I just wanted to share with you this beautiful painting that a friend of mine, Dara Alter, did. :) It is my favorite among her “Greater Toronto” series that she currently has on her website. Her other series, “City of Gold” is extremely thought provoking also, part of which was exhibited at the Alfa Art Gallery.
Please click on the image to go to her website.
I’m thrilled to say that the opening at the Alfa Art Gallery last night went very well. As my first opening with the gallery as curator, I felt really glad to have taken the job. There were a lot of great people to talk to, which included artists, old friends, and new acquaintances. I can only hope that the presentation will get easier, though. Talking about 22 artists in one breath was difficult!
We had multi-disciplinary events with dancing, music, and poetry. One of the dancers, Emily, really moved me. I wish I had better stills of her, but this is the only shot I have of her, which is the very end of her performance.
I really can’t believe that these dance performances by professionals were impromptu with the music! Unrehearsed! A couple of them were so in sync that it blew my mind when I found out.
This one, coupled with sounds of cold weather, gave the dance a great “shivering” effect.
I like how this photo came out in a blur. :)
(Photo Credit: Chris McGuigan)
(Photo Credit: Chris McGuigan)
I didn’t get a chance to take photos of the artwork, but I will post some when I have time. Things are still busy over here! The load is a little lighter, though. I will leave you with a shot of the gallery, with me talking to Elena in the foreground. :) The audience was still watching the dances.
(Photo Credit: Chris McGuigan)
Eventually, after thinking I have left Alfa, I came back to this:
There is nothing like ending a gallery opening with some Wii. Lol.
Fin.
Yesterday, I went to the Alfa Art Gallery to do some work. Anyway, I finally got a chance to take some wonderful photos of the exhibit that is currently up by John Hawaka. I think his work is beautiful, graceful, yet, explosive. I had to edit some of the lighting problems I encountered with the gallery lighting, but it’s okay :)
The details of his work are touching, but only in part his creation. The material itself, as he stated, becomes the artist. He himself has the trouble of convincing it that he is still the one in charge!
Anyway, this exhibit is up until Thursday. On Friday, October 8th, we have an opening, which is a group exhibition and 2010 Catalog release celebration. Attend if you’re in the New Brunswick area. Starts at 7:30 :)
I began again, but impatiently and out of desperation, which shows and makes the entire thing suffer. I’ll remedy this problem a little today.
So, life moves on. A lot of things have happened in the last few weeks, both in and outside of my mind. Conversations have been captivating and interesting. I have been so busy I haven’t had much time to paint, but I expanded my studio. So it looks like this.
There are two corners of the room that have other people’s stuff in it, but the rest of the room has been cardboarded! :)
My next new painting will be a 6-panel painting like the last one, except the dimensions of each panel is 12” X 36”… this makes the total size of the painting 36” X 72”! Yay! There are many old paintings to be finished or improved, though. Like this one…
Added an extra wall space to tack more paintings on for working. I ideally want to be able to work on 4 paintings at a time, all with most likely similar color scheme, so that I’m working in a sort of series. The next time I do that will probably be when I resume all unfinished figure paintings.
I realize I need to do more studies and I have the materials for them. I have these 8” X 10” canvases under one of my painting tables. The thing is I will continue to be even more busy in the next month. I recently got a position at two different art galleries, but both are very different. One is located in Soho and is also a real estate company. The other is a small gallery in New Brunswick, NJ. My roles in both places are vastly different.
I will be posting work that I like from both galleries shortly.
The finished product of my last painting. I can’t say it’s my favorite painting ever, but, after awhile, as usual, the detail surprised me. Unfortunately, I don’t have all the panels with me anymore and will soon be mailing the other three to the other side of the country and, hence, I will just have to ask its new owner to take pictures of the textures and details.
This painting was a new thing for me. It has a much brighter color than my usual paintings, which have a lot of muted colors. With time, I suppose, I can only expect things to progress for me, but this painting was a great start. I adore that the panels are interchangeable and, yet, could still somehow make sense. What’s more, the person I made it for is someone I could trust to treasure it :)
I will be posting soon on my gallery visits to the MoMA and the Seattle Art Museum.
Day 1. I decided to put my figure panel painting on hold and start a new piece. The panels are small. I believe they are 6” X 10” each, but I could be wrong. It’s very different from my usual pieces, especially in color. Im not used to such green things, but! It’s going by quickly. I didn’t realize working with someone very closely while painting in a comfortable place would makes things so much better. Thanks for the art day, Will! I was to sad to continue painting for long after you left. :) That, and I was tired.
So far, so good.
Wardrobe change due to a break in between for a trip to the post office. In case you were wondering. :)
Day 4. I didnt finish it. LE SIGH. So now I’ve left an unsatisfying and unfinished piece in a different country. Oh, until we meet again, Painting! :( I quite liked it better before, but I was trying something new. Oh well.
Day 3. Currently not aesthetically pleasing, but that’s something that I’m working towards anyhow. Not all things in life look good in the process. In fact, most things really don’t.
Suffocating from the paint thinner fumes. Deadline for this painting is about one week, when I leave the Philippines. We shall see what will become of you, two-panel painting.
I’m missing my art friends. I miss seeing them paint, develop photographs, get charcoal all over their hands, and doodle with ink.
