How art and creativity can transform

This is the season for celebrating life. It doesn't matter what faith or belief a person holds, there are elements of appreciation for the gift of family, community and life. The line goes forward and backward in cultural and personal history. It's a time when I am thankful but also remember my losses of those who aren't here.

This video was posted to my Facebook page and it touched my heart and soul. Zach Sobiech used his creative forces to generously share his journey with family, friends and strangers. He helped me understand my personal grief and transform it. 

The first video is about Zach and the second is how his friends and family paid tribute to him.

Wishing you all the very best 

this season and beyond!

You're Invited to Discovery: Air Exhibit

"Branded", encaustic on cradled wood, $525, 24"x20"

My painting, "Branded", was accepted into the  Seymour Gallery Discovery: Air exhibit. The Discovery exhibit is an annual event with different themes each year. It features local emerging artists and I am honoured to be included. 

Artist Statement

"Branded" is encaustic on wood panel. The image depicts where the land meets the sky on the horizon. Both the spaces are highly desired by industry to use at their discretion without due diligence to the effects of their activities. Industry treats the land, water and indeed air as their domain.

I wanted to make a comment about humans relationship with nature. I decided to place simple geometric shapes on the horizon to represent man made invasive constructions on the environment. I burned the shapes rather than painting them after same fashion of ranchers branding livestock to indicate ownership.
 

I'd love to see you at the opening if you're in the area.

http://www.seymourartgallery.com/exhibitionscurrent/upcoming/

International Mail Art Exhibit at the RAG

Memory: International Mail Art 2013, Richmond Art Gallery

 We went to the Memory Exhibit opening at the Richmond Art Gallery . We met up with Charis Au who also had a piece, "Anonymous" in the show. Larry kinda looks like the fellow in his painting (the fellow with the striped top hat). There was an overflow of paintings which were put into albums. Two of mine were in the album while the "Wish You Were Here" mixed media was on the wall. Larry's was right at the front by the entrance.
 

Elizabeth& Larry Anderson at Memory: International Mail Art Exhibit

Larry standing beside his piece "America the Great"

 

"Wish You Were Here" mixed media

Charis Au

"Anonymous"

Art with Wrinkles: Meet An Angel Fish Couple

 My husband loves to makes small paintings and write poems about the animal/fish. He researches how it lives in its natural habitat then uses the information in the poem. Sometimes it is pretty funny.


Art with Wrinkles: Meet An Angel Fish Couple: An Angel Fish Couple The Male “Going out looking for a meal, Doesn’t make me into a heal. I’m ready this moment to make a lung...

Anonymous Art Show Opening

 I wasn't able to make the opening but it looks like it was a great success!

Twitter: "We sold already over 50 paintings in the 1st hour! So #exciting to be here,360 artists and 738 #artpieces! #AAS13 pic.twitter.com/r4lml1v8gl"

photo from North Van Arts Council Tweet

RAG International Mail Art Exhibit

Opening reception this weekend at RAG

Saturday, November 16, 3-5pm 

Exhibit runs Nov 17 - Jan 12, 2014.

"Memory: International Mail Art"
  

and  

 
VERB WOMAN the wall is in my head/a dance of forgetting" 

Cody Lecoy at Latimer Gallery Charity Event

Every year, selected Northwest Coast Native artists donate their time, materials and creative efforts for Lattimer Gallery’s Annual Charity Bentwood Box silent auction. A friend and young upcoming artist, Cody Lecoy is participating this year. 

Drop in at the Lattimer Gallery between November 23 and December 7th and see the exhibit if you're in the Vancouver BC area.

Anonymous Show North Vancouver Art Council

Every year the North Vancouver Art Council have a fundraiser exhibit called the Anonymous Show. Local artists are invited to make an unsigned painting on a 8"x8" canvas. The only way someone can find out who painted it is by buying it. Only then will they find the artist and title on the back of the canvas. Hence the name "The Anonymous Show" (link to past show). All paintings are $100 and there is a 50/50 split between artist and Arts Council.

