Identity

I wanted to do something different for our ATC meeting this month. The theme was whatever we wanted it to be, so I chose “Identity.” I think I know who I am, but identity seemed to give me lots of scope to ponder its meaning in Photoshop—and I decided to use a booklet created by Brenda Shackleford for Artfest last year as a guideline.

If you want to try it yourself, just double click on the image above and download it to your desktop. To print it out, set your paper orientation to “landscape.” The area to cut out measures 10” x 7” …just trim along the outside edge.

To make up the ATC booklet, fold in half, quarters and then eighths as shown below. Open out and cut a slit between the four center panels. Then fold in half horizontally and pop out along the center fold so that the front cover “Identity” is on top.

Sound complicated? If you’re like me, you’ll do better with a demo. Just follow this link for video instructions, but you don’t need a staple as they suggest.

Lynne Perrella’s Latest Book

What would your ideal studio space look like? And on a more practical level: how would it all work?
You’ll probably find yourself asking questions like these while you’re perusing Art Making & Studio Spaces (An Intimate Llook at 31 Creative Work Spaces) by Lynne Perrella because I know I certainly did.
Even though I loved looking at this incredible profusion of eye candy—many of the artists featured have huge collections of fascinating stuff—I found myself drawn to the more streamlined and utilitarian studios like Michael deMeng’s. I personally find that having all my stuff out is overwhelming and distracting. If I have too much choice, I can’t make any decisions. That said, I’d jump at the opportunity to visit any of the artists Perrella interviewed for this book!
Some of the studios featured are quite small, but most are on the large side and several are self-contained spaces like Bee Shay’s and Sas Colby’s. I remember seeing a photo of Edward Hopper’s Cape Cod studio years ago and it looked just like a boathouse. I’d love something like that.
But one of the featured artists, jeweler Nancy Anderson, says she’s learned from experience that you don’t need a perfect space. “Give up that thought now. The perfect space only exists in your dreams. I say: Just create. Let it happen in your basement …on your kitchen table. Just do it.”

My Mum: 1919 to 2010

After two months in North York General Hospital, my mother Dorothy Fulford passed away in palliative care there last week. Anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer knows what an excruciating and heart-wrenching process it is to watch them go downhill. But mixed in with the sadness is a feeling of relief that they no longer have to suffer.

Up until last fall, Mum was still driving, making fabulous desserts, hosting dinner parties, attending her book club, volunteering and shopping for new outfits. Even though she was in her 91st year, she still had lots of life left in her and was aware of us all up until her final moments.

Mum deserved a quick, uncomplicated passing after celebrating with everyone who loved her at a gigantic party. She didn’t get that of course, but at least we were all able to say goodbye to her before she went and to hold her close.

John took this picture of Mum enjoying herself in September of 2008 and I think it captures her perpetually sunny nature and love of life perfectly.

Imagining the Past

Remember When was the theme for our ATC group last month, and I couldn’t decide what to do for the exchange, probably because there are so many choices available. I’m at the age now where my own past is full of all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies (to me at least.) I actually remember wearing white eye shadow, ironing my hair and meeting Manfred Mann in an Eskimo art shop at Yorkdale Plaza.
So what to choose?
I debated doing an ATC of The Beatles concert I went to with my friend Barb on September 7th, 1964. I saw The Stones, James Brown, The Dave Clark Five and The Mamas and Papas in the 60s too, and lots of bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Supertramp, and Genesis in the 70s. One balmy night I even experienced Yoko Ono wailing from inside a burlap bag.
But the problem with being a 60s and 70s girl is that while the years may be piling up, you’re still not copyright free. So this led me to imagining a past for the threesome shown above.
I like this carte d’viste because the little girl is being hugged by her dad, which is an unusual thing to see in pictures from this era. And I’m guessing he must have been especially fond of her because you usually see the young ones grouped around the mother. Then again, maybe the woman shown is her stepmother. Or perhaps the man is the little girl’s grandfather, and the woman he’s seated with is his much younger second wife who is not that that happy being photographed with the grandchild he adores.
There are really lots of scenarios available to anyone with an active imagination here. But it occurred to me that it might be more interesting to rewrite your own personal history instead. I think I'm going to add dating Mike Smith of The Dave Clarke Five to mine.

Identity

As I was getting into the car the other day, a perfect snowflake landed on the sleeve of my coat. But this tiny ice mandala only lasted for a moment before vanishing. I remembered reading that no two snowflakes are identical (just like each one of us) and I wished I’d had a camera handy to make a record of it like Wilson Bentley, the Vermont farmer who made photographing individual snowflakes his mission in life.

