"Fernwood & Around" by Al Williams

Y'all come out to Uncle Al's show, y'hear?

I've really come to appreciate Al's art over the few months I've known him. I would describe his work as clean, fresh, hard-edged and linear. His sense of composition, structure and balance is impeccable, which I deeply admire. He's a contemporary West Coast Artist, and a cool guy to hang out with, too.

Opening this Friday, 7:00 pm at Collective Works, 1311 Gladstone.

You can check his website here.

Iconography!

I just can't resist posting this, it being Sunday and all:


"We are the Knights of the Lost Queen, Companions to the Beloved: She of red egg and alabaster jar. The Alchemists and Kabalists, the Witches and Magicians are of us. We are the keepers of a Flame far older than the world and we seek it out where we may find it, and breathe it to life with our wit, our humility, our art, and our joy."
- Anthem of the Exiled Princes

"Yet among the mature we do speak of Sophia, though it is not the Sophia of this Aeon or of the Archons, who are doomed to perish. But we speak of the Holy Sophia, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the Aeons for our glory. None of the Archons understood this."
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

I wish the above image better reflected the gravity of those words. But that is the way it came out. Was cleaning up the studio/ office/ flat the other day and came across this old project, started many months ago. A cute girl I used to know modelled for it. It came out kinda Japanese-looking face, and as solid as a matryoshka doll. Not very Byzantine, anyway ;) It's all good. So, gonna get me a big old gnarly gilt frame for this one and hang it in the hall.

Brown House, Fernwood

And now, one of the finest paintings I have done to date:

Brown House, Fernwood 16 X 20" 2008
Yes, it really is brown, but all the blues and violets make it look yellow or orange. OK, I guess it is kinda yellowish. I did, though, muddy the tube yellow with considerable amounts of violet to dull it down.

Extremely gratified with this piece, especially the strict composition with it's rigid framework of horizontals, verticals and diagonals, subtle colour harmonies and sensitive modulations, and overall dry, gritty, matte paint quality.

Because the camera loses so much, I took the trouble of scanning the thing in so I could present the painted surface--and the colours-- a little more accurately.

Here, I think I successfully represented the "twiggy-ness" of overgrown and leafless bushes without having to paint every twig, and the glare of the winter sky with some wet-into-wet paint application. I was heavily inspired by both Cezanne and Pissarro in the handling of the bush/ wall interface, as you can see.

Mmmm, candy! Love those coppery/ mauvey modulations.

All the planes in this piece--maybe even the roof planes--have been aligned with the picture plane (that is, the 2-D actual painted surface). This gives the painting a monumentality and static gravity, in spite of its relatively small size. It holds the wall.

More of the same, please!!

N

Posting Some New Work, Finally

Road To The Sky 16X 20" 2008
Another painting from my jaunt down the Douglas Lake Road 10 years ago. Not sure about this one.... Maybe a better photo that a painting? The only challenging part was beating the bank at the left into some semblance of order. It always amazes me that the simplest things are the most difficult--like in life, I guess.

Farm in Delta 16 X 20" 2008
I took this shot on the back way to Tsawwassen, riding along the dike--feeling very Dutch! The sun had just started to break through after a morning of rain. I had spent the weekend with Dan and Erin at their cabin on Harrison Lake (see posts from last fall), and had stayed the night with Cousin Nancy and her family. Nancy has a great sense of navigation, and it was she who tipped me off to the possibility of a bike trail around the Hwy 91/ Hwy 10 interchange. So I saved myself some stress and got some cool pix in, thanks to her!

I'm pretty happy with this little piece, especially because I painted the sky in one straight go, the tones are true, and the colour is subtly creative. There is a lot more to the composition than meets the eye at first glance, too. I had to make very few corrections overall, and had some really nifty things take place, just by letting them happen. Notice the two shallow diagonals on the left (one in the sky and one in the field). Also notice the compression formed by the curves in the bottom of the clouds and the curves of the brambles.... It seems to have the sense of depth I was looking for, while still respecting the flatness of the picture plane. Depth is created here by overlapping planes and by diagonal lines once again. The pale blues of the barns push them back into space, but the warm, strong adjacent touches bring them back into plane again. So there is a tension between depth and flatness, although maybe depth finally wins out.

Also, some psychology going on, almost behind my back. Hint: I've always wanted to own land. Forever out of reach, I guess.