This is my second time participating in the event. Last year I was overly ambitious and submitted three paintings.  This year I did one, a painting called "Out of the Blue" which was influenced by my exploration into art journaling. Unfortunately I forgot to document it so I don't have any images. I'll take a few at the exhibit.

I've been using art journaling to explore ideas, try out new techniques but mostly to encourage a regular routine in the studio. I find that I can sit for one to two hours using the exercises in Eric Scott and David Modler's "Journal fodder 365". The time goes by quickly and I have visual results of my efforts.

On the right is a sketch I used to explore ideas for the Anonymous Show. Although it is not exactly what the final product looks like it has all the elements.The sketch was done with felt pens on paper and the painting is acrylic on canvas titled "Out of the Blue".

It's a fun way to establish a disciplined work schedule. It's particularly useful when not working on larger pieces.

Do you have any tips for establishing regular work routines? I'd love to hear about them.

Shane Koyczan and Hannah Epperson - Remember How We Forgot

 I love poetry aloud. A beautiful reminder that we are alive.Shane is a Canadian poet.

Remember How We Forgot 

by Shane Koyczan

Art Marketing Blog: Serial Copyright Thief Serves Major Retailers

 Just finished reading this article Chris Tyrell Loranger shared on his blog. It might be of interest to those of you who are selling online. It demonstrates how social media can serve artists as a defense for wholesale theft.

Art Marketing Blog: Serial Copyright Thief Serves Major Retailers: You've probably never heard of  Cody Foster & Co .  That doesn't matter, though, because if you're an indepe...

Learning How to Use Social Media

I started blogging as a student who wanted to reach past the halls of learning (for me it was Kwantlen University Polytechnic). I needed to know beyond my small personal circle about art making and I found wonderful people who are generous in giving me feedback and encouragement and sharing their experiences through their art, writing and life. 

Having graduated I still need that greater circle but I also want to develop my art practice including looking for opportunities to share my art through exhibits and hopefully sell my art. So to that end I've been researching social media. I came across this resource about Best Times to Post on Social Media  from http://www.fannit.com/ via Lori McNee at her site Fine Art Tips

Hope this is useful to some of you trying to make sense of how to use social media. 

Please include attribution to http://www.fannit.com/ with this graphic.

New to Me Studio

The most difficult challenge for me is to separate time out from other daily responsibilities. This is because I work from home. It wasn't as difficult when I was a student because I'd hop in the car and go to the studio. I could stay a few hours or all day with little interruptions.  
Now that I work from home I am accessible. I can see the tasks that need to be done like laundry, vacuuming, dishes etc. My husband is retired so he innocently asks for assistance with his computer or finding something or sharing an interesting article he's found. I didn't have a dedicated space for my art making. It was difficult to set up a routine. Instead it was fitting in the art which wasn't consistent.

Our front room was being used as office space for my contract work and the nonprofits where we volunteered. I no longer am doing that kind of contract work so the room was sitting there as a big storage space for information no longer relevant. As I stood in the room one day with the sun pouring in the windows I realized it was the perfect space for my art making. The big challenge was to go through nearly fifteen years of stored paper and what ever else I found. It took weeks and I'm still not finished but the studio is set up and I have worked in it. My supplies are all in one place and easily accessed. No longer and I working from the kitchen table or laundry room. My art books titles are easily seen and I can either paint or read in my space. They had been tucked into various book cases around the house. 

I haven't got a regular schedule yet but I have worked in 1 1/2 hours blocks and found it workable. The silence and no interruptions was energizing. I think I'm going to like this.

The Arts Are No Luxury! | NCCA

"The artistic impulse is an inherent drive to explore the environment through eyes, ears, touch, smell, taste and movement. Artistic expression is animated by the inner drive, what Gene Cohen called an “Inner Push”⁶ , to interact creatively with the environment and to invent more effective behavioral responses."  Gene Cohen

Good reasons to be creative at any age.

The Arts Are No Luxury! | NCCA

What I'm Working On

These three paintings are nearly finished. It brings to mind the question "How can you tell a painting is done?" For me sometimes it's easy other times it seems to be done but when left for a while then looked at again it's clearer if my intentions are actually seen the way I want them to be seen. I'd be interested in hearing about your experience deciding a painting is finished.

The first , "Immersed" is mixed media predominantly encaustic and collage on wood panel. I've included a detail image as well. I still want to build up the texture on the bottom of the painting. The source image is a winter reflection of trees on water. The title reflects my process while working with wax. I'm totally immersed in the process, hours can go by without my noticing. inspired by Stickup Artist photo Visit her site and see fantastic photography!

The second "Branded" is encaustic on wood panel. The source was my imagination with the goal to have horizontal layers creating distances. I wanted to make a comment about humans relationship with nature. I decided to place simple geometric shapes on the horizon to represent manmade invasive constructions on the environment. I burned the shapes rather than painting them after same fashion ranchers brand livestock to indicate ownership.

The third piece, "Running" is acrylic on canvas. The source is a photo of water running over various metal pieces at a deteriorated building site. I was attracted to the movement and colours in the image. Painting in acrylic is very different from oil or encaustic. The paint dries quickly and I'm still learning about  how and what I can do with it.  Still have a ways to go before this one is finished. source: American Ruins This facebook page is devoted to deteriorating landscape mostly located in the USA

"Immersed", mixed media on wood panel, 4' x 3'

"Immersed" detail

"Branded", encaustic on wood panel, 20" x 24" 

"Running" acrylic on canvas, 4' x 3'

Mail Art, Just for Fun

The Richmond Gallery is having their second International Mail Art Exhibition and Swap. Working in a 4"x 6" format is a big switch from the 4' x 3' I've been using over the summer. Here are a few that I've done. They are mixed media on Arches Oil paper. Two are representational while two are abstract. 

We've had an unusually hot dry summer so water and garden were lingering themes. I was experimenting with combining watercolour, acrylic and oil pastels. I've got more postcards cut and I'm looking forward to creating more and mailing them off to loved ones. I'll keep you posted. haha

"Incomplete Thoughts", acrylic on Arches oil paper, 4" x 6"

"Wish You Were Here", Mixed media on Arches oil paper, 4" x 6"

"Dreams, Bits and Pieces, Unfinished Stories", Mixed media on Arches oil paper, 4" x 6"

"Summer Happiness", Mixed media on Arches oil paper, 6" x 4"

Fall, Season for change

I think of fall as a time for new beginnings. It marks the returning to "the work". It may be due to body memories of returning to school after meandering through summer. It's a time to engage and reconnect in the concrete goals of learning or responsibilities of the work world after summer vacation. That is not to say that summer is not productive or the absence of these activities. Summer for me is a time that gives permission to be more carefree. This attitude can be rejuvenating or it can be a slippery slope.

I've been absent from the blog world for too long. The discipline it takes to share my thoughts on a regular basis sometimes feels over-demanding. Yes it's about time but it's more about self reflection and coming to terms with where I am as an artist and as a person and then sharing what I've learned. 

This past year has been exciting and scary. I no longer had school assignments that put me in the creative process. Instead I'm facing alone the responsibility for defining my voice. I find myself envying artists who know who they are. They can be identified through their work. And collectors want to own their work. I keep working because there is no other way but to do it.

So I have not been idle during the summer. I've been showing my work through the local Langley Arts Council in their Art in Found Spaces program. I exhibited in Surrey Art Council juried show "Dance" at the Newton gallery. I have four works in progress each with their own unique problems to be solved. I'll post images soon.

The catalyst for this post was an article posted by Lori Mcnee called "Ten Tips to Find Your Own Artistic Voice". All ten points resonate with me especially the first one which taps into my doubts if I am good enough. 

Hope you all had a wonderful summer. I appreciate your comments and reading your posts. The connections are as real as my neighbourhood no matter that it is in virtual reality. Thanks for being out there.

Art Marketing Blog: Appropriation versus Copyright Infringement

Resource via Chris Tyrell"s Visual Art Marketing blog. Take a look.

Art Marketing Blog: Appropriation versus Copyright Infringement: This is a simple but helpful talk about "appropriation" versus "copyright infringement." Although it is done by the e...


Have a lovely week-end everyone!

A Sketchbook Grows In Brooklyn

Here is a link to an article in New York Natives Born and Raised about the Sketchbook Project I participated in earlier this year. The article, "Around the World in 5 Buroughs: A Sketchbook Grows in Brooklyn", gives a good description about the projects and the Brooklyn Art Library where all the books are stored and read by anyone who visits.

6 Artists who made it big after turning 70

An article in Blouin ArtInfo International Edition features six artists, clockwise from top left Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Etel Adnan, Mary Delany, Carmen Herrera, Grandma Moses, and Alice Mackler who achieved recognition after turning 70. Needless to say they are all women who raised families or had other careers before turning to art. It gives me the hope that I can achieve mastering my art practice.

Use the link to find the complete story with slide show.

"Grow old with me the best is yet to come." -Robert Browning

Lifelong Learning

I wanted to do a MFA when I finished my Bachelor of Fine Arts however life circumstances has altered that goal. I realize that the postponement may be a permanent one. So instead of wishing and hoping, I am working on my own to do the things I might have done within a Masters program. I invite you to join me in my journey and will share with you resources as I discover them. 

While in school the nature of my art process was situated in the classroom. What, when and how I chose to do work was reflected by assignments in any given semester and instructor. As I look back I realize how lucky I was to have a rich and varied experience from which to draw from for my next phase.

My process since finishing my BFA has been exploring new mediums, techniques while at the same time responding to artist calls. It has made the transition exciting. However I am ready to create a body of work that is defined internally from start to finish. I often hear and indeed notice that some artists can be recognized by their work. One looks at a painting and says that's a Van Gogh. I also have been told that this is important to strive toward, I need to settle into one mode to be recognized. My internal response has been "but I like many different mediums and styles. I love to experiment with what a medium can do and I want to learn more by doing". Is this naive? 

"Be Still My Pounding Heart" 

Although I explored encaustic, oil, video, performance, acrylic, and sculpture  my content has remained the same, "What is it like to be human in our world". I am interested in the psychological processes when meeting life challenges. Hence my exploration of carcinoid tumours and my inspiration from Ross Bleckner both in style and content. The first work I saw from Bleckner was his painting of glowing funeral urns in his "Memorial" paintings. I was captivated by the glowing images and the subject matter. I researched him further and discovered "History of the Heart" which was created as a response his father's medical crisis. I was attracted to both his style and willingness to explore those internal physical and psychological life crisis. I think this element is still a constant in my art making whichever medium I use.

My first step to finding my equilibrium outside school is to re-evaluate my process.  I want to tease out details of my process for creating. My goal is to be spontaneous but rigorous in my approach. One area that I am revisiting is the use of the seven elements of design: balance, unity, emphasis,movement, rhythm, contrast and proportion. So this is where I begin - the basics. I found the resource below that I'm sure to use many times over in my travels. 

Resource: Art Dictionary

SHORT Video: Doris Salcedo: Istanbul

SHORT: Doris Salcedo: Istanbul

I follow Artist 21. It is a way I can explore the process of art making while I discover in me what it is that I want to say and how I want to say it. On the one hand art can be playful, gentle, in another it can strike to the core of human existence. It is frightening sometimes to reveal innermost questions that have the most personal meaning. Doris Salcedo's work succeeds in connecting the personal with the larger narrative that crosses boundaries of time and place. To view this interview click on the above link.