Bentley’s obsession with snowflakes began when he received a microscope for his fifteenth birthday in 1880. He tried drawing them but since they melted too quickly for sketching, he eventually turned to photography (see below) and took thousands of pictures of snowflakes until his death in the 1930s.

Today I discovered that Bentley was the one who came up with the no two snowflakes are alike theory, which is now generally accepted as a scientific fact. “Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated,” he told a reporter in 1925. “When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”

I really like the idea that the universe in general is teeming with abundant individuality …everything from an atom to a star, although I don’t think I could reproduce the snowflake I saw. One thing I do know is that it was different from anything else I’ve ever seen and has enhanced my life in its own small, sweet way.

Believe in your plant

Hazel—one of my plants—has had more lives than a family of contented cats. She has been completely dead (apparently), sort of dead, on the verge of passing on, semi pathetic, extremely pathetic, depressed, deflated, so-so and so on. Well, I’m sure you get the picture. But as you can see, Hazel is flourishing in her present incarnation. One blossom is in full bloom and another couple are just waiting to unfurl. Given Hazel’s history, I’m ashamed to admit I considered tossing her into the compost many times. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it because David gave me Hazel for my birthday a few years ago, and it just seemed plain wrong to abandon her. And I’m glad I didn’t.
Hazel has convinced me that you shouldn’t give up on anything that’s important to you—no matter what the evidence seems to suggest. Even though it appeared she was a goner, John put her in a new pot and I watered her anyway. Everything else Hazel has done on her own, and it’s very gratifying to know she’s got a new lease on life.

The Color for 2010

“Turquoise Transports Us to an Exciting, Tropical Paradise While Offering a Sense of Protection and Healing in Stressful Times,” says Pantone the company that provides professional color standards for the design industries (and obviously loves to capitalize Just In Case We Miss Anything).
This year the company has chosen Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise, “an inviting, luminous hue,” as the color of the year. “Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well being.”
Whew! But wait, there’s more…
“In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color. It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many – taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.”
Personally, I love the color turquoise, but I can’t help wondering—would Pantone ever pick Beige as the color of the year? Could a copywriter wax poetic over Beige? Having been one myself, I’d say if I had to, I could. But I think I’ll just settle for wishing all of you a Happy, Healthy, Creative and Colorful 2010.

The Power of an object

When I was decorating the tree before Christmas, I heard a crackling sound. At first I didn't know what it was. Then I looked down at the remaining ornaments still carefully laid out on the coffee table, and I could see that one of my favorites—a lilac and silver heart—had cracked all over.
When I showed my “broken” heart to John, he said the reason why it had cracked was to let out more love. Hmm. I had a feeling there was a lesson in all this ...or maybe even a poem. But I forgot about it until Christmas Day when my sister-in-law Wendy presented me with a replacement: a beautiful silver heart. (Wendy and I both love hearts, so she could relate to me losing mine).
Yesterday I decided I'd photograph the two of them together to send to Wendy. Unfortunately the lilac and silver heart disintegrated when I touched it. The funny thing is: when I looked at the photo afterwards, I could see myself taking the picture of it reflected in several of the fragments. I’m not sure what the lesson is here (or if there even has to be one), but I do know I've let go of my attachment to the heart and ended up with a visual poem.

Poetry says something...

While I was printing up some pictures for Christmas presents last night, I realized that I’ve said goodbye to a lot of my art in 2009—like this mixed media piece: Poetry says something nothing else can. I worked on it on and off for at least five years, and with the deadline of my show approaching in October, I said to myself: This is something you must finish. Suddenly, it all came together. Then Poetry spoke to someone and now has a new home.
Thinking about the whole process in retrospect, I can see I was so enamored with the central image (it’s a painting by the 17th century Italian artist Carlo Dolci called Poetry) that I couldn’t make a any kind of decision I felt was visually worthy of her. Once I made her less personal and focused on the act of writing poetry, I was able to finish.
The interesting thing is that Carlo Dolci was a notoriously slow painter himself. “[S]ometimes he would take weeks over a single foot,” wrote his biographer Baldinucci. By all accounts, Dolci was a very sensitive man. He suffered from depression and went into a decline triggered by Luca Giordano’s 1682 visit to Florence. Luca joked that his own rapid style had brought him a fortune, but Dolci would starve if he kept taking so long. Dolci also had a daughter called Agnese who made copies of his work and was a painter in her own right.
The image I used of Poetry seems to be the one around that's available to scan. I got her from a book my godmother gave me years ago …a 1908 bio of Carlo Dolci by George Hay. The reproductions are all hand-tinted because there was no color photography in those days. If you want to check out the book, you can read it online here.And by a curious coincidence, a miniature portrait painted of Dolci painted in the 18th century by Nardelli is available on Ebay right now for $1795.00 U.S (see below). I'm thinking it's time to buy myself a lottery ticket pronto.

