Painting for a special day

Painting for a special day

Today is a very special day for me. It was 41 years ago our family arrived in Canada from Hong Kong. It was on Jan. 23, 1973 our plane touched down in Toronto after a whole day travel we finally reached our new country.
I still remember my excitement of seeing snow for the first time. In fact, everything seemed new and exciting to me then. We were full of hopes and expectations for our new future.
However our once busy household is quiet in recent years. Grandmother pass away long ago and father has followed her two years ago. All my sisters and brother had moved away and started their own lives. After living on my own for years, I moved back to help my mother to look after father. After he was gone, there is only two on us left in the house. After years of struggle to make a name in Canada I am not as hopeful as I was but my love of art making still burns brightly.
Ever since I was a child I love to watch dragonfly, bee buzzing in the garden and they still capture my attentions. (Watercolor on arches 140 lb rough paper, 8”x11
Coincidentally, I will attend the opening of my latest exhibition on this very special day!

My private watercolor lesson

 

Few years ago, I went to a church book sale. I didn’t find any books I interested in but on my way out I spotted a book among the children’s book table. It was the book I been looking for over 35 years, “The Kingfishers”!

40 years ago, our family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. I was still a teenager and had not finished high school yet. I was sent to Central Technical School in Toronto to continue high school study.

 However, I spoken little English and was very shy. During my interview with the school principle I showed him my little sketch book. He must see something in me and allowed me to enter their post secondary three years art programs.

I never had any formal art lessons back in Hong Kong and my follow students are lot older and more advance in art training.

One of the classes we had to attend was art history which started from Greek period. Since my English was rather limited and all those Greek words were not just hard for me to follow. After a couple of those classes I deceived to avid it all together.

One afternoon, when I was skipping art history and my home room teacher saw me. After I told her my reason of not attend class, she invited me in to her  class room. She was about to give me a private lesson in watercolor.

She pulled out a book from her book case; it was “The Kingfishers” by Karel Novy and with beautiful illustrations by Mirko Hanak.  Hanak’s paintings were heavily influenced by Chinese and Japanese paintings. My teacher, Barbara Greene thinks being Chinese I would appreciate his works.  She gave me watercolor lesson on wet on wet technique. Noticed I did not own any decent brushes, she allowed me to use hers.

From then on, every week, I would learn watercolor from her instead of attending art history lesson.

Many years later, I discovered, Ms Greens was the president of the Canadian society of painter in watercolor. I only had her as teacher for two years as she retired before I finished the three years program.

This book is now my prize procession and reminds me the kindness of a great artist and teacher.

The power of social medium

 

Yesterday, after I post my latest “mobile art” (drawings I done while riding the subway). Right away, one of my followers asks if I wanted to sell it. Soon than I say yes, she brought it and sent the money to my pay pal account. This been happened a lot recently, I sold another painting to someone on Facebook as well.

In the old days, most of my sales were through galleries. First, I need to had it framed, delivered to the gallery wait for a buyer to purchase it. Even when the work finally sold, I still have to wait for three months to be paid and the gallery would keep 50% as commission.

Now, with the power of the internet and social medium, all I need is create the art, upload and it sells by itself and no more needs to share my income.

Making art on Public transit

 

 

I don’t drive and take the public transit everywhere. Every morning I leave home early from the east end to my studio downtown.  My one way trip with bus, RT and subway would take almost hour and half. The subway ride is the longest among the three different transportation. It takes about 40 minutes. I spent my time on the transit reading (books and newspapers) and think about ideas for my art.

The other morning, I was up extra early and ready for my trip to my studio. Thinking I could be more than half an hour early. However, it did not turned out as planned.

Our Toronto subway system is aging fast, break-downs and delays occur far too often. My train was stopped in the tunnel for half an hour due to some fire investigation. As I sat there wonder how my time been wasted but nothing I could do just sit and wait.

Later, back in my studio, an idea came to me: I would use the subway trains as my mobile studio. The same evening for my trip home I was prepared. I packed an artist kits:  pen, tiny watercolor paper, miniature watercolor set and small bottle of water. I turned my long ride into something more enjoyable. I start my little drawing by memory. Not only it helps to keep my mind sharp and with the small scale I can focus on the details of the drawing.

The first one I produced is the “grasshopper” which is 3”x6.5” and finished in one trip. The second is the  kingfisher 9.5”x4.5” and took two trips.

Art and weather

I don’t know about other artists, I notice I tend to choose subjects opposite to the weather. Yesterday was a very cold winter day with strong wind. After spending an hour outside taking photos of snow, I started to work on a painting of iris.  Iris is a spring flower and likely not to be seen here for few more months. However painting it make me forgot how cold it was out there.

In the summer, my studio has no air conditioning. On a hot day, I would paint waterscape, ponds or lakes to keep cool.

I guess it is mind over matter with little help by art.

Winter iris, watercolor on arches 140lb rough paper, 12”x20”

Remembrance Day Art

Today, November 11 is Remembrance Day here in Canada. It is a day to pay tributes to ones who gave their lives in the wars.

Although none from my family went to the wars but many of my parents’ family members has lost everything including their lives because of it. Many are like us has their live changed and needed to escape to a more peaceful country. Today, I think of the ones were not as lucky as I am and had to experienced the horrors and the pains of the war.

I made the paper cut poppy on this shopping bag because the red poppy is a symbol for Remembrance in Canada.

Picking up where I left

 

Although I been busy writing my recent trip to Qingdao, China but I haven’t forgotten my more important job:

art making.

Here are some of my latest shopping bag make over, they are all done since my return from my trip.

Morning glory paper cut

Morning glory paper cut

My originally idea was to work on a simple paper cut of a morning glory maybe the most to spent a day on it.  Somehow as I work on it, it was getting more and more intricate and time consuming.  I end up spent three days on this small paper cut.

Morning glory 8.5”x11’

art and weather

I find with the weather getting colder there are less distractions outside, I am more contented to just stay indoor to create  art.

paper cut, 10″x13″

Halloween art

 
I made something just for fun today,  art for Halloween, paper cut 11″x12″