Birthday Potluck at the Cafe

Best birthday ever. The big treat was to have all my core group in one room, all talking to each other!! Love you guys. The music was awesome!! The food was too--and only one of my pies got eaten, so I had the other whole one to take home for myself :)


Cousin Nancy came over with her two daughters--and grand-daughter--from Langley, which was really nice. Mike and Ray were there as well, so there was 4 of us cousins. How cool is that!?


Some of my friends have already posted photos on their Facebook pages, but here are a few great shots taken my Miriam Mulhall, wife and mother of the musicians.

Extra special thanks must go to Julian and Blair for the tunes which held us spellbound, Howie for all the very kind logistical support, extra dishes and flat out good vibes. Also to Tammy and Joji for the help with setup, and of course, Miriam for the photos!


And thanks to all who came, brought food, hung out helped with the cleanup and celebrated with me. And thank you all for the kind words on my art.

I can't imagine my life without my friends, and luckily, I don't have to. I sometimes think that my freinds are my greatest asset. They probably are.

I will be posting some new paintings here when I get the chance, which hopefully will be before I leave on a hike of the Juan de Fuca Trail with a friend.


And (huge sigh of relief) the day-job may be sorting itself out in a way that is very suitable to me and my career in art. This is a blessing as well.

What More in the Name of Love?

Remember the good Doctor, and all those who fight for justice.

Through Clear Air, April 1-30

At the Cornerstone Cafe, 1301 Gladstone Avenue.

Final Hang List:

• Corner of a Sunset 7 X 16”; 1996; $250.00
• Hay and Sky 15½ X 17½”; 1997; $495.00
• Cattle Country—Wolf Ranch 11 X 13½”; 1997; $375.00
• Broken Tree, Botany Bay 14 X 18”; 2006; SOLD
• Christ Church Cathedral 18 X 24”; 2007; $550.00
• Evening, Gonzales Bay 18 X 24”; 2007; $550.00
• Evening, Willows Beach 14 x 18”; 2007; $425.00
• Dark Shore Tonquin Beach 14 X 18”; 2007; $425.00
• Freighter 14 X 18” 2007; $425.00
• Squally Weather, Harrison Lake 11 X 14”; 2007; $350.00
• Bend in the Road, Douglas Lake 18 X 24”; 2008; $550.00 SOLD
  

Big Pine, Douglas Lake

"Big Pine, Douglas Lake" 18 X 24"

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I have actually been able to get some painting done, even with all the stupid busy-ness around the dayjob, going to openings, trying to start training, being tired, and dating some nice women and stuff.

Hey, let's not forget to paint, now.

So here's the latest. Also from the same bike-blast out to the Nicola region I did ten years ago. This is just up the road from "Bend in the Road, Douglas Lake". I seriously doubt that this tree is still standing, and if it is, it will be dead as a doornail, because of the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Sad to think that my beautiful art is archival, documenting a dying planet. I never wanted it this way.....

I'll post a full compositional breakdown, self-absorbed technical bullshit blurb up here when I get back from the Conference next week. But for now, enjoy the pic. I have something important to do with the last few hours of my weekend--paint!

Be Blessed, All,
N

Another One Sold.

Well, today was a good day. I got the cheque for "Beached Logs, Harrison Lake" (thanks Brian!), and then got a call from Anne at Collective Works saying that the actual owner of the Orange House, had come in and put a down payment on "Orange House, Fernwood". Well, well. I had remarked to someone that it would be cool if the owner of the house would come in and buy it! The house is only, maybe five blocks away, so the odds were good.


Well, this little gem has found a place in quite a few people's hearts in the time it has hung, so I am glad it is now going to a home where it will be treasured.

A big part of the buzz for me has been that, not only have I been able to sell much more easily than I dreamed possible, and that I am getting respectable prices for my work, but that they are going to "appropriate" people. I mean, when I send my children out into the world, I want them to be properly loved and cared for. Sentimental I know, but it is important to me.

I know these pieces will remain on your walls for many years to come, emitting a powerful sense of calm, joy, and hope. And thank you so much for giving me the chance to actually get paid for doing what I was born to do--which is, sharing this good, solid energy with others. I am deeply honoured.

N.

Photo by Miriam Hulhall, our Treasurer.

