The Studio in Preparation for The Artist Project

 There is so much going on in my life at the moment, that it threatens to overwhelm me at times but as I enter the studio doors the smell of paint dissolves the fears, worries, concerns and as I begin to paint, images fill my body and replace the chattering squirrel thoughts in my brain. Lately, with much love and concern in my heart for Walt and his current health challenge (as he calls it) , I have been painting from an open heart and letting this love flow into the painting. It is what I call BIG Love, a love inspired by Walt, and by beauty and our collective humanity, a love so large that it envelopes all the petty little worries and fears that gnaw away at my everyday soul. Painting really is like deep prayer for me. It restores, revitalizes and informs me. It is my connection to something much greater than my small self.

 I always seem to paint like a madwoman just before a show, something about that looming deadline that urges me ever forward. I work on multiple canvases at a time, paint pouring out of my brushes like they are on fire! One painting leads to another, sometimes I am painting several from the same palette. The studio is charged with energy as the paintings emerge from the chaos, I discard some and rework others. Now there are only days left and 

slowly a group of paintings presents itself.

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Morning Muse 2

Morning Muse 2 / 48" x 36" / acrylic on panel board 

 

 

 

 

 Having lived in an urban environment for close to four years now I am always surprised by the beauty and silence that envelops me when I return to the woods. As humans we adapt to our surroundings, and the rhythms and textures of Montreal have been integrated into my paintings in spite of my subject matter. The landscape lives on inside me and when I return to the forests it is as though I am entering into the paintings. Like a dream, I am less and less sure of the boundaries between my imagination and the landscape. The inner wilderness and the outer wilderness become one and the same.

 Some details of the textures created using tar gel and modeling paste on the wood panel during the painting process. This new found fascination with texture is partly a reflection of the multi-textured surfaces of the city that I find so endlessly beautiful.

 I find our new urban habitat to be full of life, in the parks, the trees, the waterways. Our natural habitat, the earth has many ways of expressing itself through humanity, animals, plants, sky, air. We need but be still and listen, wherever we are on the planet.

Towards the Within

Towards the Within / 12' x 12" / acrylic on panel board

Today I filled in applications, took a walk, took the subway downtown to proof some postcards, picked up a prescription, went to the post office, made phone calls, answered emails, bought food, did computer stuff... and all the while restless thoughts chattered in my head like a flock of twittering birds. I finally made it to my studio and picked up my brushes; the twittering birds slowly dispersed, my thoughts quieted and I found myself immersed in a palette of grays. Remarkable how paint can settle the mind and open the heart. I don't know how that happens but I couldn't live without it.

The Artist Project in Toronto

I will be participating in The Artist Project 2012 from March 1st to March 4th for those of you in the Toronto area I would love to see you there! Booth #203 If you are interested in complimentary tickets let me know as I receive a few free ones every year and would be happy to let them go on a first come, first serve basis.
From the Forest is a recently published book of some of the paintings that will be on exhibit:

From the Forest by Holly Friesen | Make Your Own Book