Diana Persson Watercolours
  • Home
  • About
    • About Diana
    • Artist's Statement
  • Art Works
  • Events
  • Shop
    • Greeting Cards
    • Pet Portraits
  • Blog
  • Contact

7) I've Gone to the Dogs (and I'm loving it)

4/27/2015

0 Comments

 
A recent series of studies suggest that dogs recognize kindness and give trust in return; that they experience emotions like love and attachment, like humans. We don't have to look too far to see that our dogs love us unconditionally. That's what makes them such special companions and often we choose them above the human kind. Yes, sometimes we love our dogs more than people. What makes them different is that they don't bear a grudge and don't judge us. They also wait at the door when they know you’re coming home. They dance for you with excitement when they see you, deliriously ecstatic. Who else does this? Dogs can be characterized by their specific breed, that may be true for dog lovers too. We are a breed all to ourselves. Raise your paw if you are 'one of us' - you know just what I mean. As long as your dog is happy, you are happy.
My happy dog is Roxy, a Shiba Inu of Japanese origin and one of the few ancient dog breeds that remain. She is typical of her kind, being independent, aloof and cat-like and tends toward dominance with other dogs. All this and the fact that her obedience to recall is non existent makes her a really quirky little thing that needs much understanding. She has a fox-like appearance, and oh my goodness - the softest, thickest coat, especially during winter months. I so wish she could just take the coat off and hang it in the cupboard 'till next year like I do with mine, but she prefers to undress like a teenager, leaving bits of clothing half hanging off her butt or lying in bundles on the floor. And just like I did with them, I pick it up, kiss her cheeks and still love her dearly. Unlike them she loves playing 'fetch' and is always up for a 'w', 'a', 'l', 'k'. You can't even say 'cork', 'fork' or 'talk' (with a South African accent like mine) because she'll twist her head with recognition and think she's going on one of 'those things'!
Picture
 
My daily routine is governed by her needs and how long I stay out on errands or how we take vacations depends on her. She keeps me grounded in three ways: 
- she gives me a good understanding of what's important in life
- she limits (or dictates) my movements!
- she literally gets me onto the ground. I often lie on the floor next to her for a cuddle, or I'll be on my hands and knees with my nose under the couch trying to retrieve the squeaky ball.

That she became a subject for me to paint then is no surprise. Like her, each of the dogs I have painted have their own character, expressions and personality. Not to mention colouring and fur texture! Burnt Sienna flowing and swirling over Raw Sienna washes and Payne's Grey noses shining wetly with Manganese blue highlights. It's a watercolorist's dream. I feel like I know them intimately after I've had to study each little detail of their eyes and faces for hours. I know exactly where every spot is and where each whisker falls. It's such a joy to me when the owners recognize the painting as the dog they know and love so well. I could wag my tail.
Picture
Tha Art of racing in the rain
You CAN Multitask... Paint & Listen
I love a good story but don’t have the time and patience to sit and read. So while I paint I will often listen to audiobooks. One of my favourite has to be Garth Stein’s “The Art of Racing in the Rain”. I laughed and I cried, (I painted wet-in wet that day) and if you’re ‘one of us’ its a must read! Even though you already think they’re human it will forever change the way you think of your dog.

Also, an easy-listening series I am lapping up is by David Rosenfelt. Andy Carpenter is an irreverent defense attorney, also a dog lover and owner of a rescued golden retriever. The cases are clever and the writing is so witty. More laughs than tears here - I think I'm on book #8 in the series now. Who thought I'd become such a dog-loving bookworm! (not 'heartworm' - that would be bad.)
On the Easel
I'm busy working on two new pieces for the upcoming Art Show, "Five" hosted by the Winkler Arts & Culture. Yes, there is a dog involved here, but between all that flying fur will be two indulgences in another of my favorite subjects. To see what that is come along to the opening evening on Friday, May 1st at 7 pm, Winkler City Hall. There will be live music, great art and wine. My kind of evening!
'Till next time,
Picture
0 Comments

6) Growing Pains (and Vincent’s Monkey)

4/20/2015

9 Comments

 
O, the obstacles - we all have them. Even Van Gogh had them, enough to end it all after only 10 years of painting. 
Whatever stops you from starting that next painting or artistic project?  - Self doubt, disillusionment, lack of inspiration, no time , having a wedding to plan, or a garden to prepare for an open house..?  There are hundreds of reasons or excuses (some even sound good) - outer pressures and inner voices all fighting to cool your fire!

The Manitoba Art Expo is the largest collective art exhibition in our province, and annually , many of our best artists work exceptionally hard in preparation. Months of creating art, then setting up, and finally standing beside their booths for 3 days straight, smiling. (Oct 23-25 2015 at the Assiniboia Downs, Winnipeg). Be there - it's an awesome event! Already humbled by the thought of standing alongside of the best, I had decided to not participate this year for what I thought were good reasons. Like, why should I - spend all that energy, input, time, money for what may potentially be exhausting and demotivating, because I’ve compared myself to the few long-time fantastics (who by the way have altogether earned the right to be called best selling artists). Their hot cakes on canvas are being carried out the door before my eyes. I'm looking at all the gaps on their walls, and mine are few. The comparison is so literal and in my face it’s hard to focus on my own journey and see things in the right perspective. Deciding to not put myself through that again was a no brainer. I am experiencing growing pains. I love the peace and quiet of my country life, but just maybe I sometimes hide out here in my glorious isolation where I can’t see my own reflection. Seeing ourselves mirrored in what appears to be success we haven’t yet achieved, can hurt. It’s intimidating.

I have to thank Rose, a Winnipeg based artist and fellow exhibitor for her generosity of spirit when she called me recently after 2 years of my absence at the show, to touch base. We had a good conversation, sharing our journeys, and a comment she made stood out. We talked about how an upcoming event is a good motivator to knuckle down and produce new work and she said “you might just come up with that next special, key painting that stands out for you”. Its not just about being on a production line to have enough to fill a wall, or even being a big seller, but occasionally magic happens, and you’ll never experience it unless you keep on painting. That resonated so much with something I'd just read from one of my favourite art bloggers.
Danny Gregory is a sketch artist, art educator and author in New York and he writes fascinating, challenging and inspiring blogs. ‘Vincent and the Monkey”,  deals with the inner critic that plagues us all, monkeying about with our progress. He writes about the great Vincent van Gogh, touching on his short time on earth and "there being so much beautiful art that never was made, never sketched or painted or framed or hung" because of all those things that prevent us from making it.  Please read it! 
http://dannygregorysblog.com/2015/02/09/vincent-the-monkey/
PictureHere is my tribute to a tormented soul, "What If He Had Lived?"
I’m trying to take this to heart: don't listen to the monkey. Don’t compare yourself to others and wither in self doubt. Instead continue being authentic and carry on your own unique path. You can’t project yourself into the same sphere as someone who has been at it for years. So you're not perfect yet? That's ok! There are no art steroids or growth hormones to bulk up fast and propel you to stardom. Instead you have to grow and develop naturally reaching one milestone before the next. You can't skip school and hope to still graduate, you have to attend class. Celebrate each step or achievement like a little graduation (or an exhibition?) and leave out the criticism. If your inner voice has a bad attitude, don't listen. And by the way, if you are a parent, Peggy O'Mara has some good advice for you: "Be careful how you speak to your children, one day it will become their inner voice"

Needless to say, I have been con'Vince'd. I will now be standing tall at my booth at the expo this year. Smiling. And maybe, as I prepare, a little magic will happen.
Please tell me you have growing pains too... If so, here is a prescription for you for 4 little analgesics. Take one every day with a glass of wine (for the rest of your life!)      (downlaod)

Cheers,
Picture
9 Comments

5) Empty Nests are for the birds! (and Happy Anniversary)

4/13/2015

6 Comments

 
PictureEggs - April 14, 2009
You may not be a middle-aged female whose kids have just left home leaving you with a new set of circumstances, but read on all the same, you may be just as lucky!

My dear friend Monica is currently lamenting her third and youngest child, moving out of the house to pursue studies in the bright, bustling, opportunity filled city! My deepest empathy is with her as I too have been afflicted with the ‘empty nest’ diagnosis. INDIGNATION! Granted, I begrudgingly fell into this category a handful of years ago, and those feelings of uselessness and teetering on the cusp of despair, scratched hard enough to leave little grooves I can easily flow into again. What can be sadder than an empty nest, especially one so lovingly and perfectly feathered?

‘Domesticated’ female birds like chickens (even cockatiels and parrots) kept well fed in a warm, well lit environment that simulates ideal natural breeding conditions, will lay eggs. When those eggs are removed, what do they do? They lay more eggs. Fertilized or not, the nest continues to be filled. You see an analogy emerging. I realize, unfortunately, there’s a potential for a picture springing up in your mind of a lonely, misguided hen frantically laying un-hatchable eggs. (Pathetic clucker doesn’t even stand a chance of being a single parent!)

But, please stop there and adjust that image. I can tell you now that my picture is in a different light. Let me start out by stating emphatically that my two children (now fabulous young adults) are and always have been my life, my focus, my purpose, and being a mother has and always will unashamedly define me. It has been 6 years that they moved to the city to study and live their lives and they even refer to returning to Winnipeg as going ‘home’ (!). Yes, I have 'the look’ on my face. However, something emerged simultaneous to that event and it was no coincidence. I have been watercolour painting for 6 years...
A lot has hatched since that day. This very tentative egg offering is dated April 14th 2009. It is the first painting I remember in this watercolour binge, so Happy Painting Anniversary to me! My intent at the time was simply to interpret a white object, but O my ... now it seems sort of symbolic. That's crazy.

