Cullioure North Studio, Friday Jan, 29, 2010

January ending with a frigid cracking, bone chilling -24C.
Here in my studio I am warm and I work on. The very exacting work on the portrait keeps me entranced. But every now and then I spin around and go to some other pieces where I push and pull paint, scrape and layer, it's like shaking yourself loose, relaxing the muscles, but in this case, it's relaxing my imaginative mind. Did I mention I love my work. Yes I do run into a brick wall after brick wall, but in the end what else can I do but persist. After all who gets to do what they love every day.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio Jan 28, 2010

6:00pm. Time to call it a day, fatique setting in again on this cold windswept day.
Began the 30" x 36" Vlog Portrait, incorporating some text and playing with the form. By tomorrow I hope to have made more progress on it.
Lots of prepertory work had to be done today, as well again I did some paperwork and house cleaning. Did some experiments on small format, very loose intuitive landscapes.
A northern artist Bruce

Culliour North Studio Jan. 27, 2010

2:00 pm What a strange life that of an artist, or perhaps specifically a northern artist. Not that I'm complaining. I love what I do. But part of what I do is to push the work into a creative imaginative place that few inhabit. So by it's every nature, my work isolates. Now I am exploring a piece with lights and a piece with bits and pieces. I could make it bland, easy to consume, but no, I don't want to do that. I am also going to start a piece 30" x 36" on canvas, what I call a "vlog", of a portrait that is also on my cube portrait. I need to work out the colour relationships.
As to my "Cube Portrait", my goal is to do it as large as a 7'h x 8'w x 8'd, but the artist dilema comes into play. How to fund it? Going from concept to the finished piece is a difficult process.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Jan 26, 2010

8:10 am Awoke to the sound of hard snow blowing against the window. But so far it is only 0C. Winter carries on, it must have been nice for Matisse or Picasso to work in the south of France at this time of the year. Off to work on new pieces, exploring the materials and the concepts, mining my imagination.

3:00 pm The small piece(14" x 11") that I worked on today is a fun exploration of colour, line, form and light. Something I have been curious to explore for some months now. The other piece looks into the idea of abstract content within an architectual structure. I find them both intriquing, they also act as counter point to both the Vlog and Earth pieces. The challenge and the questions can only lead to something good.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Jan 25, 2010

Today has turned mild, imagine +1C and raining. There are times when one has to reorganize, re-group and this mild day triggered just such a day. Placing, organizing , both in my studio and in my head, The mild weather also allows a northern artist a chance to do outside work, like cutting a frame, or plywood for another piece I have in mind.
The piece I have posted today for your pleasure is a 32" x 40" oil on canvas done earlier in 2009. It is one of the last of another style of painting which I did for several years. It was about rapture, the joy of being in nature, of trying to absorb it viscerally. Some observers comment on the influence of First Nations Art, there was no such influence, it's me and my reaction to my space. I love those pieces, but it was time to move on.
A northern artist
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio Jan 22, Fri. 2010

11:00am
Whew, I missed me entry last night, life and all of its needs took over. Keeping the balance. But I did work yesterday. I believe I finished "Joy to be", an oil on 18" x 24" canvas. It is part of my "vlog" style.
Vlog being a play on blog, which simply for me is a visual log. The idea has morphed since its conception, but it has resulted in this style. The "vlog" style has a lot to do with an idiosyncratic use of language, but it can also be universally understood. Paper work and deadlines playing on my mind, I find it isn't a creative activity.
Meanwhile, everyday, Haiti is on my mind.
A northern artist.
Bruce

Cullioure North Studio, Wed. Jan 20, 2010

Cooler, -10C this morning at 7:00 am, but here comes the sunshine.
Into my studio at 8:00am, and I began to work on my Scroll Triptych. As things were drying I moved to my canvas, the landscape. Pieces are coming to completion. Long days spent on imaginative creative work, and so little or no time for the marketing side of things. These are many days when I pause and wonder why I persist.
So it is 7:30pm now, and I believe the "Scroll" piece is finished. This isn't an easy piece, it is challenging, but give it a chance, give it time, give it space and let it grow.
A northern artist, Bruce