My art studio experienced numerous changes in 2022. First of all: the move which started with packing already in February. By the middle of March, I started adapting and adjusting the available space for art studio needs. By any means, it wasn’t easy. It’s needless to say that neither painting, nor art classes couldn’t start until May, I believe. If you have ever packed up and then unpacked a large art studio with numerous artworks and countless tools, brushes, paint tubes and paint sets, papers of all kinds and so forth, you probably know that it is a very complex undertaking.
I paint spring during winter months, and 2022 was no exception. It is very inspiring and self-explanatory for me to go with the change of seasons, except, I am trying to be always ahead. The adjusted and new spring paintings were published in February. Trillium blooms are fantastic subject, and white color on its own makes painting alive.
The first painting I painted in the new studio was a fairly large early spring landscape (above) with lots of trees. I do love trees, I watch them, observe and to me they feel like live beings. I frequently use textures on canvas for more impact and strong statement. The horizontal Apple tree landscape was also finished soon.
I moved to garden and abstracted landscape paintings afterwards. That was done because of art classes and since every class needs a demo, I bring to finished stage some of them. That is how Colors of garden and Colors of summer came to life.
Summer flew by swiftly, working in the garden and giving numerous private classes in drawing. Teaching drawing isn’t easy also since regardless of what I explain and how much I show, it is the student who moves their hand with pencil. I haven’t taken photos of all drawings and sketches, but there were numerous, and we do large drawings in order to reveal all important aspects.
I took new photos of previous paintings, and some have never been published before. I find that only featured image on WordPress is sharp and correct while the images contained within the post look somewhat off. Anyway, numerous pictures were taken and lots of hours spent on making them look like the real painting.
Then came preparations for my 5-week long solo art show at Ajax Community Centre. Any show means work and feeling not good sort of interfered with that. Anyway, some art required touch-up and more layers of protective medium and some art was painted specifically for the fall show. Two times this year, my step-by-step demonstrations ran in the magazine which is devoted to art in the Greater Toronto Area. My art studio is doing fine, but not enough.
This year was complicated in many regards. It’s impossible to say whether good or bad. I still need to do better next year. While I have created many new paintings in acrylic watercolor, ink and graphite, I will try to incorporate myself more into the local community, gain more attention and be more present on the art scene. My art studio is set up now, and everything has found its place. Well, all it takes is more work, more motivation and simply – more luck and opportunity.
Wishing everybody a successful and pleasant New Year! I hope it won’t disappoint.