The Furnace of Hard Times

Painting "Finding Safety" progressing along...

 

The painting above is another version of one I did earlier but was not happy with. So, it will become a new painting. Physically it will be a new angle and more dynamic from a colour perspective. The inspiration comes from David's experience hiding in a cave from his demonised King Saul. It was the worst and most difficult time of the whole seven years he was avoiding Saul and his 3000 mercenaries out to kill him on sight. 

During the time that he lived in this secret cave, others heard about it and came to join him. The thing was that these were disgruntled men from all over Israel and it's neighbours. They were as desperate as David was. Here was David, a prince, a son-in-law to the crazy king, one who had been anointed years earlier by a prophet to become the king. This man was a true-to-life legend and hero in his own still very young years of life. (Remember Goliath?)

Their thoughts might have been something like this. "He's in trouble too so why not join him, a young man of notoriety, hitch our wagons to this man and maybe we will get lucky. Someday, we could be part of his entourage when he becomes king. We'll be his personal body guards! Live like kings, maybe even get a monthly pay-cheque!" 

Truth be told these guys coming together were real wild-cards. They were used to living and surviving on their own. Also, they had a lot of personal issues, like rage, anger, revenge, personal debts, personal enemies etc. etc. They did not get along with most anyone. According to the Psalms David wrote during that time, he described life in the cave like sleeping with uncontrollable animals who had very sharp teeth!

There was a time this is just how I felt. Frustrated with life. Angry at the turn of events. Unforgiving, harsh and just waiting for anyone to offend me in some way. Looking for a fight of some kind. Harsh and angry words very close to the surface ready to explode, and during that time they often did. I was hostage to my emotions and to the circumstances of my life. Finally, when I realised I was destroying my life, my relationships, my career and basically anything I touched, I began to look for help. Like these men, I found someone David foreshadowed with his life, leadership and kingdom.

These are the kind of people, and I was one of them, that this painting is depicting. Drifting spirits with their emotional baggage, hurt, frustrated, bleeding, angry, looking for something better. Hoping that by joining up with a leader like David, something good would come of it.  

This difficult experience was the turning point for David's life. It here, in the cauldron of boiling personalities that he honed his leadership skills. Somehow he, even as young man, hiding and living in a stinking cave was able to mold these desperate men into a cohesive unit. He gained their respect and admiration. They began to understand the importance of loyalty, to David and to one another. They had each other backs. The many difficulties, trials and dangers they experienced with David from that point on moulded and changed them into a cohesive fighting unit. They developed into faithful men who could be trusted. They in fact became his core leadership during the years of his kingship. They fought with David against the enemies of Israel.  Due to their expertise, the nation grew, both in size and in prosperity. Many enemies, when they realised they were up against David and his men, waved the white flag. They were feared by the then known world.

They decimated the nations around them so they had no will or financial resources to fight back for many years. They brought peace and security to the nation and to Solomon's reign following David. It is not surprising then that they became heroes in their own right, as you will find a list of many of the leaders of this group at the end of 2 Samuel as the "Mighty Men." of David's reign.

 

It is in the furnace of pain and suffering, that cave of trouble, where great things are fashioned and born. In this painting, they are wanderers, lonely and hurting, looking for a place to belong.

Like them, we also need to find someone who can lead us out of the cave of trouble to assist us to become the hero's, the "Mighty Men and Women" we are meant to become. This is how God works, taking the cast-outs, the rejected ones, the hurting ones and making them great in his "upside down kingdom." It's his speciality.

"David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David..." 2 Samuel 23:14-16

One Week Before the End of the World!

The new painting "Finding Safety" is in progress

I'm sure we have all heard of the Mayan Calendar situation. The theory is that since the Mayans stopped calculating their calendar on December the 21st, it must mean that this is actually the end of the world. 

Now, I know that apocalyptic movies, stories and books are very popular. Not only that, it just so happens that apocalyptic events seem to be happening in increasing numbers and violence during the last decade or two. I can think of two or three that have happened in just the last few days. Added to that, people are doing more and more criminal acts of cruelty and mayhem in tandem with these increasing natural "acts of God" happening all over the world. One of them happened, apparently this very morning, another school shooting in the US. As if that's not bad enough this time it was in an elementary school of young children! Horrible!

Now, the media is asking the question, what if this is the end of the world? If it's real, what in fact should one do? How should one live life with only seven days left to live? Here is what I've heard: 

     - "max out the credit cards and live it up!"

     - "Drink more."

     - "Call people and give them a piece of my mind, what I really think of them, finally have some sweet revenge."

     - "Seek solitude, reflect on my life and try to accept my demise with courage and dignity." (This one actually sounds pretty good!) )

     - "Quit my job."

     - "Watch all the movies on my Netflix queue."

