Detail of new painting - "Life in the woods"

I was trying to describe today to a friend what this painting was about. I got caught in a web of long sentences that sounded intellectual and vague.

The thing is, my true voice IS my painting. Everything else is an interpretation. Words are so limited to what is habitual, the conventional. And lets face it, I am not that good at verbalizing my ideas... because... they are not ideas. And too many things wants to come out at the same time. I do notably better when I write. You can slow down, you can go back, re-organize things a bit!

...Like I do as I write this.

This painting is about all that is hiden in life in general, in nature in particular, in forest most specificaly. all that is hidden from us because of our very short range of sight, of hearing, of understanding. I am asking the viewer to look within at his/her own concept of a forest. Should one reconsider what we mean by forest? The question is hanging. You do not need to answer.

The answer is in the question, the question is the answer.
- you can see more details on flicker.

creative process

I am now looking at materials to find out what will work. I chose a scheme of blue white and a touch of red. but nothing is written in ink yet. it's just food for thought... literally!

sketch

...as promised: a first sketch of  New Doll's outfit. Tentative. It looks a bit futuristic, but once I make it (if I do) it would have more of a primitive feel.

working on my doll

She aquiered carved, painted and lackered limbs, and got all stitched together, and is feeling all good about that. I really want her to look awsome and will spend a lot of time thinking up a great outfit for her.

...Above I will post a first rough sketch of that.

Scream!!!

Gulls on Toronto Island on a sunny day in May. The sound of screaming gulls evoques many childhood memories of the sea, of cannes, Martinique... I love these intelligent birds.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai lama of Tibet is honoring us all in Toronto by a visit this week-end. here is an extract from the teaching His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet will read, from the 8 verses of "training the mind".

I liked this passage a lot . It talks about the difficulty to identify with absolute compassion for most of us. With a simple comparision, he puts this endevour into perspective in a way to which most can relate :

"The point is to try to develop the scope of one's empathy in such a way that it can extend to any form of life that has the capacity to feel pain and experience happiness. It is a matter of defining a living organism as a sentient being. This kind of sentiment is very powerful, and there is no need to be able to identify, in specific terms, with every single living being in order for it to be effective. Take, for example, the universal nature of impermanence. When we cultivate the thought that things and events are impermanent, we do not need to consider every single thing that exists in the universe in order for us to be convinced of impermanence. That is not how the mind works. So it is important to appreciate this point."

painting in the rain

Painting in the rain is not easy. You have to time it... Have a plastic cover handy and a plan for sudden downpour... but otherwise, it is not as much of a problem as you might think. We managed quite well Anita and I, on our little island, having set ourself up on the narrow shore side of the island, away from the wind, with lots of food at hand to snack on, the stove near by to make hot tea or chicory-mocha on-demand!

We sat on our life vests, drank tea and painted, observing the weeds, trees, birds, drifting logs. A miriad of wonders to look at with rain-washed eyes.

canoe and rain

Back in September. At the bottom of the portage between smoke lake and Ragged lake, this small arm of the lake always gives me a feeling of deep tranquility and of having "arrived". Though this trip was a wet and cold one, that did not stop Anita or me to enjoy it thouroughly. We elected after debate to stay on what I now call "turtle Island" a small island with a long beach the later favored ; according to hundreeds of rubery shell-bits found there ; by turtles, I suspect snaping turtles. 3 inspiring days of painting for me and sketching for Anita. It is the second time we go to Algonquin together and so far we have not had much luck with the weather. But then, neither of us likes the heat so it's just as well - except for lack of painting opportunities.