Picture
So that ‘empty nest’ thing is for the birds! As hens are want to do, and perhaps are compelled to do, I kept laying those eggs, and fertilized with a little creativity and incubated with patience and tenacity, I now have a hatchling that looks more like a baby dinosaur (did someone do a switcheroo?!) and it has a voracious appetite. I could never have raised the human chicks and this monster in the same nest without a casualty like that which we observed one spring while watching a nest of baby sparrows invaded by the chick of a cowbird. It wasn’t pretty for the wee sparrows... The following year, I must confess, I asked my husband to throw out the big white egg that appeared one day among the blue ones. He probably would have done the same with my 'dinosaur egg' had it showed up when our kids were small!

I quite understand we each have our own journey and mourning our own losses is imperative, but in an attempt to soothe her I told Monica, “just think of all the cats you can swing in that empty nest”. Literally. When my brood comes ‘home’ to the country for a weekend they each bring their cat! The baby dinosaur gets stuffed into the closet and we swing with those cats all weekend, and I am happy! Cat swinging is under-rated.

I think the only thing worse than that empty nest is one that is too full. And perhaps that’s my point. Any creative venture needs room. It will not be squeezed in. If you’re feeling conflicted or frustrated in your artistic efforts it may well be that it needs  a bigger slice of your ‘life’ pie. Maybe it's just me, but my best results come when my headspace isn’t being filled with other issues, and my inspirations can be nurtured without the jabber of external noise. It’s a sublime and luxurious place to be, though even for me in my so-called empty nest, it’s an effort to achieve. I think that chasing it is useless as it’s something that just quietly appears once the other gobblers have burped and left the table. I’m not saying you should all go kick out your kids, since you may not actually have any, but we all have many worry-balls bouncing around our heads, taking more room than they deserve! Kick some of them out if you can, or give them due diligence and wait it out. They will pass. When we deliberately  provide enough space and optimal conditions like the right light and warm temperature, the creative eggs will hatch. And timing is everything.
Picture
I'm Celebrating
Another perk to an empty perch is that Momma bird gets to play her choice of music any time! I claim my Watercolour Anniversary as a worthy excuse to treat myself to some fabulous new music to paint to, relax to, dream to... and ah, just indulge in. Mark Knopfler's talent and genius is so inspiring! "Tracker" is his latest jewel. The track "Wherever I Am" is a duet with Ruth Moody (solo artist and one of the Wailin' Jenny's), another one of my musical darlings. Click the pic to sample the goods and hear a beautiful, intimate interview on Mark's approach to his own art.  Do yourself a favour (give yourself a gift)  and watch the whole video... 

So, perhaps with some lovely background music, you will be able to clear some headspace in which to grow your creativity until it becomes something you are compelled to do. 

Cluck,

Picture
6 Comments

4) Harold & Maude

4/9/2015

3 Comments

 
Here are the two little 'Bananas in Pyjamas' as I like to think of them. Harold and Maude hail from Vancouver and are seen here showing off some of their winter finery. They are siblings and are both adoptees from a dachshund rescue facility. Their Mum, Jen, describes them like this : "Harold (the curly one on the left) is friendly and loves people but not a huge cuddler. Maude (on the right) is princess sassy pants and picks fights with everyone...but is a dream little cuddler that burrows anywhere she can. She has been known to look across the street from our apartment and growl at the innocent people waiting for the bus...little spaz! Out waking they just to push each other off the sidewalk which is very comical given that they are half a dog high and a dog and a half long!" 
They sound like cute little characters, well deserving of being immortalized by watercolour portraiture.
Harold & Maude
Master Harold and Miss Maude
The Process
The process of painting these two little scallywags is pretty much how I approach all the dog portraits. A bare minimum pencil sketch guiding me to the important placement of features and details is the start. I then pick a few colours that stand out for me and wash them in to begin giving the dogs some form. These base layers are often completely covered by subsequent layers, of which there are many. Then it's a case of building colour and shades with a number of washes of paint, usually drying between each. sometimes the paint is wet-in-wet, and sometimes wet  on dry paper. I always try to have a combination of hard and soft edges. Losing an edge into the background or into another shape softens the overall look. The most detail is given to the eyes and nose where the real life and character shine through. The background shades and drips come in at any point, some near the beginning and some at the end. They're actually quite important in the painting because I use them  for overall balance of colours and activity. They also help draw the viewer's eye all around the picture and I think makes it a bit more exciting and lively. 
H & M Progress
Puppies in Progress
'Every Dog  has it's Day', and these two have now had theirs. That was fun.
Now to hunt for the next beauties.

