Canvas #214: outside Barnes & Noble, Richmond, Virginia, USA

How strange the internet is sometimes, hey? Back when I was in high school and university, I kept a Livejournal, and met some very lovely people. Christine was one of them. After I abandoned Livejournal, Christine and I connected via Twitter. Isn't the world such a small place? I am thrilled Christine wanted to participate. Here's her story:

I had a lot of fun doing this project.  Your envelope showed up on the day after Valentine's day and I was on a mini vacation, had gotten engaged the day before, and I was really excited to see the canvas when I got home.  I knew it was coming soon, but hadn't really thought about what I wanted to do until V-day, when my fiance and I were both having insomnia in the hotel room.. haha.  As I lay awake an idea came to me of creating a starry mountain scene, but starting with a black canvas and painting around the mountains to create their shape.  For some reason I really liked the idea of the background being connected and flowing with the foreground, just one solid piece.  I also liked the idea of using spatter techniques to create a glitter-crusted starry sky.  I really like the poem, "The Lady of Shalott," one I actually recite to combat insomnia (still learning it) and I love the Lancelot parts where Tennyson compares his gear to the stars:

The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
...
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
      Moves over still Shalott.

So I had all this in my mind when deciding what to paint.  The process was pretty simple:  paint the canvas black, block off the mountain areas with masking tape, and spatter away.  I used a paper box as a "studio" to keep things clean.  I messed up and ended up doing it all over, but since the background is black, it was no problem to do that.

I could *not* decide where to put this thing!  Finally, today, I just left it outside of Target.  I thought it was a good spot, but when I came out an hour later, it had fallen over and no one had bothered it.  I just couldn't leave it there.  So I took it back and tried the Barnes & Noble near by.  I found a little nook for it outside.  I watched for a little while, but no one really seemed interested in it.  Hopefully someone will come along and take it home.

 

 

I love the colourful splatters. Amazing!

Canvas #17, Lake Agnes hiking trail, Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

This is my canvas. I left it on the Lake Agnes trail in Lake Louise on the way up to the Teahouse. It belongs in the open air where is so natural to take in a deep breath. It's a bit tough to see, but it says "Breath it all in. Love it all out." and has a red glittery heart. Why? Because above all things I believe in love. And I don't mean romantic love between two women, two men, a man and a woman or any such variation, I mean that feeling in your gut. The one that you feel when you see one human treat another with tenderness, compassion, empathy. The one you feel when you see two people embrace at the arrivals gate at the airport. The one that you feel when you see someone pick up a stray kitten and give it some milk. That's what I mean by love. And this world lacks that reminder on a daily basis. We get caught up with being busy, and competitive, and making money, and producing hate.

This is my simple reminder to the world to take a moment to slow down and love.