Cullioure North Studio, Feb. 26, 2010 1:00pm

Another snowy winter Friday, another week has come and gone and with that regretable passage of time one piece has grown, another has been given life. Two different expressions of a creative soul reach out to be seen, understood, perhaps, hopefully make a difference. This artist sits here surrounded by the work, the offspring of imagination, reflective, perhaps confused, certainly critical. That blue, does it ring true, that shape of the ring, repetitive, is it too subtle, that tone too egocentric, will it speak to another, will it have universal appeal. Doubt, constant irritating doubt!
These pictures, they are meant to be drunk, to be eaten, to be consumed. I intend them to be a hearty meal, a bold wine, and a fine read. There is a common language here, I assure you. This visual communication, these paintings can speak to you, metaphorically, intuitively, viscerally, certainly emotionally.
Try to not stop looking, do not use the fleeting glance, slow your adrenalin enraged pulse, draw in a deep breath of cold clean winter air, then look, really look, and imagine!
A northern artist
bruce

Cullioure North Studio. Thurs. February 25, 2010

8:00am
Cooler now, -16C with snow. Busy times.
Multi tasking furiously. I prefer the idea of the canoe, simplicity, perfection of form and function.
My "Portrait" piece slowly nearing completion. Meanwhile other ideas percolating constantly in my mind. Language is such a difficult, complex idea. It must always go through the filter of each individual. "Mad" means one thing to me, and something very different to another. If people do not make the effort to learn more about whatever they see or read, then it is possible that they do not understand what I am doing what so ever. Imagination, open mindedness, and forever learning are vital. I like the idea of tough ideas, and imagery. Now what does "tough" mean.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio February 24, 2010

Beautiful morning in the north, minus 14 and brilliant sunshine creating deep blue shadows on the snow. I have missed a few days on my blog, life became busy, my painting took a break, which can be beneficial. I was offered a show last week, with very short notice, I have to set up next Monday. In this business you learn to expect the unexpected, you learn to juggle many things at once. Meanwhile my 30" x 36" Portrait takes on life. But it is so challenging to push my work forward and as I do so to increase the isolation that I live in, on the other hand I have to believe that in time new contacts and supporters will come along.
A northern Artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Feb. 16, 2010

Back to work, into my studio at 8:00am.
Considering where to go now with the "Portrait", also considering another box painting. It's going to be mild outside also which should give me an opportunity to do some construction of pieces and framing.
I had time also to do a small 8" x 10" mixed media on board. It came together effortlessly, now that's fun. A few new ideas entered into imagination today.
That's fun also.

A northern artist
Bruce

cullioureNorth Studio, Feb. 12, 2010

Easy start this morn, into the studio at 9:00am.
A fine winter day, so I took some time to play, or experiment, the 2 pieces you see are the result of imagination wanderings.
John Keats wrote "I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the hearts affections and the truth of imagination"
This week began poorly and ends just fine. Off to enjoy the Olympics!
Have a great weekend.

A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Feb, 11, 2010

At work 8:00am in my fine studio, these 4 walls of contemplation. My "Portrait" is finding her voice. She can be mournful, or joyous, perhaps complex or all too simple. As I work, sorting out with reason each shape, each colour relationship, every stroke of paint,I find myself discovering her as I define her.
You can look at her dismissively, having perhaps seen such a face a million times before, or you can look in wonderment, searchingly, never having seen this stranger before today. Perhaps we will only get to know her when she is gone. A dialogue with the divine can only reside in wonderment and in that interaction there are moments both fine and bewildering.

A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Feb. 10, 2010

8:00 am It's a bit more wintry this morning, minus 14C with a breeze, snow is blo wing about, white and icy. When I entered my studio, warm and welcoming as usual, I saw my "Portrait" and cringed. It isn't working!
There are those dark non productive days, paint on, scrape it off, paint on, try again. Sometimes we search and find, sometimes we just search. At times we just have to scrap it.
I'm not there yet.
6:00 pm. Well after a rough few days solutions might have been arrived at. The "Portrait" 30 " x 36" I think is on the right track now.It's a tough inner struggle that only the artist can resolve. It's a wrestling match between reason and spirit and one should not overpower the other. Tonight I give you a detail of the whole.