Cheers,
Picture
3 Comments

3) Hunting for Beauty (how to think like a painter)

4/7/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Some people are writers, some are musicians and some are speakers and thinkers. Yet others are carpenters or architects, or are born helpers. We all have a unique force that drives us, with our own way of channeling our expression.
I am a painter. How do I know that? It's not as simple as it sounds with an answer like "because that's what you do, silly." I would hate to think that we can be defined simply by what we do. The actual painting is just the evidence that we have painted, not that we are painters. But the way we see things and the desire to express ourselves in a certain way can be more of a clue. I think it's because it's the first thing I want to do when I see something cast in a beautiful light, glowing in a certain way, or a fascinating shape with interesting colours. What immediately comes into my head is "I want to paint that!" It could be something in nature, a flower in a vase, a spoon, a face, or even my food! Light and shadow can make anything extraordinary. Sometimes I'm watching a movie and I want to press pause and paint that scene! (the ending is secondary!) There's that desire to process the vision by taking it apart in my mind and putting it together again on paper - in my case, using watercolour paint. Kehinde Wiley, New York artist, recently explained in an interview that looking for his next subject is like being in a state of heightened awareness, literally walking through the street and 'hunting for beauty'. He walks through the world seeing it through a rubric of how to recapture it and re-tell it. Many times for me too, this is a deliberate search, like putting on my painter's goggles and seeing what inspires me. But the best, and more telling moments are when it happens by surprise. It's when the state of heightened awareness has become normal, and when faced with that lovely thing, I am imagining right away how I am going to paint it. 

Here's a little quiz to help find out what drives YOU!
You are walking in a mall and the display in a shop window (Godiva) lit with a spotlight is a shiny silver pedestal tray with a plump, blushing strawberry dipped in chocolate making a perfect reflection on the metallic surface. Your first thought is:

A) I want to buy that for someone special
B) I want to eat that
C) There's dust on that tray, and is that a worm I see in the strawberry?
D) I want to paint that

I know what I would choose! That's how I can call myself a painter. What are you?

Picture
On the Easel
I guess this is just a figurative easel since I usually paint on a surface balancing part on my lap and part on the table in front of me. I'm in the planning stages of these two dachshunds who live in Vancouver, but whose charm put that instant thought into my head..."I want  to paint that!" My hope is to show you at least one of them in watercolour form in a week.
Still Gnawing on it!

Picture
Beautiful Music
Then once that hunt has been successful and I ultimately sit down to paint my prize, I most always listen to something playing in the background. The soundtrack to my life sometimes is an audiobook, sometimes talk radio, and very often, my playlist of what I call 'Painting Music'. Apart from the ongoing hunt for visual inspiration, I always have my ears pricked for music that makes me want to sit up and listen. To stop what I'm doing and turn up the radio, tell people to shut up...and ask, "what IS that song?" A beautiful vocal tone, a harmony, an instrumental, something that strikes a place in my centre. I get so excited when I discover something new or when one of my 'old faithfuls' brings out a new album. (Mark Knopfler, Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby are some of those old faithfuls, whose new albums get automatically purchased without pre-listening!) In the sidebar I've added a link to a page where I've started showing you some of my all-time favorite music to listen to while I cook, clean, do laundry... but especially while I paint! As I discover new 'goody's' I'll add them to the list. My newest addition is just O,O,O,O ...Gorgeous! Diana Krall's 'Wallflower' is a collection of covers of older songs, many of which have been long time favorites of mine in their original form. She interprets them beautifully and uniquely. I'm loving it.

Are YOU Hunting for Beauty?
I should start a new game and call it "What new thing have you noticed on Diana's Blog?" Anyone can play... I'll give you a hint and direct you once again to the sidebar. Links to my little painting videos on YouTube is one of them. Another is a link to my 'Card Rack', a way to shop for my greeting cards on line. If you are hunting for a beautiful way to send a special message to a friend or family member then hunt no further than this. You'll see my full catalogue of cards and will be able to make your order right there.

'Till next time,
Picture
2 Comments
    Picture

    Diana Persson

    I am a watercolour painter, a wife, a mother, a homemaker and a gardener, and baker in no particular order - more like all at once! I live by the ocean in Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada. 

    Categories

    All
    Birds
    Gardening
    Inspiration
    Painting


    Archives

    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015


    Interest

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture


    Videos

    Picture
    Picture
HOME
ABOUT
ART WORKS
EVENTS
BLOG
SHOP
CONTACT

Copyright on all site content & images -  Diana Persson - 2017