a beautiful city, and believe me, I appreciate it so much considering the world state of affairs right now.  

I'm one of those highly sensitive persons that is so affected by what I see and read everyday, that my heart is so heavy these days. I feel rage, sadness, helplessness. I will give what I can to, what I hope are, the right assistance organisations, but it breaks my heart to follow what is going on with the innocent people of the Ukraine. No one country has the right to kill and maim and forcibly ruin  another country because they are not willing to live under some regime that they choose to abandon. Apply this on a person to person level....it unfortunately happens to personal relationships all the time. The freedom we all have of self determination for the direction of our lives can not be trampled on by someone who wants another outcome from us. 

As this is an art/painting blog, I will just say that I hope that if you get a chance to see some great art this week, you take it. Music, dance, theatre,  books, poetry, visual art in the many forms it takes, can lift us up and take us to another realm. It can trigger the brain to see other creative solutions to the obvious.  

Take care.  I will continue to write and paint and hope that both forms of expending energy move the needle towards a better vibe in the world. If more people allowed themselves to be creative and absorb creativity from others, we could lower the aggression and suffering in this world.  Just saying!

Be well, Connie

Just Playing, acrylic on canvas 40 x 40 cm.

UNDERBRUSH,  100 X 80 cm.  Acrylic on canvas

Turning The Corner on Darkness

 So good to see January in the rear view mirror! If my palette of colors was any reflection of the weather we've had in the first month (which it usually is), it should have been all shades of grey. Grey can be exciting when you mix it up yourself from complimentary colors, so maybe that will be an avenue of exploration in the future, but to have to live with GREY outside my window from morning to night gets me down after a few weeks. Thank God for my studio with plenty of light and plenty of chances to make my own sunshine. 

Our exhibit at Geilo Kultur Kirke (a church that also has facilities for art exhibits, concerts, lectures, etc.) is opening this Saturday.  I am putting the finishing touches on some works on paper, painting the sides/edges of paintings and have had a coffee with the people in charge. They're excited and so am I (we-Sissel Hindenes and myself). Saturday, at 16:00 we'll both be present, and possibly much of the opening hours the following week. After that we'll be up here on the weekends and will visit the exhibit when we can. 

We have both worked our butts off the past year or so and the collection of paintings has the feel of something that has evolved immensely. I have had quite a year of experimenting with techniques and materials and with the mindset that "anything goes"-until it doesn't.  I moved to a larger studio and the new room has given me space to breath and play and contemplate what it's all about. When I have the answer to that one, I'll let you know, but all I know now is that the painting process is an essential part of my life.  I don't have a master plan for the road ahead, but it's slow and steady, one foot in front of the other. Quality comes with quantity-and applying the principles of art making with intuition are satisfying me right now.  

Take care of yourselves and, if you get corona, I hope it's the weakest version possible. There are many other dangers out there, so just keep your eyes open, and live well. 

Acrylic on wood panel,   30 x 30 cm. 

Acrylic on wood panel, 30 x 30 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas,  80 x 100 cm.  

Acrylic on wood panel,  30 x 30 cm.

Finding My Way

 It's a new year, and art making was put on hold a bit from the middle of December, 2021 til a week after the new year began. Christmas in the mountains can be beautifully white, like a postcard from one of the coldest countries in the northern hemisphere. But the past 5 years or so, we've had rain on top of beautiful snow, which then freezes to an icy mess.  Sooner or later we get more snow, but the cycle repeats itself just a lot more than it used to. This requires shoes with spikes, and even then, I'm walking on eggs (figuratively). And so, I long for my studio after a week or so of this nonsense. Even though I always take drawing/ painting equipment for smaller works while I'm away from Bergen, it's just never as private and quiet working in the middle of the dining room. 

Now that I've been back in Bergen for about 2.5 weeks, I'm warming up and the painting is going well. I have put down squishy matting on the floor, bought new panels to paint on, and large blocks of tough acrylic paper to create works on paper. I see things clearer after returning from a longish absence from my previous work, so things can happen fast the first  week or so. Also, I have been re-watching my CVP videos and videos/articles by other artists that I respect, so that I am extra inspired when I head off to work each day. I try to make it to the studio for at least 4 hours a day-often more. Even on Saturday and Sunday, I can sneak off for an hour or two, just to keep the momentum up. It's like an addiction that I can't live without. I'm not a happy person if I'm away from this too much. 

So, in my last entry I mentioned that I would post works in progress, but, it's such a long process from beginning to finished pieces, and posting crappy unresolved work seems counter-productive, so I'm just going to drop that. Here are some new pieces that I feel are worthy of a signature and a place at my up-coming exhibit at Geilo for 6 weeks starting February 12 thru April 2nd. This is an exhibit with my good friend and fellow artist Sissel Hindenes. who also has a cabin at Geilo. We decided to apply for this exhibit at the new Kultur Kirke there last year, but corona has put everything on hold until just recently. Now we're MORE THAN ready, and it's going to be a lovely exhibit. Hopefully, the response will be enthusiastic, as Geilo has a good deal of wonderful art and art exhibits at their hotels and cafés. 

Cheers for now.

Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 40 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas - 50 x 40 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 80 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 50 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas - 60 x 80 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas - 80 x 100 cm. 

Acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 cm. 

Acrylic on wood panel - 30 x 30 cm. 

