Overlooked Gems

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” –Andy Warhol

Artists paint - a lot. We use a lot of paint, a lot of canvases or paper, a lot of time and it takes up a lot of space. I imagine that acrylic and oil painters will have stacks of canvases in various states of completion lining walls of their studio. As a watercolour artist I have piles of paper paintings - some finished and some awaiting final inspiration on shelves, and in boxes under my painting desk. Once in a while I invest in frames, choose some favourites and hang them on a wall - but even then, there isn't enough wall space in my home because I keep painting.

So I decided to get my art out into the world - or at least into my little world of Tumbler Ridge. So I chose some of my paintings, some that had been calling to be framed and some that were quietly waiting their turn, invested in framing them and and headed out to visit the local restaurants owners.

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

I am so amazed by the people in this community. My paintings received a wonderful reception and are now hanging in two of the restaurants in Tumbler Ridge - North Star Cafe and 242 Brew Western Steakhouse. It's amazing how a frame changes the presence of a painting. I normally publish the picture alone. However, when I was asked for yet more paintings for the walls of these restaurants, I started sending them pictures of the framed art. And it struck me then how some of what I considered my lesser paintings were actually hidden gems, overlooked in the piles of paper stacked in home.

I realized I needed to have some kind of information about myself and paintings and started reading over my blogs and posts. Turns out that these gems were not yet published! What? They were certainly overlooked, yet these are not doodles, but actual paintings that took time to create - so I am making the unknown know right now.

Hidden in the Shadows

I fell in love with the image above taken by Agto Nugroho and shared on Unsplash. In the original (you can see here) the entire image is black and the owl is partially visible. I imagined that he was siting in a tree his shadow and the trees merging in the darkness and painted with that in mind. I took the picture of it, set it aside and finally decided to frame it. This little gem is now living at the Western Steakhouse. Next time I head out that way for dinner I am going to take a picture of it fully framed and dressed for the world to see.

“Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

Ah Snap! I called this post Hidden Gems, yet I have realized I haven't treated my own gems with the respect they deserve, setting them in aluminum instead of platinum. I guess I should have listened better to some of my paintings before I choose a frame for them.

On one hand I have paid for the expense of a custom frame for a favourite image, then on the other I realized just how sad my paintings look when put into a soft plexiglass cheap frame (see below). Ah well, my paintings may be princes and gems but I am a artist, thus this poor bear painting is screaming to be reframed. Until then, it's available to see in person at North Star Catering in Tumbler Ridge.