Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Art Museums: Renewal for the Mind's Eye

When I think about renewal, I think of what I can do to give me energy and creative ideas.  In a perfect world, I would live near the beach and go for long walks and look for seashells and interesting stones.  I did that tirelessly as a child and it was an important part of my development as a person  and artist.   Now that I live quite far from the ocean, I have found other means of renewal.  I go to art museums and look at paintings, mostly paintings since the  1850's.  Living as I do, closer to Canadian cultural centers than ones in the US, I often go to the National Gallery in Ottawa or the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal.  Once you enter these great centers you meet the most wonderful Canadian artists, painters especially.  Would I have ever heard of the Canadian Group of Seven, otherwise ?


                                                     Tom Thompson  Autumn Leaves



 Would I have ever seen paintings by the incredible Mark Aurele Fortin?





And how do I turn renewal into art beads?   I find color combinations I had not thought of before 

and paintings of trees that I feast on with my eyes.

I have found that these renewal experiences began working their way into my art work.

 I began carving tree pendant molds



And most recently I made two new molds from carvings and pressed them into stoneware clay, fired them, stained them, fired them again and tumbled them smooth.

I have always liked the expression, "the eye sees before the mind knows."  It seems that leaves, flowers, plants and trees have become my seashells of renewal in adulthood.

17 comments:

  1. OMG when is the pendant with the whirlygigs (third photo up from the bottom) going into the Etsy store? I MUST have it!

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  2. Lovely to get a glimpse into your creative process and be introduced to these Canadian painters.

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  3. I love that you share your inspirations and let us take a look in your designing process.

    And thxs for showing my bracelet in your newsletter. I felt so honored and I'm still in love with it:-)

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  4. I love the idea of your inspiration being interpreted into these pieces. The tumbling and firing of those ideas refines them and makes them a part of you. Well-written, Mary! Thanks for the inspiration today. Enjoy the day! Erin

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  5. Nature is always an excellent source for inspiration!

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  6. I absolutely love the maple seed pendant, I used to peel those open and wear them on my nose as a kid!! Lovely colors and designs. I need to do some museum perusing!! Thanks for the tour.

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  7. Thanks so much Vintage Blue Studio for stopping by and for the great comment. I will let you know when it is in my Etsy Shop.

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  8. Hi LeAnn so glad to be able to share those Canadian painters with anyone who hasn't seen their work before. They are so great.

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  9. Hi Stefani so glad you liked the part in my newsletter about your bracelet.

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  10. Thanks to all of you for commenting on enjoying a look into my creative process. I love to read about others and am pleased that mine was of interest.

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  11. Hi Erin,
    Thanks for your thoughtful comments on my creative process. So glad you stopped by and left me such nice support.

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  12. Mary, your process serves you well - your work is just delightful! I especially like the bead with the maple tree seed pods on them (we used to call them "helicopters" as kids).

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  13. Hi Mary,

    You've put up some great artists there and such rich colors! I can see why you feel renewed through viewing them. Your voice really sings out loud in this post and the resulting beads are the clear crisp notes of a symphony! Bravo!

    I'm particularly enamoured of the maple wings - just scrumptious!

    Cindy

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  14. I love being inspired by art. Thanks for sharing those wonderful paintings.

    I am a sucker for tree pendants. Seriously. I can't stop buying them. I'm lucky artists like you keep making them so I can get my regular tree pendant fix. :)

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  15. I need to have that pendant, too (whirlygigs). It's exquisite! When will it be available for purchase?

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  16. Wow! You were truly inspired. The whirlygig pendant is wonderful! It makes me wonder who the lucky person was/is that wound up with that one.

    And will there be more? :-)

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  17. I will get some more of the Maple Wings pendants made and let those of you who inquired when they are ready. Thanks so for the comments about them.

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