Psychologically There

The opening was a great success!
The gallery during installation.

  

The Opening! 

I took these photos with an ipod so images are degraded. I'm minding the Gallery on wednesday and I'll bring my real camera and take more photos. Over 200 attended throughout the evening.

Below is my artist statement and photo of my work 

(take a better one with more detail on Wednesday when I go in to the gallery)

Elizabeth Anderson, "Slippage"

Art is an expression of human experience, which is extremely personal while at the same time a reflection of collective history. Painting is a way of slowing down the fast pace of our technological age and all its consequences. The exploration of wax medium is a way of registering the subtle layers beneath the surface of conscious awareness. My body has spanned across from a time when technology was mechanical and digital was mostly imaginary. Mixing digital and painting is a metaphor for the late modernity of living in our time or how to make sense of the world without going mad.

Tonight's the opening night

We finished the installation last night. Everyone's work looks great. We've had over a 100 confirmations to the invite. Buttons, brochures with our artist statements, window signage, post cards are all ready too. It's going to be an exciting night. Wish you could all be there. I'll post photos tomorrow.

Psychologically There

I've been away from my blog because I've been painting a piece for our collective's upcoming show, "Psychologically There".

I should introduce our collective, Surreyalists. We are a collection of Kwantlen Fine Arts students based in Surrey BC. Our first show is coming up on June 3.   Come to our opening if you're in Vancouver, BC. Enjoy the art, food and conversation.

Work by: 

Andres Salaz

Alan Canning 

Bri Harrison

Chelsea Lawrick

Cody Lecoy

Daryl Markiewicz

Debbie Langtry

Elizabeth Anderson

Gunilla Kay

Rhea Paez

Robert Kovacic

Roxanne Charles

Shelly Leroux

Beyond my little problems - Fukushima

A Facebook friend shared this video update on Fukushima. I am god smacked by what was said about the situation.

 Click here > Fukushima Update Here


"What sphinx of cement and aluminium bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?

Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks!

Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! ..."

Allen Ginsberg, 1955

Lost in Domestic Chaos

It took three trips to move all my painting gear back home from the Cloverdale campus studio where I painted for fourteen weeks. It felt like an eviction. I'm not taking classes this semester due to financial limits so I was told I could not use the studio since I technically wasn't a student this semester. I would not be covered by insurance. I miss not going in everyday for 4 - 6 hours. My working momentum is broken. The domestic distractions are hard to ignore. I am lost in domestic space. I no longer have order where I can immediately start working. Sigh.

The Value of Learning from Others

I now have time for reading, reflecting and taking notice of things beyond the studio walls. I'm looking forward to visiting my friends blogs at a more thoughtful leisurely pace. 


As I was going through my emails I found an article, called "The Value of Learning from Others" by Chris Tyrell in the Opus Art & Community News.

Tyrell wrote a book  Making It: Case Studies of Successful Canadian Visual Artists and he talks about what he learned from interviews with twenty artists, ten self-represented and ten represented by galleries. A short interesting read that I thought might be useful no matter what country you're living in.

Painting Surface

Another recommendation from Rebecca Crowell is lightweight  multimedia artboard

Accepts oil and water-based paints. No priming required. Can use on either side, flat or textured finish. Archival and non-buckling. Works with adhesives. 30"x36" Pack of 5 - White List - $83.50 Your Price - $70.98

I think I'm going to try these this summer. There are a variety of sizes and some specifically for plein air.

Rodney Thompson- encaustic painter

Was at a Oil and Wax forum I belong to and discovered a source for panels as well as an artist, Rodney Thompson.

Since the Stretch of Road Exhibit where someone expressed interest in buying my paintings I was suddenly moved out of the student reality of scraping up something to paint on to an artist reality of paying attention to details from start to finish. Hence I am looking at the condition of the supports I use for my paintings. Some of you may wonder why I haven't done this already. Well no money and needing something to paint on had me using whatever I could find and my carpentry skills are sadly lacking.

I don't think I can invest in using Thompson as a supplier yet but I might be able to have a local carpenter's apprentice to help me make panels that won't embarrass me if someone is interested in purchasing my work.

Thompson's paintings are also definitely worth a look. :)

NB: Link to Thompson's wbe site is updated.

Moloch Series

 I've finally reformatted the photos for the blog. It's been grueling, trying to get the final projects finished. Here's photos of the Moloch Series: Quietude, Disturbance, Maelstrom and Extinct. As I said in an earlier post the events in Japan really struck me hard. The chances we take to maintain "progress" becomes frightening. My faith that things will be okay diminish as more revelations about the safety standards of the nuclear industry come to light.

Quietude

Disturbance

Maelstrom

Extinct

                    

Campaign | Access | Ai Weiwei: Deleted from the internet

The Chinese government in the midst of the worst crackdown on free speech in at least a decade, has just detained China’s most well-known artist, the activist Ai Weiwei. Afraid that any mention of the “Jasmine Revolutions” sweeping the Middle East right now might lead to similar protests in China, Chinese authorities are cracking down hard. In the past month, dozens of Chinese bloggersand dissidents have been detained “disappeared”, and in less than 24 hours after his arrest, Ai’s name has been virtually erased from the Chinese internet.

The UK, Germany, France, and America have already called for Ai’s release, now it’s time for the world’s internet users to stand with him and the countless other Chinese that have been unlawfully detained. Sign the urgent petition to the Chinese government link below.

Campaign Access- Ai Weiwei: Deleted from the internet