Night, Red River
gouache
11.4 x 17.5 cm (4.5" x 6.9")

Done from a vague memory, this painting no doubt looks nothing like the scene that inspired it.

Prairie Sky
gouache
17.3 x 11.2 cm (6.8" x 4.4")

This scene is actually within the city limits of Winnipeg. The prairie does extend into the city.

Under the Volcano No. 3
gouache
10.9 x 17.5 cm (4.3" x 6.9") ■



More volcanos today. Not the best scans. The original paintings are darker and not quite as dramatic as the scans.

These volcanos are, of course, volcanos of the mind, imaginary volcanos, which bear, I presume, little relation to real volcanos.

Under the Volcano No.2
gouache
10.7 x 17.3 cm (4.2" x 6.8")

Under the Volcano
gouache
11.2 x 17.5 cm (4.4" x 6.9")

Under the Volcano is, of course, the title of the Malcolm Lowry novel. The title is the only relation between this quick study and Lowry's novel.

Tomorrow I'll have a couple of other volcano studies.

Portrait of D.
ink and oil pastel
20.3 x 9.7 cm (8.0" x 3.8"0

This crude portrait, done on a slick paper with oil pastel, has one redeeming quality for me. It reminds me of D., the model.

Le Beau Vice ,aptly named, from France features French and European art and artists.

The cre8ery is a new artists' space in the Exchange District of Winnipeg. It offers eight private studios, a shared studio space for five, a classroom/workshop, and a gallery. While the space is still being renovated, the gallery will be opening on April 26th, with Designers Of The Futura, a thesis exhibition by graphic design students from the University of Manitoba. Check the cre8ery's website for details. If you are in Winnipeg April 26th to May 1st, stop in and check out the show, and say hello to Jordan Miller and Shawn Berard of the cre8ery.

what a dump
mixed media
37.5 x 20.9 x 4.4 cm (14.75" x 8.25" x 1.75")

Another box with no particular meaning. Meaning or not, I quite like it.

A couple of new links today from opposite ends of America. The Flog, from Los Angeles, and bloggy, from New York; both have lots of art and info.

Crystal's Mother
ink and charcoal
27.9 x 20.3 cm (11" x 8")

This was done very quickly. It's a good beginning, but it would have been nice to have had enough time for a painting. Crystal's mother, whose name I missed, has a great face.

River
oil and pastel
15.0 x 19.6 cm (5.9" x 7.7")

What river is this? What land is this?
I don't know.

The painting is a melange of oil paint and chalk pastel. The paint was applied directly from the tube over a pastel drawing, then pastel was added to, and over, the wet paint.

Ice, Red River 2
digital image

I didn't find Friday's painting too appealing, so I made some alterations to it using Photoshop. The result is a little too decorative, although the image itself seems more attractive than the original.

Ice, Red River
oil
16.5 x 19.8 cm (6.5" x 7.75")

This was done two weeks ago when the ice was beginning to break up on the river. By now, most of the ice is down the river. Ice jams have caused some flowing to the north, but nothing serious so far.

Holding Up Hair
pastel and charcoal
22.9 x 15.2 cm (9" x 6") ■


This was quite a quick study, twenty minutes. Not really time enough to get details like the hands and fingers in. The pastel was added at the last minute, crudely, as you can see. But it seems to work.

Patrick
graphite, ink, and charcoal
27.4 x 19.3 cm (10.8" x 7.6")

Patrick Lussier is a Winnipeg musician. He's a guitarist, who plays and teaches classical, jazz, and contemporary guitar.

Patrick was listening to a CD of Venezuelan guitar music, played by John Williams, while he sat for this portrait.

D.E.
ink, charcoal, and pastel
28.7 x 21.4 cm (11.3" x 8.4")

This is drawing frustrates me. I can't tell if it looks like the model or not, and while I was working on it I couldn't tell if it looked like the model or not. It both seemed to look like him, and not to look like him, and I couldn't, and still can't, say why.

"C'est la vie."

Le Tréport
mixed media
53.3 x 22.9 x 14.0 cm (21" x 9" x 5.5")

Another box made from a kitchen cupboard drawer and inspired by Joseph Cornell (see last Monday's post). This one is rather spare and clean.

The title comes from the postcard at the bottom of the interior of the box. A couple of small drawings inside the box can't be seen. The one black and white relief print which can be seen in the box, was posted on Monday, August 14, 2006, as Untitled.

Ainsley
graphite, ink, and charcoal
22.9 x 21.4 cm (9" x 8.4")

A simple profile, done quickly, in about twenty minutes.

S.E.
charcoal and pastel
27.4 x 21.2 cm (10.7" x 8.4")

S.E. graciously agreed to model on very short notice last Monday evening, and did an excellent job.

I had a tough time drawing. This sketch was the best thing I did all night.

PRIORITAIRE
mixed media
53 x 22.9 x 17.8 cm (21" x 9" x 7")

Something a little different today. Definitely not a small drawing, although the box does contain a small drawing.

This is a box done several years ago. Originally it was a kitchen cupboard drawer. It's enclosed with glass and contains a number of items. PRIORITAIRE refers to a French postal label on an envelope in the box. You can see the blue label beside one of the sculpture's feet.

This box was obviously inspired by those of the American artist, Joseph Cornell. Two of Cornell's boxes are posted below.

Untitled (Hotel Eden), c.1945
mixed media
15.125" x 15.75" x 4.75"

Joseph Cornell. National Gallery of Canada.

Cornell's boxes are sometimes described as nostalgic.

Myself, I find them beautiful and sad, ineffably sad.

Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall)
1945-46
mixed media
20.5" x 16" x 3.5"

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972). Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Bergman, Chicago.

Garage
pastel
30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18") ■


This is an older work, done over several January nights from a darkened room overlooking the garage. The light to do the drawing by was provided by a small headlamp with three LEDs. If there was any more light, it became impossible to see the garage clearly.

By the way, spring, such as it is here in Manitoba, is slowly, very slowly, making its' annual appearance.