Emma and Bryan

It was Jean Luc Picard who frequently said Engage on Star Trek, and he might as well have been advising my children because Emma is now engaged to her boyfriend Byran …or I guess I should say: fiancé. We really like Bryan who is a salt of the earth kind of guy and perfect for Emma. But Emma says she lacks the wedding gene and thinks heading to Vegas might be a good idea after figuring out that she wanted to invite at least 300 people to her wedding and will need about twenty bridesmaids.
Is it my imagination, or are weddings much more complicated today? Having been a bridesmaid, a maid of honor and a bride I’m almost certain that they are. But just to get Emma inspired about the bridesmaid’s dresses, here is a picture of my cousin Ann’s 1970s wedding party. (I’m on the left).

Almost Midnight

I haven’t been doing any assemblage lately because I’ve been focusing on Photoshop. But I really like this one I did a few weeks ago called After Midnight which includes the rusted back of a nametag and a china doll missing a leg that I ordered from Jennifer Pearson Vanier.
Jennifer has all sorts of nifty stuff for collage and assemblage at The Milkhouse Gallery in Prescott, Ontario and CTV did a feature on Jennifer and her husband Marty a few months back I really enjoyed watching.
Now where was I? Oh yes, Photoshop and assemblage. I’ve been busy creating, printing and framing some new pictures and as usual, framing makes me gnarly. Fed up with dust motes and fingerprints trapped under glass, I sat down to play in Photoshop and became completely absorbed. When I finally came up for air, I shifted to get more comfortable and, well, there was the musical sound of glass shattering under my rear end.
How could I have possibly spent all that time framing and then sat down on a finished piece without realizing it? No point in being annoyed though. I think things like this happen for a reason …i.e. stay focused on the task at hand (or wherever). It also made me realize how much I’ve missed doing assemblage. I have some great ideas that involve an oil tin and a chemistry beaker (also from Jennifer), but time will only tell if I follow through.
P.S. If you live in the Toronto area and can make it, our annual Extra-Ordinary Jolly Christmas Sale is happening this Saturday December 5th 2009 from 10 am till 4 pm at the Swansea Town Hall, 95 Lavinia Avenue, Toronto Ontario M6S 3H9. Hope to see you there! I’ll be flogging my wares, or more precisely wearing my flogs …whatever that means.

I’d Rather Be on Bird Time

We’re heading to the airport in about an hour to pick up Emma. She left Maun in Botswana on Friday night and flew to the country’s capital, Gabarone. From Gabarone she flew to Johannesburg, from Johannesburg to London (an 11 hour flight) and right now she’s somewhere over North America heading on home. In all, Emma will have spent 22 hours in the sky over the last couple of days.
Somehow flying seems way more efficient if you’re a bird (or even a monarch butterfly). No need to worry about luggage restrictions, customs, airline strikes or missing your connection. Maybe one of these days we’ll have figured out teleportation and will be able to get from Toronto to Botswana in the twinkling of an eye. On the other hand, I guess the longer it takes the more aware you are that the world is a very big and very varied place. All this ruminating about flying makes me think about I’d Rather Be on Bird Time—a mixed media canvas I did a couple of months ago. I didn’t name it until I’d finished because I really didn’t know what I was doing with it up until the moment when I added the birds. But somehow I think my birds appreciate the unpredictability of it all.

Extra-Ordinary Jolly Christmas Sale

Our annual Extra-Ordinary Jolly Christmas Sale—organized by Karen Arts—will take place on Saturday December 5th 2009 from 10 am till 4 pm at the Swansea Town Hall, 95 Lavinia Avenue, Toronto Ontario M6S 3H9.
I will be selling mixed media art, digital prints, collage sheets, new CDs of images and my book: Creating from the Inside Out.
Here’s a list of the other artisans and their nifty creative stuff.
Karen Arts – Works of Arts
Beautiful and unusual gemstone bead and silver, one of a kind jewelry
Carmi Cimicata
Resin, paper and fibre embellishments, buttons, magnets and baubles
Mary Ambrose
Eclectic / vintage style jewelry and home accessories
Marissa Decepida-Wong – MDW Designs
Collection of unique jewelry, hand-made cards and art pieces.
Aracely Cruz
Quilled art and collection of exquisite ribbon jewelry
Sharon Ginsberg
Fabric boxes, vintage, framed tree ornaments, doggie knits
Martha Brown
Soft and sparkly ornaments hand-crafted from fabric and aluminumFor instructions on how to get to Swansea Town Hall, just follow this link.

