The Stark Beauty of Spring: Whitehorse

"Some say it’s a fine land to shun;

Maybe; but there’s some as would trade it

For no land on earth — and I'm one."

~Robert Service, The Spell Of The Yukon

Time spent in solitude, especially in northern climes, invites introspection. It makes you cherish those distant connections with friends and family even more, yet also opens you up to new possibilities of adventure. In fact, travel inherently is paradoxical: you pull your past along with you while also forging ahead into new landscapes. The weight of the past may be light or heavy, depending on your relationships. Some seek to cut the rope that holds those memories behind them as they climb, run, hike away into new valleys of experience. However the trick, I think, is to keep your loved ones in your heart, trusting that you will return to them after your sojourn away from them. And perhaps, just maybe, leaving them for a time brings your closer to them in the end.

The view from my room in Whitehorse

I am going to try to blog more frequently up here in Whitehorse as I have less distraction than when I am in Ontario, and the rhythm of my days is much different. The Yukon is so vast, it is comforting to know that there are less than 40,000 people here in the entire province!

Glacial water has that luminescent blue hue that is sublime..

A view of Whitehorse

I wanted to post some new photos that I have taken of the surrounding area on a small tour with my friend Ian. His cats are warming up to me and I have included a photo of my latest painting subject, the lovely and convivial Pumpkin. Ian informed me last night that he had briefly considered naming her "Grendel's Mother", which is a FABULOUS name. Perhaps that can be her middle name. Certainly she has a better temperament than Grendel's Mother :)

So today I shall think about our own unique histories, for each is as individual as a fingerprint. Revisit what you might have put aside or neglected or turned away from. Our past shapes our future, of that I am certain.

The lovely and incomparable Pumpkin (aka Grendel's Mother)

The Yukon River, which I have not seen since I was in Alaska two years ago near

Fort Yukon on the Dalton Highway

Have a beautiful day :)

Heather

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment." -Hilaire Belloc

Thoughts On Exploration: British Columbia and The Yukon

A view from the ferry, en route to Vancouver Island....

“How badly I want that nameless thing! First there must be an idea, a feeling... Maybe it was an abstract idea that you've got to find a symbol for, or maybe it was a concrete form that you have to simplify or distort to meet your ends, but that starting point must pervade the whole.” ~Emily Carr

There's nothing like waking up with the sun in your eyes, and I mean that in a good way. Waking up with the sun in your eyes in a new city is even better...in this case it is Whitehorse in the Yukon. I am here "on assignment" for the next month and if this morning is any indication, it is going to be one heck of a beautiful month.

I arrived late last night from Vancouver, where I have spent the last week. I also ferried over to Duncan on Vancouver Island to see my friend Anne. It has been two years since we have spent time together and it was such a pleasure to see her and her family once again.

Cherry blossoms were out all over Vancouver, lining the streets in pink petals.

I'll try to keep my rhapsodizing about the Western Canada to a minimum here but each time I visit I fall more and more in love with this side of the country. Maybe it isn't the West, but the coast, as I the east coast of Canada has it's quality of unparalleled beauty.

The mountain trail that I ran/walked each day I was in Duncan..

The intent of this five week journey is multi-faceted. To reunite with friends, to paint, to write and to shoot reference for future paintings. I have three commissions lined up, and this is a lovely part of being a painter...you are creating something special for friends and clients, something they will always have and that is unique to their lives and history. It is their vision, and as creatives we are a conduit to making that happen. The best commissions are the ones where the clients give me carte blanche. They say, here is the subject, I trust your vision. Do what you do. How liberating! Nothing beats that feeling.

The view down from Mount Tzouhalem, the mountain that Anne lives on...

Looking up while on a walk through the forest...intoxicating...

The weather in Vancouver was cool and refreshing. It was wonderful to revisit the neighbourhoods that I enjoy so much: Kitsilano and the West End. I took the ferry over to Nanaimo and stayed in Duncan for three nights, each day going for a hike or run on the mountain trails behind Anne's house. I remember distinctly going into town with Anne's son and her husband, and sticking my head out the back window to smell the air. It was perfumed with the scent of flowers and spring. It was remarkable...I can see why they say that our sense of smell is most strongly tied to memory.

Nefertiti, one of Ian's lovely cats whose company I will

enjoy very much over the next month..