Post-Exhibit Roundup

 The past weeks and weekends, have been packed each day with "stuff" to do, that didn't exactly include painting. Now that this is over, I am back to doing what I love best-figuring out the puzzle that is hidden on that canvas/wood panel. Many layers of paintings-some pretty darned good-lay under the final result, and the difference between a finished painting and a disastrous painting is only a few strokes of the wrong (or right) color/texture/lines, etc. Maybe only 5 minutes of work can destroy 5 hours of work. I'm my own worst enemy, at times. When this happens, it's no use crying over spilled milk. What is already on the surface will lend itself beautifully to what is going to emerge once I get over kicking myself in the butt. I never throw out canvas, or paint over the surface with gesso and start over from white.  I just try to remember where my inspiration comes from, try to stay simple, let in experimentation-but rein in going completely overboard and stick to colors I truly like.  I see the result I'm looking for when I see it. Some days I'm thrilled, other days I just want to give away everything and start making baskets from corn husks....the following photos are some successes. (On my next entry, I will post some paintings still in limbo.)   Have a good, fall Sunday!

60 x 50 cm. acrylic/collage on canvas

50 x 60 cm. acrylic on canvas

50 x 60 cm. acrylic/collage on canvas

50 x 60 cm. acrylic on canvas

65 x 50 cm. acrylic/collage on canvas

THIS EXCITING WEEKEND

 

THE Hard Part-Stage Fright

 Now comes the finishing touches. I had a real hard time finding frames for the 30 x 30 cm. paintings, and was starting to panic-they just wouldn't stand on their own as a wood panel, but after some creative searching, I landed 10 frames for them just in time. Also, the smaller acrylic paintings on paper needed framing, so off to find those on Saturday.  Now I need to freshen up the edges on the canvas paintings and choose which ones will make the cut this time around. 

I have had a really productive period since returning from vacation, and practically skip to the studio nearly every day. One thing I have noticed, though, is that, now that I am freely using more tools and materials to create with (collage/markers/colored pencils/sandpaper/trowels/chopsticks (!!), etc....literally anything that I can get my hands on, my space in my new, larger studio is shrinking. New table to be able to work on collage/mixed media experimentation, not to mention all the new work, is making it not feel quite as spacious as it did 4 months ago. It's going to force me to be better organised, I guess. 

I hope that I see many friends (new and old) this weekend at Sandviken - Båthuset. We'll be opening the doors at 11:00 Saturday and Sunday -open til 16:00 (4 p.m.) It would be nice if we actually HAD to worry about controlling how many people can be in at a time, and just nice that people don't have to sign in (contact tracing) or wear masks (unless they are un vaccinated)-just keep our 1 meter distance and things should be fine. We'll have the usual hand sanitiser at the door. 

Here's a little sample of what's going to be hung on my section of the exhibit ......

Getting My Blogging Act Together

So long since last writing. I don't want anyone to think that I haven't been painting/exhibiting/working on ways to renew my work. All of the above have been on my plate these past 10 months. Also, I took on a Creative Visionary Program which was 3 months of intensive art inspiration and technique to give me tools to see where my own art was hitting the wall, and how to move beyond it. These principles have been invaluable to analysing my paintings from every angle and proposing possibilities that I never expected/intended to use. 

Last November I had a small in-house exhibit with a fellow artist and it was as though people were so happy to have an event right in the neighbourhood, it was well visited. Thousands of people live in this area and hundreds of them walk past our building every day, and on the weekends, as well. Corona protocols were in place for visitors (masks/contact tracing/hand sanitiser) and art was sold and new acquaintances made. Planning to do this again in the next month, before the darkness of winter sets in again. 

I also moved from the studio that I have have rented for 25 years, to a larger studio in the same building, with much better light (north and northeast), more room, and a large storage closet. I can breath again! Funny how when we are ready for a change, the possibilities pop up. Very lucky. That move had me clearing out and cleaning up. Artists tend to save materials and objects and photos and .......  all kinds of things that can be used for reference at some later date.  It was good to go through these things and toss out/recycle/revisit those objects and start over with a clearer/cleaner studio. 

Working has never been a problem for me-I live very close to my studio and it's super convenient to walk there most days for painting sessions. Aside from the 32 small wooden panels I produced for the CVProgram, I have re-worked older paintings, and started 6-7 new works. I can now better assess what wasn't working with those and make corrections. It is a process that doesn't have me holding on to canvases just because I have "something" that works, but also something that doesn't work. I used to just put the painting "aside" for a while and hope some insight would hit me at a later date. Now I put it out, get rid of what's not working right away, and take the thing in a new direction, using elements of what was working and building on that. I have many new tools that I find invaluable for creating texture and bringing up the sheen in an otherwise dull acrylic finish. There are so many types of products to blend with acrylic paint that I was not aware of, but now understand their usage. Progress!

I have had a long summer vacation (6 weeks) which has hindered me in continuing on the roll I was on after completing the CVProgram, so the past 2 weeks I have been finding my footing again and getting my mind back into a painting modus. Do not recommend this long a break unless you have equipment with you, and the privacy to use them. 

I am attaching some of my work from the past 6 months-proof that I have not been slouching and that I continue to develop and evolve. Thanks for reading, and leave a comment if you wish.

80 x 100 cm.  acrylic and mixed medium on canvas

40 x 50 cm. acrylic & mixed media on canvas

                                                40 x 50 cm. acrylic & mixed media on canvas

                                                            80 x 80 cm. acrylic on canvas

                                                            40 x 30 cm. acrylic and mixed media on canvas

                                            40 x 50 cm. acrylic & mixed media on canvas