Well, we will be hearing a lot more of these as this week goes on to the suggested doomsday, Dec. 21st. 

Of course many will be taking advantage of this on a business and financial level. Musicians, putting on "Doomsday Concerts", T-shirts and I can't even imagine what else. But where there is money to be made our human brothers and sisters can be very creative. 

I personally believe it's great that we do think about what we should do if in fact this were true. I and my family have been talking about this and feel this should be our concern and lifestyle on a full time basis. We actually should think and live like "today" and every day, is our last day on earth! We should always cut through the fluff of life and make the most of the very short time we have, without the threats and motivation of the world ending to get us to think about it. 

If we all lived, "full time" as if it was the last week our our lives, can you imagine what changes would happen in this world? Why, with everyone living like that, we would help, give, share, max out our cards on feeding the hungry, love our loved ones, say things that mean something, like "I love you" to those precious to us...

Maybe I'm dreaming!

As for myself, I'm continuing to live every day, attempting to make the number one thing, number one in my life. Spiritually, relationally and in the things I love to do. My art is one of them.

"And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself." Matthew 22:37-40 (NASB)

Creating From Your Soul

What a wild and crazy life we (Wilma and I) live. It is the season when there seem to be certain things that just have to be done, because it is...November and there is this thing to prepare for called Christmas...all good but is very involving, socially, shopping, and practical stuff like decorating....the business monthly and year end stuff, my very important "other's" business and year end stuff...You understand, and so I refuse to go on as this is not what this blog is about.

What I am saying in a round about way is that I've had precious little time to get into my studio and it pains me greatly. So yesterday when my "very very significant other" had a very important meeting at our house, I was able to take a few hours out of the always enjoyable supportive husbandly role of preparations for this, that and the other things, go into my basement "MAN CAVE" and do my own thing, all by myself, alone, with no one around, solo, while this meeting was going on! What a gem of an opportunity.

Let me just also say that the meeting was very important, necessary and an essential part of both of our lives. (Speaking here of my wife and myself.) It was the amazing fund raising team "debrief meeting" of the Nov. 30 event, ending in a celebratory supper that evening. (I fired up the BBQ in the -18 degrees outside presenting them with my own numbed fingers plus BBQ'd chicken and Winkler Mennonite farmer's sausage....yum) It was a fantastic evening and I have to say again how appreciative I am of these amazing folk, their skills and dedication to the job. We had a good time celebrating. 

Back to my "man cave", so while they had their meeting I grabbed several "Art" magazines I'd purchased recently and those I subscribe too and just had a good relaxing time reading about art. I want to share some of these thoughts with you...if you don't mind. Here they are in no particular order.

Here's the first: Lauren Gallaspy in "Ceramics, Art and Perception" 2012, pg. 56
"...moments that I feel most like myself are not moments where I am thinking the most. They are moments when I feel..."

I loved this, as it is a perfect reference to moving from the left brain, where we do all our math, remembering names and practical stuff, to our right brains where it works more like a dream world. We lose track of time, we lose consciousness of where we are, we begin to think and create intuitively. Our feelings become images, textures, colors  shapes and we create things we would never make if it were not for this amazing capability our minds have. I love going there. 

The fact is my left brain argues with me, not wanting to give up control and says things like, "Why go to your right brain, you will be wasting your time, I can do what you want done anyways so why risk going into such a "other worldly" state, it's crazy, out of control, no, no, you don't want to go there, I can do this for you a lot easier, more controlled  and better, you'll see..." On and on my left brain goes. I have to get pretty stern sometimes and kind of even trick him into shutting down and letting me go "to the other side" woooooo. 

Dr. Julie Bartholomew, Ceramics, Art and Perception 2012, pg. 73
"Rather than employ anti-form, stock clashing colour or unrefined surface...artists engage with the aesthetic traditions of ceramics and embrace technical competence, time-consuming processes and attention to the formal components of art."

I would say I'm trying to make art that has a story, a feeling, and a message, from which comes a work of art depicting all of that. It may or may not be something that stops people in their tracks but I hope it is because they see something beyond only surface treatments. Surface and form and subject matter is important but must match and evoke a message and emotion the artist had in mind. Just that fact will trigger that and other messages in the mind of the viewer. 

Judy Seckler, Ceramics, Art and Perception, 2012, pg. 84
"Many artists find clay the perfect medium to expound on the human condition. Clay, a tactile link to the past, is used...as an anchor to explore art and spirituality."

I like that a lot. Feels right for what I'm doing.

Martin Kinnear, "The Artist," Nov. 2012 pg. 23
"Why not paint the colours you see?...after all you can't go far wrong if you paint the sky blue, clouds white and grass green can you? At the risk of incurring the wrath of the realists throughout the world I'd like to stick my neck out and  say that no, it's not wrong, but it is conceptually weak and generally boring. If the point of painting is to capture an accurate image of something, then I believe there's a range of other tools available to achieve that end."

