Zion

The National Parks of Utah have long been on my bucket list so I was overjoyed when I finally reached the park entrance to Zion! 

I knew the landscape would be exceptional and awe inspiring but I truly had no idea how it would take my breath away. Once again, the diversity of this planet's land formations is astounding to behold.

"...the geology that underlies lusher landscapes is exposed to the eye, and this gives it a skeletal elegance, just as its harsh conditions - the vast distances between water, the many dangers, the extremes of heat and cold - keep you in mind of your mortality." 

~Rebecca Solnit

Desert Landscape

Moving through space and time in a new landscape makes my gypsy heart beat faster. Having recently returned from an inspiring trip through space and time in Cali I couldn't feel more nourished.

Joshua Tree National Park has been beckoning me for decades and when I heard that my friend and fellow painter, Theresa Passarello was going I couldn't resist meeting her there. Theresa picked me up at LAX and we headed straight for the desert. Once we were released from the endless traffic of LA we entered a landscape of rolling hills and spinning windmills with snow capped mountains in the distance. My blood was pumping. The thrill of a new vista is my favourite drug.

  

The Roaring Waters

Day two of Trip_the_light the skies cleared and the sun showed up in its's full glory! Temperature has dropped but this is a good thing as it discourages the blackflies from eating us alive.

It has been raining in the area for almost a week we are told. This would explain the engorged rivers and streams that are roaring everywhere we travel. What an excellent time we have chosen to cross this patch of planet. Spring is bursting into full blown tender green bouquets all around us as we roam these parts.

The first roaring falls that we come to are Chippewa Falls located at mid point on the 4860 mile long Trans Canada Highway. The TCan is the longest highway in the world and was the dream of Dr. Perry Dolittle, the first man in Canada to own a car. There is a monument to him at these Falls.

The infinite colors of these exposed rocks takes my breath away on a regular basis. There are so many colors and textures being stored away for future paintings.

A delightful first stop where the air was so fresh and pure that I felt drunk from breathing it.

Not too much further down the road a huge moose crossed our path as we slowed down to watch it lumber up into the woods. About an hour later I saw two black bears perched up on a grassy knoll above the highway. Hawks and Ravens soar above us in abundance. There is almost no one else around anywhere we stop. I love this place.

Holy Fire

"When you walk across the fields with your mind pure and holy, then from all the stones, and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you, and then they are purified and become a holy fire in you." 

~Martin Buber

A Communion of Subjects / 48" x 36" / acrylic on canvas

Sekon Rock / 48" x 36" / acrylic on canvas

Earth Garden

A new painting that I have been returning to day after day as a sanctuary of peace. A hectic, active outward life is balanced by this eternal inner forest.

Preview of Tremblant Exhibition

This is the launching of my new store as well as the online preview for the upcoming exhibition at Galerie 806 in Mont-Tremblant, QC which opens December 19th and runs until January 15th, 2014.
This exhibition is a celebration of an amazing year; meeting new people, traveling to new places and discovering the endless potential of this planet to reveal her beauty in new and invigorating ways. I am humbled and awed by the process of painting and the magical, mystery tour it continually takes me on. I feel it to be a great privilege to live this world as a painter. The paints not only guide my heart & hands but opens my eyes to marvels I would never have even noticed were I not stopping and taking the time to look as is necessary when making a painting.

From the Deep Forest

 

 These two paintings are finally complete. I feel as though I have been on a journey deep within the mossy, wooded gardens of my own interiorority which is reflected outward as these silent, thrumming paintings.

Erratic Moment / Deep Forest I, 36" x 48" acrylic on canvas

Resting Ground / Deep Forest II, 36" x 48" acrylic on canvas

Three New Waterfalls

Tumbling into Ecstasy / 60" x 40" / oil on canvas

 I'm not sure what it is about falling water and rocks but I can't seem to get enough of them.
I love to sculpt the rocks with brush and pigment onto canvas and then paint those swirls of flowing, tumbling water that erupts over and around the ancient rock. I love the relationship the water has with the rock. One so solid and unmoving the other so fluid and full of movement, perfect partners.

Carving Rock / 60" x 40" / acrylic on canvas

The two paintings above were inspired by the same place, different times, different moods, different energies. No one moment is like another and so it is with paint and painting. If I painted the same place over one hundred times, each painting would be different. Every moment is fresh, alive and new when we are able to see it that way.

