Blah blah blog

So blogging turned out to be exactly how I thought it would be… hard. Like writing a journal..start out all gung ho (totally writing it for public consumption of course) thinking I'll blog about this or I'll blog about that.. and then I don't. Or something happens in my real life that sends me for a wee loop, and that I would never be caught dead blogging or journaling about, so I do the oral version to only the closest of people and then boom a month or two has gone by and ...not a blog to be had.


After taking on Tiger I thought I would try the Sandra Bullock thing, but that got old fast..after all if it looks like dog and smells like a dog..umm it might just be a dog girlfriend... still the idea that you can be beautiful, talented, rich and famous and STILL get cheated on was somehow comforting to me..

Turns out I can't really write to a deadline either...... Started to write on the symbiosis I felt there might be with the fiftieth anniversary of the Pill falling on Mothers day... wanted to push the subject matter a little further to take the opportunity to warn my fellow Canadians about a fairly major shift to the right going on under the radar with many issues right now...not the least of which being access to safe, publicly funded abortions.... and don't be thinking those lax marijuana laws are anything you can count on in a world with privatized correctional services either... hiding behind “hard economic times” (I do a little puke in my mouth anytime I ever have to say that phrase)....BUT alas I started it on Mothers day and by the time I would have finished, I told myself, it would not have been Mothers day and thus not (as) relevant.

This brings me to the fact that I am a political animal and am going to have to go down that blogging road ... I have learned that I cannot blog about my art anymore than I can talk about it... doing so before execution risks taking the wind from the sail (or sale as it were), and doing so after is overkill ...so no more of that.. This does not preclude me however from continuing to blog about the studio and upcoming events... which then brings me to the fact that I am still going to have a show on the afternoon of twelfth of June and would like you to come to my Studio if you are in the GTA and so inclined. (see the invitation) It's not that I can't talk about the fact that I have almost kept up to the painting a week, it's that I better not say what any of them are ...or are going to be.... yikes I'm running out of time...

Having a show.. ... I mean talk about taking your clothes off in public.. there is/will be anxiety ..I was talking to another artist at her show not too long ago about this phenomenon of deciding to have a show and then suffering a steady stream of cold sweats of regret in the nights there after.. .but what the hell...Truth be known the gods have been speaking to me and what can I do but listen...They think I should have a show and have arranged all the stars to a line... the gods have been speaking to me a lot lately … and I am listening... and I am grateful for the company on this journey....the universe is a big place when you open yourself up to it... and try to blog.

Tigered Out

Personally I couldn't care less about who or what Tiger Woods “does”, but the media attention and hypocracy associated with it says something so pathetic about who we are as a culture, I could not let it pass without comment.

I was especially outraged by the comments made by the Augusta National Golf Chairman, Billy Payne who has the audacity to try to give Tiger a public spanking while reaping the huge financial rewards that will be a result of him playing at the Masters. “..It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here;” he says “it is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more important our kids and grandkids. Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children.” First of all, Billy, if Tigers' behaviour was so “egregious” why did you invite him to play at your tournament? Secondly Billy, Tiger is not a hero (defined as a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength) nor a role model to me or my two sons, he is a golfer, period. And thirdly Billy, he didn't disappoint; he did exactly what rich and powerful men have been doing since the beginning of time. The assault was on his own wife and children and that is a private matter.

This brings us to the women involved. What the hell were they thinking? He's going to leave his wife and children for them? Not bloody likely. He is so handsome and irresistable they couldn't help themselves? Come on... they were in it for the fame and maybe money, and that is just as pathetic as him marrying someone, having children with her and then acting as if he is single.

I hate to say this, but from what I know of men, it is my opinion that 90% of them would do exactly the same thing, given the opportunity (sorry to the ones that wouldn't). And , in my opinion, it's just as much womens fault because THAT'S WHO THEY'RE DOING IT WITH. If women want men to be faithful to the family, as an institution, then we ought to make a commitment to each other and refuse to to do the dirty on each other ...I'm just saying.

And finally, it's about that Nike commercial ... the most telling thing about this whole episode... Tiger's dad giving him crap from the grave.. The most compelling arguement that the Tiger is, has been, and if Nike has anything to do with it, will always be nothing but a Brand. ( constructed from birth by his father). Which might very well explain why he got married when he clearly wanted to be single and which certainly explains why the little tiger wanted to be free.

My Little Piece of Paradise

Once enveloped by the Studio people comment on what a nice little space it is. They are seduced by Mother Nature flaunting herself all over the place, and if they are there to paint then they are already high on creativity.It's an easy sell.