"Unedited colour taken straight from the scene will always convey a more mixed message than colour selected to convey what the artist wants the viewer to feel."

"It's important to look beyond colour families to subdivisions of colour...further divided by temperature, saturation and value..."

Dealing with colour is my new frontier. This is my goal as a growing, learning artist, to work on an understanding of colour during this coming year. I loved this article and will be referring back to it again and again. Love his courage to say "no" to reality painting and "yes" to the expressive use of the colour pallet and it's application. 

"Drawing From Your Soul." article in "The Artist" by Max Hale
"The creation of art should be an emotive, soulful and whole-body experience."

"Art, for me, is 80 per cent inspiration, confidence and bravery, with the remaining 20 per cent split between application and much less emphasis on technique and material choices. These last come well down the list for creating work that is part of you. Too much is made of 'how to' and not enough of 'why'."

It's just good to read this. Gives one confidence. I have over time learned this to be true and it's good to see it in print. Sometimes, I've begun a piece and it goes no-where. What happened? I discovered I had to go back to it's purpose in the first place. Somewhere that was not clear or got derailed in the process. 

Love the "bravery" thing. So often I've been held back by, "What will people think? Do artists do this?" and so on. The doubts still arise, but I now know that they will come and I understand why and can move on more easily. For me they are a necessary evil. I must answer that question and then I can go on. It's like every group has the "shit disturbers" in it. Why do we have to have "shit disturbers" in our group everyone asks? The simple reason is to keep us sharp, challenged and growing. If it's a good idea it will survive the "shit disturbers" sandpaper observations and comments. It may change some ideas, even destroy them, but we must have a clear bases for our work, so they have an important place. 

I also loved the name of the article, it applies so well to all creative endeavours, they must be from the soul to be authentic to the human artist and the human condition. After all, we are the only ones in all creation with a "soul." Wow, let us respect it and speak from it in all we do and create.

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Matthew 16:26

My Mentor, Jordan Van Sewell

Mr. Sensitive - $3,800.00 

Jordan explains it this way: "these figures look like they could be from The Raft of the Medusa. I'd be concerned about the dog while the guy that looks like Max Ernst remains nonplussed. This is a new work yet to be exhibited. It's a wall piece measuring about 14" x 16"

Hi, it's me. Since I've been rather busy with things other than art in the last week, I thought I'd introduce you to one of my art teachers and main influences in my ceramic work. 

His name is Jordan Van Sewell and these are his latest works. Yesterday I was playing "James the Chauffeur," driving my injured  very "significant other" (that's another story, she's ok by the way just needs a little help and company!) around too her appointments. One was to the McNally Robinson's bookstore on Grant Ave. She was having a meeting in their restaurant. We got a table and noticed that Jordan had his work up on display. Hanging from the walls would you believe. This was new. He usually did sculptures that stood alone, and now he had a whole range of ceramics hanging on the wall! I was entranced and we both walked around examining his work. It was fun, as his work always is. 

Years ago, it took a series of lessons from Jordan. You can imagine how his wild and crazy ideas helped to loosen up my "up-tight" Mennonite brain that had almost totally left brain oriented for all it's life! What a shock to my system. During those classes a total paradigm shift occurred and I was reborn. I am forever grateful to Jorden for his incredible life giving influence in my are paradigm. Our classes as you can imagine from just these images were free wheeling and a lot of fun.

Here is a copy of his bio I lifted from his website.

I’ve been working as an artiste for over 30 years. Although I went to a real art school at university, my early influences were Charles Schultz, R. Crumb and Big Daddy Ed Roth. Growing up on the Canadian Prairies during the sixties, these influences began to include aspects of the British Invasion; specifically the interpretation the British rockers put on American Blues. These images evoked by the music and lyrics of Frank Zappa played large for me as a young teenager. there. We got a table and noticed that Jorden had a display up on the walls. I could not believe it. Both of us walked around looking at each piece. since her appointment had not arrived I Years ago I took art courses from

This work below was called "Oil Bath" at McNallies.

Robot in the Tub - $3,800.00 

If you are interested look him up at: http://jordanvansewell.com/

In a few minutes I will be leaving for "Nichie" in the US of A as Wilma and I are going to pick up a "stock" of her most recent books  of the "Ava Series" she's written and has for sale on her website, which is: amitypublishers.com

"Train up an artist in the say he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 (Note: changed "child" to "an artist"

The Decision

# 1. This (above) is the photo, a close-up "preview" I took 

of a portion of the original painting below.

# 2. This is the complete original painting.

"Finding Safety"

I've been forced to deal with the artists dilemma of the centuries. In some way I'm reluctant to even bring it up because a lot of time, words, effort and emotion have been part of this discussion. It is not my intention to open the discussion again but just to share my journey and where I have come out on this. 