"Rough and Tumble" is a smaller piece that was painted with much love for this erratic tumble of rocks. A place in the forest where the light and the water are left to play and tumble across the rock's surfaces in an endless choreography of changing beauty.

Rough & Tumble / 30" x 24" / acrylic on canvas

Clouds, Rivers, Rain and Paint

Lac Ouimet in the Morning

 

In spite of very erratic weather with rain and sun exchanging places constantly throughout the week-end, the Domaine St Bernard managed to charm all who attended the annual Art Symposium.

 The shifting clouds and light created some of the most fantastic skies as a backdrop for the week-end.

 This was the seventh annual Art Symposium held at Domaine St Bernard, which is a beautiful land trust looked after by the town of Mont-Tremblant with acres of forested trails and the peace and calm of the former monastery which first created the domain.

 Having lived in Tremblant for almost 30 years, many old friends dropped by to visit during the week-end which made the event very fun and meaningful for me.

 

 Though each artist had only a small space in which to exhibit the informal nature of the show and the generosity of the organizers makes it a fun event! This is one of the few shows I attend where the artists are not required to pay a fee and we are even given a lovely brunch on Sunday as well as lunches and breakfasts throughout the week-end! A great group of artists participated and its always fun to share and exchange thoughts and ideas with other artists.

 There were sculptors as well as painters on location and many created fine pieces of artwork during the week-end.

 Several cash prizes were given at the closing ceremonies and I was most honored to receive one of the "Judge's Choice" awards which was a nice way to end the week-end.

 The next morning before heading back to the city I dropped in on my beloved river, La Rivière du Diable. The river was singing her lovely roar as I sat on a rock in the warm morning sun, absorbing her river energy.

 As always, I feel nourished and replenished by the rocks and river. I am now back in Montreal and heading to the studio to release that river roar onto canvas.

 It never ceases to amaze me when I sit with the river or forest, even for a short period of time, how much my awareness is elevated and opened to the abundance of beauty surrounding us everywhere.

 

Life is beautiful.

Return to the Source

This week-end I headed for Mont-Tremblant to escape the extreme heat of the city. I brought a pile of smaller paintings and set up under a tree at Place de la Gare in the old village.

 I stayed with a friend who lives in a magical cabin perched amongst the rocks along the edge of a lake. There is no road to this little piece of wilderness bliss so she came to

pick me up in her small motorboat every evening.

I was happy to visit with my friends, the rocks and roots again. They had much to tell me and I loved listening to the silence of their textures and crevices.

As the days grew hotter, plunging into the lake was like slipping into a cool, silk gown, refreshing for body, mind and soul.

"Crying Lake" was painted one week before I encountered this lake. Did I paint the lake into my reality? or did the lake beckon me? When does the imaginal realm cross over?

Liminal Space / Sacred Space

Crying Lake / 16" x 20" / acrylic on panel board

Sometimes painting is a magical, mystical ride.

Natura Imaginalis

This painting has taken me on an inward journey of the imagination. I have played with the colors, texture, paint, forms endlessly changing and flowing into different solutions. I finally started to carve into the wood to create the lines on the tree trunks which added the final element that I was searching for. Allowing imagination to flow through the forest leaves and blow against the ancient rocks is a magnificent journey of heart and soul. Painting can be like a series of gateways that one explores and feels from within, always pushing up against the unknown, digging from the unconscious and allowing that which surfaces to become color, light, texture and form. Often what emerges is confusing, unclear, sometimes frightening. A huge amount of trust and energy is needed to continue and not quit or give up on the piece. I feel shifts happen within that are beyond verbal expression but a deep satisfied sigh is released when the painting looks back at me and declares that it is finished. My imagination has carried me to where I need to be in this moment and I will let it wander afresh through the hills and forests seeking new adventures.

Rocks, Rivers & Forest Pools

I am back with my beloved rocks again. I take these wild detours away from them and then all of sudden, there they are again! I am so in love with painting rocks! My paint brushes are smoldering from all their use today! Had the music cranked and literally danced my whole body into these paintings. They are side by side and both relatively large canvases so they are a joy to bounce back and forth from. Painting rocks is like building something with my hands. I once built rock walls for my gardens and it is a similar feeling, a feeling of constructing something, almost like sculpture. I collaged Washi paper (handmade japanese paper) here and there to add to the overall texture. I love to watch how the painting takes on a life of it's own and starts telling me what to do! At first I am unsure, full of doubt and just splash some paint on loosely to block in the composition but then all of a sudden the piece starts to speak and I start to dance! I just LOVE to paint when this happens!