Moments Of Upside Down

Image via Dance.net

There are moments of feeling upside down. I suppose everyone has them  - a pregnant pause behind the cusp of topsy-turvy. It's like a dance - pushing, pulling, stillness, movement, gestures for the sake of a bigger picture of beauty.

I've always loved the ballet. To me it is a moving world of make belief but more profoundly a powerfully expressive dedication to one's craft and art. Dancers are intrinsically athletes - the movement of their body is both sport and art. I think that's beautiful - that one would train to create a work of beauty.

There's something humbling about giving yourself over to your art so wholeheartedly that it becomes a personal devotion.  It's a kind of love story.

Moments of light and dark, ease and challenges, questions that bring you deeper into you art, walls that seem impossible to crumble.

And sometimes, when you least expect it there is immeasurable grace, a guiding hand that leads you into the beauty you aspired to create, a favour that turns the world right when it was before upside down.

Tiny Treasures & Fall

What a brisk week it was, filled with early mornings with slow sunrises, bright sparkling rays of sunlight and clear skies. Truth be told I like the juxtaposition of summer turning into fall.

My favourite trees going from green to emerald shades of orange and yellow, and little forest-like creatures that pop across my path on evening walks. These are life's tiny treasures as I like to call them. Seemingly small things that swell my heart with joy and feed my soul with the fullness of beauty and blessings all around me.

I met this brown bunny the other day while bustling along from home to my favourite coffee shop where I ordered a pumpkin treat as mentioned here . . .  pumpkin treats are also another tiny treasure especially for fall.

So anyway Mr. Brown Bunny - typically one of four decided to humour me long enough for a photo and so I snapped him in various scenes of repose because that's what blogger do. Our nifty camera phones are never too far away, always poised for that snippet of daily life ready to be shared on our online spaces.

I wryly smile to myself as I write this post because taking this picture of Mr. Brown Bunny (and I should mention that we've crossed paths before only he cleverly dodged my former photographic attempts) reminded me that when we sometimes least expect it, one seemingly tiny thing in our lives can stand still, can emerge long enough for us to embrace it and receive the blessings and miracles therein.

An inspiring thought for a happy weekend I think! See you Monday.

Bella's Daybook: In The Atelier

My motivation for studying art was purely serendipitous or perhaps practical, depending on whom you may ask. I'd found myself in the midst of a major life transition with the resounding knowing in my heart that I wanted to truly follow it and share beauty with others. The serendipity began when all manner of coincidences, signs and wonders aligned themselves to guide me to make the leap, and so I did. From a hot climate to blurry winter, from making illustrations in my tiny home, corner office to working in an atelier. I was determined to learn the techniques of the old masters such as Bouguereau and my experiences in the atelier shaped my work ethic as an artist. In older days, being an artist was every bit esteemed as being a steward of science and truthfully mastering old master drawing and painting technique is a science in and of itself. People are suprised when I tell them that we study anatomy, perspective and other marvels such as the Golden Rule, all in an effort to create a work of art that is aesthetically pleasing and in adherence to classical ideals.

We begin our training with making copies of Bargue Plates (from the flat). These exercises begin a rigorous programme of developing the eye and an understanding of light, form and shadow.

This is followed by exercises in working from the round, in a more challenging medium - vine charcoal as opposed to graphite. At this stage we make copies after plaster casts and once again the objective is to refine the eye and expand the artists repertoire of measurement techniques. Besides working through exercises in Bargue copies and cast drawing, students also work from the live model. Here's one of my earlier drawings done in conte:

After drawing technique is established, we begin painting using a limited colour palette. The objective here is to establish a thorough understanding of colour and value in paint, in addition to the challenges of working with the paint medium. I'm currently working on the a copy of the cast below and in the upcoming weeks I'll be sharing updates about its process and progress: