Wasaga Beach Horizon


Last week I was having a conversation about places and times and the world became a little smaller. Every once in a while this seems to happen, just out of the blue at the least expected moments.


I had grown up in Ontario as you will know from earlier posts and our family was lucky enough to share a small cottage with relatives at Wasaga Beach for a few weeks in the summer. 

Wasaga Beach remains a destination for many people in southern Ontario, as it was then. It is a magical place. There is so much sand everywhere and the shallow waters of the bay combined with onshore breezes make a watery playground to good to be true.


Anyways, my host builds scale ship models and I recognized one as a laker. A laker is a long thin bulk carrier ship. They travel the waters of the Great Lakes moving all forms of cargo and have the long narrow hull to allow passage through the canal system. When I commented on the model he said he had spent time aboard lakers on the waters of the great lakes. Our conversation shifted through the here and now to a time when I was a young boy. It turns out he could have been one of the crew on the ships I watched.In my mind, I found myself, once again, standing on the shore of Wasaga Beach, looking out to the ships moving across the horizon. I began to wonder about my connection to the horizon which was the edge of the world.


In the constructed world of the artist I am aware that in one point perspective, the vanishing point for objects would lie on the horizon but more than that the horizon also holds our expectations, our fears and desires. We can move towards the horizon but never arrive. As a place the horizon is always just out of reach.









Art Value

Have you heard the one about free market traders using the dollar as a measure of value. They say everything has a price in dollars and cents. 
Art is no exception.


I wonder whether we could find a measure for art not expressed in terms of dollars alone. I know this is not a new idea.

Art is amazing. A creative phenomenon that holds the power to unite dissimilar objects and people. 

To turn ideas around, consider viewpoints and to move you through space. 
Can you put a price on time travel?


Art as creative enterprise has the power and strengthen individuals and communities. So is the value of art in the making or the viewing?
 I think the answer is both.


So how can we measure the value of art?
This is well documented territory.

It should be easy.



Between the Lines

Last weekend conversation turned to quality in art making. 
I listened like a good host.


Before long there were questions about colouring between the lines. 
It was noted that some artists coloured very neatly and between the lines 
while others never felt that necessary or desirable. 


It seemed the room was divided on the subject after that.

My thoughts turned to expectations and motivations and how artists 
overcome fears that accompany art making. 


Working from different points but with common motivation. 
Working from the heart creating work worth consideration. 
I didn't see a problem. It reminded me of the story Blind Men and the Elephant

Painting in Nova Scotia

As I noted in an earlier post some of my first experiences with art and landscape involved painting on site. I can say that my feelings for the practice have only strengthened with time and that Nova Scotia has offered many opportunities to engage this passion.

One of the beauties of Nova Scotia is size. It is a small province by comparison and as such on any given day an image could include landscape, seascape, people or architecture. It could even include any or all of the above.

Subject matter is readily accessible if you use things you know and 
we are lucky enough to have a rich environment surrounded by beaches and rocky shores that provide stimulating subject matter close at hand.

Once you get outside the work really gets started.

It all looks so easy when it's done and the creation formula, 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, is behind you. Which opens the door to enjoy the day and make another painting.