I was invited to do a painting for the silent auction that happened on Nov. 30th. I had two canvases ready and attempted the first painting with a different concept and it did not turn out at all. I set that aside thinking all was lost for that idea at least for this event. I went then to the second canvas and did the first painting which you see above, image #2. 

I then wrote a tweet letting the public in on the fact I was doing a painting and submitted the photo (Image # 1) a "preview" if you will, of the painting.

It turned out I still had time before the event, so I turned back to the first one I'd set aside and started over on that one. It turned out surprisingly well. It is the one on yesterday's blog, "Desolation #1". In the hours before the event I placed them side by side and decided to take "Desolation #1" to the fundraiser.

You must know that in the meantime this image of the photo above was being seen on twitter. People commenting on how awesome it was and how they were looking forward to seeing it at the fundraiser.

When I placed "Desolation #1" on the display table, the folk responded with disappointment since they, being twitter readers, knew of the first painting and had seen it's image. They thought the photo of the fist image had been amazing and were so disappointed. Meanwhile, others who had not seen the photo, liked the one I'd brought, no problem.

It is hard for me to tell you exactly why, in the last moment, I chose to bring "Desolation #1" over "Finding Safety". Did it have to do with style? I am probably more comfortable with realism than with the symbolic one above. "Desolation #1" is also more contrasting in colour and so more dramatic. 

My question was, is the teaser photo enough to represent the message? These folk liked it a lot! Now I know they had not seen the whole image but am I being arrogant thinking that the whole image needs to be on display rather than that smaller portion in the photograph? 

The inspiration of "Finding Safety" is David's experience in the cave of Adullum. As I explained yesterday, this is when many hurting people came to join him, looking for safety with a prince of the nation, a war hero and one who'd been anointed to be king. They were willing to go into the desert, live in a cave as fugitives hoping that someday he might be the promised king. The painting is showing them "drifting" in, bleeding and hurting emotionally, physically and spiritually. History has proven, they were reworded. David's leadership and success brought healing, wholeness and recognition to them as heroes in their own rights. In the background you see the cave and David represented as a harp. Also, you see Greek printing on the canvas, snippets of Psalm 57 which he wrote while in this cave of safety. 

So, for me, this is a painting of victims searching for help. In this case, the Candace House, a safe place where they can grieve, find resources for healing, life and living again.

Back to the painting. What do I do now? Do I leave the whole painting as is or do I listen to the public, and paint a likeness of the photo of my own work? I have to admit, having placed them side by  side above, that I do like the first image better. So really in the end this is actually part of the process to find just the right image to represent this idea? Looks like I will be doing one more painting! 

"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us."

John 5:14

Nov. 30th 2012, The Candace House Fundraiser

The Welcoming Table.

Thank you to all the many volunteers 

who worked hard to make it happen

The many vendors gave the walkers a break

to do their Christmas Shopping.

Jon Gerrard, former  Liberal Party Leader

of Manitoba shares his thoughts 

in the video room, on the value of Candace House,

for victims of crime and for Winnipeg.

Then there's always the "Silent Auction".

Here Mike McIntyre, his children 

and James Allum MLA, Fort Garry Riverview

ham it up picking tickets.

This is the painting I prepared for the silent auction.

What you see is a preliminary version. 

In the rush to get it ready I forgot to take a 

final photo of the painting in which

I had eliminated the cave in the center. 

The painting is called "Desolation #1" and is 

inspired by David's experience in the desert hiding in the 

cave of Adullam as King Saul is seeking his life.

This was the key point of change for him as hurting warriors began

to find him and stay with him. 

Because of David's leadership this 

group of angry, frustrated, disenfranchised men 

became the core leadership of his administration and army 

when he finally became king. 

For us, it was 22 years of "Desolation" 

waiting before an arrest was made. 

Finally, we were able to learn 

the "other side of the story" as to

what actually happened to our daughter 

on that fateful day, 

Nov. 30, 1984.

That's when things began to change for us.

Yesterday, 

Nov. 30, 2012 

we had a fundraiser

for the "Candace House" that will assist victims of 

crime after us, into the years ahead. A central place 

where victims can become part of self help groups,

therapy, mentoring on how to move through the court system

and the trials coming their way. 

Also, on just how live life after such devastation 

to their families and their lives. 

Wilma and I would like to express our

gratitude

for all the support, volunteers, venders, 

sponsors of walkers, all donors, 

victims of crime 

who came supporting the cause, 

everyone who assisted to make it happen.

We want you to know that this event

has not only raised funds for 

The Candace House 

but has changed

Nov. 30th

adding a huge positive memory to this date

forever.

THANK YOU.

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn,

and 

a time to dance."

