annewrightartist

[annewrightartist]

Back Lane, 12x24″, oil and cold wax on wood panel.  Back lanes, and alleys.... love wandering along them at dusk.  When you can see the back yards, strewn with life, and can see even further into the real life happening. 

#backlane alley pink abstractart orange complementary colours

[annewrightartist]

Mushrooms. Glimmers. 24x48. Encaustic,oil, mixed media. https://www.instagram.com/p/CG8bJ7tnYrO/?igshid=1vbrceymdr5ev

[annewrightartist]

Mycelium Mushrooms, fungi, filaments reaching through the dark, threading enzymes of transformation. The wood wide web, they are called. Offering trees and plants a way to learn from each other, to tap out warnings and boost each other’s vitality. They break down plastic, petrochemicals and return them to the earth. Glimmers of light from below, while we struggle up here on the surface.

[annewrightartist]

Ready for open studio tomorrow #encaustic #abstract #OTTAWA #britannia #canadian shield. Drop by 613.791.5494 https://www.instagram.com/p/B4DhOMwnwYo/?igshid=rhncxb8hmy8s

#encaustic #abstract #ottawa #britannia #canadian

[annewrightartist]

Gaugin on Colonial Girdles -- Inspiring on my continued exploration of Ancestry and my own colonial DNA -- what still pulses in me today?  Manners... restraint...what leads to a cringe impulse..  The only balm for this is witnessing, and being at Mud Lake as it is.  Marsh Languages

#colonial mindset #manners #gaugin #ancestry #margaret atwood #marsh languages #inspiration #reconciliation #Art Residency #stayartres

[annewrightartist]

Antidote

Courtesy of Mary Oliver, « When I am among the Trees »

#poetry #antidote #mary oliver #watercolour #trees

[annewrightartist]

Inspired by Margaret Atwood, Marsh Languages and my artist friend Kate.  We took a morning and a few lines of the poem and began with a phone call studio to studio.  We checked in part way through and at the end. “Language of marshes; language of roots of rushes tangled together in the ooze”

[annewrightartist]

Inspired by Margaret Atwood, Marsh Languages and my artist friend Kate.  We took a morning and a few lines of the poem and began with a phone call studio to studio.  We checked in part way through and at the end. “Language of marshes; language of roots of rushes tangled together in the ooze”

#feet to the fire #accountability #stay art residency #marsh languages #poetry #margaret atwood #pollywog #bog #encaustic #beeswax #12 x 12 #painted over a painting I didn't like #blue #green

[annewrightartist]

Rules of engagement for my stay-art-res

- make do with what I’ve already got -- no new supplies -- use what’s on hand including painting over canvases I don’t love

- nothing’s done til I love it (inspired by Marie Kondo)

- no pushing or proving

#stay art residency #art residency #rules of engagement #kondo #using what I've got

[annewrightartist]

StayArtRes Launch with Fasting Retreat

I launched my summer art residency with a week at a cottage nearby.  The first few days were with family.  Then, my friend, Madeline Dietrich and I engaged in a fasting retreat.  Five days of only green tea and water.  About four hours of day were freed up without meal prep and eating.  My digestive system relaxed and rested.  And spiritually, all became quiet and still.  We are both used to doing retreats and the time came together easily... silence most of the day; meditation to bracket the day; journalling, music, massage exchange, easy walks, and swims and lots of hammock time.  I became fascinated with the bog and with the pollywogs at various stages of development.  Perhaps we are all pollywogs on this earth... being prepared for something completely unknown, as our tails shrink, and we grow what seems like dysfunctional qualities such as legs, arms, and tongues that hinge at the front. 

#stayartres #artresidency #retreat #artist #artistretreat #bog #nature #pollywog #tadpole

[annewrightartist]

Creativity needs Death

As an artist and creativity coach, I know that creativity can’t bubble up from the real Source unless you can die. Facing that inevitable moment when you got nothing?  Staying in the writhing when everything in you wants to maintain that posture of “I know what I’m doing”.  Relinquishing over-willing and dominance-over-out-of-control and release into being carried somewhere beyond what you know.  Creativity needs you to die.  Over and over.  

One of the best things I’ve ever done to enter these small yet jarring deaths that creativity demands is to wrap my arms around death --- accept it, make peace with it, bear it.    