Birthday in Botswana

Emma is into her third week of volunteering as a human rights lawyer in Botswana. This is a picture of the faux African hut where she’s living. It has air conditioning, a TV and a fridge which I think is hilarious. I don’t think she ever imagined that roughing it would involve central air, although it is over 90 degrees every day.
Emma celebrated her birthday this weekend by going on a safari to the Okavango Delta with two of her friends. She saw hippos, impalas, cheetahs, lions, elephants and giraffes. At one point she was just a few feet away from two lions eating a baby impala. “If that doesn’t make you a vegetarian nothing will, Mom,” she told me when I talked to her today. Nevertheless, Emma said it was the most exciting weekend of her life. So in honor of Emma’s birthday and the great continent of Africa, here’s a mini collage sheet of mainly African wildlife to download.

Lily's Fourteenth Birthday

I didn’t have any Kraft dinner to give Lily for her birthday today, but she seemed delighted with her dinner of cheese and spinach ravioli with green beans and broccoli. One of the great things about having a dog is that they don’t complain about their food. They’re usually just delighted (and grateful) for anything you manage to rustle up. At least Lily is. I thought her appetite would decline as she got older, but no: she would happily snack 24 hours a day if I let her.
There’s no doubt that Lily is showing her age though. Her eyelashes have gone white and she sleeps a lot more. However, she still chases the neighbor’s cat (unsuccessfully of course) and jumps up onto the couch without any difficulty. As anyone with an elderly pet knows, you don’t want to even consider your beloved going. It really squeezes your heart just thinking about the inevitability of it all.

David and Leigh

David and Leigh are planning a lovely church wedding in Austin, Texas next year, and they had their civil ceremony yesterday at Toronto City Hall. It was a beautiful day and you’ve never seen two people happier about getting married than David and his sweet Leigh. John and I were the witnesses, and Emma, her boyfriend Bryan, my parents, my siblings and most of my nieces and nephews (plus partners) were there too. After the ceremony we all went to the Peter Pan Bistro on Queen Street for brunch. (John and I had our first date at the same restaurant in 1980 so we thought it would be the perfect spot to celebrate).

What do people really want?

Yesterday Jennifer and I had a discussion about participating in art shows and craft sales. We agreed that neither of us could figure out in advance what people actually want or like. When you can do this, then you’re able to tailor your work to meet the demand for what’s hot at the moment visually.
Unfortunately this doesn’t always translate into positive feedback or sales, so that’s why I just follow my own personal agenda and hope that people will get me (although I must admit that I don’t get my own self most of the time).
Take this mixed media piece in my show for instance. The main reason I made it was because I wanted to use the magnifying mirror I’d found on one of my jaunts to Active Surplus with Mary. I don’t know what pleased me more, the serene way in which this work unfolded or choosing the title when I finished: Her Inner Aviary.
So far no one is as enamored of this piece as I am …i.e. it hasn’t sold yet. I really can’t say this bothers me because I have been doing well sales-wise with my show. I also feel that if my art children don’t find their real art home, they’re always welcome to come back and camp out with me—or in this case: roost.
If you haven’t seen my show: Creating from the Inside Out, it runs until November 15th at the Peel Heritage Complex in Brampton. You can click here for more details or visit www.susanwilliamson.ca to see the slide show John put together of my show.

Checking in from the digital salon

Leslie had an entry on her blog back in August called Bring back the Salon and I’ve thought about it nearly every day since. With a certain wistfulness, Leslie mentions how wonderful it would be to just lounge around—I believe she uses the word languish—just talking, reading and socializing regularly with like-minded people.
In a way, that’s what happens online. When you go to other people’s blogs you get to catch up with their news, and you’re usually stimulated, refreshed, entertained and inspired. But there’s nothing like this actually happening person-to-person. If you’ve ever watched the TV show Lie to Me, you can see how important visual and verbal queues are to communication, and how much they add to it.
Of course not all groups provide the right atmosphere. My parents belong to a book club they really enjoy, but I know other people who say all the members in their group do is to argue about the choice of books and/or what is in them—which kind of defeats the purpose of having a club, doesn’t it?
I’ve never belonged to this kind of group myself mainly because I don’t want to have to read certain books. Then again, if I got to choose all of them that might work! One month it could be science fiction, next month Wayne Dyer and the month after that, a romance—and what about the Photoshop WoW book just to drive everyone completely crazy? The problem with having a jackrabbit mind like mine is that you’re always on your own trajectory, which doesn’t necessarily intersect with anyone else’s.
I do have a fantasy of winning the lottery and buying an island in Muskoka or Georgian Bay with sunset views, fireplaces and a beautifully appointed guesthouse. I’d invite all my friends like Leslie up for weeklong salon/spa experiences and fly in interesting people to entertain them. I imagine Nick Bantock himself might even be tempted to come to if the price was right.