Now I am in Whitehorse, arriving late last night. I can hardly wait to explore this part of the country...waking up to snow-capped mountains, fresh coffee and the promise of the unknown drives many a person, many an artist, many an explorer. My main objective is to take care of my three feline charges, Nefertiti, Sneggy and Pumpkin. That, along with painting and working on the book about Christopher McCandless will make the four weeks fly by. I am thrilled to be underway in the North... :)

Some of the changing faces of the landscape behind Anne's house in Duncan, BC....

"The only people for me are the mad ones,the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..." -Jack Kerouac

Unforgettable Ankara, Part 2

"All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from

and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm

sure of that, and I intend to end up there."~Rumi

The day after we walked around the beautiful little area of Ulus, older Ankara, Barb, Louise, Vicky and myself took a tour of Cappadocia a very interesting and unique area of Turkey rich in its unusual landscapes, rock formations and history. It turned out to be a 17 hour day as it takes about four hours drive south of Ankara to reach the region. Above you can see dawn coming over the hills with the Turkish flag in the foreground.

I tried to capture the moon with my camera as we sped out of Ankara at 6am

I Loved the play of light over the land as the day began..

Our polite and knowledgeable driver Burhan, who hails from Güzelyurt, a small town in Cappadocia, drove us around the region, stopping at notable places that just took our breath away. It was such a thrill to get out of the big city and into the rural areas of Turkey, where people live a slower life, a very traditional life, a quieter life.

The roads were well maintained and easy to get around to the points that we sought. The benefit of having Burhan with us is that he knew all of the out of the way places and side roads that led to less frequented places.

Old and Young..look at the stories on each of these faces..

Mt. Erciyes, the highest peak in Cappadocia

at 3916 feet is seen in the distance

We arrived in the town of Güzelyurt, which means "Pretty Town" in Turkish and stopped to gave up at the dwellings that had been carved out of the cliffs so long ago. Many are not inhabited anymore but others are...it boggled my mind and humbled me very much to see how simply life can be lived, we just have a habit of surrounding ourselves with too much...

I loved the splash of this woman's

intense blue shirt amongst the rocks and earthy tones

Behind this broken fence I could hear

the clucking of chicken and some goats

We stopped to take photographs of the views and buildings, and, while walking up a rather steep hill, I noticed a woman sweeping out in front of a small iron gate. She beckoned me forward with a big smile and I walked up the hill to try my best to interact with her in a way that we could both understand. I managed to ask her if she would mind if I took her photograph. She shyly agreed. She then beckoned me in Turkish to follow her into her home, which comprised three rooms that had been carved out of the side of a cliff. I was quite astonished and thrilled to see this small, tidy home that she inhabited...it had been whitewashed, neat as a pin, and even had a small pot with little herbs growing from it. It was an intense few minutes as I tried to thank her for allowing me into her home, as well as take in the simplicity of her life, try to imagine if I could do the same, and process all of these thoughts at once.

Such a kind face. Neither of us spoke the other's language but it didn't matter.

Yes, she lives here...she was all smiles and proudly showed me her small, tidy home.

Everything in its right place...

I loved how the light was catching this small plant.

Amidst so much stone, this bit of life shone out..

On we went in the van to some breathtaking landscapes that are not found anywhere else in the world...We took hundreds of photos, photos that never seem to capture the emotion and flavour of the places adequately....but it does convey its essence I think, to a degree. We stopped in an area known for its underground city...yes, the passageways descended down for a total of 8 stories. Sometimes you had to duck and almost crawl to get into the different rooms. There was lighting along the way that helped to keep people from bumping into one another but nonetheless it was certainly close quarters. I know all of this because these facts because they were told to me by Ambassador Bailey who had visited there, as well as an elderly gentleman who offered to guide us through the tunnels. I am a confirmed claustrophobe and thus did not go on the tour..but it sounded pretty amazing....

A lovely Turkish woman at one of the many vendors we passed

This Turkish gentleman spoke perfect english and we chatted with him for a good while.

We moved on from the underground city where we grabbed a bite to eat to some amazing cave dwellings. I think we must have covered several hundred kilometres that day...we didn't return back to the residence until 10:30 at night... a long day but so unforgettable...I will blog more about this amazing day in Cappadocia soon...stay tuned!!

"The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."~Jack London

"Diary Of A Supertramp (Study)"

"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new

experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an

endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new

and different sun."~Christopher McCandless

A study is a small painting or preparatory painting that will later be redone as a larger, more involved piece. "Diary Of A Supertramp", 9"x12", oil on board is a study of a large piece that I have recently started work on.