To help me here, I worked with Kim Rosen in her Death’s Door Retreat.  It was so impactful that I’m sponsoring her to come back to Ottawa September 23-27 2019.  If you want to take your creativity to the next level, or help others do that, I highly recommend it.  Contact me for more information.  

#death #death'sdoor #creativity #developing creativity #kim rosen #creative block #surrender dorothy

[annewrightartist]

Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire. Awaken your spirit to adventure; Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will home in a new rhythm, For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

John O’Donohue, from “Blessing for A New Beginning”

#beginning stayartres artresidency

[annewrightartist]

Structuring a Two-Month Stay-Art-Res

This summer, I’m taking two months to paint full time.  I’m a life/executive coach and usually I devote half time to that and half time to art.  I’m grateful that it’s been a busy year with coaching;  and now I am ready for a deep drink of art.   I’ve done two month-long art residencies over the past five years - one self-funded in the Burren in Ireland, and one sponsored at KIRA in St. Andrews New Brunswick.  Each of them was away from familiar surroundings, which led naturally to a fresh gaze.  This time, I don’t want the disruption of putting my studio on the road (even though disruption is sometimes what’s needed, I sense that it’s not what I need at the moment).  

I want a Stay-Art-Res.  Stay in my Home Studio yet dedicate myself as fully as if I were away.  How to structure it to hold my feet to the fire?  For my stay-res, I’ve made some commitments:

1) some art-related activity for at least 3 hours a day... could be wandering a gallery, sketching pleine aire, prepping paintings to go out the door, or actually in-studio with brush in hand.

2) integrating spiritual connection daily;  I’ll begin with a 5 day retreat (see next post), and meditate and “gaze with bhakti” daily to allow myself to be moved and led.

3) weekly posting to social media to keep my feet to the fire.  I’ll experiment with different ways of telling story, using different technologies. 

4) reaching out to friends once a week who will engage with me -- painting together, offering feedback and inspiration. 

Wish me luck!

#artresidency #beginning #design #spiritual #stayartres

[annewrightartist]

Art Takes me by the Hand and Leads me Deeper into My Life 

#Vocare encaustic art abstract calling

[annewrightartist]

Why do you paint so much, Grannie Annie?

Elliot, my 5 year old grandson

Because I like it.

Because I can.

Because it helps me listen to what’s beyond words.

Because it echoes back.

#why do you paint? #listening #echoes

[annewrightartist]

KIRA Art Residency Highlights

June 28 2017

Last night was Roger’s last night at KIRA.  Ruby and Elise leave tomorrow. Carlos and I leave Friday.   “What were your highlights, we asked one another?”  

We were each changed, probably more than we know…

I don’t think any of us will know how we’ve been changed by this experience until we’ve lived some more. But what we are aware of now…

Full Immersion in Art-Making:   For each of us, having a whole month to focus only on art –no distractions, we all agreed, was profound.  

o   As a parting gift, Roger handed each of us his second draft of his Kingsbrae poem collection “One Small Corner”.  He says it’ll go through several revisions, but the collection is full and varied.  He began writing for Kingsbrae as soon as he heard he’d been offered a space here (in March), and while here it kept flowing.  Roger said he’d never written with such flow and ease – “it wasn’t work in any way”.  He’d come prepared to edit old manuscripts when he had a dry spell, but there wasn’t one. Roger speaks Spanish and French fluently, and was able to interpret between us and Carlos.  Hanna, our 27 year old house mother, also speaks Portugese. So between the two of them, we were able to include Carlos in conversations.  Roger noted that when he speaks Spanish he becomes different, and he hasn’t spoken it for several years.  We all wondered how tuning into his Spanish-speaking self affected his writing.

o   Elise took risks with sculptural design she’d not done before – building in more openings, risking breaks and cracks in the stone, to capture motion.  On one of our last days here, Geoff piled us all into his truck and took Elise and us up to see Dr. Bob.  Dr. Bob paints and carves stone, and he just received a shipment of granite.  150 tons of granite.  He had stone for Elise to choose from.  That was a highlight for her.  She couldn’t take her eyes off the piece of granite on the side of the porch that was waiting for her to take back to Muskoka.  We are each now wearing a KIRA pendant, beautifully made by Elise.

