Eramosa paintings

[vaneramos]

ruralrob's post yesterday, with its images of watchful horses in muddy fields, inspired me to wander far afield Wednesday morning in search of similar late winter vistas. The most interesting subject matter, however, appeared upon the return to my own backyard, or back pond rather. Two notable Guelph artists, Laura Coots and Scott Abbott, had decided to make the best of this mild weather. You can see my own Old Man Willow in Laura's painting.



Burly, bearded Scott appears behind the cut.



I needn't have walked so far for these pictures. The hike exerted me because the melting trails have lost their hard-packed surfaces. I found no muddy fields or ephemeral ponds. In fact my findings accentuated the fact that Guelph received more snow this year than the easterly regions inhabited by Rob and Meirion emjaybaxter. Much of this fell in the January 27 storm.

One more image:



Outside the city limits, no mud and no pretty horses.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Ian. It's austerity is compelling and evocative of Ontario in winter. The coldness is an illusion, though. Same with the pictures of the two artists. The temperature yesterday was around 7°C. That probably sounds cold, but to us it was balmy.

[mylastsigh.livejournal.com]

love these so much!!!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Bruce. It made me happy, too, to see them working.

[art-thirst.livejournal.com]

Scott seems to have a better idea using gloves. My fingers would be too stiff to control a brush well enough to paint or draw although, I haven't done a painting since 1998-9. I love watercolor and plan on doing some next week during spring break but, painting on canvas I haven't done since the 70s. The last paintings I did were on wood, both using mixed media (encaustic for one, acrylic and tar for another, then several watercolors). I did some "finger paintings" in grad school where I smeared paper with iron oxide colored mud I gathered in Minnesota and added some black figures in acrylic. These were based on black figure Greek pottery only using slavery imagery or more contemporary, construction workers. I enjoyed doing those a lot and, I find the oxide color important for me on several levels, one of them being related to the Yoruba orisha, or saint, Ogun, who is the great Blacksmith of Heaven (in the Yoruba traditional religion).

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The snow makes it look colder than it was. Yesterday was relatively mild. I was running around outside taking pictures with naked hands for about 90 minutes without discomfort. Of course I've been conditioned by a few days this winter with temperatures 30 degrees colder than this.

Your paintings sound fascinating. I would love to see them.

[art-thirst.livejournal.com]

I'll have to get them out and take some photos for you all over spring break.

[ruralrob.livejournal.com]

Interesting that although we've probably been a few degrees warmer, your location has meant that you've had much more snow. Ours is very patchy now.

It's been great light for photoghraphy these past few days though - and for oil painting by the look of it. Nice find.

I went back to the horses yesterday as that spot is such a gem right now. For the first time ever I think, I took pains with my photos and stayed quite a while waiting for right moments to come along - I'm usually on the run - and was pleased with the results. I guess there's a lesson there, i.e don't rush things. Did the same thing with a herd of cows a little further up the road and again got good results. I'll post some tomorrow.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Your area is colder but more stable. We get more storms because we're in the shadow of Lake Huron.

Does your area ever get tornadoes in the summer? I think our weather is less stable in summer, too. London to Barrie seems to be Ontario's tornado alley, and Guelph is squarely in the middle. What a spectacle that would be to photograph! Storms seem to get more frequent moving west. Leamington, near where I grew up, is called Canada's thunderstorm capital (or maybe it's Ontario's, but doubt if many places in Canada could rival it).

I notice that with my camera I'm always click-click-clicking and never take as much time as I should to be still and observe patiently. To me, as a nature writer, this is a fault. The camera also narrows our focus. I should leave it at home once in a while, but every day when I go out I'm anxious to be able to record everything I see. I'm sure you know the feeling.

Regardless of what I might miss, my obsession with photography since last spring has given me a greater sense of continuity and memory, enhancing my experience of nature.

[rfmcdpei.livejournal.com]

Here in Kingston, I've found it absurdly warm here. Wonderful to look at, of course. Mon pays, ce n'est plus mon pays, ce n'est pas l'hiver, to tackle Vigneault.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Are you a winter lover?

[artricia.livejournal.com]

That last picture is devasting. It reminds me of a desert scape -- not the ones with the cacti and coyotes and mesas, but the ones you see in movies about Arabia, where you're just not sure that the hero will make it across.

The blue in Scott's painting and the rich colors on his palette are startling and really comment on the nature of art's relation to its subject.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

What illusions cameras weave! It's ironic that one of the most starkly wintery images I took all season was snapped on a balmy day with the snow melting! It's also interesting how several people commented on how uncomfortable it must be to paint in such cold, when the reality was it was a balmy day, comfortable for standing outside in a coat for long periods. Here I am carrying further the discussion of art and its subject.