Christopher McCandless kept a rich and full cache of memories within him. He had many amazing adventures while on his odyssey of self-discovery from 1990-1992. He hitched rides that spanned countless miles of asphalt, he canoed down the Colorado River to the vast stretches of uninhabited coastline by the Sea Of Cortez, he learned the dangerous skill of jumping trains. These experiences, as well as countless other trials all of the mind and body inspired him to record his "greatest adventure" on a belt provided by Ronald Franz, a kind, elderly gentleman that he met in Salton City, California in January 1992.

Chris had given himself the new name of Alexander Supertramp, the pseudonym that he would use in his interactions with many people that he met on his travels. This is why I have titled this painting "Diary Of A Supertramp (study)", because that is how he viewed himself and who he was.

Chris expertly crafted this leather belt with an intricate chronology of his life from July of 1990-April 1992. He carves his friend Wayne's house in South Dakota, his car being flooded in the Detrital Wash near the Grand Canyon, his arrest upon trying to re-enter the United States after spending over a month in Mexico, mountain ranges, wildlife, goals, direction, movement. It is a beautiful work of art in itself. Chris was an artist just like myself or any other creative person who manifests their inward vision outward into the world. His canvas was a leather belt, and you can tell that he put a lot of thought into its design. Unlike a screen on a computer, or even a canvas that you can paint over, he had a finite space, with little margin for error. When I first saw Chris's belt I knew I had to paint it. His photographs affected me the same way. There is a weight to them, a beautiful and expressive weight, and the belt is another part of the equation that makes up the moving and powerful pieces of art that he left behind.

"Diary Of A Supertramp (Study)" is currently available at Abbozzo Gallery in Oakville, Ontario. It is a small section of the entire belt that I am now painting. The larger painting is six feet long, on a 2 by 4 actually. I thought Chris would appreciate the economy in procuring the lumber that would comprise the surface for the large painting:) This small study as well as the full belt painting are going to be available as a part of a body of work inspired by Chris's life and travels in June 2011 at Abbozzo Gallery in Oakville, Ontario. The show runs from June 3-18th! Here is a link: 

I will have a selection of new paintings which will be displayed in conjunction with paintings inspired by the life and travels of Christopher McCandless. Christopher's story was the subject of John Krakauer's book "Into The Wild", and the film "Into The Wild" directed by  Sean Penn. The exhibition will have its opening reception on June 3rd from 7-10pm. I will also be at the gallery on Saturday, June 4th from 2-4pm for guests who were not able to make the opening reception the night before. I hope to see you there! Have a beautiful day and weekend :)

Chris's Pack, Stampede Trail, oil on panel, 24"x36"

An Aesthetic Voyage:

Painting Inspired By The Life And Travels

 Of Christopher McCandless

June 3-18th, 2011

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Opening Reception June 3rd, 7-10pm

June 4th, Artist in attendance from 2-4pm 

If you are interested in any of these paintings you can contact the gallery toll-free at 

1-866-844-4481 or at mail@abbozzogallery.com 

"Chris's Pack, Stampede Trail", oil on panel, 24"x36"

Take care and be well..

Heather

"I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,

I sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world."

~Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Unforgettable Ankara, Part 1

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."~Rumi

I couldn't believe my good fortune: I had been invited to participate in an international art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey! What was even more amazing was that I was invited by Raja Bailey, the wife of Canada's Ambassador to Turkey, Mark Bailey. I would be staying at their official residence in Ankara, a city of 5 million people, for a whole week. I had never traveled to this area of the world....what a fabulous opportunity! I packed some small paintings and brought them with me, a total of six of my paintings to add to the cache of artwork for the show.

This exhibition had a two-pronged objective. The first was to raise money for a NGO organization in Ankara that would help to educate young girls. The second reason was to celebrate International Women's Day. What a unique adventure:) I was thrilled to be included! Participating artists came from Syria, The United States, South Africa, Kosovo, Turkey and of course Canada. I was very grateful to Turkish Airlines who flew us to Istanbul and then on to Ankara. I have flown with a great many airlines in the past year and a half and I was extremely impressed with their service. I will not hesitate to travel with them again when I return to Turkey.

As soon as we landed in Ankara I was struck with the temperature and similarity in climate with the area of Ontario that I live in. Throughout my time there the days were cool and overcast with the occasional sunny day. Only once did it really rain in earnest.

Customs in Istanbul was chaos but eventually we did make it to Ankara and were picked up by Husnu, our driver. He proved to be such a lovely gentleman, who spoke excellent English and was very professional. He had a twinkle in his eye and told us a lot about Ankara, Istanbul and the country itself.