CV on the blog

My web site is in development. Until then, I have added a link to my CV on Elizabeth's CV  Page which can be found at the top of this page. You can find the link above the posts. My CV can be seen in full window. Much easier to navigate than the PDF file.

I'm also using a new layout. I'm trying to keep my panic level in check because I don't recognize where anything is. I'd like to hear about your experiences using Cloud and any of the new dynamic layouts. I'd love to hear what your experiences have been. 

Framed Exhibit

A Good Life
Mixed media on 140 lb paper 

Once a year the Surreyalists put on a fundraiser at the Arbutus Gallery and I contributed two paintings. 

This past year has been an exploration with acrylic paint and these paintings are an example of this journey. Acrylic is so different from oil or encaustic. In both these paintings I played with different techniques in both additive and subtractive methods as well as mixing different mediums. 

Step Out
Acrylic, collage on 140 lb paper

"Just Dance" exhibit

Just got word that I've been accepted for the Arts Council of Surrey "Just Dance" exhibit! I'm so excited. It's the second juried exhibit I've been accepted. I've changed my medium from oil to acrylic and have been experimenting on what I can do with it so getting this acceptance is very encouraging. 

I started this piece knowing I wanted to address another kind of dance. A dance that most people do not need to think about. I wanted to bring this inside phenomena out into the open so to speak. The human body is wonderful, so many systems working together to make us who we are. 

The neural dance is as necessary to life as the air we breathe. I wanted to represent this phenomena. I began by researching MRI images of brain activity both healthy and not so healthy.  In one set of slides blue represented healthy firings and red unhealthy. I used this as the basis of my painting and overlaid a silhouette of dancers. The red sits waiting to multiply and entangle the dancers synchronicity.

Artist Statement:

“The Hidden Dance Within”

Acrylic on Arches 140 lb Oil Paper 2013

Elizabeth Anderson

There is a dance that’s within us invisible to the naked eye. Special machines and dyes are needed to see this dance.  It is taken for granted. It never misses a beat. We laugh, love, learn, live our lives without appreciating that without this neural dance the smallest move to the grandest thought would not be possible. Indeed we may shy away from facing this delicate dance within until a life event brings it into focus and the dance stumbles.

Sketchbook Project

I'm finally posting my first journal I made  for the Sketchbook Project in Brooklyn NY. It is currently on tour with 1000 journals. The project was more daunting then I expected and my stamina was lower than expected after surgery. I had less time to complete it then I thought so was rushing to make the deadline. It is very raw as a consequence. I have since bought another journal and look forward to a more leisurely stroll in creating new pages.

What seemed simple turned out to be more difficult. First I couldn't decide what theme to focus on. I finally decided on a collection of quotes. This was highly influenced by the number of quotations showing up on my Facebook. 

How difficult could it be to cut out letters from a magazine to create text. I discovered that the size and style I wanted wasn't easily found and took a lot more time than I thought. I switched to using a pen. I discovered the felt pen I had was thicker than what I wanted and I kept underestimating or overestimating how much space  needed to write all the text. So I stumbled along, envious of the journal artists who have there supplies and tools on hand to create easily what they wanted. Even with all the challenges I did enjoy the creating the pages. I felt very much like a child who was earnestly creating each page with colour and feeling.

Anyway I finally got around to putting the photos on my computer for upload. Here they are.

Photos of show

Sorry, I still need to add the titles for all the work.

Gunilla Kay

Rhea                   Evie Amplemousse

Bri Harrison             Deanna Welters      Daryl Markiewicz

Cody Lecoy                                 " Love & Marriage" Elizabeth Anderson

Jay Cabalu                         Chelsea Lawrick

"Love Will Be the Death of Me"  Shelley Laroux

                                                  Mali Heh

Shandis Harrison

Kenny Chui                                  Andres Salaz

Charis Au

Before the guests arrived.