A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Feb. 9, 2010

Into my studio at 8:00 am. I continue work on my portrait. Now this is a struggle. I'm looking for its soul so that it isn't just paint and canvas.
6:50pm My studio reeks of paint and mineral spirits. At times everything comes together more or less easily, and other times it is agonizing. Just now it is the latter.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio Feb. 8, 2010

7:00 pm Another day spent in the studio. This is one of those days when I wonder why? So many of us, artists, be it visual, or dramatic, or musical, or whatever arts, struggle every day, to bring something enriching to our cultural fabric. We work hard every day to do really good work with little to no support. Galleries themselves, who are in the business of culture can't even bother to be courteous enough to respond to the very same artist they constantly ask to volunteer time or artwork to sustain them. Perhaps it is time we, the lowly artists decided to withdraw our "worthless" wares from society.
well, here is my "Vlog Portrait" in progress, but then so what.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North, Feb. 5, 2010

8:30 am, - Continues to be wintry, -18C, brilliant blue sky. Back to the "fragments" piece as well as working on the 30" x 36" "portrait". One nourishes the other, the fragments, for all its difficulty and complexity inspires me, literally and metaphorically all the pieces are coming together.

Imagine a place where you stood once and then you moved, where the waterfall meets the river, in the morning, in the afternoon, the evening, imagine this place without you, when the trickle roars in the wind, the surface, the surface never seen before, remember the time yesterday, last spring. Fragments. Remember something so precious that it will foreever reside within you.

A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Feb. 4, 2010

8:30 am -Shift back to the "Portrait" so as to give the "fragments" pieces time to sit, for time to contemplate and reflect.
Look at the work of Julian Schnabel, "The Sea" or anything by Anselm Kiefer, or Richard Serra's "Santa Fe Depot" 2004, wow! Where to go? The conversation is marching on, the cultural dialogue more complex. The brilliant question is more powerful than the redundant statement. It's about searching...isn't it?

The 30" x 36" "Portrait" moving ahead, the black work is almost done. Is it strong enough, will it inhabit and dominate a space, will it cause the viewer to stop, to think. I have seen spectators spend all of 30 seconds in front of a deKooning. well, it's their 30 seconds to spend as they wish. I am trying to get more.
A northern artist
Bruce

Culliour North Studio Feb. 3, 2010

11:30 am A fine mild, snowy winter day, full immersion in white
My "fragments" piece has captured my full interest, the train is coming into the station, and now it gets difficult. I'm trying to find the balance between the idea expressed in a complex intuitive language and visual attraction. Is it too busy... is nature too busy...I have seen a small fragile creek trickle its way into the larger waters that is so full of life, colour, form, line, light...that it is bewildering, awesome, holding my attention endlessly, scanning slowly to the right, then left, then being drawn back to where my eyes started. The word "busy" is the problem, in its negative connotations in relation to artwork, perhaps we should use the word complex.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North studio, Frb. 2, 2010

8:45 am -24C This time of year is tough, the cold at times seems like an oppressive weight. I believe it is normal to like warmth, bright light, long days, bird song carried in the breezes, tree bending, swaying, laden with green leaves, waves rolling, rushing, crashing agaisnt rocky shorelines, and the gentle symphony of a rain storm. Mostly by now I miss the variety of colours, my eyes search for it, wish and dream of it. Perhaps this is why I put strong bright colour in my work. Gao Xingjian has said, "An idea is a prompt, a starting point at best;" this is apparent in my work. The pieces that I am presently doing attest to this. To work!

Anorthern Artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio Feb. 1, 2010

8:15am: and -18C back in my studio. Continuing work on the 30" x 36" oil on canvas, which I think I will title "I'm Looking". I have exhibitions upcoming, the first of which is at the Temiskaming Art Gallery, May 21 to June 25; I plan on putting this piece in the TAG show. To work.

3:00pm So it would seem a bit of progress achieved on "I'm Looking" portrait and also on the fragment piece. The fragments piece is approx 24" x 36" mixed media on board. It has changed, and changed again, forcing myself to adhere to this rigorous process that involves non linear within a linear structure, using verticals, horizontals and obliques. The 2 pieces I'm developing side by side, the portrait and the fragment piece. Working on these 2 feels a bit like being in a canoe, on the brink of rapids, excited and fearfull, full of anticipation, but not sure if you should bail out now.

7:00 pm: Took an hour and a half break for supper and then back to the studio. Another full day coming to an end. The days seem to go by so quickly. Tonight as I sleep I will visualize and perhaps gain more ground.
A northern artist
Bruce