Ankara at night

(camera was hand held with no flash, in a moving vehicle)

Little signs of home were seen everywhere

More echoes of Canada in the residence

We met Raja and Mark at the residence and settled into our rooms. The residence was beautiful, comfortable and the staff were all so friendly and welcoming to us. After the week they all felt like family. We unpacked our artwork, selected where the work would hang and then enjoyed the next day with Raja in Ulus and downtown Ankara. We stopped in at a framer's in the downtown core. The poor framer was inundated with the task of framing 23 pieces of art within 8 hours. I don't know how he did it, but he did it! Needless to say when we left he shut down for the day:)

While Raja, Louise, Piril, Barb and Vicky talked with the framer and chose matte colours I wandered around the shops and asked in broken Turkish if the shop owners would mind if I took their photos. Everyone was very nice and agreeable. Tea or çay is ubiquitous in Turkey, and while I was shooting these shopkeepers tea was taken around to different shops and distributed to the gentlemen.

One of the men working in the electrical shop

The other electrical shop worker

After leaving the bewildered framer we traveled to a downtown market before moving on to Ulus, the oldest section of Ankara where there is a large market and a variety of wonderful shops selling all manner of Turkish goods. We perused some vendors selling everything from figs to nuts to tea and herbs. Turkey is famous for many exports, including pistachios, figs, hazelnuts, textiles and Turkish coffee. It was hard not to spend all of our Turkish lira within the first day!

Figs, walnuts, hazelnuts and sultanas

Bolts of fabric in the fabric shop, downtown Ankara

Heading into Ulus. The streets of Ankara were VERY steep in parts

There was a beautiful mixture of aromas

and textures in Ulus

We spent a fabulous afternoon wandering the winding streets of Ulus. It was a glimpse into how I imagined Istanbul might be. It had so much culture and quiet beauty. Side streets wending their way upwards, brightly coloured shutters and doors, and the people were very amenable to having their photos taken.

As far as being vegetarian in a new country...it was reasonably easy to eat meat-free. Almost every restaurant made modifications or something for me that I could eat, which I appreciated. Kebabs seem to be the speciality in Turkey, usually with lamb or some kind of meat. I was surprised that they didn't have vegetable kebabs on menus anywhere. However, I usually made do with a type of flatbread and tomatoes, or a salad, or both. The best part however was the Turkish coffee and apple tea or elma çay, that many cafésserve after the coffee.

I loved the way that this man was reclining

I learned a few basic phrases and words in Turkish that helped me get by with simple interactions with other people and shop owners. Between Mehmet, Husnu and Piril I jotted these sayings down and it made moving about in the city and getting by much easier. I never felt helpless though as basic hand gestures can always help you out in a pinch even if two people are not able to communicate effectively in the same language.

Ankara is a very "Westernized" city and most of it is relatively "new" as well. Other than Ulus and older sections, the city really is very recent compared to Istanbul. I have heard that visitors from countries to the east see Ankara as a very Western city, and visitors from the West see it in the opposite light. Personally I took it for what it was, a bustling city that seemed to never end, filled with families and unique lives, lovely people and new friends.

Gourds hanging at a stall in Ulus

Looking down a street in Ulus

Traditional tea served where we had lunch.

At long last, Turkish Coffee!!!

The turkish coffee that I finally tried was delicious. Normally I don't put sugar in my coffee but with turkish coffee you really must. It offsets the intense bitterness very well. The grounds are at the bottom of the cup too...an extremely fine grind that distinguishes this type of coffee from others.

I will post more photos and stories soon from this amazing journey to Ankara....

"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent."~Rumi

"Michelle (Cumberland Ave)"

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in

which you yourself have altered."~Nelson Mandela

"Michelle (Cumberland Ave)", oil on panel, 11"x14", began weeks ago, but I only completed it today. The reason for this was that in between the beginning brushstrokes, the blocking in of shape and tone, I traveled to Arizona, New York City and Turkey. It is a strange feeling to leave a painting that you are really enjoying working on. To see it sitting the easel as you pack your bags is hard. I have a quota in mind of paintings that I like to accomplish each month, each year, and I have to realize that this year there will be less paintings. I am ok with this fact because I will try to make the pieces that I DO complete count even more, and travel provides excellent perspective on one's life and career. Big time.

