Finding my way on the Camino

I am leaving this Monday on the greatest adventure of my life. A 5-week solo trek backpacking in southern France and in northern Spain. I will be spending one night in Toulouse France. A 5- hour train ride the next morning will bring me to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port. It's from here that I will become a pilgrim and embark on The Camino Francés, a 800 km walking trek across the Pyrenees into Spain, then westbound to Santigo de Compostella. The Camino or The Way of St. James has existed for more than 1000 years, but has become more popular in recent years following the released of the books, The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho and The Camino by Shirley MacClaine.

I first heard of it about 10 years ago when my wife Suzanne mentioned that it was something that she would love to do. Since then, her dream also became mine. Since we have a 14 year old son at home, I will be walking the Camino first. My wife and a best friend of hers will be departing in mid-September on the same route. It will become a journey of adventure, sight-seeing, discovery, introspection, contemplation, of will, going back to the basics, meditation and prayer, revelation, without forgetting the physical aspect.....so what more can you ask for. I will be walking roughly 27-30 km /day. Once in Santiago de Compostella, I will celebrate with other Pilgrims, then board a plane to Madrid for 3 nights to visit the city and it's prestigious art museums. I've been taking some Spanish lessons.... at least I have the correct pronunciation, and with my French and my pocket electronic translator, I'm hoping it's enough to get by.

I'm starting a new blog journal of my journey at this LINK .

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With this said, I will be away from my studio for 5 weeks, which means that it will be crunch time when I get back with 16 weeks before the opening my solo exhibition at Handworks Gallery. I have made progress and am currently working on painting number 7, which fittingly enough will be a tribute to Canada's impressionists, The Group of Seven.

HASTA LUEGO!

Solo Show at Handworks Gallery

''Home Preserves'' - 16 x 16''

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard

April 13-21, 2009, #158

I am currently preparing a solo exhibition at Handworks Gallery in Saint John, NB. The show will be entitled ''NEAR & FAR'' and will run from October 16-30, 2009. It is a very broad title, so I have a lot of breathing space to explore the theme. Are we there yet? (2008) is the initial piece to jump start the show, the rest of the collection will feature all new paintings. The fun part of preparing a solo show is that it permits you to create a visual narrative and link images together. I will be aiming for 24 paintings, 16 large and 8 smaller pieces.

I will start previewing the new paintings about one month before the opening date. The above painting is the first installment and posted as a sneak peek, except that I've opted to display it in Black & White. I will be posting Home Preserves again in September in full colour. I am currently working on painting number 5, and so far so good....the last two are among my all-time favorites.

During the next few months, I will continue to post recent paintings completed prior to 2007 (birth of this Blog) and update the painting count for the solo show.

Sparkling Treasures

Acrylic polymer emulsion on gessoed hardboard, 14 x 20''

Created March 24- April 7, 2009, #157

This is the last instalment of the commission glass series. It is yet another glass on glass study set on a grid wood storage cube with a sheet of tempered glass on top. This is the reason the base is so pale in color, light is being refracted. When they chose this particular image among the few hundreds I took, I agreed to honor their wishes, because it had the punch of colors they wanted, and the red plate was a family heirloom that was special to them both.

When I did the photo shoot, I knew that if they chose this type of imagery, it would in turn be setting the bar very high, like a high jumper going for a personal best by 10 cm. I procrastinated during the past year of painting too quickly because I knew I had this particular image to tackle. In retrospect I should have started with this one in order to put any doubt to rest, because the moment I started the pencil drawing, I realized that I could paint it. Even if it was the most complex glass piece I had ever done, if I isolated the image in small areas, it all made sense. Needless to say, I am pleased of this piece and the whole series. It was a great privilege for me to do these paintings and it was only fitting that they got to chose the title for the last piece.

Commission #6 in a series of 6

Losing my marbles

Acrylic polymer emulsion on gessoed hardboard, 14 x 20''

Created - February 20- March 24, 2009. #156.

This painting was somewhat challenging on a cerebral level. I spent three days on the drawing alone. With just pencil lines and no contrasting definition, I kept getting lost in the lines around the rim of the mason jar that it lying on it's side. I always use a grisaille technique with Payne's grey acrylic paint. Once the paint has dried and cured, I them apply the colors on top in transparent layers. My goal is always to try to pull it off with my signature bright colors.

In this case, for the exception of the marbles and the out of focus greenery on the bottom, it was pretty much a monochromatic type of imagery. In the end it did work out, as the main focus here was to showcase the marbles with this glass on glass study. The jars may appear to be floating, but they are actually on a glass pane shelf that is recessed in a deep window. I had not painted this large in a year, and working on a flat surface is always a challenge in itself. I've had this title on the back burner for a while, it seemed like a propos painting to use it on. The upcoming painting will conclude the six painting commission series with a glass theme, and I kept the most challenging one for last.