Ecclesiastes 3:4

My Art for the Silent Auction

I was asked by the amazing and enthusiastic team organising this fund raising event, to create some work of art for the silent auction. As normal, with our philosophy of never saying “no”, I agreed, “No problem!”

The timing of the question did not allow time for a ceramic sculpture to be created, so I was thinking about doing a charcoal sketch, or on the outside, possibly a painting.

Also, it was my desire to create something with meaning. Something I could possibly include in my art show, which, to put it bluntly, tells the story of my coping methods in dealing with the loss of our daughter to murder.

So, I needed inspiration, something to launch my brain into an idea, an idea that would be sustainable. Hopefully more than a “one shot wonder” kind of work. I began very inartistically or shall I say, very left brain. I began visiting retail locations that were selling art, mass produced works to the public. Not to replicate something but to see what the mass market has discovered sells, shall we say. It was interesting, but unsatisfying. I yearned for something more. I continued driving, but now without a destination wondering where to go next. Suddenly, I realised I was travelling in the neighbourhood of an Indigo bookstore. I remembered they had an interesting art section, one display being open art books of all kinds spread out on a table for customers to simply page through. I had been there before and turned my vehicle in that direction.

The display was there just as I remembered. It was a joy to just relax and let the works of art wash over me. Suddenly, I ran across a series of four paintings, called “The Four Seasons” by C.Y. Twombly. It wasn’t so much the works but the fact he’d used words, words I could not read or decipher but they were words. I looked for the description and discovered he was quoting bits of poetry relating to the season he was depicting. For example, for the painting on spring it was selections of poetry on the subject of spring. The reason I could not read it was because it was in Italian!

I had a pen but no paper. Finding a magazine order card someone had dropped on the floor I began writing ideas. David had written poems, poetry, that turned into songs. They were inspired by the various events and experiences in his whole life. What if I, instead of seasons, I represented the various events in a painting with bits of the corresponding poetry (Psalms) written in words on the painting? Wow! My heart and mind were both pounding! A sales clerk asked if I’d received their coupon...I heard nothing. I looked at her, and pretended to listen. She could have been speaking Italian, I had not the foggiest idea what she was talking about. But, I had been taught that the loving thing is to “pretend” to listen and understand. She would never understand my present mental state of excitement, I’m sure she misread my large excited glistening eyes as total agreement, understanding and who knows what else. When she finally gestured by her body language that she wanted me to take one, I did so with great relief and she, thankfully left me to continue in my own new world of excitement and expectation.

It wasn’t until I’d written down some ideas all over that small card that I was able to slowly make my way out of the art department and the store. This card is laying beside me here as I write.

Below, is my first rough of an idea. It has to do with a cave in a desert location, where David was hiding from King Saul and his 3000 hired men. It was during this time that many discontented, angry, frustrated tough guys began joining him in this hideout. It was difficult for out of these he molded his future leaders for when he himself became king. Below are some bits of Psalms 57, a song he wrote expressing the various emotions he felt during that time of his life.

And now, I need to chose my colour pallet and get painting.

These are the words you see on the sketch.

“Your are my refuge, I call upon you...My heart is steadfast...Let your glory shine.”

Psalm 57

Candace House & The Locket

 

“Friends Forever”

Photo by Heidi Friesen

Our daughter Candace, who disappeared on November 30 of 1984, was found murdered the following January in a brickyard shed near our house. She was wearing a special locket.

She was wearing a very special locket. She had made a friend while we lived in North Battleford, SK. When we as a family moved to Winnipeg in 1980 she came wearing a locket from the friend she’d parted from. During these four years in Winnipeg she always wore this locket.  What I mean is she never took it off! It became tarnished and old looking. The chain broke and was repaired. My wife at times would suggest another piece of jewelry as this one was looking pretty shabby, but Candace resisted, no “refused” to part with it.

Candace was a “people person” and loved her friends dearly.

This is an important foundation on which we envision the basic characteristic of “Candace House.” That all victims of crime who come for rest, respite, help, nurture will feel like they have found a “friend”. It is in crises like that of a loss and a trial, that victims especially need a friend. And not just for a while, but for life. That the connection and experience with the Candace House will always be a warm  memory like that locket, a good memory that lasts forever.

We also want to let you know that all who support Candace House in any way are certainly considered friends. We are so delighted you have come into our lives in this important way.

This November 30^th is the “Walk for Candace House Fundraiser” and we would like to invite you to participate in any way you can or wish. It will be a fun community event for all ages. It will be a place to meet friends and make new ones. Wilma and I will be there and hope to meet you, our friends, walking for this exciting project.