Gallery Hours

We now have hours set for the Collective Works Gallery, which are:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays:
11:00am-6:00pm
Fridays and Saturdays:
11:00am-8:00pm
Mondays:
closed

This is what we’ve decided to start with for now. We will gage things as we go along in terms of traffic trends through the week, weekends, etc. Also, we would like to appeal to the Belfry Theater crowd so we will also keep tabs on that to see when plays are on and such.

Collective Works Gallery is Here

Well dudes and dudettes, was the show a success or what?! For a while there, it was so packed it took a few minutes and quite a few 'Scuse Mes' just to get to the back to get more wine.

And speaking of wine, I vote the bottle of Uncle Al Williams' blackberry wine "Best in Show". I did find my own way home though--just not in a straight line.

At peak time, there must have been about 70 people there--but it felt like 300. It was super-encouraging to see this level of turnout. Huge kudos, props and resounding, hand smarting hi-fives to Anne, Miriam, Sean and all the rest of the unflinchingly dedicated volunteers who pulled this off. We are HERE.

It was huge for me to connect with my peers and collegues. I learnt a lot, talked a lot, and really connected a lot. I hope the freindships I made Friday night will last the rest of my life.

Thanks so much to Joji, Tammy, Cousin Mike, Ruthie, and those cool people Tammy invited (whose names I've forgotten) for coming out to look at the stuff. Love you guys one and all.

An interesting note is that I caught Joji and Tammy looking at my paintings in the photo above. I didn't know they were in the room at the time! And Mike--that was a nice surprise, man.

It was great that there was another piece sold before the show opened, besides my "Beached Logs." Oh, and speaking of selling--"Rising Cloud, Harrison Lake" is now SOLD to my good friend Dan C. I will be very honoured to have one of my canvases hanging in his home.

One of my very best pieces. I am so stoked that Dan has this one, because I know he totally "gets it". What Dr. MacCallum was to Tom Thomson, Dan is to me, in a way. He's the one with the cabin way up on Harrison Lake, and, thanks to his kindness and generosity, I am able to really get out there and look around and feed my creativity with the raw fuel of art--which is Nature.

And now, just for fun a drawing of a Renaissance jam-session. Veronese on fiddle, Titian on bass. I took this drawing from a detail of Paolo Veronese's "Wedding at Cana" from 1563. It is in a book my good freind and sister Roo gave me for Christmas.

The Old Masters rock, eh :) I'm telling you, there is nothing about painting they didn't know. Even abstract artists can learn from them. Mark Rothko did! He made several trips to Itally just to do that.

And, I have another painting of the Douglas Lake area coming down--just slapped on the underdrawing this morning. It will be unique, and I hope, quite eye-catching--although I will not have much time to paint in the next month and a half or so. We'll see.

Very Best to All,
N

Come on Down to the Show, Yo.

"Stilled" is happening at Collective Works Gallery, the first show of the Gallery, and the first proper group showing of my work. Collective Works is run by and for artists,and you can find our website here.

So come on down to the place this Friday, Feb. 15th, at 7:00 pm for the opening. There'll be the usual wine and snacks, and all the artists on hand to meet and network with. There will be a very broad spectrum of talent there; lots to look at!

The Collective Works Gallery is at 1311 Gladstone Ave. within yards of the Belfry Theater, Fernwood Inn, and The Cornerstone Cafe. You can find a map here.

I will be so delighted to see you there, so come on out to support me and this exciting new cultural initiative in Victoria. This may also be your last chance to purchase "Beached Logs, Harrison Lake" and "Orange House, Fernwood", if you are interested in either. They are my most popular works, and I am offering them both at the lowest possible price(includes the custom frames).

See you Friday night!

>>> As I was posting this reminder out, I got an email from a buyer. "Beached Logs, Harrison Lake" is SOLD to Brian H. This is one of my strongest pieces. It's going to a good home, and I am very happy about that--in addition to selling another piece of course! It'll still be on display there until the show closes March 6th.

Closing the Circle

Well, I was digging around in the closet the other day, binning some old photos and generally trying to lighten my load, and I came across these pics, taken on my old 35mm compact. A couple of beauties from a bike blast I did through Cache Creek, Merritt and Douglas Lake, back in, say '97. Of course, my ever vigilant eye saw possible paintings--I mean, that is why I took these photos, but had forgotten about them. So I'll be working up a series over the coming months. I have some perfectly iconic images here.

