This coming weekend, April 26 and 27, I will be participating in an open studio event, part of the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour. Thirty artists and artisans, throughout Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, will be participating. If you’d like more information, full details and a map are available on the ’tour’s website’.

What is an open studio event?
During an open studio, an artist opens up his studio to visitors; it’s like an open house with the focus being on art. There is usually a lot of art to be seen (and purchased). There is often some work in progress, allowing you to see how the artist works and the different stages that a work goes through from beginning to end. If you’re lucky, the artist may even demonstrate some of his techniques.

How is that different from an art show?
A studio visit is a lot less formal, and much more personal than an art show. You are seeing the artist in his element, where he works, and often also lives. You can talk to him, ask questions, and perhaps watch him work. You can really make a connection with your favourite artist and his work becomes much more meaningful to you.

From the artist’s point of view, what are the benefits of the open studio?
For the artist, it’s a chance to get to know your viewers and collectors in a personal way. Again, it’s being able to make that personal connection and establish a relationship. It’s an opportunity to explain and perhaps demonstrate your work. It’s a way to show your latest work and give your regular customers a chance to be first at seeing and purchasing your work.

Benefits all around!
All in all, it’s a great way to see a lot of art and meet several artists. It’s a chance to find hand-made, one-of-a-kind items, like jewellery, or pottery. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon or two. In this day and age, there’s nothing like looking at original works and hand-made artifacts; works that were made right here at home, by the hand of the artist himself and not by machines or assembly line processes or sweat shops in the third world.

You are all invited to visit my studio this weekend and I hope to see and meet a lot of you.

"There’s something very beautiful taking place: The relentless march of Hi Tech seems to bring out the need in some individuals to experience the spiritual, the natural world, and the magnificence of the truly handmade." (Robert Genn)

Suzette

When I was growing up, it seems to me that we weren’t hugging and kissing each other all the time. Nowadays, it’s quite common, when greeting or saying goodbye, to kiss on the cheek, or give a small hug. That’s a wonderful custom of course, but until you get used to it, it can be awkward. For the cheek kiss, do you go to the right, or to the left? Have you ever gotten it wrong and squished noses and lips instead? And just when I get used to it, I go to Montreal for a visit, and there, it’s both cheeks, but again, it is left/right, or right/left?

Then there’s the social hug. In my book, a hug is a really sincere affair, body contact, arms wrapped around the person’s shoulders or neck; it really says I’ve missed you and I’m happy to see you. But the social hug is kind of half-hug; it doesn’t quite ’hold’ the person. You put an arm, maybe two, on the person’s shoulders or just behind, move forward until you’re barely touching, and then release. Like the cheek kiss, it’s a way to say Hello, not much more. But here too, do you go to the right or to the left, and do you do a cheek kiss at the same time, or is that a completely different operation? And how do you know which one to do, the kiss or the hug? What if you go for the hug and the other person goes for the kiss? He or she is going to end up kissing your hair.

I don’t know why I find this awkward, but I do. For most of my life, I’ve never been a hugger and kisser, well except for my husbands, children and grandchildren of course; them, I like to kiss a lot. So I don’t know why I find all this awkward but I do. I think I’m finally getting it. I think it’s to the left for both the cheek kiss and the half hug, my left that is, their right. And I find that if you do it with confidence, it all works out; as you lean in to the left with only your head, that signifies the cheek kiss; if the arms are up, that signifies the hug. If the other person is in sink, the operation is perfect.

So why did I bring this up today? Don’t know. Just seemed like a good idea at the time. But more importantly, am I the only one feeling like this?

’They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything.’     (Bil Keane)

Suzette

Some people think that the sign of a good painting is how closely it resembles that which it portrays. In other words, realism. Photo-realism for some is the ultimate form of painting.

Realism and photo-realism both require extremely good skills to be able to accurately depict the subject at hand. The artist must be able to carefully observe and ’really see’ the subject to discover all the colours that are hidden from the casual observer. The artist must then be able to translate what he sees to the painting. Good technical skills are essential and will result in a very nice painting indeed.

But, where is the soul? Where is that flash of inspiration in how the colours are interpreted and rendered? Where is that brilliant touch of surprising colour that catches your eye and makes you want to linger and enjoy it time and time again?

For the true realist, if that bit of brilliant colour isn’t on the scene, it won’t go in the painting. The real artist will make it up; he will invent special highlights, or colourful shadows, to enhance the painting. He will change colours at will if it best serves the work. He will inject the soul, his soul, into that painting.

Abstract artists don’t even need a scene to depict. They will make up an arrangement of shapes and colours in such a way as to make them sing; these arrangements will connect with viewers, and speak to them and make them feel.

So for my money, art is not necessarily about accurate rendition but rather, it’s about connection and it’s about feeling, for yourself and for others who view the work. And while it’s possible to impart those qualities in realistic works, it doesn’t happen automatically. At some point in the painting process, the artist must forget about duplicating what he sees and start injecting his own sense of the scene into the work, if he wants the work to have impact.

"Every true artist has been inspired more by the beauty of lines and color and the relationships between them, than by the concrete subject of the picture." (Piet Mondrian)

Your comments are always welcome.

Suzette