Commission #5 in a series of 6

Southwest Vacation

e-shape - Josiah McElhery - 2004 - Phoenix Art Museum

Upside Down, Inside Out - Anish Kapoor - 2003 - Phoenix Art Museum

More time off from the brushes......as we just return from a truly Amazing 11 day vacation in the Southwest, USA. We drove more than 2000km in our rented black PT Cruiser, covering Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Phoenix, Montezuma Castle, Sedona, Flagstaff, and the National Parks of Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon & Zion. Between Sedona and the three parks are among the most spectacular landscapes imaginable. Coming from Atlantic Canada, the topography in Arizona, Utah & Nevada is so different that it seemed that I was in a constant state of awe.

The exposure to art in these parts is also quite different. We had the opportunity of being in Scottsdale during their Art Walk that occurs every Thursday between 7 & 9 pm. The Southwest theme is prevalent in the most artistic community I've ever seen. More than 100 art galleries lite up the streets in this Phoenix suburb. Common themes of western, native American, cowboys and landscape art of the canyons and cacti, appears to be very popular. What impressed me the most was not necessarily what was depicted as a subject matter, but the quality of artists in their respected fields and their oeuvre. You get a sense that realism in all of it's forms is very much appreciated here. The most pleasant surprises were stumbling upon new discoveries and viewing first hand some artwork I had admired on blogs or websites. At the Leslie Levy Fine Art - the artwork of Robert C. Jackson & Karen Hollingsworth / the Legacy Gallery - paintings by Chuck Middlekauff, Marcia Molnar & David Malan / the Duley Jones Gallery - new discoveries with David Barba's wonderful florals and Pat Bailey's marbles.

We also had the opportunity to view part of the collection of the Heard Museum in Phoenix. An institution dedicated to the artistic communities of the many native Indian tribes of North America and reflecting their heritage and present directions. From the Navajo, Hopi to the Haida of the Pacific coast and Esquimos of the artic. Last on our list was the Phoenix Art Museum. They have a great collection with the likes of Andy Warhol, Alex Katz, Eric Fischl, Frank Stella, Chuck Close, Mark Rothko, Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman, ......a who's who in contemporary art.

One word to describe Las Vegas.......''Hallucinating''. Did I mention that we had only 100% of sunshine during daylight hours.

Wine Tasting

Acrylic polymer emulsion on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 10''

Created January 17 - February 19, 2009, # 155

It has been a while since my last posting. After the Christmas Holiday, I did a complete make-over of our basement, which also included my studio. I am extremely pleased with the outcome. So after a one month hiatus from my brushes, this type of imagery is always intimidating when I am not painting on a daily basis. It's a process of defining, redefining and what seems like an endless series of tiny details.

In this windowsill still life, we find three completely different wines. Aufkellereien, is the German white wine as previously painted in Cheers. An Australian Shiraz, also known as Syrah. A dark skin variety of grape is used in this blend with a bouquet of ripe cherries, strawberries, spice and vanilla oak aroma. Yellow Tail Wines is bottled by Casella Wines . Completing the trio is a Gewürztraminer Ice wine. Gewürztraminer is an aromatic wine grape variety that performs best in cooler climates. This 2005 vintage was bottled by Sumac Ridge, a winery near Summerland, in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. 2005 was a very hot year with high brix levels resulting in an abundant fruit character. The grapes were picked at less than minus 8 degrees Celsius and underwent a slow cold fermentation for 45 days. The word Brix is used in the food industry for measuring the approximate amount of sugars in fruits, vegetables, juices, wine, soft drinks and in the sugar manufacturing industry.

We did a road trip of BC and Alberta in 2007 and drove through the beautiful Okanagan Valley where we visited the Burrowed Owl Estate Winery in Oliver. The wine was great, and the scenery was breathtaking.

Commission #4 in a series of 6.

Happy Holidays!

Snow - 12 x 10'' - acrylic on hardboard, 2002.

Private collection- Ottawa, Ont. #38.

As another year comes to an end, I just wanted to take this occasion to thank the many thousands from around the world who have visited my art blog, those who took the time to leave comments and the patrons who acquired my artwork. Wishing everyone a very heartfelt Holiday Season, and a year 2009 full of potential and possibilities.

Gallery Bean - 7 x 9''- mixed media, 2008
by- Jean-Luc Richard, 13 years old

The painting is of our son Jean-Luc, at age 5, in a nearby neighborhood park. Now 13, he created this mixed media last Monday during the first day of the Christmas Vacation while my wife and I were both at work. He boxed & wrapped it all up himself and put it under the tree as our Christmas gift from him. There is always something quite genuine during the creative process and the approach he takes. This one left us speechless. Needless to say, he's a very big fan of Mr. Bean. I have to admit that Merry Christmas Mr. Bean -Christmas Shopping at Harrods is quite hilarious. Click here to VIEW.

Much LOVE!