Well… I’ve had a few other people enter my art give-away, since my last story. I’ve already reached the twenty winners, but I’ve decided to share some of my artwork with these folks anyway!!!
The last three people who will soon be receiving a small package full of peace Stik-ers and a few other items are…
Sam B. – British Columbia
Toby B. – Barrie, Ontario
Rowan L. – South Africa
Congratulations to all 23 winners!!!
I thought that it would be appropriate to share the stories that tell about the why the artworks ‘New Horizons’ and ‘Sol Storm’ were created, since I’ve been sharing these images in my last few blogs.
The story for ‘New Horizons’ is a very short one! Way back in 1996 I began to create artful images. Most of the artworks that I created used geometric lines, grids or patterns as a part of their design. This is because of my architectural background – instead of using straight lines to draw walls, windows and doors I had adapted to use many straight lines to create textures for skies, trees or rivers.
About a year later I decided that I had enough artwork to put on a small display at a downtown London market. It was a few weeks before christmas and I thought that I might interest a few people in purchasing my artwork for gifts. Indeed, I did sell a few – which made me very happy.
I had many delightful conversations with a variety of people, during this time. Then there was a time when one man came to look at my art and he seemed to be studying each peace, very closely. He turned and looked at me and said, “This art isn’t bad… considering nothing is free-hand!” and then he turned and walked away. I looked at all my artworks on display and noticed that he was right. I did have many ‘free-hand’ art creations, but none were on display.
Quite simply, I took his remark and decided that I should create some more images that did not use geometry in their design.
As it was soon to be New Years, I was inspired to create an image that gave the viewer a sense of distant space – a far off horizon with expanses of the Earth ascending to a foreground where the viewer was contemplating their journey into the future. As each New Year approaches we should take a moment to contemplate our tasks and aspirations for this time, to set goals and create priorities as we seek our own ‘new horizons’!!!
The story of ‘Sol Storm’ takes us a few years into the future, to the time when Joanne and I were living in Nova Scotia (2002-04) – when we were working on the fourth art peace for my project “Canada: Glorious To Be” - .
Soon after our arrival to Nova Scotia I had joined a local artisans group. I participated in many of their art events and this allowed me to share my artwork with the community.
It was a year later and this art group was having a meeting to discuss their annual ‘Art Fair’. I must have blinked and suddenly everyone was looking at me to see if I would accept the task of creating the artwork that was to be used in advertising for this exhibition. I’m not sure why I was selected – I guess a lot can happen in a blink – but I accepted the job.
For the next week or so, my mind was a blank slate. I had many other projects on the go and they were taking most of my attention.
A few days later, a most delightful astrological occurrence happened. Our sun went through a three-day explosive volley, which showered the Earth with fireworks of intense colour. For each of these three nights I found myself sitting on my back porch for hours watching these displays of light. I’m wondering if many of you – now reading this – are remembering this time and your own experiences.
Well… this experience inspired me. I had heard on the radio that scientist were saying a sun storm of this magnitude may not occur again for many many years. I felt that I should capture this event in colourful inks and ‘Sol Storm’ was born!
I took the image to a local printing shop to make the flyers for the upcoming ‘Art Fair’. We lightened the image significantly so that the black text that was added could be read very clearly. You’ll notice on the flyer the announcement “Special Musical Slideshow Presentation”. This was an event that I had asked to do, to share my story about the Temagami forestland and how this experience had shown me that I was to be an artist.
At 2:00pm I shared my story, using a prerecorded musical selection along with many slides that I had photographed while in the Temagami region. If you look really closely at this picture (almost right in the center) you will see the mini-print ‘New Horizons’ on display.
Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I always talk about the Temagami forestland. It is very important to me. My experiences from my journey to this region were filled with magic and I tried very hard to use my photographic skills to capture these feelings. In this photo, just a small cropping of pine tree branches is in focus in the foreground. The rest of the photo is blurred, but just to the perfect amount, where the essence of light and shadows creates a feeling of spiritual energy that lives in this forest.