Recently I had a discussion with another artist and we talked about how travel affects our work, if at all. We both came to the conclusion that for us, traveling extensively has helped us realize what we want and don't want to paint. It is that paradox that I love to ponder: knowing what you DON'T want is just as, if not more important than knowing what you DO want. This also applies to art and the creative impulse.

Many colleagues and friends have asked if I will be painting people and scenes from my travels...I cannot definitively say "no" but these voyages have made me realize that I crave to paint the people and places that I have been painting for years. A yearning to return to the familiar has hit me, a desire to revisit old stomping grounds, see friends and models, walk streets that have appeared in paintings previously, and to paint the comfortable. Even comfortable is challenging. There is ALWAYS a new way to compose a painting, to look at a subject, to dive into the mysteries of how to paint and express ourselves.

Michelle posed for me and was so sweet and amenable to me asking her to look this way and that way. She had a whole selection of hats and jackets to wear, and I gravitated to this toque in particular. I loved the vibrancy of it compared to the washed out colours of that cold February day in downtown Toronto. This is the first time that I have painted Michelle. It is a fun process because painting someone new is just like visiting a new country...you are on unfamiliar ground and you need to learn what makes that place unique, what gives that person their special qualities, that individuality that is theirs alone. With some practice and a bit of luck perhaps that intangible quality can be felt in the final piece. I am happy and inspired to continue to try and do this...the act of painting, the journey is as much fun if not more, than the destination.

Speaking of new destinations, I am hard at work on new paintings to take with me up to Whitehorse in The Yukon Territory where I will be spending over a month in April. It is very exciting to take this step into solitude and in a new city in the Northern climes of Canada! I am so excited and know that some good work/writing and painting will come from this period of creative seclusion. Stay tuned and you can follow more frequent progress relating to my art and journeys on my Twitter page, found here.

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of our exploring will be to arrive

from where we started and know that place for the first time."~T.S. Eliot

"Wyll, Bay And Bloor"

"Life is partly what we make it and partly what is made by the friends we choose."

~Tennessee Williams

"Wyll, Bay And Bloor", oil on panel, 9"x12", is one of several paintings that will accompany me to Ankara, Turkey next week for an art exhibition to celebrate International Women's Day 2010. This is a fabulous opportunity to help raise funds to help young girls receive an education in Turkey as 20% of the revenue from show sales will go directly to an NGO helping this cause. I am thrilled to be a part of such a venture! There are a dozen artists participating from all over the world and I will be staying with Canada's Ambassador to Turkey and his family while in the country. To say I am honoured is an understatement!

Wyll has very striking features, and, combined with the natural, direct light on her face, her eyes really are accentuated. She is wearing the same hat I have painted her in before..it makes her look like a Russian Princess I think. We also shot some reference inside that day, with fluorescent lights, but I preferred the open, bright quality of the exterior shots that I took of her.

This painting is another example of a simply rendered environment with more detail and time spent on the subject. But this painting isn't so much about where Wyll is...but who she is. Although the palette is pretty muted, I wanted to depict a sense of positivity and optimism with Wyll's expression and the direction she was looking. No matter the environment, the situation, the day, the place, anything, Wyll's amazing spirit and beautiful personality always shines through, and it is this energy that continues to draw me back to paint her, spend quality time with her and to nurture our friendship.

I thought that the people of Turkey might enjoy this painting that seems very 'Canadian' to me...around the world light really does look different, and her clothing, the street, the colours, all seem very familiar. I am taking other paintings, including still life pieces, landscapes from Newfoundland and another portrait with me to Turkey. I wanted to have a good selection of subject matter for the art exhibition.

Painting a piece this size demands a steady hand and good brushes. I find that with coffee and the pressure of rendering things on a smaller scale that my hand sometimes is unsteady and I have even caught myself holding my breath in order to paint the dark raspberry tone under an eyelid or the dark orange line that delineates the ridge of an ear against hair. As I posted on Twitter the other day, the act of painting a portrait is a very intimate experience. In the quiet and stillness of the studio I have time to spend studying the faces of people I care about, or sometimes kind strangers who have posed for me. Whomever is being painted, we have a connection with one another, and it is my challenge to render that connection to the best of my abilities.

I hope to have captured a small fragment of Wyll's magic in this piece. She's a rare bird, someone that makes the world a better place, and I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to to paint her numerous times. The arc of a life can be measured in many ways, and for an artist it can be through the paintings we produce. No matter the subject, they are moments in our life that we have set aside to create these paintings, and the people depicted on the canvas have become a part of that history. I am so thankful for each of them...

"The language of friendship is not words but meanings." ~Henry David Thoreau