Well hell yeah, I know it's been a couple of months but don't say I never do what I threaten to do.
I took part in Art Battle Halifax.
With the exception of one brave man I was the oldest there which is what I expected. Cool young dudes smeared with paint creating cool canvases, and girls barely primed with the first layer of life squeezing out globs of alizaren the color of their cheeks. One girl painted her lips with it and started off by kissing her canvas.
Hard to compete against that.
But art has no age limit right? So there we were.. twelve of us would be placed in front of blank canvases tonight and given 20 minutes to paint something. WITHOUT REFERENCE MATERIAL.
I have to paint what I know. Something from the farm??... Something I see every day?.. there in my mind... its form and color easy to slap down in 20 min. The overhead lights are bright. Adrenalin pumping along with the music that rattles the floor. The bar is open. A lovely couple I meet buy me a drink. And another. Around 100 guests and spectators circled around the artists waiting for the countdown. These guests would be the judges casting their ballots for their favorite painting. Would an artist faint?. Cut off their ear? Throw up there hands and just head for the bar?
" Aren't you nervous? " challenged one trembling creator.
" I'm old enough" I said, "there's nothing much left to be afraid of. "
10... 9... 8... 7... 6 ...5.. We grab our brushes and we're off.
You can see my masterpiece in the photo. A quick version of one of the peacocks that roam our country property. I was happy with it except time ran out before I could paint a nostril on him. At the end of the evening our paintings would be auctioned off in a silent auction.
Would anyone notice?
Did I win Art Battle? Noooo.... but this is the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on. If time could fly like that when you're at the dentist... or doing your taxes.
If you would like to see the winner and a few pics of this little fiasco check the article here.
I don't get out much and when I do I like to do something that stays in my memory bank. This was one of those things. I can't explain why an introvert closet artist who ponders for hours over little paintings would want to do such a reckless thing. But I do know I would like to do it again. Perhaps I will do better sober.
And my peacock? He did find a home. I hope he hasn't suffocated.
I went to "Art Battle" at the local bar last evening. Artists have twenty minutes to create a painting from scratch and the audience votes for their favorite. The winners from three rounds face off in the final battle.
Fueled by adrenalin and alcohol (which are two of my favorite things) I really liked this event. I may even try it myself sometime. I always aim for a looser painting style and if you start a canvas while your IN the bar.... I mean how much better can it get?
I am an advocate for chickens. I've spent enough time with them to know that they feel pain, fear, and the joy of being free. My grandson helped me load 24 meat birds in the back of my PT Cruiser to take them for slaughter to a private and humane farmer. I turned up CBC radio and didn't talk on the way because I didn't want to bore them to death. By the time they arrived at their final destination they were calm and already drowsy.
A good death is just as important as a good life.
I know a few people raising birds in their back yard makes very little difference in the big marketing scheme of things but if you have the opportunity please try to buy local free range chicken.
I gave my grandson some cash and a chicken dinner and asked if he would do me one more favour.
He had to clean my car.
http://www.mfablog.ca/2013/03/shocking-truth-about-chicken-and-turkey-slaughter.html
SQUASH SOUP.. YUM!
I threw a few squash seeds down over the hill in an area where I had spread some manure a few years earlier. The squash flourished and spread and to my surprise yielded a good crop. My squash this year are also 'smarter'. They are in an area where the goats graze and I guess they got tired of being trampled. Instead of spreading laterally they went up... straight up any tree or bush in the area. I'm proud of them and their ingenuity.
These are hubbards squash the biggest of the beasts and have been known to grow up to fifty pounds under good conditions. So I still have some work ahead of me. I have to get them out of the trees without sustaining a concussion and transport them to a cool dark spot where they can sit and ponder their fate a little longer. If one falls on my head I will probably end up being a vegetable myself. Harvest time will be an adventure I'm sure. A few months along when they have cured I will need a hatchet or a large sharp knife to get through that tough outer shell. Some people just drop them from the back of their half ton truck to get things started.
I'm usually bleeding when I'm done this part.
This all sounds very discouraging I'm sure, but I have a tough outer shell myself and for such a large vegetable and all the delicious things you can do with it's worth the work.
On a chilly winters day I will set down to a steaming bowl of Curried squash soup and my world will be toasty warm again. SQUASH SOUP...YUM!
I just really like this and thought I would add it here
This is what you shall do; Love the
earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one
that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and
labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience
and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or
unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful
uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families,
read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your
life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any
book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall
be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but
in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your
eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
- Walt Whitman
Online I discovered 'The Sketchbook Project'. They come up with little art assignments no matter what your skill level and get your art mobile in various ways so that it's enjoyed by a bigger venue.
This project is Pen Pal Art where they send you a small canvas. You slip a little note about yourself in with the art you create and send it with the goal that they match you up with someone similar and send their painting to you! You have now met a pen pal in the world of art and can follow up with them if you wish. eHarmonart! An oil might even meet and acrylic. Great idea.
The catch was I procrastinate and there was a deadline so on the final hour of the final day I dug out the acrylics and ran with my goat to the post office.
Can't wait to see what I get in return.
They'll probably match up this goat with a jackass.
