Artistic May in Montreal

Somehow I completely missed April in this blog...of course it's not the only month I missed!  But it was an important month for my artistic evolution and expression!  It is the month in which I created my large abstract diptych, "Hermes' wings", which everyone loves!  It is also the month in which the "jump" or "wind" painting began! April was a busy creative month despite the cold weather and physical difficulties I had.  But May is full of obligations, clutter and tension.  The heat began yesterday, all of a sudden, as though a Cuban wave followed us all the way from Varadero. But it's not Cuba.....it's asphalty, pot-holed, dusty Montreal. It's only in the last few days that tulips have come out and leaves are starting to bud on the bare tree branches!  Hopefully it will all be green within a week! Nature has a lot of artistry to do very quickly!  I just realised that today is Mother's day....
Another time, another day,
My Mother, so far away!
Now I will try to download the studio photo with the new paintings by Marina!

This was the studio at the end of April...the freedom caught in motion.....temporary flight anticipating happiness!

Marchness

I always thought that March Madness had to do with how crazy and mad everyone here becomes after such a long winter but no, it has to do with the March Hare's mating season and then the term was transferred onto basketball! Well I for one, think it is an appropriate term for Montrealers in March!  We are all a bit mad...spring is here, but it isn't.  And it won't really come till May.  We want to go out and celebrate, shed our winter jackets, gloves and hats, run in the parks!, but no it's still freezing and the snow hasn't melted...need I go on?  So I will not be going out to paint any watercolours soon.  The studio gives the semblance of spring with all the plants and streaming sunshine!  If I close my eyes, it almost feels tropical!  I will concentrate my madness at cleaning up and arranging all the paintings after the Ottawa show.  It went very well and there was a great vibe before during and after, despite the physical difficulties of putting on such a big show! These days so much falls on the artists shoulders...we have to be the creators, the transporters, the publicists,the merchants.....it goes on! K had a dream that a museum offered to sponsor a show for me:)

King Midas and Tsar Novinar were my big collectors for this show.  The articles that came out were wonderful, especially by the lovely S.  I had a lot if good comments regarding the press and especially the painting of the Carica.  Who would ever guess that I would paint a Serbian Tsarina, but inspiration is a strange bird...it travels the ages!

February update

I have been working hard for my upcoming expo in Ottawa for Women's Day 2014!  I worked a lot on the Serbian Tsarina and she is now finished, except for the final varnish!  It was not just the act of painting which took place.....it is a melange of history, emotion, logic, colour, poetry and composition.

The other  portrait that I finished is of M.S.C.!  It shows her extreme generosity and kindness, but I think it also captures her logical and analytical side, as well as her womanliness!  It is only a drawing, but it has a lot of personality!  Sometimes we can say more with one line than with many colours!

This exhibit is important, because I'm gathering some of  my paintings of women over time, and will let them say something!  It's as though the paintings paint themselves over the years and always know what they mean.  They only wait to be called out (shown) at the right time.  There are still more waiting, like actors in the wings.  Men, women, children...all waiting their turn, the right time to tell their story.

Sport of life

The new sports painting of M.R. Is almost finished and I will be auctioning it off soon! I began it before he won an award, so the good luck is definitely there!

On the other hand, I'm having more trouble with the portrait of M. The dark red background is challenging, and though I like the Matisse like colours in the face, the blue collar shirt is not working!  I will have to ask him to wear a white shirt at the next portrait session, when he comes back from Florida!

Almost everyone is leaving Montreal for the holidays.  It was hard to get to the studio with all the snow yesterday.  I will try today, and hope they cleaned the snow from the parking lot!  There is a lot of work to be done before the little Christmas party!  I have to finish my beautiful cloud painting...is the woman trapped or free....it turned out to be a "trompe d'oeil" on it's own, because of the geometry in the background!

Effort of movement vs involuntary movement

As long as we are alive, there is movement that the brush or spatula can convey in paint.  Sometimes if I look at one of my paintings, it seems to be actually breathing.  I think that is because, as I paint the model, I record the slight oscillations of light and minuscule changes in position that result from breathing.  So the paintings are always in motion, wether it's an athlete or a sleeping beauty!  I am working on both right now, but will not be able to download any photos, simply because the process would take too long without the right apps....so I will wait till my next show to display them.  For now, only the few who visit my studio can see them.

I realize that working with pallet knives allows me a greater richness of colour than with brushes.  The brush is best for long and uninterrupted strokes describing form, while the pallet knife is for building physical substance.

For portraits from life, I use more brushes, but when I work from photos, the spatula is best.  Tomorrow, I will continue J's portrait and so far am using only brushwork.  He told me his favourite colour is red, so I've made the background a beautiful ruby red using a translucent layers of acrylics....

Photo of me working

Finally, I downloaded a photo!  I figured out how to do it with the new system and from the iPad. I have to download them to another site first, and only then can I download them to the blog.  I decided against downloading just the paintings alone, so this is one of me working on an acrylic; lake with flowers and mountains, painting.  It is a melange of my past and recent memories of B.C., Greece, and Quebec!

                                                                                   Marina Gavanski Zissis

What a Summer!

The Summer is over and the only good thing about it was the Survival part.  So many haven't survived, out of myriad reasons.  I hope the Karma will be better this autumn.  The new painting I wrote about was completed in August.  I can't post it before the book is finished, for copyright reasons, but it's beautiful!  I took most of September off oil paintings, and worked on a few sunny watercolours. I even started on one with the September moon. Somehow oil painting and hot sunny days don't mix...unless you can jump into a pool or the sea and clean up!
In case anyone is reading this and wondering why there are no photos, it's because this clever artist hasn't figured out how to do it from an iPad yet!  Will definitely need to consult with a more tech savvy friend.  Till then, I leave my blog with soft colours in my thoughts.
Soft colours of autumn have arrived,
Replacing the scented ones of roses.