I’ve often thought about creating a painting based on this photo, but as of yet that hasn’t happened… maybe one day!
Jim
The last three people who will soon be receiving a small package full of peace Stik-ers and a few other items are…
Sam B. – British Columbia
Toby B. – Barrie, Ontario
Rowan L. – South Africa
Congratulations to all 23 winners!!!
I thought that it would be appropriate to share the stories that tell about the why the artworks ‘New Horizons’ and ‘Sol Storm’ were created, since I’ve been sharing these images in my last few blogs.
The story for ‘New Horizons’ is a very short one! Way back in 1996 I began to create artful images. Most of the artworks that I created used geometric lines, grids or patterns as a part of their design. This is because of my architectural background – instead of using straight lines to draw walls, windows and doors I had adapted to use many straight lines to create textures for skies, trees or rivers.
About a year later I decided that I had enough artwork to put on a small display at a downtown London market. It was a few weeks before christmas and I thought that I might interest a few people in purchasing my artwork for gifts. Indeed, I did sell a few – which made me very happy.
I had many delightful conversations with a variety of people, during this time. Then there was a time when one man came to look at my art and he seemed to be studying each peace, very closely. He turned and looked at me and said, “This art isn’t bad… considering nothing is free-hand!” and then he turned and walked away. I looked at all my artworks on display and noticed that he was right. I did have many ‘free-hand’ art creations, but none were on display.
Quite simply, I took his remark and decided that I should create some more images that did not use geometry in their design.
As it was soon to be New Years, I was inspired to create an image that gave the viewer a sense of distant space – a far off horizon with expanses of the Earth ascending to a foreground where the viewer was contemplating their journey into the future. As each New Year approaches we should take a moment to contemplate our tasks and aspirations for this time, to set goals and create priorities as we seek our own ‘new horizons’!!!
The story of ‘Sol Storm’ takes us a few years into the future, to the time when Joanne and I were living in Nova Scotia (2002-04) – when we were working on the fourth art peace for my project “Canada: Glorious To Be” - .
Soon after our arrival to Nova Scotia I had joined a local artisans group. I participated in many of their art events and this allowed me to share my artwork with the community.
It was a year later and this art group was having a meeting to discuss their annual ‘Art Fair’. I must have blinked and suddenly everyone was looking at me to see if I would accept the task of creating the artwork that was to be used in advertising for this exhibition. I’m not sure why I was selected – I guess a lot can happen in a blink – but I accepted the job.
For the next week or so, my mind was a blank slate. I had many other projects on the go and they were taking most of my attention.
A few days later, a most delightful astrological occurrence happened. Our sun went through a three-day explosive volley, which showered the Earth with fireworks of intense colour. For each of these three nights I found myself sitting on my back porch for hours watching these displays of light. I’m wondering if many of you – now reading this – are remembering this time and your own experiences.
Well… this experience inspired me. I had heard on the radio that scientist were saying a sun storm of this magnitude may not occur again for many many years. I felt that I should capture this event in colourful inks and ‘Sol Storm’ was born!
I took the image to a local printing shop to make the flyers for the upcoming ‘Art Fair’. We lightened the image significantly so that the black text that was added could be read very clearly. You’ll notice on the flyer the announcement “Special Musical Slideshow Presentation”. This was an event that I had asked to do, to share my story about the Temagami forestland and how this experience had shown me that I was to be an artist.
At 2:00pm I shared my story, using a prerecorded musical selection along with many slides that I had photographed while in the Temagami region. If you look really closely at this picture (almost right in the center) you will see the mini-print ‘New Horizons’ on display.
Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I always talk about the Temagami forestland. It is very important to me. My experiences from my journey to this region were filled with magic and I tried very hard to use my photographic skills to capture these feelings. In this photo, just a small cropping of pine tree branches is in focus in the foreground. The rest of the photo is blurred, but just to the perfect amount, where the essence of light and shadows creates a feeling of spiritual energy that lives in this forest.
I’ve often thought about creating a painting based on this photo, but as of yet that hasn’t happened… maybe one day!
Jim
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