This will take place at the Wildewood Club, 761 North Drive, Winnipeg MB. Pledge forms are available at www.CandaceHouse.ca or email info@CandaceHouse.ca

There will also be vender's there selling arts and craft items for the Christmas season. If you are one of these gifted people you are welcome to come and set up a table. Call Bernie at 204-255-2757

Wilma and I would like to thank you in advance, our friends. Many of you have supported us in many and various important ways, and now we invite you to support victims of the future. On behalf of all victims I would like you to know that you are our friends and are very special to us.

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Colossians 3:14

A “Work in Progress”

Yesterday I mentioned my new challenge. To do something that will be a challenge for me. That is, talk about myself and to represent myself and my work to art Galleries out there. This is not my comfort zone so, if you don’t mind I’m going to take a chance and begin working on my “Artist Statement” below.  

Artist's Statement November, 2012
 
Sitting through the 2010 preliminary hearing and the 2011 trial, 23 years after the loss my daughter, brought out a lot of emotions and feelings that just needed to be expressed. As I sat in the gallery listening I had to do something and so I brought my sketchbook which became not only a way to express pent up feelings but a distraction during some very difficult days and moments.

It so happened that I moved nto my art studio during this time, which to my surprise released a sort of frenetic burst of creative energy and inspiration. Personally, I believe it was therapeutic.

My artistic expression is mostly through the medium of ceramic sculpture. The subject matter includes and ranges from mythical, symbolic, spiritual and religious pieces expressing the twists and turns of a hurting and battered father. The surface treatments are monochrome in color and are painted in acrylics or similar mediums. In addition, the body of work also includes trial sketches, charcoal drawings and paintings.

During the different showings I’ve been privileged to have, I have noted that the work is both emotional and thought provoking. The show triggers memories and events in the lives of viewers in a very vivid way. It is my hope that my journey through the haze of tragedy will confirm to viewers that we are not alone and that we have amazing resilience within ourselves, and some important resources available, not only to make do, but to survive and to move on.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

Reminder:

The “Walk with Us for the Candace House Fundraiser”

will take place November 30^th, 2012

4:00pm – 8;00pm at the Wildewood Club,

761 North Drive, Winnipeg MB

for more information call:

 

204-255-2757

or email: info@CandaceHouse.ca

Website: www.CandaceHouse.ca

The well known story of the good Samaritan describes how many ignored the plight of a crime victim, except for one person, who took the victim to a place of safety and healing. Candace House is envisioned as the 21^st century version of this inn – a safe, comfortable, friendly home where victims can connect with others who are on a journey toward healing, and who have stopped at this oasis for timely information, nourishment, and encouragement along the way.

It’s Just Not Pretty Enough!

Slowly the “chair” is progressing...

 It’s that time of year again. Have you done your Christmas Shopping?

Last night we went to an art show and sale in the N. Kildonan area of the city. A friend of ours is a painter and as a member of this art club, had her work on display. It was so fun to walk the isles admiring the many paintings for sale. The other enjoyable part was meeting people, several friends and acquaintances we had not run across for years. It was a delightful evening.

It is the time of year when everyone is putting their wares up for sale to take advantage of the Christmas shopper looking for gifts. At Clifton Studios, where I have my studio, we have an open house scheduled for November 24 & 25, when we as artists will be selling our ceramic creations. Not only can guests buy Christmas gifts but also wonder through the area, meeting artists in their studios where they work. It is a fun time, meeting friends who come every year and many new folks checking the place out.

 As we walked through the display, my mind was going, “Should I become a member of this club? After all, then I could put some of my stuff up for sale.”

Then, I realised that my stuff, to put it bluntly, is not “pretty enough!” I find it hard to imagine one of my sculptures under someone’s Christmas tree! My work is different, it’s for a gallery and they work well as a unit, they tell a story. The Christmas shopper is looking for something different. Something fashionable, glitzy, popular, something social media ish, and so on.

OK, where am I going with this? I have to realise, I have a different season and a different place for my creative work. My creations depict and describe a journey. They have a message, a message hopefully of the reality of the hardships and tragedies of the human condition, and that to overcoming such tragedies is in the realm of possibility. It’s a message for after Christmas. For once the gifts have been given, and the house is in a shambles and everyone has left, then once again the reality of life can hit really hard. That’s where my work comes into play.

My challenge, is not only to continue to create more pieces but to develop a means of communicating this to art galleries in Canada and beyond. Thank goodness, the art gallery is a place where “pretty” is not always a necessity.

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Cor. 9:7

 

Here’s how our grandson came to our house the other day.

Now, he’s “pretty”, excuse me, I mean “handsome”.

Creativity Fatigue.

It’s the long weekend! Add to that some weather warnings about snow storms and it has been no problem just staying inside. This Saturday,(yesterday) I put on my housecoat in the morning, made a pot of coffee and raided the fridge all day. It was totally a “housecoat day”! Wow. But, boy is it hard to try to “vacation” at home. You see all that work one could do and feel so guilty.

I have finally come to realise and admitted to myself that I am tired. I think I have something like “creative artistic fatigue.” I have been working very steadily at my art. I have certainly slowed down from my early frenzy of creativity but I can now tell I’m tired.

Creativity involves every aspect of one’s life and person. Your emotions, mind, creativity, imagination, mental playfulness, and the physical body are all involved. If one or two or more of these is stunted or hindered your creativity will suffer and the work becomes sub par. I have already learned to take breaks, especially if I’m doing more intense detailed work, 20 or so minutes at a time is quite enough. Then I go for a walk and get some fresh air, get a coffee, or just a change like looking out the window will do wonders. Otherwise the work begins to suffer. But this is different.

Lots of artists have day jobs and work at their art by night. If the day has been tiring often the art session is forgotten in favour of crashing in front of the TV. Even though I don’t have a 9-5 kind of job, I do also have my work encroaching on my art. My life is full and not boring and I appreciate that, but is fairly busy. Let me summarise. I have a normal home life with all the work and chores that it entails. I have a family, wife, two kids and their families and one 6 week old grandchild. It means that there is a family social life, usually of a weekly nature. All fantastic. I have a church that is important to me. I’m involved in the church leadership team, I lead a weekly 6am men’s group and I’m part of the church men’s leadership team. I’m also part of a leadership group leading a young adult life group once a week. Plus of course an active social life with friends.

Then there’s the business and the usual stuff managing that. Accounting, staff issues, scheduling work, deadlines, quality control, quotations, dealing with clients and so on.

What else? Oh yes if course, there is also my art. There’s the original gestation of ideas for pieces that should or needs to happen. This means stuff like a playful imagination, originality, soul searching, planning pieces, emotional involvement, creating pieces, problem solving, firing, finishing, cleaning and maintaining the studio, doing shows as they come up, packing, setting up, the showing itself, tearing down. Studio open houses, blogs. Presently preparing a resume/proposal to be sent to art galleries for potential showings in the future. Researching what art galleries would be open to my kind of show plus just sending the material out shotgun approach. One time talks and presentations. Consignments, art for the Candace House Fundraiser. Promotions, etc. etc.

I’m also just realising that there are several important things in my business that have piled up over the past few months and I’ve been kind of putting them off. You know, things that are not your favourite things to do. Like, the recalculation of a clients cleaning fees is one of these. Something that has to be done, but your not sure how the customer will respond! Here some push back can be expected and some negotiation will need to take place I’m sure. So I need to take the time to get my ducks in a row for that kind of thing. 

But it is things like this that press on one’s mind and it becomes more difficult to focus. Your not really aware but in the background your mind is chewing on these issues and you begin to tire. Pressure begins to rise as you know this needs to be addressed, and so it begins encroaching on and affecting the free flow of the creative juices one needs.

I think this coming week I will spend some time on my business and get rid of the back log that is interfering with my piece of mind. Don’t be surprised if next week I won’t have much to report regarding my artistic adventures.

So, that sounds like a great plan. Meanwhile, I will use this long weekend to get some much needed rest so that in the end my work will continue to be up to par.

Now, I need a glass of wine.

“Then the person in charge called the groom to one side. He said to him, “Everyone (else) brings out the best wine first, then brings out the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink. But you have saved the best until now.”

John 2:10

My Love-Hate relationship with P S.

Having solved the problems...

here are the first of the spikes on the

“knife-like” crest of the back of the throne.

I know what you’re thinking, “Hey Cliff you missed a letter there in your title for this blog, instead of ‘P S’ I’m sure you meant ‘PMS’! But then maybe not, I know, it means ‘postal service’, everyone would understand that one.......mmmmmm!”

I know there are several options for what that might stand for, “Public Service”, “People Skills”, or.... and so on.

Here is the “hate it” part. "PS" is something I cannot get away from. It literally stalks me, showing up a lot of times in the course of my life, but almost always at the most inopportune times. Let me give you a poor example. It’s like when I’m working outside on my yard, concentrating on what I’m doing, turn around and there’s my neighbour, standing behind me with that mischievous grin on his face! Scares the daylights out of me every time! When I ask him how long he’s been there he never tells the truth! Other than that “one little thing” he’s a fantastic neighbour. That’s it, the very reality of life makes it part of my existence, I know it and have to resort to using it a lot.

The thing is that when this ‘P S’ is necessary, I’m frustrated and wishing it and all it stands for would just go away. But for me to go forward I have to engage with ‘it’.  There’s no getting around it. This week I tried to ignore it by doing other things for a while. But I knew, I’d have to engage with it sometime.

The other frustrating thing I hate about PS is that to engage with it means work. “It” makes you think. You may even have to do research, ask questions, make phone calls and so on.

