February: The Border Between Winter and Spring

Anyone who follows my art knows that I am completely obsessed with farm life (especially in Ireland and the UK) and if, as Terri Guillemet says, “February is the border between winter and spring.",  that can mean only one thing .... more sheep and sheepdogs showing up in my sketchbook! 

Beautiful, smart sheep dogs like James Rebanks’ (@herdyshepherd1) clever fell dog “Tosh” below.

If you want to see why Tosh made it to my sketchbook, watch this video.

February was also a sobering reminder that we were approaching the one year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID a global pandemic and that, while we all faced challenges during the lockdowns, the homeless and other marginalized groups suffered most.

To that end, I used my art to amplify the call for donations for our local Shepherds of Good Hope.

I created a sketch of Alfie who was born in Nunavut and moved to Ottawa to become a chef. After he began culinary school, he fell on hard times. I created the sketch to link on social media to the latest drive for donations. (Read Alfie's story here https://twitter.com/sghottawa/status/1355591674903277574?s=20 )

https://twitter.com/sghottawa/status/1355591674903277574?s=20

 

Alfie from Nunavut

  

I also amplified the work being done by Carpenter Khaleel Seivwright who builds durable insulated tiny shelters for homeless people across Toronto who are living outside this winter. I created a sketch of a woman who received a Tiny House and you can listen to her testimonial here: http://youtu.be/AdbmLKaGleg

"My Tiny House has made a difference"

This "border between winter and spring" inspired me to quickly capture the Centretown snowbanks before the great melt in March would turn them into grey and mucky piles.

Somerset West Snowbanks

Even the Golden Triangle in Ottawa was looking terribly grey already on one mild February morning

And the Centretown "demolition by neglect" continued all winter with this little Lisgar St gem (below) which was the latest house on the chopping block to make way for yet another condominium.

 

Some Artist Quotes I Loved In February

• The brain is conditioned to notice only what it expects ..that cheats us of the richness of seeing: “Easy-to know that diamonds are precious. Good to learn that rubies have depth. But more to see that pebbles are miraculous.” Josef Albers (The Art of Seeing)
• "See it and distill it" Russell Chatham (1939-2019)
• "Traditionally art is to create and not revive. To revive: leave that to the historians who are looking backwards." Josef Albers 
• "The purpose of art is re-present nature NOT represent it." Josef Albers
  

Some Artists Who Inspired Me In February

• I *Swooned* over another “new” (to me) artist David Gentleman especially his amazing piece called, "Primrose Hill Under Snow"
• Smitten by the artwork of Chad Little - leaves me speechless
  
• High Fives to artist Artist Calvin Taylor Lee who has done 120 portraits (averaging five per day) of people lost to COVID and is giving them away to grieving families.
• Applauding the ambitious goal set by Sudbury artist Christy Smith who is now 11 years into her 12-year project to paint the natural world 365 days a year !
• Love finding more examples of how, even though you may have parked your paintbrushes, ... it’s never too late to pick them up again! Ben Pitman picked up his paints when his mother took ill and he’s now sold over 700 paintings in 5 years !
• Delighted to find Ruby Silvious creates art on teabags and also has a series called "Covid Blues.
  To honour the masked heroes of the pandemic she created art on an adding machine roll as a tribute to the the frontline workers who continue to sacrifice their lives to save others.
  https://rubysilvious.com
• Congratulations to artist Germaine Arnaktauyok, originally from an area near Igluilk but now a resident of Yellowknife who, at 74 years-of-age, just won the Governor Generals Award for art
• Gobsmacked by the genius that is Danielle Baskin @djbaskin who makes “viral art, companies, and delightfully weird events.” Danielle’s website https://daniellebaskin.com
• In awe of Norwegian artist Miss_printed who is filling the gap between collage street art and photography.
  

 Some February Artist Tips, Techniques and Exploring

• I purchased some fresh gouache colours at my local art store Wallack's
• I participated in Nick Wilton's Art2Life workshop (the free version) and really enjoyed it
  
• I tried hard to understand Marattas Colour Theory and then I just gave up
  
• I loved this tip: “Stokes offered the tip to ‘go back to the same place often so that your drawing insights get deeper, so you are not just relying on the newness for results.’ I plan to try this.
  
• I watched the BBC "Age of the Image" where art historian James Fox explores how the power of images has transformed the modern world.
  

Happy Sketching and Creating in March 

Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places. In February, I watched Wim Wenders' movie "Der Himmel Uber Berlin" (Wings of Desire) (1987) ⁦⁦on the Turner Classic Movie station and was struck by how beautiful it was visually and the fact that Peter Falk had a cameo (playing Columbo) and he was always walking around with a sketchbook under his arm.

One of my favourite scenes (below) is when Peter Falk who is standing at a coffee stand and sketching begins talking to an angel (who no one else can see)

 Enjoy the coming spring and, just like Peter Falk in "Wings of Desire", always carry a sketchbook and keep on creating because, in his character's words, "There's so many good things".

Stay Safe!