acts of art 17 ~ Clara Berta

 

I deeply hear what Ms. Berta is saying and I remember all of the ways that my own discovery and practice of my art shape-shifted me. My art was and is the foundation of my life. It has channeled and expressed my love, my anger, my sadness and my loss.

Dancing the mystery I have often been lost but I make my own maps and find my own way and that is my art.

I don’t understand what it is, this enchantment to make images, but that’s how it goes. It’s a compass, a mirror, a shaman, an echo and an infinity of confessions.

Do you have a story about how Art / your art saved the day?

 

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food for thought / francis bacon

“In my case all painting… is an accident. I foresee it and yet I hardly ever carry it out as I foresee it. It transforms itself by the actual paint. I don’t in fact know very often what the paint will do, and it does many things which are very much better than I could make it do”. (Francis Bacon. 1909 – 1992)

Photo portrait of Francis Bacon. Photographed in late 1980s. credit Wikipedia.com.

Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X. Francis Bacon. 1953. Oil on canvas. 60×46″ (152×117 cm).

Study for the head of George Dyer. Francis Bacon. 1967. Oil on canvas. 14×12″ (35.5×30.5 cm).

Three Studies for the Portrait of Henrietta Moraes. Francis Bacon. 1963. Oil on canvas. Triptych.

Stories of my art – ‘Conversations at the Edge of Sleep’

At the doorway to the liquid realm of sleep, Guardian and Dream Weaver give me pause. They ask distorted riddles and insist on amorphous conversations. My words emerge in single, slow motion syllables and dissolve into smoky silence, my limbs become dumb puppets struggling to speak for me and fragments of my days dance dark and dizzying waltzes with the phantoms of my nights.

Conversations at the Edge of Sleep - acrylic/oil by Clinock

Stories of my art – painting in San Miguel – ‘Easy Rider’

Easy Rider – Semi completed in acrylic toward the end of my month on the ‘magic patio’ in San Miguel – finished in Vancouver with oil. Influenced by the art of the Mayan culture and the process of shamanic, Nawatl art that involves a ritual journey inside oneself to evoke subconscious images that are intuitively painted or drawn without any reliance on preparatory sketches, copies or models. Strong connections here to the Surrealist concept of automatism, another of my influences. I paint and the images appear. I have no judgement and honour and nourish the figures and forms that emerge.

Easy Rider - acrylic/oil by Clinock

Stories of my art – Painting in San Miguel – the magic patio

I painted here for a month – at La Escuela Art School, San Miguel De Allende, under the direction of Keith Keller (keithkellerart@yahoo.com). I rented space on the patio as an independent artist, (although one can participate in beginners’ classes in the studio). Keith has been an active visual artist in San Miguel since the early 80s and despite his failing sight is still an inspiring mentor and offered daily and valuable insights into my art. Here is a pic of the patio where I worked – a very magical space.

Patio at La Escuela Art School, San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

Stories of my art – painting in San Miguel – ‘Rite of Spring.’

Rite of Spring. 22″ x 30″. acrylic on paper.

Painting in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. Working daily in a sun dappled and heat inspired patio filled with sculptures and art work; cats and street sounds; the coming and going of art students, nut sellers and memories of dank, dark, vibrating green northern forests. The coloured modules, evoked by the Aztec sun god, converse with the tree spirits who dance to the songs of ancient, Haida voices.