So I got busy last Saturday on this one, and managed to finish it last night. The surface quality and colours are very similar to what I was painting like at that time 10 years ago, and of course, so is the subject matter. This is very gratifying, since I have been longing to return to those days, both aesthetically and technically.

"Bend in the Road, Douglas Lake" 18 X 24"

A few small touch-ups to go, though, and maybe I need to wrangle the clouds a bit, but finished enough to post here. This was shot in indirect natural light, out on the balcony.

I finally got my priming (gesso) situation sorted out now, and that has helped immensely, returning a bit of the old delicacy to things. Also very happy that my 3-colour system can perfectly match what I was doing with the 10-12 colour palette I was using back then.

End of the first session, shot on the easel.

My palette, squeezed out. I like to start nice and neat, 'cause things tend to get messy fast. Even though my system depends so much on mixing, I am pretty concerned with keeping my colours pure... .

The same palette after 5 hours of battle. You can see the crossover I do between green and brown. That area just back of the thumb-hole is for those mixes and gradient colours. I keep the top row for the pure primaries and secondaries.

Upcoming Shows

People, I am absolutely delighted to announce that I have upcoming shows in great venues:

• "Stilled" Feb. 15th. Group Show, Collective Works Gallery, 1311 Gladstone Ave.
• "Through Clear Air; Landscapes 1997--2007", April 1--April 30th. Cornerstone Cafe, 1301 Gladstone Ave.
  
• "Illuminations" at Collective Works Gallery, running from April 18th--May 8th.
• Solo Show, Pandora Arts Collective, Month of July, #10-1921 Fernwood Rd.(Details TBA)

I am absolutely stoked to be a part of the Collective Works Artists' Association, the not-for-profit group I have recently joined in Fernwood (my neighbourhood of Greater Victoria).

Collective Works Gallery
1311 Gladstone Ave.
Box 5079
Victoria, BC.
V8R-6N3

For a map, click here.

This is a very cool and innovative endeavour by and for artists right in Fernwood, Victoria's Latin Quarter, the Montmartre of the West Coast, a hotbed of creativity, culture, and community values. This is where I'm digging in, folks. Artists, if you are reading this, join up!


For the Feb. 15th show, these 2 pieces have been accepted. If you wanted to buy them, you may be too late, sorry, as they may no longer be around after the show. Of course, you can still buy them if you come to the show, but then you will have to pay the show price as listed. But "Beached Logs, Harrison Lake" will have a custom frame by Greg Snead, so the frame alone is a $180 value right there.
"Orange House, Fernwood" 10X12" Oil on Board. $195.00.
Hoping for some local sales! The house is on Grant St. actually.....


"Beached Logs, Harrison Lake" 18X24" Oil on Canvas. $475.00.

Please come out to look, even if you don't buy. You can always look--and there will be lots to see. It's a bit strange that I have had very few sales to family and friends, even though everyone raves about my work. That is the way my career is supposed to work; selling to family/ friends at a discount. Oh well. When these peices gone, they're gone. We'll soon see if "the art-buying public" are actually out there, chequebooks in hand, or whether they are just another urban myth (like alligators in sewers, or what-have-you).

See you there!

Hangin' With the Pros

Like a custom suit or dress may make someone feel more professional, successful or self-confident, so too the custom frame.

Professional artist and framer, Greg Snead, who lives close to me here on Hillside, will be getting all my business from now on. The quality of his framing, his great service, and his kind mentoring have already been important to me, and is helping me put my best foot forward for my upcoming shows.

Tastefully chosen stock (I let him) and perfect mitres make me feel like I stole this piece from the National Gallery or something! I'm kinda shocked to see a frame this nice around one of my pieces.

The back of the piece, with the paper cover "to keep bugs out" as Greg says. It looks professional on the back now, too.















Plastic coated heavy-gauge wire, and the usual screw-eye replaced with a two-screw plate ensures that your picture will still be on the wall if The Big One finally hits the Left Coast here. The picture will last as long as the wall does......
















And these little plastic thingies will keep the bottom edge of the frame from marking the wall during the inevitable aftershocks.

Seriously, this level of workmanship and attention to detail is a revelation, and a nice match for the artwork. I am stoked to offer Greg Snead's frames for sale with my work.