The studio is in the Village of Belfountain in the beautiful hills of Caledon. A popular stop spot for day-trippers, especially those on motorcycles, but also in cars, on bicycles (I don't know how they do it... did I mention the hills?) and even on horseback. It has a funky coffee shop at the crossroads that is popular with both locals and visitors. Across the street is the current version of what was always known as the Belfountain General Store, that now sells food that is really good for you, and Smoothies! There is an antique shop a little walk from the corner and Credit Creek, a store with good stuff right there at the crossroad. Around the corner is the Belfountain Inn. It is a good food restraunt, that doubles as the local pub, and smells amazing everytime I walk by. Across the street and a little farther down the hill from the Inn is the Ice Cream Parlor and beside that is the very best thing about Belfountain, and the reason I know that the Inn smells good when one walks by and that is the Conservation area. It has a suspention bridge over a waterfall, a cave and a walking trail by the Credit River on the Niagra Escarpment; talk about Mother Nature flaunting herself.. don't forget to bring your camera!

If you are coming from Toronto and you take the 410 up to the end of it you will find that it now turns right into Hwy10 .. very cool and it takes several minutes off the drive to Belfountain. Take Hwy10 north to Old Base Line and make a left. A right at the first stop sign will take you into Inglewood which has an excellent general store where you can get excellent sandwiches among other things. But if you go there come back out the way you came in and continue going west on Old Base line so that you don't miss the Clay field on your left about 2km along. Stop for a walk around there, it is a beautiful place to take pictures. Beware of the red clay on your clothes though. Continue along Old Base Line to Mississauga road, make a right and proceed north until you bend into the Village. On your way out of town take the Forks of the Credit road it's a beautiful drive. Please if you are driving a motorcycle do not underestimate the danger of the roads around here. The hills and curves are very deceptive and there are fatalities every year.

There is so much more but for now I've talked myself into going for a walk in the park... stay tuned.

a before and after

It was a good idea that definately needed some work...do I need to tell you what it's called?

Beware the Zone

A painting a week.. that was the plan, and six weeks into it, so far so good. They don' t all have to be new, because I have a few older canvas's with ideas that need another going over, but five out of the six of them are. I have done my (Malcome Gladwell) ten thousand hours so I'm pretty fast now, but a painting still takes at least thirty hours and about five hours into it I still always wonder what the hell I was thinking.

I paint smaller than I used to, for practical purposes; The studio is a little house and people barely have paintings in their homes..let alone big ones , but there's another quality of life, secret reason I paint smaller now, and that is that there's really nothing like being able to paint in my bed on any crappy Canadian weather day.. ha ha ha shhh.

The subject matter can be benign because sometimes painting should be an exercise in aesthetics, and sometimes it's benign until I see the twist, and then it isn't, and that is when I'm in the zone. The creativity zone..mmm creativity .. it's the secret to a happy life you know... no “talent” necessary. Painting has a zone too.. it happens after you “figure it out” and you can just paint.

Ultimately, in this creativity zone one painting begins to beget the next and interesting things can happen... I hope.. haha..stay tuned

Cindy has a Blog?

My reluctance to reveal myself has now been surpassed by my need to find a bigger audience for my work, and as apart of the strategy to address this I have decided to blog. I'm having a show of my paintings in June and a public declaration of my intention is just the kind of motivation I can use.
I don't usually make new years resolutions, but this year I thought to myself, as opposed to announcing it (as if anyone would have cared) that one way of enjoying my life more would be to entertain a little. As in.. what's the use of having such wonderful friends and being in touch with all these people that the Internet now allows me to be, if I never see them? And how can I ever expect to see them if I don't invite them. And what a lovely place to be able to invite them to. Not just my studio, but the beautiful village of Belfountain, in which it is situated, with tons of fun things to do in the surrounding area . And that is the evolution of thought that lead me to the conclusion that a blog was a really good way to not only offer my work and studio up to people I know for a specific event, but to offer it up to people I am yet to know in a more virtual sense.
Of course there is the work, and when I first imagined a blog I imagined some semblance of artistic musings along with the obligatory visuals ..and that there shall be ... however there is something to be said against over exposure .... after all who will come and see me if they've seen it all before.. this balanced against the fact that most of my potential audience will never cross the threshold of my studio leads me to suspect I shall always be walking a fine line in this regard. The other thing is that no artist or art exists in a vacuum so I therefore and inevitably reserve the right to comment on anything and everything, art related or not, in this blog .. consider yourself warned.
When I told my thirteen year old son I was going to create a blog he responded with a simple “fail”.. I laughed and thought to myself ..ha I must surely be on to something now
So that's it, my first post. Stay tuned for more.. an introduction to my work and the life experience that inspires it ..