Now the “love” part. Once I engage with PS and get into doing the work, I usually begin to feel better. First of all you feel better because you are not ignoring it but working at it. Secondly, hope for results arise and that is always exciting. And that is the thing about PS. What I do love about it is you are learning. You are beginning to see possibilities for moving ahead. Then, there is the part where the victory is won. The issues are resolved and you move ahead. You learned something. You faced the giant, overcame the problem and are back on track. That is what is good about dealing with PS.

“Ok Cliff, tell me already, what in the world is PS?” You have probably guessed, it is “problem solving”.

Once I finished the back of the chair I was stumped. How do I do those spikes at the top of the back? I know it sounds crazy. It seems to be such a simple problem. I did some other work on another project and left the chair alone for a while, stewing on the problem of the spikes. Do I do them first or last, work for the top or the bottom? How do I relate them to the front and the back of the chair? Especially with the thickness of the clay on the lip at the top of the back.

Also, I think I was tired, problem solving challenged. Then, I decided to start at the top. Once the clay was in my hands, solutions began to simply materialise as I went along. I realised very quickly that I needed to make two identical spikes, one for the front and one for the back. They would come up the back join at the top becoming one, supporting themselves as they extended above the top of the back. Also, it became clear I needed to cut the wide top lip  bringing it to a knife-like edge so the two spikes could joint smoothly and become one beyond the top. It all worked great, and the spikes began to materialise one after another.

 

Like someone somewhere has probably said, “The annoying necessity of problem solving is an opportunity for the joy and anticipation of new and exciting  achievements.”

“God is our place of safety...He is always there to help us in times of trouble.” 

Psalms 46:1 

Cutting the top of the thrones back 

to a knife-like edge.

My Chair has it’s “Back-Up”.

This morning my alarm went off at the correct time. Six am. I was sitting up on the side of my bed going through my body checklist to see if all systems were working when I became aware of some pillow talk, “did you remember the time change?”  Wow. Good to be reminded of that at such a critical moment! It was going to be a good day!

Here I am with my coffee, sitting in my living room, worship music playing quietly, my neighbours houses dark, yet I’m not feeling alone. It’s a sacred moment as I consider you all, my readers (both of you!  J) and wonder what “my ever present guide” will prompt me to write this morning.

It seems our chairs have a great affect on us. We all spend a lot of time in chairs. Hard, soft, couches, vehicles, a huge percentage of our time is spent in a chair. For everything we do, there seems to be a different sitting device. When at leisure, like watching a football game like as I did yesterday, I reclined on a couch. Now, I’m at my computer and I’m sitting on a hard chair. At the office we sit in hard chairs or ergonomically designed computer chairs. As a boss we have a cushy soft chair. All of these chairs are chosen for the specific usage and as we think of each kind of chair, we think of all these different activities. These chairs all bring to mind different feelings, happiness, comfort, anger (like the chair at a job I don’t like!) frustration and so on.

Some chairs actually hurt us and often we don’t realise it. Probably a lot of our chairs do that. I checked a website called “fitblogger.com” and discovered that 80% of Americans have back pain due to the chairs they use as they work in their offices. That’s a large percentage of the population! I’d say that would affect how you feel about that job, or that environment because every day you come home with your back hurting in some way! That to me is very enlightening. That means there are a lot of cranky people coming home for supper every day! No wonder we have “road rage” during rush hour!

Note to self: do not call anyone between 4:30 – 6:30pm, no matter what the reason. It will be way more amiable after the 80% of us have had a little time to give our painful backs a rest!

As you can see, the chair I'm replicating has it’s back up! This is an angry chair! This is not an ergonomically correct chair and the king who designed it was not thinking of “comfort”! This is a chair of intimidation. The purpose of this chair is to bring fear to all, friend or foe. “Do not mess with me” is the message here.

Many “experts” are paid good money to make sure our chairs make us comfortable. Every company wants productivity, so it becomes of prime importance. This king put a lot of thought into making a chair of discomfort for the purpose of intimidation and striking fear into the heart of every person in his life. What he did not know or sadly even care about was that the chair was also affecting him. First, it was an expression of his own angry heart. Secondly, it was also ergonomically wrong for him and so brought pain into his personal life. Can you imagine sitting on those sword hilts all day? That would mess with your attitude for sure, only adding to the bad attitude and anger he already had in the first place!

If I had to make a chair expressing my heart and life what kind of a chair would it be?

Can you imagine this king, who’d been sitting on knives all day, during rush hour? I can just imagine him in his weapon bristling chariot, weaving through the traffic of terrified pedestrians, riders, wagons and chariots. It would probably cost you your life it you did not see him coming and get out of the way!

This would not be “road rage” it would be murder!

“Put your sword back in it’s place, “Jesus said to him. “all who use the sword will die by the sword.”

Matthew 26:52.