o   Ruby found a new home.  She’d never travelled on her own, away from family or friends.  She wasn’t used to sleeping alone.  While here, she ventured out on her own time after time to strike up conversations with strangers who’d been here a while and who were elemental to St. Andrews.  The woman who has run the China Cupboard for years and who has tea with friends in the shop each day; the guy with the beard bringing the sail boat in; the bee-keeper; the one who runs Salty Towers and has bed frames around his garden beds out back; the accessories shop owner.  She helped St. Andrews see itself with her paintings.  And in the process, she fell in love with St. Andrews.  She and hubbie Greg are planning to move here.

o   Carlos.  Carlos had never been out of South America.  He was learning English for the first time.  Early on, Roger (thank goodness for his Spanish interpretive skills) and Hanna (in Portugese) interpreted between him and the rest of us a lot.  As time went by, he understood more and said more. But his music transcends spoken language.  His music fits this place.  Playful, making music out of whatever’s available.  During his final concert he spoke to us in many tongues – looping various nature sounds, pan pipes Andean style, and more.  We all want a recording of his Kingsbrae composition.  Many of us were moved to tears with his rendition of “Oh Canada”, knowing how he has come to love this country. He’s prepping his CV for Mrs Flemer to send around.  The musical instruments he made out of plumbing pipe have been painted and are going to be installed in the children’s garden for the kids to play.  

o   And for me… my palette has brightened and become more playful.  I can feel my fluency in encaustic medium growing – as I toggle between intention and responsiveness with the work.  I am bringing in more sculptural elements, and here I think I’ve been touched by watching what Elise and Hanna, who’s been taken with stone carving and spent much time in Elise’s studio, have done.  My series here have spanned a wider range, from delight and enchantment with Glimpses of Water Street, to grief and horror in memorial to those lost in the Grenfell Tower fire in the UK this month. I learned a lot from what didn’t work the way I’d envisioned:  that an artists’ salon needs to be a “stand-alone” event, and that people who choose to come know they are coming for an exploratory open-ended inquiry.  Probably a compelling starter question as part of the invitation is also important.   Perhaps as important as my own art practice, I’ve been holding the question – “what makes a strong art residency experience, for the individual artist, for the group of artists who are thrown together, for the sponsors and the host community?”.  I hope to learn from KIRA’s experience about this, and have offered to support KIRA this year in getting feedback from various players who’ve been involved and digest learnings from this first year.  

How Being Together Affected Us

-       We Benefitted from Warm, Supportive Relationships:  We are very different people and yet, we said, we all got along – there was an ease and support between us and we remarked that it could have been different.  Meeting each other over Zoom two times before we arrived set a good foundation, and our evenings together that were loosely structured early on, also helped us appreciate each other.  Roger really set a tone in the way he accompanied and interpreted for Carlos… bridging with deep respect.  Our private Facebook group gave us a place to share photos, videos and musings while here with each other and with our hosts.  

-       Loosely Structured Evenings:  Perhaps, as some of us said, our evening time together was like an ongoing artists’ salon.  During our first week together, we met and each one of us took turns introducing ourselves and our art to one another and speaking about our hopes for the month. After that, the evenings became more informal.   I believe that these times were alchemical for each of us in different ways.  For myself, being with people outside of my usual circle stretched me.  As someone who lives alone and curates my own domestic space, I’m used to getting things the way I like them.  Again and again I bumped up against edges I didn’t know I had, and felt my reactions and worked to keep finding my way back into an open heart. It was a practice throughout the month that was like a work-out for me.

-       The Roller Coaster Cycle of Residency:  We each probably had our own versions of “hitting the wall”. During week three, Roger told us that it was natural in a residency to hit a plateau or even a creative dry spell about ¾ of the way through.  The key was to keep walking into the studio and doing things, even if it’s cleaning your brushes or prepping backs of paintings.  This is a life lesson I’ll return to again and again.  

-       Interaction with Community Members and Feedback:  We enjoyed interaction with positive, enthusiastic and welcoming people here – the Kingsbrae “family”, and also the people from the town we met – Sunbury Shores helped us establish contacts (and going to church also helped me) who were important touchstones throughout the month.

-       Engaging with Place:  Each of us has been affected by place.  Time in the wilder environs of the peninsula with Geoff and his family as guide gave us appreciation of the primal foundation here, and of the Indigenous ways – beyond the sweetly tended town.  Roger’s place was by his window in his room overlooking the back lawn.  Ruby tuned into the people that make place.  Elise has deepened her relationship with the rock here and will return to shape it and be shaped by it again, I know. I won’t forget the day Carlos and I went for a hike at New River Beach.  He picked up two flat stones from the shore.  On the way back, he held the stones a certain way in one hand, and created percussion to accompany the sounds of our feet on the wooden walkway.  I spent many hours sitting on the bench by the light house and began to see light and colours that I’d never noticed before.  

-       Milestone Events:  For all of us, the final exhibit was rewarding and important for taking in and registering the month – seeing what we’d each done and appreciating the extraordinary experience.  The “events” such as Artrageous, the KIRA Opening, Open Studios, and the final exhibit were helpful punctuation to the month… and gave us things to work towards; they also gave each of us a source of valuable feedback along the way.

-       The Kingsbrae “Make it Happen” Magic:  I have been astounded and impressed to witness how things manifest here at Kingsbrae.  And I suspect it’s infectious.  I’ve never been part of an organization that pivots around the community-building vision and creative commitment of one generous family.  Things happen at lightning speed.  And, from what I hear, Lucinda Flemer, in her eighties now, is cranking it up, not slowing down. Anything is possible, and events happen on an impressive scale with top notch quality.   The professional team here is all-hands-on-deck for every event: flexible, creative, improvisational, and ready for anything.   Ideas spark from all directions.  Mrs. Flemer generates many of them, and she also listens and considers ideas from others. She is no-nonsense in terms of what she believes will work.  “No drums in the Secret Garden.   It’s not made for that.”  Once she embraces an idea, it happens fast.  Our final exhibit was pulled together in a few days – invitations out, hung in the Café with a new hanging system installed, even lighting, wine and appetizers all provided.  I don’t think that the Kingsbrae team has a direct dial in to the weather gods, but fine weather was also granted again and again. 

-       Lucinda’s Gaze:  It’s not unusual to look out from the studio on the back lawn of KIRA and see Mrs. Flemer on her “walkabout”.  Jasper, her “like-the-happy-wind” black poodle, comes first, pressing his nose against the studio door.  Then, Mrs Flemer and maybe Bob, the head groundskeeper, or Tim or Brad -- the Hendersons who head up the wow-team at Kingsbrae.  Mrs Flemer is looking, pointing, envisioning, and casting her gaze.  That gaze… the yogis know the power of devoted adoration. They call it “Bhakti”.  Keep gazing upon and loving what you love, and it thrives, and you thrive.  The daily Lucinda gaze is essential here.     And the gaze has drawn each of us out.  Each week, Mrs Flemer and Geoff and often Mary joined us for a barbeque on the back verandah.   These suppers were a time for us to share about what was happening in the studio for each of us, and to catch some of the Lucinda magic, as we saw what captured her and she heard about what we were considering or doing.  

So, as we wind down KIRA’s first month, and feel the gratitude and the poignancy of leaving and returning home, we are aware of the KIRA team beginning to anticipate the arrival of the next batch of artists.  (But before that happens, just to give you a sense of how things roll here, there will be two major events:  an Afghanistan Veterans’ memorial in the Gardens on Canada Day; and a free Canada 150 symphony concert here on KIRA’s back lawn on July 3.  The concert will feature an original Canada 150 commissioned piece by the Oscar winning composer Howard Shore, a soloist Measha Brueggergosman, a 120 piece voice choir, and the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra).   Elise brought a beautiful journal, which we will each sign and leave in the living room… marking the beginning of a stream of artistic gift exchange that will multiply, and bear fruit for each of us, and we trust, for Kingsbrae, St. Andrews, and beyond.  We look forward to being part of the KIRA Alumni.    THANK YOU.

#rogermoorepoet #elisemuller #rubyallan #carloscarty #annewright #KIRA #Kingsbrae #KingsbraeGarden #St. Andrews by the Sea #art residency

[annewrightartist]

Week One:  Careful... Tight... Palette Bright

Entering... unpacking the material I’d brought.  It was a luxury to have been able to pack a car and drive here, rather than economizing on space and size of canvas in air travel.  I work fast.  So I brought twenty 10 x 10 panels, ten 5x5 panels, 2 30 x 30, and 2 30x48.  And, some watercolour paper and cards.  Still, I ran out.  

I started small and tight on watercolour paper and small panels.  Before I came, I’d pressed some spring flowers, because I was coming to Kingsbrae Garden.  These I used in cards and small panels, and, 6 days after arriving, in ten Garden demonstrations with ten groups of 30 children aged 5- 13.  That put me and all of us through our paces.  

#weekone KIRA artresidence St.Andrews