Creating from the Inside Out

For those of you who have been asking about my book, you can order a copy now.

I’ve called it Creating from the Inside Out: Motivational Strategies for Artists & Writers.

It’s filled with inspiring quotations, mini essays on the creative process, and black and white digital collages.
Creating from the Inside Out is 177 pages: 6.5 x 6.5" and coil bound.

Each copy is $25 (Canadian) plus postage.

To order: email me at wordandimage@hotmail.com

So how do you review your own book? If I had a promotional turn of mind I’d probably come up with a list of five good reasons why you should read it. But I have to be honest. The main reason I wrote Creating from the Inside Out was because I had to.
For years I felt like I was hovering around the edges of my own creativity. I could never seem to access it with any kind of consistency, and this frustrated me. I became convinced that if I only had more—more time, more money, more talent, more opportunities, more support from the universe, more recognition from others (etc.)—then I’d be able to enter the magic kingdom/queendom of creativity and proceed full speed ahead.
I thought to myself: if there’s a system to creativity, I’m going to find out what it is and then tell everyone else. And if it turned out there wasn’t one …well, I was going to invent my own!
But I soon discovered that you can’t control creativity. It’s huge and it’s fluid, and all you can ever hope to do—and the only thing you should do—is to align yourself with it. You’re an individual reflection of something greater than you are, and your task is to get down to the business of expressing who you really are.
This can’t be done by wishing your circumstances were different or by waiting for ideal conditions. No. You need to act—and you need to act now. I suggest you begin by examining your thinking because the way you view the creative process will influence the action you’re likely to take—or not take, as so often happens.
Let me give you an example. Time was the first topic I tackled when I started working on my book. I’d always felt that not having enough of it was responsible for holding me back. But the more I thought about this, the more I realized I spent more time being annoyed about my lack of it than actually using what I had! I also believed that unless there were several free hours available to paint or write, there was no point in starting anything.
While it’s true we don’t ask for many of the challenges life hands out to us, we have to take responsibility for them anyway—and once I recognized it was up to me to use what time I did have wisely, things really began to open up for me.
Self-motivation is crucial to anyone who wants a happier and more fulfilled life, and it’s my hope that people who read my book will be inspired to take action towards realizing their own creative dreams. Making even small changes to the way you engage in your creative process can deliver big results down the line. I firmly believe that if I can write and illustrate a book—and have a solo art show—you can achieve what you want to do as well. You probably won’t accomplish this with Zen-like serenity and immediate results because I know I didn’t. But don’t let that hold you back. Just go for it. Not tomorrow, next week or next year but right NOW!

When Destiny Calls

What I really wanted to do today was to stay in bed reminiscing about the opening of my art show on Saturday and how much fun I had. But I needed to finish writing a long freelance article I’d been assigned before indulging.
Now it’s early Monday morning and I’m sitting here at the computer grinning. Maureen, who was in charge of hanging and coordinating my show at The Whitney Gallery, told me not to be discouraged if only a few people made it to the opening because sometimes this happens.
But I wasn’t worried. One of the good things about having a large family is that you know they will always support you whether or not they’re in the mood, so at least 12 of them showed up plus a boyfriend and a fiancée, along with a ton of friends, neighbors and art buddies. Okay, so I don’t know how much a ton is, but it was a heartwarming number. Mary, Lennie, Nancy, Cori, June, Lanre, Cherri and Karen all stopped in to visit along with Bill, Andrea, Yvonne, Peter, Steve, Al, Peggy, Doug, Carolyn, Kim, Diana, Dave, Susan V and husband, Rosemary and Jeanette—if I’ve forgotten to mention you, I apologize. At one point Maureen told me that 118 people had been in to look at my work, so there were obviously lots of people I didn’t know, but I enjoyed meeting quite a few of them.
Naturally I had a great time gabbing to everyone and signing copies of my book Creating from the Inside Out. (Speaking of my book, I’ll have more to say on that subject very soon). There were several highpoints including meeting Lennie (my online pal and Photoshop guru), and being taken out to a big family dinner afterwards by my sister Pam and brother-in-law Brian.
John is putting together a slide show of the event which he plans to put on the website he’s working on for me. In the meantime, here’s a 16 x 20” mixed media canvas, When Destiny Calls, which will be heading for its new home when the show is over on November 15th.